by Ther Renard
Ayla lifted her head. A tear rolled down her cheek. "I can."
Normine's expression crumpled, freckles turning to worry splotches. "Why aren't you happy?"
"Because it means I have lost again."
"I don't understand."
Ayla turned her gaze back to the water. "You could not be expected to."
"So explain it to me." Normine sat next to Ayla and nudged her with a muscular shoulder. "I'm not stupid, you know."
It took a long time for Ayla to reply. When she did so, it was with a sigh dredged from the very bottom of her being. "The lover you asked me about. She died fighting the Blood Witch."
"I'm sorry." Normine fidgeted for a moment. "If you knew... why did you let her fight the Blood Witch?"
Ayla smiled through watery tears. "I am old."
"So you let her die because you're old."
"I am old," Ayla said again. "Much older than any suppose me to be. And I have a task. It is a task I neither relish nor enjoy, but it is my task nonetheless."
"And that is?"
"Creation begets death."
Normine scratched her head. "I don't understand."
"All things begin with creation, but creation must have an end. That end we call death. In the beginning of the cycle there is much creation and little death. As time goes on, there is less creation, more death. In the end there is more death than can be borne. And from that destruction comes creation anew."
Ayla looked at Normine to see if she understood. A shrug from the shoulder indicated that she did not.
"The Blood Witch rises. She is the world eater. She consumes until there is nothing left to be consumed. Then the summoner comes. The summoner ends the Blood Witch. Creation is renewed, but the summoner is consumed in the act."
"And... so... you are... hmmm?" Normine shook her head. "I'm sorry I don't see..."
"The Blood Witch is eternal. The summoner is not. She arises out of creation itself, taking a different form every time. She is not born with the knowledge of what she is. It is my fate to find the summoner, to love her." She took a deep, ragged breath. "And each time the cycle ends, it is my fate to let her go. Every thousand years I fall in love, and every thousand years that love is taken from me."
Normine's jaw dropped, her lips curling down in dismay. "That's terrible."
"It is a curse and it is a joy. It is never easy. This time it is especially difficult." Ayla sniffed deeply. "I do believe I may be growing too old for this task."
"Then maybe it's time to turn in your broom, witch."
A new voice broke into the conversation, a voice that made Ayla whip around so swiftly she knocked Normine into the pond. She paid no mind to the soldier spluttering and splashing in the depths of the pond of tears, for her eyes were fastened on what appeared to her to be the most improbable sight in all the world.
"You."
"Me," Atrocious beamed, hands on her hips. "The very same."
It was Atrocious. From her dirty mussy braids, to her skinny elbows and her cute derriere, it was Atrocious. She was dressed in the ragged clothing she had been wearing the day they'd first met, scratched leather and worn cloth covered in all manner of stains.
In an instant, Ayla was flooded with the memories of that first day. Every possessive, loving, protective instinct came rushing forth, just as it had done the first time she laid eyes on the peasant thief with the unrepentant smile.
"But... you... the..." Ayla stammered. "You did battle with the Blood Witch. I must be... this must be a vision."
"It wasn't really a battle," Atrocious shrugged. "I creamed her."
Ayla's eyes were wide with confusion. Her voice rose with rare panic. "This is not possible. It is not possible for you to be alive."
"Why not?"
"Because... the cycle..."
"Yeah. I know. I'm supposed to...you know," Atrocious rested her weight on one leg and scratched her nose. "But see, there's a loophole."
"A loophole? No summoner survives the final summoning."
"I did."
"Atrocious... what did you do?" Ayla heard the chiding tone in her voice. She was faintly aware that she was on the verge of lecturing Atrocious for not being dead.
"I performed the final summoning. I was everything, and then everything was me. It was beautiful. I felt... I felt so big. I was everywhere, Ayla. I was spread across the whole of everything." A faint smile passed across Atrocious' face. "And there was a light. And I knew I could go into it if I wanted. I knew it would be nice there. But I wasn't done. There was something else to summon."
"Something else?"
"Me." Atrocious said simply. "I summoned myself." She grinned, transforming from enlightened to naughty in an instant. "It was probably against the rules, but here I am."
"You... come here..." Ayla reached out and grabbed Atrocious, drawing her into a fierce hug, rubbing her hands all over Atrocious' body in order to confirm her existence. "You are... you are really here. Oh my... I love you. I love you so much."
"I know," Atrocious beamed against her shoulder. "You're terrible at showing it, but I know."
Ayla wiped her eyes and held Atrocious out in front of her. "You survived the unsurvivable."
"Peasants are made tough," Atrocious shrugged. "Surviving is what we do."
"I am sorry." Ayla pulled her close and kissed her over and over, butterfly kisses numerous enough to cover her face. "You will never face anything like that again. I promise I will keep you safe. I will never allow anything to happen to you again, even if it is prophecy, even if the odds are insurmountable. I will never leave you to your fate. Never."
Atrocious shook her head. "I don't blame you for what you did, Ayla. You were doing your job. I understand that. We all did what we had to do. Some of us had a little more fun than others. But the end is going to come to us all eventually. You can't stop it. I can't stop it. One day, maybe a thousand years from now, one day I will end and one day you will end and the next day we will begin all over again. You need endings so you can have beginnings."
"Is that so?" Ayla quirked an amused brow. It was strange, to be lectured on the nature of everything by a muddy urchin who had broken the rules of existence.
"Oh yes," Atrocious replied. "I have seen the clockwork that makes this machine run. I know all that is worth knowing. I... OW!" She jumped and reached back to cover her bottom, which had been sharply smacked. "What was that for?"
"Getting ahead of yourself," Ayla smiled down at her. "Or above yourself. For one of those two things, or simply because I have so missed doing that."
"If we're going to talk about misbehavior..." Atrocious looked around Ayla and waved to Normine. "Maybe you should introduce me to your little friend."
"I'm Normine," Normine said, sticking her soggy hand out.
Atrocious shook it. "Hi, Normine, I'm Atrocious."
"I wouldn't say that," Normine replied. "You seem to make this witch very happy."
"As do you." Atrocious noted. "You've made her perhaps a little too happy." Atrocious looked at Normine steadily, then broke into a smile. "I can't stay mad at anyone who manages to spank Ayla."
Normine grinned. "She deserved and she needed it."
"I agree," Atrocious said, glancing at Ayla with a curious look on her face. "I've always wondered what it might be like to be in charge of this one..."
"Forget about it, bratling," Ayla said sternly. "That is not, and will never be how our relationship works."
"I recreated the world," Atrocious pointed out. "I think I can handle you."
"Let's see if you can recreate this smart bottom of yours once I'm done with it," Ayla replied, sweeping Atrocious over her knee.
Atrocious squealed and wriggled, but the witch had no intention of letting her loose. Nor did she have any intention of truly punishing her. It was all in the service of one thing: reaching Atrocious' end. And it was a lovely end. A rounded end. A curved end. An end that heaved and squirmed and danced very prettily when Ayla rained li
ght slaps upon it. Most of all, it was an end she loved with all her heart, and all her soul and all her strength. It was an end all of her own, an end she had not lost, in the end.
THE END