Keshkigal

Korsha exited the elevator and nodded to the guard standing just outside the door. He nodded, motioning her through having remembered her from earlier. She entered into a large open foyer. Unlike the child's ward this floor marbled, the interior decorated with fine golden trim and paintings of imperial saints.

As she cross the foyer, she passed by the large statue of the Imperial Saint Varu. The saint was dressed in a flowing robe that was sculpted as though it were caught up in some unseen gale. The artisan had taken careful diligence in ensuring that the saint's exposed feather were hyper realistic.

Korsha lifted her gaze, staring up at Varu. This cathedral hospital bore the honor of her name. Yet what fascinated Korsha wasn't the saints regal disposition, nor the way she held her staff up with imposing authority, nor was it the unnatural arc of her massive wings that seemed to reach up in reverent worship of the Imperial goddess but it was her the long slender beak.

When being assigned to come to this facility Korsha had done her research just as her master had taught her to. That had ultimately led her to the Saint and while she didn't have the particular fascination that most seem to have with Saints, this one was special. That long slender beak marked Varu as an outsider. It was a one in a million mutation. Shortly after being born she was abandoned by her parents. Something Korsha was somewhat familiar with, though for far different reasons. Varu had grown up on the streets. Alone. She was without purpose, her life meaningless until one day the goddess revealed herself to Varu.

This had been in the early days of the Dominion's first Crusade and thus they had not reached the planet yet. Nobody knew of the Imperial goddess existence. Of all the people that her Majesty could've chosen she had chosen an outcast. She bestowed upon Varu power and authority.

Varu had returned to her people preaching the message of the Imperial goddess. It was written that the Saint had converted nearly three quarters of her entire people before the first missionary touched foot onto the world. The thought of such an accomplishment sent a chill down her spine.

Varu lived her life as a servant. That was something Korsha aspired to. When she died, she hoped her Majesty would see her in the same light instead of seeing her stained by Third Daughter's blessing. In truth Korsha was all but an outcast, rejected and despised, used by others yet she counted it all in service to the Dominion's greater good. I will follow in your footsteps holy one, Korsha vowed within herself. It was a promise that she hoped that Varu would take and present as evidence within the goddess's court.

Taking a deep breath, Korsha turned away and exited the foyer through twin doors. She entered the hallways and headed towards the two guards stationed before a door halfway down. Unlike the guard at the entrance, these two were professionals and once more required her to confirm her identity. Once satisfied they nodded and waved her through. She entered into a small room and stopped. A white mist sprayed from the ceiling coating her. The light on the opposite wall flicked green and there was a audible click. She exited the decontamination chamber and pushed through the doors she entered into the intensive care unit.

She made her way back towards the governors room. Her heels clicking on the black tiled floors. Two doctors walked past her discussing something in hushed voices. She marched past the administration desk, the woman hunched over her computer didn't bother looking up at her and Korsha didn't bother with a greeting. She knew where to go and if there had been any updates they would've let her know through her omnivice.

She turned the corner and at the end of the hall saw Sergeant Kraj standing there. The man wore a hard expression on his weathered face. His eyes narrowed as she approached.

"Timetable's shortened. She had an episode during the blackout."

Korsha's gave him a firm nod, cursing the resident binders who'd fumbled the containment protocols. She opened the door, entered the room and heard the low beeping of medical equipment. Crossing the room, she checked the readouts and saw that the sergeant was correct. She needed to hurry. Spinning on her heel, she made her way to the space she'd set up in the middle the floor where her incense was set up. Dropping to the ground, she crossed her legs and inhaled deeply.

"You okay?"

Her eyes flicked over to one of the other three soldiers that were stationed in the room. The woman stared at her with evident concern. Korsha nodded. She ignored the sensation that the woman was still staring at her. It made her skin crawl. She hated the fact they had to be in here with her while she dropped into Keshkigal.

Each of the soldiers had been handpicked by her master to accompany her and ensure that she was not disturbed. She didn't know these people, nor did she trust them but she did trust her master, implicitly so. Though that didn't mean she could find it within yourself to extend that trust to these strangers.

I deserve this, she told herself as she clenched her jaw to fight the pang of sad loneliness that welled up within her. She activated the talisman set into the palm of her gauntlet. Once more the witch light flared to life, though this time much smaller. She brought the flame to the stem of the incense that was set before her. With it lit she cut her connection to the talisman and the fire ceased to exist.

Imperial binders didn't work alone, especially those with her skill set. Each time she ventured into the underworld she left her body exposed and vulnerable. They were always trained in pairs. One to go down and one to stay behind. In these moments she missed Deidra. She'd scarcely had any memories before their union, though that particular gap had grown fat in the last decade.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on remembering the last time she'd done this particular type of mission when her sister was there. The ground was cold, the wind was howling outside. Korsha's muscles were tense as she stared at the man before her. If she failed he would die. This man was important to their master and he needed him alive. The man's life and her master's plans weighed heavily upon her shoulders.

The memory was fresh in her mind. Like now, she was kneeling preparing herself to drop into Keshkigal. Yet doubts grew within her, weeds that choked her focus. Lifting her head, she'd turned towards Deidra. Her sister's fiery hair fell down around her shoulder, something Korsha had always thought suited her sister's natural elemental magics. She was on the other side of the small room, back leaned against the hall while she played with a small fireball. Korsha had watched the ball arc back and forth over her knuckles. As though she could sense Korsha looking at her, Deidra lifted her chin. Their eyes met.

Deidra, cool and confident as ever, flashed one of her broad reassuring smiles as she flicked the fireball into the air, Korsha's eyes had been transfixed by the fireball as it reached its apex and then fell. Deidra's hand had shot up and she flashed Korsha a thumbs right is the fireball landed. The flame burst up seeming to magnify her sister's simple gesture.

It instilled in Korsha all the confidence she needed.

Clinging to the memory, Korsha settled it down within herself as she brought her attention back to the present moment. She took a deep breath drawing the incense in. The air churned within her, filling her lungs. It spread through her like a warmth starting at her core and then reaching out until it filled her fingers, toes and the tips of her horns. Her body swayed back and forth as she heard the rapid double rhythm of a drumbeat. Her mind latched onto the sound, became mesmerized by it. The world around her became blurry as it lost its grip on her. She bent forward and then as she fell back she felt herself drop out of her body, leaving it behind as she fell through the floor.

The world was gone.

Darkness blanketed everything and for a moment she drifted through an endless void. She remembered the fear and terror that held her the first time she'd went through the Foundations. There was a spinning sensation as her body reoriented itself. Until her head was now where her feet had been. Up was now down.

Beneath her small pinpricks of light appeared. A solitary star that somehow made up an entire collection of constellations. It grew and grew until it swallowed up the darkness and then it swallowed up her. In an instant she was hovering just over the ground. She dropped, landing on her feet, now planted firmly somewhere within Keshkigal.

As usual, her surroundings were unfamiliar. She was standing within a long narrow cavern. She blinked. That wasn't right. That wasn't stone encircling her. It was trees. She could tell by the stray beams of light that broke through the canopy and touched the leaf covered floor. Their trunks so densely packed together, their branches so intertwined, they might as well have been one thing. For all she knew they might be. Keshkigal was as strange as it was wondrous.

This was the part of being a binder that Korsha detested most. Every time she dropped into Keshkigal she'd end up in a different place unless she or another binder had developed an anchor. That also required that they be on the same planet and used the same sacred space as before. Thus far the chain circlet adorning her brow, nestled neatly beneath her horns, was only able to create a sacred space using the her Imperial Majesty's authority and dominion. Yet it only allowed her to drop down into Keshkigal the only downside to such a device was that she ended up in the underworld in any number of places.

Shutting her eyes. She concentrated on the governor, who in the real world, was a mere three paces from her. She sensed the strand of energy and opened her eyes to see that she had been able to manifested. She followed the strand as it shot out of the cavernous trees. Lifting herself up into the air. She hovered over the ground. She gathered up power within herself, building it up to unleash a pulse of energy.

Leaves crunched behind her. Spinning in midair she brought her hands up, preparing to defend herself. There, before her, was a great jaguar. Its muscular haunches bunched and coiled beneath its fur of luminescent teal. Brilliant golden eyes gazed unblinking at Iris. Antlers adorned her head like a primordial crown. The air around it shimmered, flickering as if made of dust motes, or dancing flame.

"I almost had you this time, Enaru."

"It is good to see you, little sister." Her spirit guide rumbled.

She couldn't help but smile. He always seem to know where she was. It didn't matter where she dropped in. It had become sort of a game between them to see if she could call for him before he could find

her.

"What do you search for today?"

"Spirit fragment. The woman's very sick. We don't have much time."

Though time worked differently in this realm. She didn't want to risk any delays. If the woman ended up dying while Korsha was in here her master would be furious and it would delay his many plans a great deal. She would not be the one to disappoint him. Enaru rumbled as he came up next to her and rubbed his neck and shoulder against her.

"Then let us go."

Korsha nodded in agreement. Continuing to hover above the ground, Korsha followed Enaru out of the cavern. The world opened up all at once, great plains spread out in all directions. In the distance she saw mountains being born as they rose up towards the heavens. In the far distance she watched as an archipelago slowly drowned.

It only reinforced how thankful she was to have Enaru. She didn't know if she could journey through Keshkigal alone. Compared to the universe she was accustomed to this place had a frightening consistency in its chaotic transformation. It was a tendency of this place that she'd never quite grown accustomed to yet part of her was always mystified by the ever transforming landscape.

The two of them followed the thread as the plains morphed into hard rocky landscape. Red boulders rose as the ground rippled out to create pale sand. A wind spirit howled in the distance as they passed beneath a colossal red stoned arch. The intense light baked the world though the heat didn't bother Korsha.

When she was younger she had let the landscape affect her. In her early days, she had followed Enaru through an arid desert just like this. Her breaths had come out in ragged pants as she struggled forward. Enaru would stop every couple of steps, glancing back at her, head cocked in confusion. That had been a hard lesson, one that Enaru's infinite patience had finally succeeded in breaking through her thick skull.

As she ran, she kept yourself close to the thread, a small portion of her concentration latched to it. There was a rhythmic pulse, like a heartbeat, within it. She continued to focus on the thread as day turned into night. Sand into an ocean. The moon became red and bled. They were getting close, she could feel it.

There was a sudden shift in the landscape. It wasn't the usual, gradual, transformation but a sudden jarring manifestation as though this world had snapped into place over the one they'd just been in. She was now wading through the murky waters of a swamp. There was the crashing of water, following by an immense spray as a tree fell. Korsha blinked, realizing that wasn't a tree. That had been a leg. Lifting her gaze she saw a massive six legged dinosaur-like creature above her. Hundreds of slender neck frills hung down like a collar, swinging as the creature lifted its long neck and let out a piercing cry. It was answered by dozens of other similar cries that came from all sides.

"How do we get through?"

Enaru cocked his head and gave her one of those looks.

"Like we always do, by moving."

As though that answer was somehow satisfactory, Enaru took off running along side the thread. Korsha hovered there for a moment scowling. She wearily eyed the massive creatures, huffed, and then shot off after him. She caught up to him and watched as a leg came crashing down a dozen paces away. The water erupting into the air in a spray. She reached out and grasped the thread. The heartbeat was rapid. They were close.

Up ahead she could see a massive spire shoot into the sky like a blade. It was a black spike that, in this place, stood out. The blotched mark of the artificial upon an eternal untouchable natural land. In moments she would be under its shadow, dwarfed by it as it stabbed up into the clouds.

That was their destination.

It only took them several more minutes before they found a massive clearing. There in the center was the spire. The building was out of place, its features harsh against the natural backdrop of the underworld. Large obsidian boulders were scattered all throughout the clearing as though they had been thrown by some gargantuan force.

The spire's surface was crafted from black polished marble. Golden bands, like handcuffs, wrapped around the outside every dozen feet or so. Somewhere within that spire was her objective: the fragmented piece of the governor soul.