The utter stillness was disturbing. That the stone effigy deep in the Temple of the Unknown displayed more life right now than the actual goddess it tried to emulate. Still, during that time, Kynier did not move from his position. Nor did he take his gaze away from her unblinking eyes. Silently he waiting through the goddess stillness. Was this typical behavior for a divine being? There were no twitches of movement or blinking of the eyes. The was so… un-mortal. Kynier could not even gage if she was simply contemplating his question. The shadows themselves were still and quiet.
Without warning, the deity began to move and speak again. As though somehow she had experienced a laps in time and was unaware that she had been so utterly still for so long. Wasted? The goddess words were not harsh but there was a clear disappointment to them. And a harsh critique of his capabilities was given before she reached out and touched his shoulder. He had expected to receive a description with words. Instead, he was infused with djed from a divine being.
At her touch, power coursed through him. Kynier could not even gasp in surprise as djed of an intensity and magnitude he could not prepare for. With it, a veil that had been laid over the world he never notice before was lifted. Words echoed in his mind. Azalivasta Suvakina. Images of Mizahar, other worlds, and other dimensions coursed through his mind. A montage of a millennia of memories ran through his mind. Of places lost to time and lost to the Valtarrian in languages long dead to the mortals of this realm. The entirety of the cosmos filled his mind with its secrets.
Something that gods sought. All of them had an awareness of it and yet it eluded each of them. As Kynier delved deeper into the gifted understanding to truly see, the goddess removed her hand. The All-Knowledge was stripped away from him as the divine djed left his body. As though he had been holding his breath for an hour, Kynier gasped for air and fell onto all fours at the goddess’ feet. Kynier looked up at her in time to see her shaking her head at him. As though he were just a child of hers that had done nothing wrong yet was still a bitter disappointment.
A warning was given with a firmness to the voice that he was more familiar with coming from those divine lips. Then she expressed further disappointment, this time about the task that she had granted to the Nightstalkers. An indirect threat was given before the shadows expanded then compressed around the divine being, taking her from sight. The air felt bland in her absence. Ambient djed no longer surrounded him and left his body shuddering in the cold of night.
Kynier’s eyes were locked on the place where the goddess had been only ticks ago. Anger decorated his face. It was always the same no matter who he bid respect to. Choices were freely given to him and yet he was scolded for the choice he made. Being ridiculed and having his potential measured and deemed lacking. Kynier sought to serve and be of more assistance. To show interest and desire in her domain. And she just treated him as another mortal, expecting selfishness.
He was human. He would die. What would be the point in taking a divine’s insight into… what? “Better you life here”? Unless he found Areena’s most significant artifact, he would perish and reenter the cycle of reincarnation. This life would end and change a thousand times before then. Make it better? Kynier staggered to his feet and grasped the railing for stability. His body was loose with euphoria from the influx of power and its sudden departure. He tried to grasp at the memories, the understanding of what he had been shown. But it was all gone. All that remained were two words which echoed in his mind. Azalivasta Suvakina.
Word Count: 671
Credit for the boxcode goes to Luminescence!
