Every step away from home is a chance for an adventure and Darcy is on her first one. She's been dreaming of finding her father for as long as she can remember. He's out there and she's got a list of clues and a crappy map, but it'll do. Less than a...
Darcy wanted to ignore the damned thing. It was already going to be a long trip home. Between the stretch of desert and crossing the Sleeping River she'd almost considered going straight to Mooncross instead. She didn't have time to follow signs from the gods again.
But she also had no idea where she was. Sure she knew she was in the desert, but not how far in. The bunny had led her in and it would have to lead them out. Briefly she wondered if Katta would be fast enough to catch the sly creature.
It went in a fairly straight line this time around. They hadn't gone nearly as far into the desert as Darcy had originally thought. The end of Moon River waited ahead, disappearing below ground to curl its way through underground passages. Once those had been considered viable routes to circumvent the harsh desert. Now it was considered more deadly than the dunes by far.
The bunny waited by the entrance to those tunnels, legs stretched out behind it. Its third eye remained wide open and vigilant until Darcy was close enough to reach out and touch it if she wanted.
A dark shadow fell over them. Two pronged antlers rose from the top of it. Even in the blurred shadow outline they looked wickedly sharp. The sweet smell of orchids accompanied the barely imperceptible footsteps that stopped a few feet back.
"Let me guess, you've been waiting for me," Darcy grumbled. Searing pain radiated from the medal resting against her chest.
"I wait for everyone, Darcy Grimhaven," Nialdir spoke in a hushed whisper that carries over the air like rustling leaves.
Darcy spun on her heel and dropped to her knees with a thud. "I didn't mean to-"
The god of death cut her off with a wave of his hand. He stood before her in the truest form he could manage on earth. The pronged antlers, standing nearly three feet tall, attached to the skull of an indri that obscured his face below. Assuming he had a face to hide, anyway. Dark green robes or silk hung from his thin frame to move in the gentle breeze that came off the dunes.
"You have been through quite a lot since you left home, haven't you?" Nialdir asked. He folded his legs to sit on the ground beside where she knelt. "When I pointed Azmerah in your direction I did not know how harshly she would exact her punishment. For that I am sorry."
"Forgive me if I sound ungrateful for your attention, my lord, but sorry doesn't do me much good here," Darcy said. The earring was warm to the touch when she reached up to check if it was really there.
"I suppose it doesn't, and I can offer you nothing more than that. Perhaps I might tempt you with another offer." The grass surrounding the river seemed to thicken and grow until it was big enough to weave around itself. A map formed in the intertwining blades. Orchids bloomed, some small, some in chains together moving across the map, and one large one near the bottom left. A single red lily formed in what looked to be a clump of trees.
Darcy shifted to her knees so she could kneel over the map. Slowly, it began to become something recognizable to her mind. She ran a finger slowly around the red lily. "This is my home, isn't it?" she asked.
"Indeed. That is where my truest followers reside. The others," he gestured to the orchids before continuing, "imposters set on living by a doctrine set forth by a corrupt priest. They spread death and pain and fear in my name. I believe you encountered them yourself." One of the orchids along the bottom half, not too far from the lily, shriveled up on itself and faded to dust.
"Why are you showing me this?" Darcy asked quietly.
Across from them, Kasi and Katta eyed the god wearily but didn't dare interfere. Kasi only looked away to seek reassurance from Darcy.
"I can not see the future, blossom, not the future as it will happen. Possibilities present themselves to me and in so many I see the death of my children, hunted down by those who have witnessed only the cruelty of the false believers," Nialdir brushed his skeletal fingers over the largest orchid that grew where Darcy could now recognize as somewhere in Zuzanab, the kingdom across the dunes from Norodon. "I want you to hunt down these liars and exterminate them."
One by one the orchids withered away the same way the first had. Some of them were replaced by smaller red lilies. Most of them only became fresh woven areas of grass.
"In exchange for your service, I will offer you a part of my power," Nialdir said.
"What would I use that you could give me?" Darcy scoffed.
"I have a way of finding lost souls, and what soul is more lost than the one that abandons their child?" The map disappeared as the grass shrank back to its original size. Only the red lily remained. "Save our people and find your father. Perhaps you'll even find another lost soul you're searching for."
He plucked the red lily and pressed it to the back of Darcy's hand. The petals burned and twisted until it was gone just like the orchids. Only this flower didn't leave behind dust. Red lines crossed Darcy's skin and they moved to form a flat mirror image of the lily. The stem ran down to her wrist where it wrapped around and continued under her sleeve.
In the next instance, Nialdir was gone and no sign remained that he had ever been there except the mark on her skin. Kasi looked at it critically.
"Are you going to do what he said?" the boy asked.
Darcy clenched her fist and nodded. "But not yet. I want to take you home first. Mom is going to love you."
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