Warrior of the Void Book 1, Chapter 29

She didn’t make it two rooms away before she heard the sound of talons scraping against the walls. Chancing a look behind her, she saw the silver bird following after her with a jaunty step.

“And good day to you too.” Muur sighed with a wry chuckle, twirling around fully to prop her shoulders against a windowsill, her tail curled and ready to propel her through the glass. “So to rethread where we left off last time: You cool with me calling you Himiko?”

The creature didn't answer Muur. It continued to silently approach her, one step after then next. Not even shrugging or nodding in acknowledgement, simply walking towards her as its talons drew scars along the surfaces it walked by.

“Aight, Himiko it is.” The lizard woman said with a nod, as though the monster wasn’t getting way too close for comfort.

She got the impression of a smile coming from the blank mask of the creature. One that was anything but reassuring… Sure enough, when it crossed the threshold of the room she was in, the corvid sprinted forwards with its arms open wide, as if wanting to grab Muur in a parody of a hug.

Before it could though, something under the dreamer gave out and she found herself tipping backwards, her last thoughts being that perhaps she’d traded one predator for another before darkness swallowed her and—

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Something being pressed against her cheek was the first thing that she felt, “Hey wake up, heeeeeeey,” The second was her roommate’s voice being whispered in her ears, “...Well, if you’re not waking up–” 

And lastly was something wet poking her cheek.

The first thing her foggy brain and rheumy eyes did was, of course, to lash out blindly with her tail. The sound of a slap and a yelp of surprise told her she’d gotten a clean hit on her tormentor. Opening her eyes, she saw a room almost identical to the one she’d been sleeping in these last few days. The only thing differentiating it from it being the general clutter of it.

This was no room kept clean and pristine to accommodate whoever it happened to host. Instead, it was one where people clearly lived their day to day lives. From her bed, she could see a well worn desk, two wooden shelves covered in books and scrolls framing it as a painting of a hyur man and elezen woman, both gazing lovingly at the child the latter was holding, hung above it.

Muur knew that if she craned her head a tiny bit to the right, she would see another bed, a half full laundry basket resting at its foot. While at its head was another shelf, this one covered in a myriad of knick-knacks. These things and more belonged to her roommate, in contrast, her side of the room was a barren wasteland.

Where the third shelf stood at the end of the bed, for her it was a desk. Certainly not a new one. But it was empty, holding none of the warmth of one being regularly used. Similarly, opposite to the other desk were her own shelves. All three of them just as empty as the desk she’d been assigned.

“Good morning to you too, squirt.” Muur muttered once the adrenaline had finally drained out of her, a roll of her neck working its way down her spine as she limbered up and dragged herself out of bed.

Orliane gave Muur a half-hearted glare from where she was rubbing at her hips, “Whatever you say, miss ‘I slept through five minutes of being told to wake up’,” Cutting her grumbling short, she turned back to her bed and picked up the clothes laying on top of it, “Mom’ll be there in half a bell or so to take us to breakfast. Gonna be changing in the bathroom.”

“Aye aye.” The lizard wizard said absentmindedly, much more worried about how she was going to explain the whole visions of the Void thing to the Guildmasters than mealtime.

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“–And what happened after this?” The Guildmaster asked.

“I was yanked out of the vision by Orliane finally giving up on yelling and shaking me and instead throwing a hunk of ice at me.” Muur finished her recounting with an awkward cough. Not her most shining moment, that. Worse, she may need to actually thank Orliane for it.

“I see,” looking up from the scroll he had been taking notes on, his eyes lingered on Muur for a time, “Allow me to be as frank as I am capable. I do not believe there is anything to your worries. The thought of you travelling to the Void, ostensibly as a soul, wherein you faced trials and fiends hungering for your – what did it say again… aetherblood? – in a word: preposterous.”

He allowed his words to hang in the air for a moment before shaking his head, “I am however, not so afflicted with a prideful heart as to dismiss your words. My mastery extends to the texts of law, and the theological nuances of the Twelves. Nothing so complicated and esoteric as the Void, the soul and the sickness that held you in its throes,” Neatly folding the scroll back into his bundle, Muur caught sight of words written on the back of it: ‘–It is by the Sultana’s grace that–’ or some such, but they were gone far too quickly for her to see anything more, “With that in mind, I will relay your words to my brothers when comes the time of our luncheon with her Holiness the Prioress. No doubt that Cocobuki and Cocobani will be far more capable of piercing through the veil of these visions.”

“All I can ask for, at the end of the day.” Muur sighed with a bob of her head. She’d been careful to frame everything as it being her experiences and mostly being concerned about how vivid and consistent these happenings were, but even so. She’d come dangerously close to being called a raving lunatic. 

Cocobahi gave her a non-committal nod, “Now, for your tasks today. I believe you’ve mentioned to Priestess Olfane that you had a meeting with your alchemical overseer after lunch?”

“That is correct. I didn’t expect your plans to get me to join a tradescraft to shake out quite like that, but I can’t say I’m unhappy about it.” The lizard wizard said with a soft chuckle. It’d been pretty chaotic, but a good time all around in retrospect.

“You’d be surprised at how many initiates find themselves a passion like this,” The diminutive Guildmaster said with a shrug, “For some, it takes years before they begin to adopt a craft as their own. For others, a single glance is enough for them to be enraptured. Oftentimes, it is said that the latter were guided by the Twelve themselves. That the gods whispered to them that this was the path their life was to take– the arguments on whether it was the Twins or Byregot that did so are as endless as the stars in the skies. In any case, in regards to this meeting, we will only ask you to participate in the Ossuary’s workings this morning. Here, your list of tasks.”

Handing her a small note, Muur saw that there was a single thing written on it: ‘Do as Priestess Mamane asks of you’.

“Hah! Fair enough.” The horned woman said with a bark of laughter, before starting to move to take her leave, “Good wind and new sails, Guildmaster.”