Kiravi's Travelogue Ch. 03

Yupanki sighed, acquiring brow furrowing. He spent long minutes in conference with the other priests, while another matron brought me cold water and warm tea. Shame and the afterglow of passion swirled around inside me, lower and lower until nothing but fatigue remained. I stayed on my knees, barely able to keep my eyes open, not sure what time it was or how long had passed since my visions began.

"It was not one of the Pashudia. They do not appear to us in that way, and they do not feign ignorance of their own nature," he sat heavily on his cushion, groaning with the weight of age, and I could see the utter fatigue on his face. "Little one...you have been in a trance for two days now. Feverish. Mumbling and crying out," he took a cup of water with trembling talons, "and then your magic started. You couldn't stop: none of us could stop you or even slow the flow of your magic. At first, it was a raw flow, not shaped or channeled in any way, and I could siphon it away. But then you started in with the fire and blasts of force, and we only barely managed to save ourselves and the temple from you," he tipped my chin back with his talon. "It could have been more than the temple. It could've been half the city. You may remain here tonight, under guard, but in the morning, you must go. You must find which of the gods have done this, and a stronger priest than I must help you seal off the power inside you. I cannot."

My heart dropped but soared soon after. Maybe I would be able to find Kiravi and follow him? Hadn't he mentioned something about going west? With him, I'd be able to flee civilized lands for weeks at a time, find more temples to question about my affliction. And, I thought while rubbing my thighs together in a vain attempt to quench the ember left there by my goddess, take care of the new needs womanhood had introduced me to.

"What temples are to the west, Yupanki?" I asked quietly.

He smiled slightly, "Down the Seleyo, in Tebis, are many temples to the Ettuku. Large temples, as befits the capital of one of the old river kingdoms. You must sleep now, my child; sunrise is only a few hours off."

Exhaustion crashed over me; I didn't even care that a priest stood over me as I sank into my bedding. Deep and dreamless sleep found me within moments, starting the long effort of replenishing my exhausted body. Never before had I slept so utterly, but I wish now that I had dreamt more of my goddess.

Though no dreams of the goddess or Kiravi or death found me, another urgent sensation pushed its way into my unconscious mind, more and more insistent until I started awake in the gloom of the hall. Another priest stood over me, hands raised in preparation at seeing my fitful rest, but no wild magic spilled from me. The urgent feeling was still there, that I needed to be awake, that I needed...needed to...

For a moment, I smelled her, my goddess, and I knew that I had to leave the temple right at that moment.

My bag had already been packed and replenished, my looted armor and a sturdy walking stick set beside them. My sudden and frantic activity flustered the priests, but, I suspect now, none of them were upset to see me depart. Yupanki didn't rouse from his exhausted slumber, and the only acolyte to offer me a kind word was the matron who'd greeted me days before.

"I am so sorry, child, that we didn't have the answers you need. I hope you find them one day," she passed me and stepped into the early morning sunlight.

For a moment, I hesitated. Why had I woken with such purpose? What had even woken me? How could I possibly find Kiravi in such a city? I stopped asking myself questions as unknown confidence filled me, and I rushed out into the street, ready to find the answers I needed, to find the only man who might understand what I needed.

And there, in the foreign morning light, hustling towards the temple, was Kiravi.