CHAPTER 2
A new arrival
Dusk upon a frigid lake
A flash of sunset
“Everyone is taught the story at an early age. Ask any cub, pup, or kit old enough to speak, and they will tell you. It is the story of the world, how it rose from a state of blood and chaos to become the society we know today. They may tell you different names, or different motives, but at its heart, the story is always the same, and it always begins like this:
“Long ago, the world’s eight sentient species were locked in endless violence and conflict against each other. So brutal, savage, and lengthy were these wars that all recorded history prior to them was irrevocably lost. All reasons for the fighting, any knowledge to who or what had started it or why, we now have no way of knowing. Countless numbers wept. The atrocities committed by every side still haunt us all, even centuries removed from those dark days.
“The lore tells that the final battle of what would be called the Last War was held on a spring morning. What was the spark that ignited into the inferno that followed? No one knows for certain. Theories abound, but whatever vile action triggered it, it was enough to awaken something from deep within the earth: a monstrous being, an entity far beyond our understanding. Was it always there, waiting for the day it could reveal itself? Or was it called into existence by our long history of bloodshed? Again, no one knows…
“On that morning, it erupted from beneath us, vast enough to block out the sky, black as night and boiling with hatred. With pitiless eyes of white-hot flame, it looked down upon our multitudes and spoke in a voice that split the skies and cracked the earth: “You fools” it said, and every sentient heard its words and trembled, “This world with all its beauty and promise was given to you, and you have squandered it. You have stained the earth with blood and darkness for far too long. Now your retribution is at hand. Mark my words, for I am DEATH, and all shall wither before me.”
The God of Death breathed, and all that its breath touched began to burn…”
[An excerpt from Godlore: Our Sacred Legacy and Foundations of Society, by Ash Caeruleus]
For the past half hour, there had been no words between them. Nothing save for the dead leaves crinkling and twigs snapping underfoot, the sighing of the breeze, and a few birds up in the branches, singing to warn of the encroaching twilight.
Numb… Hanami felt numb, disconnected from herself. Cold, despite the lingering heat of the late summer evening. It was shock settling upon her, she supposed. Shock at not only her new status as an exile—no, an Outcast—but that for her entire life, all she was taught and all she believed about this forest had been little but lies. Deliberate lies, according to the buck called Zero. The foundations of her world were shaken apart. How and why anyone would go so far to distort the truth, she did not know.
She found herself wondering what else she had been lied to about.
“I’m sorry,” said Zero abruptly.
Hanami let out a short, sharp squeak. “I-I beg your pardon?” Hanami stammered as she ran her hands through her tail fur, trying to smooth it back down.
“Beg your pardon,” He looked back over his shoulder at her, smiling his sad little smile. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. Just now, or back there.”
“Ah.”
“As I said, most of the people who come here aren’t criminals. If they are, they never last long… but I needed to be sure you weren’t one of the bad ones.”
Hanami froze. Her ears pressed down flat.
“It’s all right now,” he said, trying to be gentle. “There’s no need to worry anymore.”
Shaking like a leaf in a gale, Hanami’s hands closed tight around her tail. A few dry sounds eked from her mouth, but no words would come.
“Did I say something wrong?” Zero held up his hands and cautiously backed away, giving her space. “Do you need help, or—”
“Best back up a few more paces, Takky,” said a new voice from a branch above them, languid and relaxed. “Look at her! She’s a cold-blooded killer, that one.”
Both squirrels’ heads snapped up to follow the voice, one considerably more alarmed than the other.
“Faun,” Zero sighed. “This might not be the best time.”
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