The Constant Star (42)

THE STORY SO FAR

“Dearest elders, I was camping by the End Forest four nights ago. My joy of tracking and exploring, and my hope of finding a path through the forest to discover the rumoured Door of the Gods keeps me there regularly. This morning I was up before light and spending my first hours looking to the sky and praying to the gods. Then I saw a vision, like a piece of the sky was erased before my eyes. I saw the home of the gods manifested above me, far overhead. A section of Elysium itself shown to me. It was massive and glorious. Then after a short while it was gone.

“I sat staring at the stars wondering what it meant. Why such a thing was shown to me. And it was then I saw my second vision: a silhouette of a person was coming to the earth beneath a giant wing. I watched her descend from the heavens, from above the mountains. There is nowhere else she could have come from but the gods. I thought it was just a vision until I saw her crash into the trees.

“I knew I had to act quickly or the forest would take her, so I rode to the tree-line and left my horse, Callio, to wait for me where he would not be eaten. I took my spear and ran to where I thought she would be, and there I found her: tied to an oak tree by the wing she flew beneath. I cut her loose and noticed her wound. She was very weak, so I knew I had to help her leave the forest before the monsters found her. I didn’t have time, however; I knew a beast was upon us. I hid her in a ditch I have used in the past, and tried to lure the creature away with my scent and noise. But it did not follow me. I knew then that I had to return and fight whatever monster it was, and do what I could to protect our visiting goddess. And that is when I witnessed a miracle.

“I arrived at the site with my spear ready. It was a torren that had found her, but it had not harmed her at all. It simply…sat next to her. As if standing guard. When it saw me it rose and growled but did not attack. I approached slowly and it backed away, allowing me to lift Siff from the ground. It followed us to the edge of the forest and then left as we passed the tree-line. I hurried her to my campsite, but my medicines were not strong enough to help her. That is when I brought her here. Three days ago this morning.”

“That is quite a wondrous story, young Lucas. Do you have any proof of her godhood beyond what you say to have happened? Sometimes our minds can play tricks on us, that is why we must explore every possibility.”

“Of course, my elder. Here. More proof that she is not from this realm. These are the garments she was wearing when she came to us. There are none like them anywhere. What materials made these? She was wearing cloth garments underneath them. I believe she may have wanted to appear as one of us, but her crash caused her plan to unravel.”

“These are definitely strange garments. I have never seen their like. If a torren had let her live, and you indeed saw such a wondrous vision, she could indeed be a goddess come to us. What did you call her?”

“Siff. She told me her name is Siff.”

“Siff. I have never heard of this god. Though that does not mean she is not one of their number. For they are many that protect us and guide us to Vesta. What say you others?”

“Wise One. If she is indeed a god, should we not prepare a holy place for her?”

“And if she is not, we would be blaspheming the true ones. I say we wait for her to wake. If she survives we will have saved a god and be blessed, or we will have saved a human and be blessed. But if we worship a human we will be cursed. Let us be cautious.”

“Who says we will be blessed? What if she is a god cast out and now we have saved an evil?”

“Even if she is evil, perhaps the gods sent her to us to help her find her way. Perhaps as a test so that saving her will still cause us to be blessed.”

“Maybe she was sent to us, to teach us.”

“Maybe she was sent? Maybe she was cast out! Maybe in his goodness our Lucas has brought a fallen god into our home! Maybe he has doomed us all to wrath!”

“Calm my fellow elder. No wisdom will come from fear.”

“Apologies, Wise One. I will hold my temperament.”

“Let us see her now.”

“Wise one, she is still recovering. She may not wake.”

“All the same, let us see her.”

Siff hears several people shuffle inside her small room. Even with her eyes closed she can feel everyone looking at her. Awkward. Super. Awkward.

“She looks no different from us. And the fact that she was wounded may prove she is not a god.”

“But the vision and the garments and the torren…”

“Yes, young Lucas, those do indeed support the argument for her godhood. We can only pray that she wakes soon so we can know better who and what she is.”

Well, I guess now’s as good a time as any…

Siff cracks her eyes open and takes a deep breath. It hurts surprisingly less than she thought it would. Rubbing her eyes so she can see, she gazes back at those now staring at her. An elderly group of five men and women wearing brightly colored fabrics watch her silently. Another man in his thirties stands to the side

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