A rat'kurr scratched at her scarred, blunt nose. Rearing back, startled, she scurried out of the path of traffic, clambering up the side of a rock pile, and squeezing her body into a space the size of her head. She vanished from snout to hairless tail, then poked her nose out once more to sniff the air.
Ed Archer and Venexx rode past on their mounts, daylight long past, guided by only the need to keep moving. Something over the horizon called them, pulled them along, and Venexx gladly succumbed to the lure of fate. Venexx had in fact once been fate, the force by which reality ebbed and flowed, but extenuating circumstances had left him voluntarily earthbound. He had no idea what had taken his place, and he had no interest in it at the moment.
Ed leaned forward on his kam'dass, eyes drooping. They had obviously passed into an uninhabited region, and the drain on his travel supplies was low. What more, though a supposed god, Venexx seemed to need just as much food and water as he did.
Venexx looked to Ed, then back into the distance at the thin golden line in the distance. A thumbnail of sunlight gradually rose and lit the world, revealing something curious in the distance. Barely noticeable was the faint swaying the breeze caused.
==
When Ed Archer had regained his composure, he tried to collect his thoughts. The only sounds were the rustlings of palm fronds and the slight trickle of some unseen water source as it flowed around the two travelers. The only sights he could comprehend were the brilliant colors assailing him. The smells, though, were numerous. Fresh, sweet, ranging from painful edibility to simple, startling purity.
Venexx did not seem too surprised, and only broke his silent contemplation to refocus his kam'dass away from the foliage and back towards the barely visible trail before them. The kam'dasses were not completely satisfied with the choices in unknown plants. The trail itself was less than a trail, and more like the only passable direction through the dense growth.
The first words out of Ed's mouth were not even in his native tongue.
"What the Hell?"
Venexx glanced to the young mortal and curled his smooth, scaly lips into a grin. The huumunn never failed to amuse, and as the sudden realization of what had caught the boy's attention came upon him, he leaned his head back to laugh brightly.
"I do not see what is so funny, fatespeaker."
"I just realized how dated I am. Nothing to worry about," Venexx said.
A wall of vines was woven before them, green ropes, spiraled with serrated, white threads. Ed dismounted, drew his knife, and hacked through them with several overhead strokes before leading his kam'dass through the foliage.
Huumunn
Ed knelt to feel the moist dirt and pushed forward, his eyes darting around to take in everything. Familiar was the best way he could describe it, though he had no idea what lay ahead. Except for grass. He knew there would be grass. Grass much greener than any of the plants he had seen up until this point in his walk.
Prodigal son
Ed smiled. He was happy.
Then stay
==
Ed Archer realized the voice was not his own, though he had once been accustomed to it always being in his head.
"She!"
He turned, sprinting past Venexx on kam'dass and found himself headfirst in a newly-sprouted barrier of razorvine and nettleweed. A glint of sunlight on metal and the wall parted. Ed pushed through and continued running.
If you are happy, then stay
"No!"
Ed stumbled, landing in sod and flowers. They burst open, assailing him with the loveliest of combined fragrances. He clawed at the ground to gain footing, and spun around, rapidly searching for the one vine he recognized as capable of assimilating a sentient being, namely him.
"I am She who brings joy. I am She who brings peace. I am She who brings unity."
The voice was clearer now, ambient, and the possibility of hallucination became less plausible. Venexx was gone. He was alone, and the same voice kept echoing around him, soft but ominous.
Ed ran in the other direction, towards the center of the jungle, blindly trying to escape the voice. Perhaps, if he ran into the flora, movement would be much easier. The walls of brambles and vines came more frequently, slowing him down as he progressed.
"Why do you hurt yourself like this?" the voice asked.
"You are hurting me..." he responded.
"I can not. I am She."
Ed had slowed to a stop now, and that which he had expected now came upon him. The vine was a dark, evil green, adorned with evenly spaced thorns as long as a huumunn thumb. It climbed, like ivy accelerated, up the length of the other vines holding him down, scratching at him, cutting him. He strained to stand, but found himself powerless to snap his restraints. His fingers brushed against a leather handle and he grasped his knife. With a flick of his wrist, the length of his blade slid into the She vine, halfway severing it. A twist and it fell to the earth. With teeth and blade, he tore himself free and went tumbling headfirst into a clearing.
"Boy. Stubborn little boy."
The inflection was vaguely familiar, but the voice was still She. He pulled himself to his knees, head snapping about like that of a trapped animal. On his feet once more, he went running along. Another statement stopped him.
"They are all here. The lost ones. The sad ones. The lonely ones."
"Not by choice. Not by choice!" Ed shouted.
His breath caught in his chest.
"Is this your destiny? Is this the end? Is this how Fate so easily changes his mind and decides for the flow of history to move towards the lesser of two finalities?"
A third voice, other than that of She and him. Venexx stood aside, watching.
Ed stood, looking behind him, and he stepped away. From behind Venexx, a barrage of assorted vines burst forth, bouncing along the ground and stretching for the huumunn. He turned and ran, diving into the lake that stretched out before him. Pulling himself along, as if second nature, rare for a desert strider to be so accustomed to water, he surfaced behind an overhanging ledge. He poked his head through the spray.
The vines skirted along the edge of the lake, thrashing and casting water into the air in a thin mist. Light trickled through it, refracting into multiple colors and images. A huumunn, dark, wearing weather-beaten clothes, strode along beside a young child, eyes alight with fascination and wonder.
==
The man sat on the dewy ground, legs crossed. The boy, with similar features, plucked a handful of grass and tossed it into the air. He rolled about on the ground, giggling and holding his hand up to the light. The point of view changed suddenly, to the eyes of the boy, hand in the air before his face, sunlight making his hands black with shadow, a corona of orange created by the membranes of his hands.
Ed watched, entranced, safe from She in the water for the moment, though he was aware of several floating flowers moving close to him as he stood there, one foot on the rocky floor beneath him. The images were his. From his own memories. He just had never known they were there.
Through the eyes of the child, the man displayed on the wall of water pulled a vine from his leg, then looked at his hand. As he stood, vines fell from his body. One he had to pull with great force, releasing a slow trickle of blood.
Without a voice, the child screamed, and the man lifted him, running from the clearing. Before the wall of water subsided, Ed saw the same vines which had pursued him before, and an adult hand fall over the full scope of vision.
He climbed up the pile of rocks, cemented with age and water erosion, and pulled himself to the top of the rock. He was in the center of it all, the heart of it. A single flower, a white faiff, oversized petals weighing it down on one side, had sprouted long ago from between the rocks. Its roots could be seen through the rocks, pulsating steadily.
"Lady's Heart," Ed muttered, prying the rocks up, knife held high.
Venexx, who had been enveloped by vines, stepped forth. He raised his hand and shouted, "No! Stop this! You will achieve nothing. Do you really want to destroy the body which binds the soul to this realm?"
Ed was taken aback somewhat, but without missing a beat, he hissed back, "One can not kill a goddess, Venexx."
Ed drove his knife into the rocks, leaving it erect, handle up.
==
The discussion was beyond the realm of syrynykk speech. The words of the race of reptiles speak in mere truths and revelations. Even their lies are revealing. Huumunns consider their lack of technical jargon a sign of primitive thinking. But this lack of adaptability reflects ubiquitous, undying existence. It speaks of what is. And, for syrynykk speech patterns, merely saying what is was not enough.
In communn, Venexx said, "The hands, the eyes, the lips, the voice of a goddess...and, most importantly, her immune system. That which keeps her healthy."
"What...? She is not a plant, is it?"
"She is. But She is, too, a part of the whole. Sabatt is dying of a disease. One of despair and destruction. And she refuses to admit her frailty, or the unwillingness of a world to bow to forced unity." Venexx put a hand on Ed's shoulder, who rose to his feet. He then spoke to the area itself. "Is this the way to bring happiness to the world?"
"Do you know any better? People kill without end, out of hate and desire. There should only be one desire. To be one, and to be loved," She spoke.
"It is not my place to make such decisions. And I seek answers from the soul, not the body."
A voice, identical to that of She, but with conviction and gentle authority, said, "I thrive through love, joy, and hope."
"Love and joy are here to be found, mother. And hope will grow with time."
"Until it does, I shall trust you to your own means."
Venexx nodded and looked to Ed. He nodded solemnly and said, "I shall stay here. We have matters to discuss."
Ed dove back into the water, swimming the length and rising onto the opposite shore.
Venexx watched him vanish into the jungle once again and tilted his head to the side. A female syrnykk in white robes, a garland of flowers draped across her body now stood there.
"You speak of hope. Do you have any, Venexx?"
Venexx smiled, tongue lashing out and back into his mouth. He said, "Yes, in the boy. Luck is on his side."