“This is a disappointment.” Nadya said, and sat back down.

“Agreed. Rekke has food, but hoards it. They fish, and could trade with other towns, but they do not. Cirrus does the same thing, and both towns have destroyed their temples long ago.” Solange growled and tapped the wall.

“Where to, Mistress Solange?” The coachdriver asked.

“Gasina is south of here. Head there, Keerla. I believe there are a few more major cities between here and the old capital of Asmaria.” Solange looked at Ari.

“Yes. If we follow the coast, there is Shalwan, Omvir, Orym, and Kharis is right in the middle of that ring. Even Jhandar was once Asmarian before the Digallan invaded from the west.” Ari listed off the names, and looked at Solange.

“Keerla, keep in mind those locations. Ari has been accepted by the Empress. If you see any actions against our carriage, call in as many squads as you deem appropriate to show the strength of our Empress. Not as many as necessary, but a show of strength.” Solange said firmly.

“Understood, Mistress Solange. Haven will show them enough strength to make them soil their britches.”

 

*****

 

“What do you think?” A hooded lone woman said in a whisper.

“They are Asmarian, but there is a hint of danger about their figures.” An ordinary woman said from a kitchen. “What did they seek?”

“The old temple. They were angry when they saw the ruins.”

“Really?” The woman outside waited for a few moments. “Asmarian. Angry about the temple in ruins.” Again, she waited for the words that would follow. “Head east, and send someone west. Find out where they’ve been, and where they are going. Soldiers unafraid to show their heritage should be respected, and feared.”

“Understood, my lady.” Iuna disappeared into an alleyway, while the one she called ‘my lady’ smiled a little.

“Has she returned after all this time?” She said softly, then turned her head. “What word is there, Seer?” An old blind woman came out of the living room.

“The goddess looks at Old Asmaria with anger. The Great Temple is occupied again.” The old woman spoke, and kept her thoughts silent. There were many reasons for the goddess to look at Asmaria with anger.

“The Great Temple? The ones where our sisters were Offered?” She asked quietly.

“Yes.”

“What should we do?” The ‘lady’ asked. Her ancestral line could be traced far back in time, and many of her ancestors were involved with the temples.

“What we have always done. Wait. We won’t have to look for her. She will find us.” The old woman turned in the doorway to return to the other room.

“She. You mean the goddess.” The ‘lady’ pursed her lips.

“No. Not the goddess. The goddess is ancient, wise, and patient. The one I see is a slumbering shadow. Blood red mists that hunger. Eyes black, but ever changing. Red. Molten metal, and molten rock. She will let me see no more.” The old woman’s blind eyes closed. She could feel an anger from that shadow, and by the hour, the anger grew. She could also feel a vengeful intent aimed their way.

“You’re frightened.” The ‘lady’ said in surprise. “You’ve never been scared of the goddess before.” The ‘lady’ left it unsaid that the Seer now basically waited for death to release her from life.

“If you could see what I have seen, you would be frightened too.”

The old lady shivered and returned to the living room. The image of death that approached made her skin feel cold, while the chill seeped into her bones.

Lips that smiled, yet did not. Teeth flashed and hid the darkness that poured out. Like a monstrous beast, those teeth severed spines, gorged on viscera, and bit cleanly through the skulls of the enemy.  And it did so happily.

The feminine figure that looked enticing from a distance, was lined with blood red lines, blackened wings, and long sinewy swords in each hand.

A demon approached from the north, and she was hungry.

 

*****

 

“What did you find?”

“They stop at all the old temples. Two always hide their eyes behind a veil. There is another within the carriage who is not Asmarian, but someone who struck their fancy.” Iuna spoke softly so her voice would not carry as the woman within the house looked casual, and unconcerned.

“What did she look like?”

“A descendant of those stolen from Caeda. Plump, and heavy chested.”

“So, she was similar to the ladies in the carriage.” The ‘lady’ said softly.

“Yes. They never stop to purchase supplies, like they have their own inside that carriage.”

“Interesting. Iuna. Take this letter. Put it in the hands of the coachdriver. Do not let yourself be seen.” The ‘lady’ said.

“I understand, my lady.” She waited until the one in the kitchen left, pulled the letter into her robes, and left the area. No one could see Iuna take the letter as she had a trick where she could use her hands without her robe moving in any way. After she left, she didn’t see the ‘lady’ cautiously sit near the old blind woman.

“You have seen her again.”

“Yes. Someone not the goddess, but she wields untold power. Her shadow is closer. Favored by the goddess, but not her. Angry and terrifying.” The old woman said.

“Did she say anything?”

“The old ways are not dead. That which has no purpose has no reason to exist.” The old woman shivered.

“The old ways. The ways of the goddess.”

“Yes.” The old woman spoke less and less these last few days. She was frightened like never before. She trusted the goddess, but the one she saw could laugh while angry, and her black eyes followed her into her dreams.

“Serves no purpose. The nobles?”

“No. Us. Asmaria. No Offerings from the ones who say they worship the goddess.” The old woman started to shiver. “None for hundreds of years. Just the Death Squad on the sands.” As the Seer trembled at the approaching shadow’s rage, the lady nodded indifferently.

“We haven’t had an altar in hundreds of years, and no temple. We could make no Offerings.” The lady said it simply, but that was the lie they told themselves, and that it would be acceptable as long as it were true in their hearts.

“No Offerings because we have no temple?” The old lady frowned, and looked at the ‘lady’. “Your mother made the same excuse. The temples were destroyed seven centuries ago. The Offerings stopped four centuries ago. She does not accept the excuse.” The old woman looked at the ‘lady’, and her eyes narrowed.

“Make your choice. Either stand with Asmaria, or walk with the goddess. If you skirt the border of both when she comes, she’ll push you from the border into her enemy’s camp.” The old woman’s words were not harsh, but they still made her flinch.

Her family line had always been either temple guardians, or priestesses, but when the Digallan Empire invaded and destroyed the temples, they had to retreat underground. Since that time, they’ve walked the line of diplomats, and kept their thoughts of the goddess private.

The Offerings stopped a few hundred years ago, but she always assumed that the goddess would take them to her side when they died. She had that belief in spite of the fact that the male members of her family now ruled the temple at the top, and abused the women beneath them. Men were never a part of the goddess’ plan.

“Does that mean what I think it means?”

“Reading the rules is not the same as living by them.” The old woman’s words were not the goddess’s. That one who approached them from the shadows would whisper to her from time to time.

There were no words of comfort, or compassion. Only disgust at their lack of conviction. The closer the shadow came, the words in the whisper became harsher.

Death casts its shadow, and she could feel it come closer by the day. The hardest thing for the old Seer to understand was that the one who approached felt even more powerful then the goddess.

The being that approached was only a shadow of the real one. Or a shadow of a shadow.