*The Past*


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Eversince<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->



*Kess was almost finished with her gathering. The men were a day late with the hunt but that was to be expected when hunting wraiths before a particularly harsh winter.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> and the Seer said that this winter would be expecially harsh...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*Normally a nomadic people, they had staked down their group to a spot to wait out the ice storms.*

*Her baskets were full, and she began to carry them (one at a time) back down to her dwelling.*

*Pulling back the large wraith skin that covered the entrance, she descending into the rather large underground spaces, lit by several fires (some being readied for the group's meal).*

*She never saw the transport land beyond the tiny hill, where she had been gathering berries and nuts.*

*As she suddenly came back up from her dwelling to retrieve her other baskets, she saw him standing in her way.*

*Dressed in white, his rather thick overcoat seemed to drift in the chilly wind, his hair blowing in the same direction.*

*He simply stared at her, his eyes reflecting no emotion and she was momentarily frightened.*

*He was not dressed as a male from another group, perhaps a raiding group, but she knew instantly he did not belong.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The other women and children in the dwelling had no knowledge of his existence. Would he go away satisfied with me?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*Kess steeled herself, prepared to sacrifice herself for the others, when the man suddenly laughed.*

*It was a cold laugh, mirthless.*

*And yet, he simply stood there.*

*She was about to speak when the man moved to the side, and she saw her baskets floating in the air toward the entrance of the dwelling.*

"Who... who are you?" she stammered in the tongue of her people.


*The man in white smiled, and spoke in her tongue*


"I am your god."


*She saw that the smile did not reach the man in white's eyes.*



<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ..and nothing was the same....<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

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*THE PAST*




<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> <!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Darkness has descended upon Nivia. Our god has taken my third child, like the others. I was not given the chance to name him. I tried to appeal to the elders but they have changed.

All of our men have changed. And I fear.

I screamed at our god when he took my last child.

"Do you defy your god?" he had asked.

I backed down. For surely there is a plan... a purpose to all of this. Surely, this is a test of us all...

..the sun would not abandon his children.


would it?


For my faith, my god sent lightning from his fingers into me.


I haven't been able to work for days.


..and outside the winter winds blow.


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writings of Kess

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