First Star I See Tonight (Kala)

[Freya]

First Star I See Tonight

11th of Ash, 124rd Year, A.o.S.

Location: On the road to Gel'Grandal

There was a pleasant scent of spice rising from the bubbling pot over the far. Freya sat beside it, idly stirring the mixture with a long wooden spoon while she read from a scroll in her other hand. The heat of Searing was steadily giving way to Ash, and this night especially held a distinct chill which made the dragonborn grateful for the fire's warmth. Around her the world was quiet, lonely in a way as she found herself camped on the side of an oddly smooth road which, during the day, carried those mechanical abominations the people here called transportation. The tree line had been pushed back several meters away from the road on either side, providing a clear and unobscured view of the night sky. This at least Freya could appreciate, though the felling of so many trees did not sit well with her sensibilities.

Beside her a small creature similar to a beetle crawled from the dirt and waved its antenna at the sky. Freya glanced down at it, but gave it little mind as it burrowed back into the earth, leaving not a trace of its presence as it went. The spirits of the land grew more sparse the close she came to the capital city of Gelerand. Those that were present seemed confused, or perhaps sickened in a way she had never seen before. Like the land itself were being affected by the march of industrialization. Asteri did not seem affected at least, but that was to be expected. The Star spirit currently sat perched on top of her wagon, his eyes closed as if asleep, though Freya knew through their bond that he was listening to something far, far away. A music she couldn't understand, words she could not comprehend.

Sighing Freya set her scroll aside and stood, stretching her arms over her head and yawning wide enough to reveal pointed teeth. She was just about to retrieve a bowl from her wagon when a pulse of force shook the ground, knocking her off her feet and sending her pot rolling down the slope to the road, its contents lost to the earth. Scrambling to her feet Freya glanced looked around, reaching her satchel which normally hung from her shoulder, only to realize it was still inside of the wagon. Another pulse and the wagon lurched onto two of its wheels before slamming back down with a heavy thud. Freya stared at the wagon for several tense seconds, waiting to see if another wave would rocker her back once more. When none came she slowly straightened and looked down at her spilled dinner.

"Come."

Asteri's voice drew Freya's attention back to the wagon, and she saw the star spirit circling on the other side. His eyes were fixed on something, and there was an urgency in his tone. With quick stride Freya rounded the wagon, first noting the sizeable dent in the side where the wood had dented from a heavy impact. Her eyes then fell down on the figure on the ground, his body limp and crumbled at an odd angle and a pool of red steadily beginning to form beneath him.

"Star mother..." she breathed, kneeling down beside the man and pressing two fingers against his neck. There was pulse, though faint. She brushed aside a braide and looked at the man's face, and then down at the black wings which still twitched.

► Show Spoiler

[Kala Leukos]

.

► Show Spoiler

it's sixteen miles to the promised land
and I promise you I'm doing the best I can.
now, don't fool yourself in thinking you're more than man
because you'll probably end up dead.
I visit these mountains with frequency
and I stand here with my arms up.

In her dreams, the stars sang to her—lullabies, paeans, melodies rhapsodical and fair. When her pragmatic waking mind dove under the surface of consciousness, she was more herself, more Herself, the goddess she was slowly, inexorably becoming. Prayers came to her these days, most days, minor things, praise and thankfulness that buoyed her. When prayers came from the west, however, they skewed later because of how Ransera spun about herself within the grasp of the Star's embrace like a dancer spun by her partner. The Star, the Sun, would never let Ransera go, would burn her before the end, before the Star retreated into itself, collapsing in on itself, ages from now. Life might not even exist on its surface at that point. Even in her dreams, Kala didn't know.

Star mother...

Her womb had borne no children, though she had begun to consider motherhood. Under normal circumstances, she was too young, but now she was, perhaps, immortal, and who knew how long it would take to master the draconic tongue such that she could unlock Garel's grimoire? Motherhood was a shorter path to Avialae who could fly no matter what they had between their legs.

Star mother...

Not repeated, but resonating. She woke. She woke, moving through space in a way she didn't understand. She had no Rune of Traversion, but sometimes, when there was need, when the faithful called, she could answer them in the flesh. She didn't control this power, not yet, but it was within her. She flew without her wings, and before she arrived, she knew it was Freya calling, the dragonborn seer, an outlier, a single person who had recognized her divinity in the wilds.

Dragon daughter...

Kala was there, somewhere in Gelerand, perhaps. What was distance to a star? What were maps upon the surface of a rock so small that the star might hardly notice it?

You call, I am here.

She looked past the seer, to what the seer was seeing, and her breath caught. A Kathar lay beneath her and Kala felt Naori's Purpose sing within her.

.

[Freya]

Her word shad not been a true invocation, but an unconscious utterance born from something deep in her soul. Though they had not known each other long there was a spark of devotion when Freya thought of the Star Mother. Something more than respect, and something less than true reverence. It was a mixture of feelings which the dragonborn herself had not yet parsed, but still she found herself more and more thinking of Kala whenever she gazed up at the stars.

So it was when her unintended call was answered Freya jumped and half spun, eyes widening with surprise to find the goddess standing there as if she had always been.

"By the stars." Freya gasped, pressing a hand to her chest, "I would not speak so thoughtlessly if I knew you were so quick to answer a summons."

With her heart still hammering in her chest Freya turned back toward the Kathar who still lay unmoving. Her thoughts quickly caught up to her situation and years of practice came to her as she leaned and pushed her hair back and pressed her ear against the man's chest. Again she confirmed a faint heartbeat, but also a shallow breath which barely brushed against the top of her head.

"He lives." Freya said, her hands moving down the man's body before gently lifting an arm to look for the source of the growing pool of blood. She found it, a jagged wound over his left kidney, more than a finger deep. It looked as if it had been made with a serrated edge.

Asteri fluttered down to perch on the wheel of the cart. He gave a respectful bow before speaking to Freya, "He came from the sky to the North West, like a falling star."

"Or a comet." Freya mused. She was already standing to circle around the wagon, "Watch him. I will return with what materials I have."

Hesitating before rounding the corner Freya looked at Kala, "Do you have some means of healing him? I can stitch the wounds and give him potions... but I am unsure of the extent of his injuries just yet."

[Kala Leukos]

.

"I was asleep," she admitted, her voice resolving into something more mundane. She was there, but she almost seemed spun out of starlight. "Answering prayers is still new to me, and while you weren't exactly praying, I could sense your need. And so I am here."

But she was also quick to kneel beside the fallen Kathar. Still while Freya examined him, she began her own examination once Freya was done. Kala had been trained at the Tranquil Gardens, and while she had not taken the trials to become a licensed healer or surgeon, she did have quite a bit of skill. Her examination was augmented by her sembling, and that was augmented in strange ways by what she could only assume was the growing divinity within her. Perhaps someday she would be able to lay her hands upon a dying man and offer the miracle of life. For now, she had but her skills, magical and medical.

Her starry gaze rose to watch Asteri as he spoke, nodding respectfully back to him. Stellar spirits showed her great reverence, but she did not yet feel as though she had earned it. Perhaps it was not a thing to be earned, but she did not understand that; not yet.

As Freya had found him first and was giving directions, Kala complied with a nod. She had learned early on that ego had no place in a house of healing; vying with another healer could only harm the patient. She didn't know what Freya's training was, but she respected the note of command.

"I have training," she averred when Freya stopped to ask. "Medical, surgical, and magical. Necromancy, elementalism. I could create fire to cauterize the wound if necessary. Please bring whatever supplies you have and I will see what I can do. Please hurry."

Time was, after all, of the essence with these things. She didn't know if she could bring him back with her the way she came, and closer to the Tranquil Gardens were there were better healers and the facilities to support their skills and efforts. She was bonded to a priestess of Ioniri, who might lay her hands upon him and treat what ailed him, but she too was in Karnor.

.

[Freya]

Freya shook her head with a grimace, "Lets avoid flame if possible. Some have trouble healing from such traumatic methods and..." She looked at the wound, "I would not like to risk the organs beneath."

It was unfortunate but it looked as if there was no chance of sudden divine miracles washing away the problems before them. The stories of bards painted quite a fantastical picture of divines and their abilities, but Freya supposed it depended upon the divine in question. Would you expect a god of mountains to part the seas? Well... Even then Freya thought it might be possible, but this was her first time dealing with the powers of this level. Kala though was not just a divine. She was knowledgeable and powerful in other aspects, which were more directly applicable. Between them it might be possible.

She quickly gathered the supplies she had. Bandages both infused and non, bottles of liquids and poultices, and a small kit with basic medical utensils such as knives, needles and threads. It was rare that Freya had to use them, but she was glad she kept them all the same. Unfortunately she did not possess any necromantic materials, which would have been of great use this day. They would have to make due.

"Asteri." Freya called as she set her arms full of materials down. From her robe she pulled out a talisman and flicked it into the air where it caught flame and burned with blue light.

The star spirit's physical form burst outward and created a dome around them, twining with the ward magics in a similar manner to when she and Kala first met. They were encased inside of a dome of stars which twisted and spun, arranging themselves to match the stars alignments at the time of the man's birth. The ward was a simple one, designed to channel Asteri's powers more fully into a set area. It was primarily used for showmanship, but it had one very important use now.

Without words between them Asteri knew his master's intent, and the Kathar slowly rose from the ground and hovered in the center of the dome. It was as if gravity held no sway over him and he floated in the freedom of space itself. In his weightless state Freya moved him so that she could better see the wound. It was a dark and jagged thing, piercing deep into flesh. Blood still flowed freely. That would need to be taken care of first.

From the assorted concoctions Freya selected a grey container which contained a thick salve which she smeared into the wound. It would take a few minutes to take affect but it should slow the bleeding. It also contained a slight anesthetic and antibacterial agent, not immediately useful but would hopefully help prevent complications later. While she waited for salve to take affect Freya reached into her well of aether and pulled a thread of magic through her rune of summoning, holding a hand out palm up as she whispered a a word which was hardly recognizable as a name. It sounded like a bubbling creek mixed with trill at the end.

Over her palm the air rippled and a small creature appeared, like a mix of a fish and a toad with greenish blue scales. Freya placed it down next to a bowl and asked in a soft voice, "Please fill this with water, clean and pure as you can. I will give you your payment afterward as always."

The little spirit nodded in understanding, beads of water beginning to form on its scales which it directed into the bowl.

"I don't suppose you can form necromancy tools from starlight?" Freya asked Kala with a wry smile, though her expression showed the concern she truly felt.

"When the Stars Align"

[Kala Leukos]

.

Kala's fine control of Fire would allow her to cauterize a wound without raising the general body temperature, but now was not the time to correct a misapprehension. Freya continued to control the situation, so Kala focused mainly on observation, awaiting an opportunity to act. When Asteri's manipulation of the wards created coruscating lights and colors, she focused on the faint, visible aura she had while in the throes of answering a prayer and amplified it so she burned with a steadier white light that illumined the wound for a better view. She needed to see if there was any sort of shrapnel or other debris within the wound that the flow of blood hadn't purged.

"Unfortunately, no," she said. She thought she could pull one of her soul totems from where it was back in Kalzasi to here as it was steeped in her aether, but that wouldn't help. It was merely helpful for creating necromantic supplies, but that took more time than the fallen Kathar had. Perhaps when she was more than she was now, she would be able to pull her supplies along with her. They had been steeped in her aether too, but there were degrees of separation. Someday. For now, it was miracle enough she was here without a Rune of Traversion.

"However, the body of the average man is about sixty percent water so..." She raised her hand to hover over the wound. She couldn't snap her fingers and make all well, but she could apply what she knew of healing all the same. She bade his blood, or the Water within it, remain in arteries and veins, flow along them as if they weren't perforated. Her wards were hardly expert, and she hadn't had access to them when she had time to study and support at the hospital, but she could sense the energetic signature left behind by the healthy memory of his body and she wove her wards as delicately as she could. They wouldn't last forever, but the flow of blood slowed and ceased.

She bit her lip in concentration, released her control of his blood and released her lip and her breath when the wards held.

"All right. I have staunched the blood flow, at least from the major wound. Now we need to clean it, and use the bandages for the seepage. Do you agree?"

She looked to Freya for confirmation. The dragonborn had spent more time with the patient, after all.

.

[Freya]

Freya nodded her ascent, turning her eyes to the bowl that was now filled with clean water. From the supplies she brought out cloth and bandages, soaking the cloth in the water and ringing it out before starting to clean the wound. Kala's powers were exceptional, not unsurprising of course, but Freya had not really known what to expect. With the blood flow halted it gave the salve enough time to take affect, increasing the rate at which the blood clotted and further aiding the wards to keep the Kathar from bleeding out. It won them time, something with they desperately needed.

The Dragonborn's eyes flicked to the rest of the man's body, to the broken bones, to the other less sever lacerations. Whatever he had been through it had been meant to end his life. It was truly a twist of fate, or perhaps happenstance which lead him to rocket into her carriage.

"I do not see anything physical left in the wound." She began, "But I sense malicious aether."

Closing her eyes Freya pressed a hand against the wound and sent tendrils of her own magic into the wound, filtering it through her rune of affliction. It was similar to a poison, but one which acted on the internal aetheric pathways... In fact, it felt specifically tuned to this Kathar's pathways specifically.

She finished cleaning up the area around the wound, applying more salve and unwrapping a bundle of medicinal tools including scapples and thread and needle. This time Freya looked at Kala first.

"Can you purify the wound? If not I can try to pull the affliction from his flesh, though I am not certain how powerful it is." Freya looked at the wound again, "I've applied a salve to prevent infection. I am not versed in surgery... so if you have the skill I will leave it to you to close his wound. I can then finish binding the wound and we can see to his less serious injuries."

"When the Stars Align"

[Kala Leukos]

.

"Yes," she said slowly, tasting the dark aether that clung to the wound, infecting it. Kala did not have great experience with curses; they were taboo in Starfall as they were in most places, though she had heard of people taking upon them the dangerous Rune of Affliction in order to break curses, which was a righteous thing to do. She didn't know if it would be a wise thing for her to do, whether the corruption inherent in it might affect her even as she grew into divine power. That would be irresponsible.

As Freya reached out with her own senses, Kala locked onto her, the better to assess the array of skills and tools they had between them. Ah, so perhaps she was such a curse-breaker.

"You should attempt it, at least. I will also attempt it in my own way. Between the two of us, hopefully one or the other will manage it." Hers, at least, would be noninvasive. She began to weave a ward between her hands, much like a child playing at cat's cradle. She tasked it first against the dark aetheric signature, and then after many of the infections she had seen in the hospital—they were a manner of life unto themselves, creatures smaller than they eye could see, their speedy reproduction overwhelming a body and causing fevers and the like as the body attempted to fight back at what oughtn't to be there.

There was nothing in her weave that ought to interfere with what she sensed Freya doing, and so she passed the ward slowly through his body, which was no mean feat in itself as she was small and he was, like most Avialae, quite large. She moved slowly, reducing her consciousness to the smaller scale until she could sense those little infectious creatures. The body was made up of tiny building blocks, as well, and moving slowly, she could sneak those creatures she was stealing through the cracks so as not to puncture any membranes or the like.

It took time, and they did have a limited amount. Shaking her head to bring her back to herself, she looked at the net in her hands, sensed what she had pulled out. Some of the dark aether had come with it, but not all. As Freya was still working, she hoped she could manage the rest. If not, she could try again. But hers were the surgical skills and so she had to ply them now. She didn't see anything that needed cutting away, and so she took the needle and silk thread, passed her ward over them to ensure no infectious creatures were clinging there, and began to carefully sew up his wounds. Between her wards and Freya's salves, there was minimal seepage of blood. As the patient was unconscious, there was no movement to contend with and so she was able to make fine, regular stitches without too much trouble.

If she could get him home, she could redo some of this work with her necromantic tools and the healing would be accelerated and the scarring minimal, but then he was a warrior and wore many scars already. She doubted he would mind, though she did wonder what his emotional condition would be when he woke.

When she finished, she conjured water, wiping his sewn wound clean, then letting it flow over her hands to clean them as well.

It was weary work, requiring concentration and control more than sheer power. She paused, glancing to Freya and her work.

Next, she supposed, she could see to the broken bones. But she was more worried about what would happen after—could she bring him back to Kalzasi with her? Would he have to recover in the back of Freya's wagon while it jounced upon the Imperial roads?

.

[Freya]

They reached an understanding, and a clear division in their roles moving forward. While Kala would do what she could to weaken the affliction on the Kathar, it would be up to Freya to remove it's affects entirely. Then she would leave the stitching to Kala, who Freya now realized was more versed in these matters than she was. It was straight forward, though unfortunately the task was not simple.

With a nod Freya turned her full attention to the Kathar and placed her hands on his chest. It was not strictly necessary for her to physically touch someone to apply her craft, but it did make it easier to focus. Drawing in a deep breath and closing her eyes Freya sent out a thread of her aether into the man's body, twining it down his aether pathways to the wound and the source of the curse.

When her aether touched the threads of the affliction Freya immediately felt a searing pain down her own pathways. She gasped, but kept her eyes shut as she pushed down the pain, and focused on examining the strands of dark aether that spread up the Kathar's back. It did not take long for her to realize that this was not a simple jinx, but was instead a powerful hex... One perfectly tailored to the Kathar in question. It was powerful as well, fascinating in its complexity as it was layered in intricate and admittedly beautiful patterns. There was also an odd note to the aether itself, something familiar which made Freya's blood resonate, but at the same time it was too alien for her to properly identify.

Slowly she began to thread her aether into the hex itself, whose core matrix was wound into the wound itself. Over time it was spreading its thorn like tendrils deeper into the Kathar's flesh, following the aether pathways which became frayed and worn wherever the hex touched. It was insidious, designed to cause as much pain as possible, with the ultimate goal to leave a person crippled. It was a hex meant to end a Kathar's life with agonizing slowness.

Sweat began to bead on her brow as she worked to untangle the hex. Were it not for Kala's own divine aether weaking its strength Freya feared she might not have succeeded. At last she was able to free the hex from its place, and with one final pull she drug the power from the man's body and into herself. It fought against her power, but weakened as it was there was little it could do but be consumed inside Freya's soul.

Freya felt her own aether pathways lighting up in searing pain for several seconds before she was able to suppress the magic, sealing it away for her to examine later. Then she stepped back to sit upon the wagon wheel, her face a pallor mask of suffering as her soul struggled to adapt to the aether within her. Whoever had laid the hex upon this Kathar had been of greater skill than Freya, and were it not for Kala and her own expertise as a curse breaker the Dragonborn thought she might have died in the attempt to subdue such an affliction.

"The hex is removed." Freya said softly, rubbing the bridge of her nose, "If the wound is stitched he should be fine for a time... We can see to the bones and other injuries next."

She looked at Kala, "I do not know if he will fit in the carriage, but he can rest in my tent until he awakens. What would you like to do with him?"

Freya knew of Kala's thoughts on the Kathar, and of her desire to see them freed. It ultimately was up to her. Freya would do what she could to support the Star Mother.

"When the Stars Align"

[Kala Leukos]

.

"Let me," Kala said gently when she saw how much the curse-breaking had taken out of the dragonborn seeress. It didn't seem as though her soul was injured by the transfer, but she could see her aether attempting to break down the dark pattern. In another setting, she would have been studying her with all attention, but the Kathar needed her now. "You've done excellent work where I couldn't have managed."

She turned back to the levitating form and used up most of her bandages to make casts and splints. It was a matter of wrapping them just so, then working Water and Earth through them until there was a sort of cement-like slurry soaked into the gauze, then Fire to harden it, but a weave of several elements to keep it a bit more malleable than rock-hard cement. She didn't want it to shatter, and, especially around his broken ribs, she wanted it even more malleable so that it supported without making breathing painful or deleterious to his health.

As she did the work, she narrated, both to keep Freya in the loop as to the treatment, and on the off chance the man could hear her even in this state; a calm voice telling him what was going on might prevent panic. It was also possible he didn't hear a thing, but the curse that Freya had broken might have left him conscious but trapped in some psychic cage for all she knew. She would, of course, investigate that given time.

When she was done, she sat at Freya's feet beside the wagon wheel, resting her head against the woman's leg. They hadn't known each other long, but Freya was able to reach through space to call her when her need was great. That had to mean something, though she was too new to divinity to be sure what.

"I think we have done all we can for him at the moment," she opined. Then she held up her hand in front of her face. Her flesh was somewhat transparent now, more starlit glow than person. Perhaps there were time limits on apparitions. It was just one more thing she didn't know.

"I would like to get him back to Kalzasi. There are better surgeons and physicians than I... But perhaps we ought to get him to your tent, at least, and hope that sleep begins the healing process. He will need food and water, help with urinating and defecating. Nursing is an ugly, but necessary job. But perhaps if you... hm... pray for me to take him to safety, I might be able to bring him back with me. He would come to my rooms in the Cintamani Pavilion, but I have a friend who could take us directly to the hospital from there, no prayers required." She smiled weakly.

"And then you wouldn't be stuck here watching out for him. You and Asteri."

.