Chapter 223

Ana carried herself differently than ever before when she presented herself to guide me to the Allmother. In all things she did, Ana was proud or even arrogant. When she was insulting the Veushten, the members of the Veratocracy, she did so from a place of pride and superiority over them. When she accepted me as fahvalo, she was elevating my status towards that of her own, a lofty position as an honorable foe. When she asked for me to punish her, it was because her pride had been threatened by her words, and she wished to immediately recover her bone-deep egoism.

When Bloodpriestess Ana asked me to follow her to the Allmother, she no longer displayed any of that all consuming pride. She apologized, and that merely for the interruption. Only once had she apologized before, and that for when she'd thought herself guilty of blasphemy. She bowed to me, and I'd never seen her lower her head to anything. This Ana was not the Bloodpriestess, the warrior and commander, but Ana, the servant to the Allmother, and she was the perfect model of a submissive, humble servant. A reverence accompanied her every move, and though her every movement remained strong and perfectly controlled, no longer did her every muscle radiate a feline penchant for violence.

"I… Ok. Let's go." I nodded to Ana before leaning down and gently patting the sleeping child. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Took and gestured her over. "I'm going to meet with the Allmother, the leader here. Let Sybil know."

Took nodded. "Anything I should do?"

I shook my head. "Keep an eye out. I'll let you know where we can hunt when I get back."

Another nod, then Took was off to interrupt Sybil and Shemira's talking. The three females were now most of the core of my swarm, along with Foire and Vefir. All those that remained alive would become the leaders of a larger, stronger swarm though. I swore as much to myself and the heavens, and I could feel Nievtala's approval settle over me like a mantle. Without any more consideration, I began walking beside Ana, whose steps remained deliberate and measured.

As we walked I took in Ana's ceremonial robe once more. Before, she had worn only a thick loincloth, the rest of her black skin and body hair uncovered. She, like all Moonchildren, was lean and muscular, the only real distinguishing physical characteristic of the females being their modest breasts. With the greatest physical difference between the genders being only a slight softness to the women, with this robe she finally registered as a "woman" to my eyes.

This robe she wore covered the top of her head, and draped down, splitting at the back before coming over the shoulder and curving around both breasts. The blood red, emblazoned with silver motifs of the moon in every one of her phases, waxing from the dark empty moon at the bottom, ended just below the bottom of her ribcage, and bloomed to "Narsha'at's" full glory at Ana's head. The headdress left the thick hair running down Ana's spine uncovered, and the skirt worn around her waist was a deep black that was more of a sheet than a tailored garment.

"You must listen to the Allmother's words." Ana spoke without looking at me, simply taking deliberate steps forward. "She may have much or little to say to you, but all that she speaks comes from what she Sees, and thus is more impactful and divine than you might think as an outsider. The Allmother is tolerant, but she demands respect. Offer no disrespect when you speak or act, as I am unable to tolerate disrespect shown to the Bloodsoaked Mother's mouthpiece."

I nodded as we carefully strode onwards, the trees and subterranean hovels diminishing in number around us. Finally, we entered a clearing in the forest of hazoma, and in the center was a shorter, thicker hazoma. There was an obviously well-trod path towards this separate tree, and more natural, narrow paths spiderwebbing across the clearing from the singular entry path. I wanted to ask questions, but I more than realized that now was not the time to ask potentially rude questions.

As we approached the apparent abode of the Allmother, a young voice called out, strident, "That's enough, Ana. Send him forward."

I glance towards the origin of the voice, and saw no living soul. In fact, I saw that the trunk of the hazoma had been hollowed out and there was a narrow entrance leading within. Ana nodded to the voice and stepped back wordlessly. Could the Allmother see us even when she wasn't within the line of sight?

With as little hesitation as I could muster, I began stepping forward towards the carved entrance before stopping a couple of strides away from entering. "I've been told that you are ready to see me, Allmother, so I have come as quickly as I appropriately could have."

The energetic voice called out, "Please, step inside. Let us counsel together."

I began to feel nervous when my khatif sensibilities suddenly swelled within me, and I confidently stepped forward into the lair of the Allmother.

Somehow, I felt like it was disrespectful to look on the Allmother with my thermal vision, and instead, I allowed my vision to slowly acclimate to the low light available.

To my surprise, a hunched Sunkindred woman sat on a chair filled with cushions. Her fur had gone fully gray, and when she moved or shifted, a lightly glowing afterimage was left in her wake. Her eyes met mine, and she smiled as I stopped at a respectful distance. Then, I felt something moving behind me through my [Tremorsense] and I twitched, spinning to look at a figure that closed a door I hadn't seen behind me before stepping to stand beside the wizened Sunkindred. 

Now at her side, a somewhat small Moonchild stood before me, her eyes veritably glowing in the dim light of the suns filtering through her door and the light that the Sunkindred shed. Those eyes… were off-putting, and after a moment, I realized that they had no pupils. All the Moonchildren had disconcertingly large eyes, and the irises spread nearly to the edge of the eye itself. However large their irises, however, there remained the black pupils within them. The Allmother's assistant's eyes faintly radiated a light from them, and there were no pupils to be found within them. Every one of her fingers showed the signs of having spoken the Phrases, and I could feel the unmistakable pull from her eyes that let me know she had spoken the sixth Phrase as well.

I also noticed that her skin lacked the looseness that comes with age–still it hung tight to her joints and firm musculature, and, except for her glowing, pupil-less eyes, the Allmother's assistant looked much like any young female Moonchild. She smiled at my searching eyes, her canines bared in a fierce grin. 

"Hello, Ashlani." The Allmother said from her chair, her voice creaky but warm. "Thank you for coming. Do forgive the young one her impudence. She has not yet settled into her station." The words were a command, both to me and the young, off putting Moonchild. Contrary to what I'd expected, the Moonchild assistant merely nodded in acceptance of the reprimand and the Allmother continued speaking, "You were expecting the Allmother to be a Moonchild, were you not?"

"I suppose I was."

"In a few years yet, you will see one, if you are so trusted as to be allowed in our inner sanctums once more, Fahvalo Ashlani Indraymaf. There is much about our culture that you need not learn, instead, I had something to speak with you about." The aged woman said as she leaned forward, a streak of light trailing behind her.

"Fahvalo Ashlani Indraymaf, chosen of the gods." She trailed off, not finishing the sentence.

My mouth went dry. "What do you mean, 'chosen of the gods'?" 

"Precisely that. We have stories of the chosen, that they experience explosive growth beyond belief, that they tend to raise others up with them. You are… about six months old, yes? Yet you have grown so much farther than could be predicted by any in that time. You have a solid knowledge of how to evolve yourself, solid enough to cripple one of your senses, for days at a time and among your enemies no less, with the knowledge of eventual improvement. Does that answer your question?"

I swallowed. Twice. "How do you know these things?"

"Where Huldtar burns bright and illuminates, I See." The Allmother shrugged. "Now," her voice cracked like a whip and she settled into her seat once again, her eyes glowing like miniature suns. "I have Seen two things which I desire to tell you before I leave you back to your rest and conversation with your children. The first is a specific answer to your question posed to our Ana–where to find more of your kind. Two day's travel north northeast, you will find them. They are far less advanced than you and yours ever were, but they should serve the purpose you seek. The second," At this, she tried to stand but the Moonchild raised a hand to keep the senior woman from rising before stalking over to a shelf built into the wall of the room. 

I finally was able to tear my eyes away from the Allmother as she looked away from me to watch the other woman searching the shelf. The room… was odd. There were three layers of shelves that went around the complete circumference of the room, and nothing else, except for the chair in which the Allmother had been seated. The three shelves were filled with… random paraphernalia. Rocks, feathers, sticks, children's dolls, bones, coils of rope, parchment… and much more. The Allmother's assistant grabbed a stone about a foot in width and half that in height and length before carrying it over to me. As I grabbed it, I let out an involuntary grunt–she had carried it without apparent effort, but it weighed well over 100 pounds.

"The second," She repeated herself as I tried to settle the stone into my arms, "is this. Take it to Ytte, and tell her to investigate the stone. She will know, eventually, what to do with it." With a nod, the Allmother finished, "That is all. Enjoy your journey, for it is only beginning."

She'd dismissed me and her assistant quickly walked me to the door, where she ushered me out and closed the door once more. Thus ended my meeting with the Allmother.