Leshy PoV
5000 Years ago
“Where we going?” I looked at the spider lady, Shamura, Mr.
Narinder called her.
“We are going to a friend’s home.
He took in Narinder shortly after his ascendance.”
“Is Mr.
Nari… Narin…”
“Narinder, and don’t call him Mr.
he doesn’t like honorifics.”
“Is he a god?”
“No, he’s the avatar of Herades.”
“Death?”
“Yes, he actually is supposed to take his place… rather odd.” She looked contemplative, “Herades apparently hates his role and is ready to pass the cycle.”
“Cycle?” What cycle?
The spider seemed to realize something, “My, that’s something you’re too young to hear about, just know, Narinder is eventually going to take his place.”
“Why does Mr.
Herades need place taking?”
“Hey, we’re here!” Ms.
Shamura dodged.
I hate when grownups dodge.
Narinder did a little dance and looked at a hut… it was massive, I’d never seen a house that big.
“Alright everyone, put your stuff in the shed.” Hekey and Kallma, Kall… Kallamar, right… put stuff in the… shed?
How was that a shed, it was way bigger than my old house.
“Can I keep Mr.
Lamby?” I held up my stuffed lamb.
“Yes, you can keep… Mr.
Lamby?”
“Yeah, my mommy named him, she said he works for the Cold Mother, who’d defend us from the mean Owl.”
Narinder and Shamura winced, “Oh… I see…”
I didn’t understand then, that the Cold Mother was a comrade to that accursed owl.
We entered the temple, I was amazed, it was massive and intricate, and at the center, a large pig.
A yellow eyed crown with three spikes gorged himself on pie.
“Ah, Narinder, you’ve returned.
Oh, you picked up another one?”
He stood up, and his belly bounced, but he was massive, like 8 Narinder’s stacked on each other, and Narinder was a little taller than my mom.
“What’s your name, little worm?”
“L-L-Leshy.”
“L-leshy?”
“Ah, wonderful, come eat, you’re so skinny.
You need to gain weight.”
Narinder nodded, “Yeah, he’s only eaten some fish I gathered, it was his first food in 10 days.
Would you mind if I make a room for him?”
“Narinder, why do you ask?
I told you, my home is your home.
After all, you’re going to be one of us, eventually.”
The Pig… Dionynir, was very nice, he gave a lot of food, and I couldn’t even eat it all, but he kept insisting until Narinder dragged me away.
I was content to lay down in a corner, and I even found a hole in the wall to curl up in, but Heket grabbed me with her tongue and pulled me to a room.
“Got him big brother!”
“Heket, just use your hands, he’s panicking.”
Her tongue unwrapped me, and Shamura threw a towel on me.
“What?”
“Even before frog saliva, you stink.
Sitting in the same spot for 10 days isn’t healthy, so you’re getting a bath.”
“Noooo!”
I crawled away, trying to escape the water.
My fur always clumped in water.
I didn’t want it to clump.
Narinder caught me and laughed, “Ah, I know that sucks, but hey, you definitely stink.”
Dionynir smiled, “Please, Narinder, Shamura told me you buried bodies, you’re going in too.”
We tried escaping from the ceiling, but Narinder’s claws couldn’t get through Shamura’s web before the pig got ahold of us.
Being dumped in the water, Shamura scrubbed with a brush, and used another arm with a comb to caress my fur, it felt nice, actually, like as though my mom was doing it.
Narinder on the other hand, Dionynir held him down while Heket and Kallamar scrubbed and avoided his thrashing claws.
He screeched and yowled… compared to that figure in the village, I wasn’t impressed.
After we were done, he hid in a corner, wrapped in a towel, and his tail flicked harshly.
Of course, after an hour, we were dry and I got robes, and Narinder also got robes.
They were hard to move in, so I just crawled.
Then, I heard a knock on the temple door.
Dionynir stood, “Alright kids, it seems a friend’s coming in, Leshy, stand, it’s a big guy.”
I stood up, then Dionynir addressed the door, “Come in, Haro.”
Then… Owl… Owl… Owl
I hid behind Narinder, remembering those… hunters… their faces flashing into my mind.
A paw, Narinder’s paw, it pat me, and I looked up to see Narinder glaring straight at the owl.
“Ah, Narinder, it is good to see you.
I did not know you had returned from your journey, are your siblings well?” Follow the newest chapters on novelping.com.
Narinder nodded, slowly, not moving his eyes off of the colossal avian.
“Yes, they are well.”
Haro’s eyes saw me, and his pupils thinned, making me shiver, “Oh, I see you have a pet, now.” A talon stretched out, but Narinder slapped it away.
“Leshy is a person, Haro.”
Dionynir spoke calmly, and warningly, “Narinder, calm.”
Haro sighed and one clawed hand pressed his face, “Child, I know you like them, but personizing animals does nothing good.
They’re not people, besides, especially as a future god, mortals already come and go, you can’t get attached to animals just because they’re cute.”
“He isn’t an animal.”
Haro pat Narinder’s shoulder, “come on, maybe you should teach him a trick later, that would make you feel better.”
Dionynir sighed, “Haro, get off the boy, he likes caring for people, it’s in his nature, after all, this is the 4th person he’s brought.”
Haro looked at the pig, “I suppose you’re right.”
“Anyways, what are you here for?”
“Ah, yes, Ygnya wants things.
Can we talk in your chamber?”
Dionynir smiled, “Yes, follow me.
Narinder, you come too, I can teach you interdeity interaction.”
Haro nodded, “quite wise, my friend, no better learning than on the job.”
Narinder hesitantly followed, but whispered something in Shamura’s ear before leaving.
Then, she picked all of us up, and Kallamar complained, “Shamura, I’m grown up, I can walk, myself!”
Shamura sighed, “Kall, you’re not even a teenager yet, let your big sister carry you until you’re too big.”
Then she placed them in rooms then brought me to a room, and put me in a bed larger than half of my old house, and stroked my fur with a brush.
Then, the spider began to sing.
“When the sun goes dark,
And the moonlight starts,
There lies the river of earth.
It flows and goes
And always knows
The call of the wild
As the star lights bright
In the dark of night
Everything goes to fly.
So say, do I
Come and lie,
At the base of the mother tree
This day and night
Come rest for fortnight
As the Cold Mother goes.”
A song about the Primal, the force that started this world, that every ascendant and god falls under.
I still remember every word, as I’d ask her to sing it each night.