An Axe in the Flames

Answers in the Wind

A dark red smoke twirled from the tip of the brass brazier in front of Annifer. The palm-size brazier's top was intricately laid out in a geometric pattern of crossing branches, making two triangles. Her incense burned inside, and the smoke danced around her as she closed her eyes. Annifer sat on the floor of her hut, with the brazier on a crudely carved side table in front of her. The sound of soft snores emanated from behind her as her pack all lay on top of each other in a pseudo ball.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing, in through her nose and out through her mouth. Slow and steady, she began to feel the rhythm of the world around her, the vibrations of the ground beneath her feet, and the soft rhythmic hum of the forest surrounding her. Slowly, she felt herself drift; her mind was riding the waves of smoke that trailed between her and the brazier. She felt as light as a falling feather from a Cliff Diver as she was carried away.

We are with you, young Mother of the Woods.

The voice sang through her head with a cadence of a long-lost song. Fading in and then fading out but leaving a lasting ring to the edges of Annifer's mind.

"Thank you, ancestors, for speaking with me again. I am humbled in your presence." She spoke in a whisper.

She felt a shift in the breeze through her and knew she was in the presence of a more significant ancestor than before. Without seeing, she could feel its heavy presence weighing down around her.

"With whom do I have the pleasure of being in the presence of?" Annifer asked.

She hadn't known this ancestor, hadn't felt this weight, or heard that voice before. She was curious who had answered her call because every other time she had connected with the spirits of the world, it had never given her a feeling of being weighed down.

"I don't recognize you. Are you a newer spirit of the world?"

She was fishing, and perhaps whoever this was knew it as the silence continued. She risked peeking through slotted eyes and saw that she was enveloped in the smoke and that a hulking figure shrouded in the same smoke sat across from her. She held a gasp in, trying not to let the spirit know she had seen it.

"I am the protector, the wounded soldier, the one who gives and the one who sacrifices." The smoke enshrouded figure said.

Its voice wasn't in Annifer's mind anymore; it was coming from directly in front of her. This was much more than she had anticipated or even knew could happen. Every time she communicated with the spirits of the world, they always spoke to her through her mind. They had never manifested themselves into a tangible form that she could see.

"The protector? The wounded soldier? I don't recognize those spirit names. Are you new to this realm, ancient one?" Annifer asked after a long pause.

A warm, soft breeze shifted and spun around her, "I am an ancient one. One of the first, an ideal of both Cor and Shathari, manifested into being. I am Protessa."

Annifer's eyes sprang open as she registered the smoke form again. One of the first Gods was speaking to her, was actually in her hut with her right now and having a conversation!

"Do I startle you, young one?"

Annifer shook her head and cleared her throat, "Yes! Balls, yes. You are a God. Almost one of the two-"

Her words were cut short by Protessa's, "I am closest to the two, yes. I am part of the two, the wounded soldier. The giving and the sacrifice. One could say I am part of the three, for I am the first of their mingling."

Annifer bowed her head in respect and softly replied, "I meant no disrespect. You say first of their mingling, what does this mean?"

The smoke form shifted and began walking around her, waking Biscuit, who sat up on Big Girl's back and cocked her head in curiosity.