Kali

The frosty interaction stuck with Kali as she went about her duties caring for Merry, her prized palomino. Something had changed inside Silver Night Mine, and Kali no longer felt the attraction she had towards Matilde, her leader and lover. She brushed through Merry’s mane gently, slowly, taking her time to be with her thoughts. To think about what her lack of desire meant. She still felt something, but it wasn’t the fiery, spicy attraction that burned through her when she spied on Blaire. Matilde had seemed completely put-out at the rejection but Kali was sure she would recover her pride again swiftly enough. Her stomach growled with a bubbling sensation that drew Kali’s thoughts from Matilde to Lowri and the lake full of fish.

The young one did well for a first timer. She caught five sizeable fish and only ruined one with over-zealous stabbing, although Dani was able to cut out a few chunks of meat from its obliterated body. She received a great many back slaps and shoulder squeezes for her efforts. Kali had never been so glad to eat anything. As long as it wasn’t troll meat, she could guzzle it like a dog drinking water in the summer months.

Their dinner discussion quickly turned to the engravings Lowri had spotted upon the boulders by the water they had washed in. They were the symbols of Crystallinity, but Kali did not tell her that. She enjoyed watching the young maid irritate Magali with her child-like wonder. It had returned full-force since her success with fishing. Magali sighed and rolled her eyes after having confirmed that the markings were, in fact, those of Crystallinity.

“I have no interest in that ridiculous religion, and I don’t know why you think I would be the one to educate you on it. Take my advice - don’t get involved in Crystallinity.”

Despite being a crystal collector herself, Dani still did not break her usual silence to defend her religion. Kali did believe she could see a slight down-turn to her lips, though.

“I thought most mages followed the teachings of Crystallinity?” Matilde enquired carefully. It was unusual for their great leader to be heard speaking in such a tone, but Kali could guess it may be fatigue rather than tact.

Magali sighed as though this was not the first, second or tenth time she had been asked this question. “That is a common misconception. There is a large group of mages who believe in Crystallinity that specialise in enchanting, but in other divisions it is not so cared for.”

“Is enchanting not one of your divisions?”

“It is, but I do not believe in our lives being set before us as a series of planned events, that every person is born for a specific purpose, that there is no free will because our entire existence is a carefully crafted storyline that cannot be altered.”

“Surely you believe in the energy exchange aspect of Crystallinity?” Matilde clarified between mouthfuls.

“I believe in energy exchange in terms of enchantments and the functioning of the world around us. It would be foolish not to believe that energy is being exchanged constantly in the forms of heat and gas and the very food that we consume. I do not, however, believe that crystals imbue us with sacred energies simply by being crystals.”

“Are crystals not needed to enchant items with energies?”

“Crystals act as conductors and containers when used to enchant, they are not a creator or a source.”

“But surely other enchanters know this, so why do they believe?”

“You will have to ask them. I do not associate with such people.”

“Why do any religious people believe in their faiths?” Kali mused.

“Kali, you should be able to answer that yourself. You are religious,” Matilde reminded her with a tone full of exasperation. “You follow Star Gods rituals, do you not?”

“Not necessarily because I believe in them. I acknowledge only the most important festivities and practice only the most basic ceremonies.”

“I did not witness you pray once while we were confined to that mine,” Blaire said with a light layer of accusation.

“You cannot pray to the stars if you cannot see them.” In actuality, it was the stars which needed to see you, but she decided against explaining the deeper meaning and fables behind the Star Gods and their demands. In the cavern, the only opening to the sky had been directly above the pool of water which was fed from the rain pouring in for most of their entrapment. She could see the reflections of the stars occasionally when the water was still enough. But she would have needed to walk to the centre of the waist-deep water to pray if she wished the Star Gods to see her, and she did not think the group would take kindly to her wading into their drinking source.

“Is that genuinely how this religion works, or is she playing one of her little lie games?” Magali asked. It was apparent from her tone that she had not enjoyed Kali’s attempt to lift the mood with ‘the lie game’ inside the cavern.

Lowri was so gullible that the lie game had actually become rather boring after a few days. Although that did not mean that Kali had become bored of the girl herself; in fact, she had rather enjoyed her company while on her excavation team. They were four years apart, but the naivety in Lowri was staggering. It was very interesting to talk to her about her farm and the nearby village, the complete and utter lack of luxuries she had lived with for her first nineteen years of life. And yet, she seemed completely oblivious to the fact that she, at least from what Kali had gathered, had grown up in a household which skimmed above poverty by the skin of their teeth.

“Wait a moment,” Eudora interjected. “You practice the religion because you… do not believe in it?” she questioned slowly.

Kali snorted in laughter and surprise as she realised she was being addressed. “It is habit,” she answered honestly. “My family are genuine star followers, as is the community they live within.”

Lowri cleared her throat gently, letting her spoon drop in her bowl. “My… my family are star followers too,” she said.

“Oh?” Lowri had not mentioned this during any of their long digging talks.

“I have never been to a shrine though, and we only worshipped from our home-”

With a wave of her hand, Kali cut her off. She said, “You believe, no?”

Lowri nodded earnestly.

“Then that is enough,” Kali assured her.

The older women seemed shocked by her uncharacteristic sincerity, and it offended Kali just a little. She ignored their expressions of confusion and suspicion, though. She had her reasons and it was not for them to decipher them.

Once their utensils had been cleaned and stored, and the fire had been fed, Kali sought out Lowri in her shabby tent. The young woman was bent over to keep the high point of her frohawk from grazing the low-hanging material when Kali poked her head through the limp opening.

Lowri raised her head curiously, bumping it on the roof in her haste.  

“I will be saying prayers under the stars tonight if you wish to join me,” Kali whispered, as though they were sharing a scandalous secret.

A nervous smile burst onto her cherub-like cheeks. “Oh, I would love that,” she said quietly. “But I do not know all of the rituals an-”

Once again, Kali flicked her hand to interrupt the girl’s worries. “Do not fret, child. I can show you.”

Lowri’s grin dropped slightly and her brow creased. With pinched lips, she asked, “Why are you being so kind to me? I thought you did not even believe in the Star Gods.”

Kali huffed but could not keep a mild grin from her face. The child was at least a little more perceptive than she had given her credit for.

She gave a resigned sigh before responding. “Can you keep a secret, child?”

Lowri nodded, dark eyes round. Kali checked her surroundings for prying ears.

“My younger sister is in training to become a priestess of the stars,” she admitted. “She is not much older than you in fact.”

“You are not much older than me,” Lowri retorted, her expression straight as an arrow.

“Would you like my guidance or not?”

“Yes, please.”

“Good. And as for why I am being so kind, it is not for you. It is for Bala.” Kali knew as she spoke the words, they were only a half-truth. She could feel the soft spot growing in her chest for Lowri. There was a sweet and excitable energy that exuded from her; it was incredibly likeable.

“Your sister’s name is Bala?”

Instead of answering the question, Kali hissed, “Perhaps I owe her a few favours, and perhaps I feel helping you pray to her gods may be a start in repayment. Now, hurry along. I am very much looking forward to climbing into my bedroll and neither you nor the gods will keep me from it.” Although her tone did not sound quite as venomous aloud as she had intended it to.

She stepped back from the tent and Lowri scrabbled out after her, eager to learn how to communicate with the gods the correct way.