Beyond Horizon - Prologue

Prologue

THE GODDESS NISQUARI STIRRED in her chambers like a caged wild beast, impatient and nervous. She dwelled on what she recently discovered, replaying continuously what she had found in her mind. There was a ball of anxiety in her gut so tight and heavy; it made her feel like she was sick with some unknown affliction. A feeling so unique that it had never touched her before. Not once in her two aeons in this place.

She had waited for an emergency audience with the other deities previously, but never after gaining such awareness from beyond Horizon. She didn't even know if the feeling was skittish excitement or something more primal, like the feeling one gets just before a battle. Your blood being flooded with the liquid fight, sharpening your senses and making your actions swifter and more powerful. She paused to stretch her neck using her the palms of her hand to give resistance on her forehead. As she removed her hands, Nisquari's thoughts deepened and became darker. She mused this feeling she had could be the type of excitement achieved when your body understands that the immediate future may result in its untimely demise.

She centred herself, clearing her mind of all considerations. She took a long, composed breath and felt her diaphragm expand and contract normally. This eased the knot in her stomach somewhat, not to levels she would normally enjoy but certainly enough to allow her to relax into her chair at the head of the room. For this moment at least anyway.

She sat herself down gently on the grand gem-encrusted chair. The feeling of the plump cushions covered in high-quality fabrics below her was a familiar welcome that helped calm her further. She placed her bare arms on the polished marble armrests which were uncomfortably cold to her touch. Not so much to give her goose skin, but enough to replace them on her thighs crossed at the wrist. She probed the different textures of her ornately decorated dress with her long fingernails out of habit. The dress itself was a deep purple and made from the finest materials. A mix of sheep's wool, silk, and dyed leather. The dress itself was surprisingly practical. It looked like a Huntress, or a Roadsman could have worn it out in the world. She wore leather sandals with knee-high straps holding them to her feet which stopped just below the bottom of the dress.

Nisquari's audience chamber was large enough to fit several hundred spirits sprawled along the long parallel pews on either side of the bright white room. Along the eastern edge of the room were tall windows that were chiselled expertly into the solid marble equal spaces apart. This allowed the rays of the Eversun to flood into the room in bright beams that cut it into parts. It cast shadows on the pews every few steps.

To gaze down from the windows upon the view of the Pondah Peninsula beneath, was a truly magnificent sight. Sat upon Greatcliff, Nisquari's audience chamber stood. On the eastern side of the great palace of the gods. It hung above the town of Pondah below, which was occupied by the spirits of everything. The peninsula was surrounded by a never-ending ocean that was gentle and serene. This place had always been in daylight. Darkness had never fallen on the peninsula at any point in the two aeons. To the south of Great cliff was the forest. The boundless Forever Forest. It simply stretched out as far as sight would allow. Going on endlessly. As far as time itself.

From the opposite end of the chamber, the large wooden door creaked open breaking the silence that had settled in the marble room like a layer of dust. A short Spiritman stood there rocking back and forth in a strange way. He was silhouetted against the rays of the ever-present sun behind him, hanging in the sky. He spoke with an air of forced formality.

"My sweet Goddess, the other gods will be arriving presently. Does her Godliness require a scribe?" the Spiritman's voice was high pitched and didn't flow easily. Nisquari could hardly make out his fumbling words due to the natural echo in the room and the random punctuation of his tongue.