The Romance of Lotania - An Under Gods Story (Rough Draft)

Chapter 23: The Offering

Chapter 23: The Offering

The amber waters crashed onto the black sands as Oyka's skin darkened under the beaming light of the sun. It had been hours since Eyawa's words shaped the idea that had been bouncing through the walls of her mind. She'd gained no sleep since then, only a body glistening with sweat and dirty, sandy, worn clothes that required constant readjusting because of it. Even still muscled herself grabbing every quilled violet fruit, breaking every steel-hard cain of sugar, and wrestling every carnivorous flora that could help achieve her goal until she was ready to pass out and still she kept going. Once she finished gathering, she made her way back to the camp hoisting what was now a sac weighing nine hundred pounds with pure ingredients.

The others watched as she carried sac after sac, her heavy breathes and snapping bone becoming more apparent as she went on.

"Do we really have to just sit here and watch her break her back out there?" Kandala asked.

"From what she tells us an offering isn't just as simple as burning some incense and calling it a day. Everything matters, from how you acquired your ingredients, to how you intend to use it, to how much those ingredients mean to you. So if we're going to make this work she needs to put in her tears, sweat, and blood into this," Aiderchaun explain from tree as Oyka squeezed her hand, which was sliced and bruised from gathering, until amber blood flowed into the bag.

Oyka finally sat, her body sore from labor, but she was done gathering.

"Shit... somebody get me a drink," Oyka panted.

Kandala called and a green eyed feline creature with spots and forward facing arrows along its blonde coat of fur approached her.

"Oh my fuckin' god bro. What the fuck you want?" the creature thought.

"Fetch her something out of the ice pit, hurry." Kandala commanded.

"All y'all got fuckin' legs and you got the fuckin' cat getting the drinks. Ooo I can't wait to get out of this body." the creature complained as it made its way back into through the bushes.

"Vi could get you out if you just gave me control of the body Draven," offered an echoing voice in the creatures head.

"Lalalala not today satan."

"Hey, hey, what are you doing? Stop that!" the voice ordered.

"No, fuck you. Alalalala," Draven countered as he approach the ice pit.

It had been four days since he'd been turned into what Kanadala called a Arrobasteh. They were her unique creatures that Draven likened to jaguars or cheetahs, created from transferring her DNA and establishing psychic link via her variant of King Constrictor.

In the ice filled crater of glass there were several gords strone throughout the ice that were all labeled by color. He rummaged through the ice with his claws until he found one baring the color red. He grabbed it between his teeth and returned to the camp. He dropped the bottle in front of Oyka and she popped the cork and drunk from it with no hesitation, petting Draven's Arrobasteh as she did.

"Bitch," Draven meowed and Aogohun snickered. "Wait, can that funny looking horse hear me?"

"So what's the plan now?" Kandala asked anxiously.

Oyka held up her index finger as she chugged the contents of the bottle down with little concern for the streams of red liquid that rushed down her neck. After she finished, she wiped the residue of the red drink off her face and looked at Kandala.

"Alright, hand me your staves," Oyka started.

Meanwhile, Ghawou inspected Eyawa's imageon.

"And you said they knocked you out when you got to that island?" Ghawou asked as he scanned her imageon which erratically burned and sputtered without a single ember in exhibiting proper behavior.