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 Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2016 3:15 pm
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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2016 3:17 pm
In the heart of the desert there are lessons that all children must learn. Water is the giver of life; without water all shall perish and turn to sand. The sand is ever changing; it will trick your feet into taking you far from where you wish to go. The night stars are your friends; their light will bring you where you need to be. The creatures of the night are your foes; they will kill you with the slightest pricking of the skin. Most importantly, the sun is death; do not linger in the light of the midday sun or you will be beyond salvation.
These wisdoms were passed down from the Great Ancestors of the small tribe of desert faring soquili and they were treated as law. Unlike many desert herds they never traveled. They had staked claim to the spring and the crumbling ruins around it. The spring gave them life and the stones sheltered them from the heat of the sun. Their fair coats let them all blend into the sands to hunt easily and what they couldn’t hunt they could grow with their waters. It was paradise.
One summer day one of the younger mares gave birth to twins: a boy and a girl. Both bore the traditional tails and sandy marks of all the generations that had come before them. They had even inherited the Jewels of the Gods that grew proudly from their foreheads. The celebration had lasted nearly a week. It had been generations since those rare jewels had been seen and they always meant great things for those that bore them. Their mother was given a place of honor in the herd and the children given the names Bikanel and Sanubia after the expanses of sand around them.
The twins were raised with every courtesy and even the harshness of the desert barely touched them. While others were made to work to ensure plants grew and hunts went well the twins were permitted to play. They didn’t need companions beyond themselves and their mother and for years they were quite happy.
Things changed when they were nearly at the age of betrothal. Sanubia and Bikanel had gone out into the hissing sands to play away from envious eyes and had fallen upon a scorpion sunning rock. Fearing for her younger brother Sanubia had attacked and killed every arachnid. She had been so preoccupied with killing them that she hadn’t noticed that her feet had erupted in flame.
Both of the twins were in such shock at the discovery that they didn’t make it home until nightfall. They had always been known to cause a stir in the herd just by their existence but that night something changed. People recoiled when they drew near, not out of admiration but of fear. The twins retired to their usual resting place, tired from their long day, and while they slept the elders conferred.
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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2016 3:18 pm
At first light the twins were awoken from their slumber by the priestesses that interpreted the will of the gods. They smiled wide smiles at Sanubia and informed her that she was to be wed that day when the sun was at its highest point. Bikanel had no time to ask who she was marrying before Sanubia had been forced from his side and taken deep into the ruins. Ordinarily a wedding was arranged months in advance to allow for proper planning and they were never done in the middle of the day but always at dusk when it was not so hot. Bikanel tried to meet with the priestesses and his mother about it but all requests were denied by the presence of the elders who only insisted that it was fine.
Bikanel could only wait for the time of the wedding when the family would be collected for the ceremony. No one ever came. Fueled by concern for his sister he forced his way into the priestess’s quarters to speak with his mother. She looked weak and her cheeks were wet with tears. All she could say was that the marriage was complete and Sanubia was the wife of the Sun itself.
If he had been capable Bikanel would have burst into flames himself. He bolted to the room where he knew they would be keeping Sanubia, the Shrine of the Sun. The priestesses tried to stop him but he was faster than they were and more determined. He didn’t care how much of the ruins he wrecked in his wake, how many artifacts he shattered, or how many of the fools that got in his way he injured.
All that mattered to him was stopping Sanubia and stop her he did. He found her with her bridal finery in the Shrine of the Sun staring at an upended earthen jug before her. Her eyes were wet.
“Just kill it like you killed the others.” Bikanel said to her, glaring at the jug. He knew what lay beneath it. It would be a scorpion, one with the most potent venom on its sting. No mortal could marry a god but a spirit could.
“They said I’m supposed to be honored.” Sanubia replied nudging the jar with one paw. “I don’t feel honored.”
Bikanel didn’t argue with his sister or try to persuade her to come with him. There wasn’t time for it and it wasn’t needed. He went to her side, nuzzled her neck and said two words, “Let’s leave.” Before dashing out into the freezing desert night with his sister right by his side. It hurt them to leave their mother but there was no time to go back and get her. They took nothing with them but the gold, jewels, and wedding cloth that Sanubia wore. It would be a long, grueling journey through the desert that neither of them were prepared for but Sanubia was alive and Bikanel was there with her. Somehow they’d make it through. Somehow.
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