by Orr, Krystal
Also, to help curb the headstrong tendencies of both women, Aitla sent the spirit of Iolirthas to the physical plane to watch over Arizira and Talliea. Again the need for secrecy was paramount. The gods' power, though infinite, could not sway completely the free will of mortal minds capable of thought.
Influencing events was the extent of both Aitla's and Esuval's power. The rest of their plan relied solely on the actions of Talliea and Arizira and their friends. When Iolirthas showed Lao'dahn the path that was true, the action was a last effort to bring about the fruition of needed events. Talliea's separation from Arizira was needed. Arizira's time with Cynra and Taetylona was needed.
Every event that came to pass after Lao'dahn found Talliea and Arizira was a small drop in the ocean whose ripples generated effects far into the future, for Aitla had known of Talliea's reluctance to accept herself. She had been aware that a child of Esuval was to be stubborn and defy a change she did not understand.
Arizira's death, though tragic and overwhelming, was to be the catalyst for Talliea acknowledging and accepting all the parts of herself she had tried to overlook. Once her power had been awakened, nothing could stop it. By healing Arizira, and in essence bringing her back from the brink of death's kiss, Talliea had further established the bond the two of them shared.
Unlike Tareya's power of old, Talliea's power was to be different, as both gods would influence it. The infinite ability that resided in her power was not to be hers alone. She would be able to direct it, but she would have no full control over its extent. That power would be Arizira's. The Child of Whispers, gentle in Aitla's grace, would be the silent force within a force. The eye of the storm.
She would temper Talliea's inherent fervor and ardor and passion, traits shared and revered by all Esu. Where Talliea would be power and violence and strength, as Esuval's chosen, Arizira would be peace and serenity when those things were called for. Talliea would be the hand of retribution, Arizira, she who would pass judgment in the names of authority and integrity.
Untold power would be at Talliea's command, but the gift would live in Arizira. Arizira would not be able to call upon the power, but she would be immune to its affects and be able to influence its outcome.
This unique sharing of power was to be Aitla and Esuval's insurance that the past would not repeat in the present. Tareya's power had been undivided unto herself. She alone had been in control of it. Of Esuval's punishment and fury. Complete power always corrupts completely.
For Talliea and Arizira, Aitla blessed this power of the Sun with her own power. This blessing provided both Arizira and Talliea with a portion of the gods' favor, yet neither would be able to tarnish or disgrace such a gift. Both would share in it. Both would be needed to call upon its effects, yet neither would possess, wholly, the ability to command it.
Through this beautiful exchange, this sharing of power, destiny, and spirit, the Doira'Liim connection was reborn…
Arizira released an awed breath as the images and information faded from her mind's eye. Nearly every question she had desired an answer of for so long now had an answer. She recalled ever breath she had taken with Talliea over the past several months and, again, was struck with how interwoven events had been. She now understood her life in ways that had not been known to her before.
She met D'jiira's penetrating gaze and was overcome with how well she now knew her mother. Not just D'jiira, but Iolirthas as well. Her connection to Talliea was overwhelming to her now. She understood it completely. The simple attraction that had compelled her to follow Talliea, that which had been so unassuming before, now was a moment in her life she knew was forever defining.
Every word whispered, every soft caress enjoyed, had been but a step further toward this possible outcome. The gods had gifted both her and Talliea with potential. They had blessed them with a connection long before they had ever met. Yet, everything else that had transpired between them had been because of them. They had chosen to trust one another when their languages had each still been unknown. They had followed something foreign between them when war had been but a distant possibility.
They had chosen to confide in each other; to rely on each other; to find peace and fulfillment in each other, and when they had fallen in love and expressed themselves, such had been the only action they could never have denied.
Even after their separation and subsequent reunion, it had been the two of them who had eventually decided together to embark on a journey and a quest so full of unexplained, unidentified, and uncharted variables. The gods had blessed them with power and a destiny, but it had been the two of them who had chosen to accept those responsibilities. Their free will, along with the gods' influence, had resulted in the suspended moment of history Arizira now found herself in.
Always, she had believed herself no different than her sisters. Though whispers about her nature and her appearance had always abounded, Arizira had never paid them half a mind. She was simply Arizira Ahmanae, yet now she understood the truth of the words always spoken of her. She was touched by Aitla. Her tribe, having recognized the unique spark inherent in her, though not understanding how they knew, had simply named her accordingly and paid her a measure of respect.
She knew, as she looked down at her hand entwined with Talliea's, that she would have found her failira even without the gods' help. The two of them had been born to meet. They had been destined to fall in love. Whether or not they would have followed their destiny and reunited their peoples was not known. Arizira wondered how her life would have been had she and Talliea run away like they once had planned.
What would have happened had they not been separated? If Cynra had not kept information from her? If Markahn had stopped Lao'dahn from venturing out on his own?
In every scenario, Arizira discovered that the one thing that could not change was her being with Talliea. They would have found a way, regardless of their peoples' hate, to be together. Now, however, she realized that this present was her destiny all along. She was helping to achieve peace. She was helping to unify.
Had she and Talliea not chosen to be a part of this war, who was to say how different the world would be for future generations? Would the power of Esuval eventually have faded all together? Would his children have been forever shamed? How long would Aitla's power have kept the Arnira hidden and secure?
A hand on Arizira's cheek shook her from her thoughts. She turned her head and met Talliea's dark eyes. A smile touched her face, one of happiness, peace, and strength. It was a smile that had only ever graced Talliea's lips while in Arizira's presence.
As the two of them stood and looked upon the other, the rest of their recent history quickly formed in their minds, as it also did in the minds of all of those under their power. They saw D'jiira with a woman who they assumed to be her partner. In a blinding haze, the whole of D'jiira's dreams, the dreams that had led her to seek out Arizira, became known to them.
The force behind those dreams, the spirit that had touched D'jiira's mind, had been none other than Iolirthas. She it had been who had contacted D'jiira and set her upon her sojourn. The events following D'jiira's return were witnessed by all in a new light. Battles were relived, decisions made were replayed, conversations spoken were recited, until at last the moment Talliea had lost consciousness settled over the Esu and Arniran people.
This event had been the gods final influence on Talliea and Arizira's life. They each had witnessed how wayward the group was, how without uniform direction they were, and so Esuval, using a last vestige of his power, brought Talliea into contact with Tareya.
Tareya was the last hope of aiding Talliea in the full use of her abilities. She was to be a teacher, an historian, and a scholar all at once in an attempt to give Talliea the confidence and information she would need to stop a war. Unfortunately, the timing of such an encounter would come at the onset of clashing and opposing forces.
Yet this, too, was to serve as a symbol and a message to every man, woman, and child th
at graced the world. For, when all hope had seemed despaired, Arizira Ahmanae had still chosen to fight for her love. Despite the odds, despite the personal risks to herself and her unborn child, despite the overwhelming nature of the task before her, she had fought for her love. An Esu woman. An enemy to the Arniran people.
Like before when she had taken an arrow for Talliea, Arizira had chosen a path of self sacrifice in the name of love. She had suffered both physical and emotional pain because she believed in the goodness and purity of love. She believed peace could be achieved. She believed a person's actions helped to pave the future, and so she had chosen to show both Esu and Arnira time and again, that love and peace were worth fighting for.
They were worth protecting.
Ahmanae. Beautiful whisper.
Most certainly, that was what Arizira now was to both peoples. Without their being aware of it, her actions had come upon them quietly and without any effort. As the images of her heroic fight from just moments before flittered in the minds of all, Esu and Arnira were both struck with the power and strength of Arizira's convictions, of her love for Talliea. Of her hope for peace.
Talliea stroked Arizira's cheek as the last of the images, of history and sacrifice, faded away. "Come, my love," she said in a voice that was both commanding and ethereal. The two of them stepped in front of D'jiira, who was still overcome with everything she had just been witness to, and moved further into the forest. Where the two of them stepped, energy danced across the ground and electrified the men and women in their path.
Slowly, Talliea and Arizira cut through the carnage of battle and war. Any remaining weapons snapped, cracked, and turned to dust as the two women moved. When Talliea came upon a powerfully built man, tall with dark hair and a dark beard, she stopped.
"Jovan." The single name from her lips echoed throughout the forest, touching both the Arniran village and the Esu settlement in the valley to the south. Jovan swallowed a nervous lump in his throat and held Talliea's gaze with all the defiance he could sustain. "Your eyes have been shown the past. Your Order's history is now known to you, yet your heart is still consumed by shadow and hatred. "
Jovan said nothing. He cut his eyes to Arizira, who stood beside Talliea. "Speak, if that is your wish," Talliea said.
Swallowing nervously once more, Jovan held Arizira's eyes and said, "That thing inside of you is an abomination, just as you are an abomination. Esuval has been corrupted and weakened by your heathen goddess. He has become influenced by her ways. Our Order is true. You have shown us our history, yes, but that matters not! My kind will forever fight yours! You can not stop it!"
If either Talliea or Arizira were affected by Jovan's words, they made no show of it. Talliea continued to look upon the man with a calm and detached air. Her black eyes were alight with silvery-gold wisps of energy.
"You are wrong," she said simply and reached up to touch his face. Jovan's mouth opened in a gasp and his eyes widened. His entire large body was suffused in a web of changing colors and facets. When he fell to the ground, he coughed and shook as if chilled from the inside.
Talliea looked down at him with pitiless eyes. "Your power is no longer yours to command. Esuval's gift to you has always been subject to his influence. When your Order was strong, his powers were weakened by your immoral misuse of his gift. Now, however, I have spread his influence across the realm once more. His power is his own again. Those of the Lat'sa'val who are evil of heart shall forever be banished from his sight and grace."
Jovan glanced up at Talliea and then to Arizira. He looked at his dark hands and tried to summon his gift, but it was futile. He could feel the truth of Talliea's words. Inside, he felt hollow and weak. His powers were gone. Now he was just a man without a god.
"The same is true for all of you,” Talliea said looking out across the sea of men spread out before her. "Change is upon us. No longer shall our clans be reduced to a nomadic existence. We can thrive, together, as once our great people did. To the women -- my sisters, daughters, mothers, and aunts -- I bestow unto to you, Esuval's blessings. Always, his gift was yours. It was our belief that we were less that hindered our connection to him."
Inside the Arniran village, Taetylona felt a strange sensation tingle her fingertips and warm her chest. She smiled as she realized the truth of Talliea's words.
"We are changed," Talliea said. "Those of you who desire to make peace within yourselves and with your neighbors, I say unto you that all the gods' blessings shall be yours." Thunder sounded above the forest, close and shattering. A chill wind swept through the area. "But, to those who would seek to reap hatred and sow insecurity," Talliea said, her voice dropping to a terrifying octave, "the full might and fury of the gods' shall forever follow you. I am their instrument on this plane, their way to exact punishment on those who would seek to destroy the balance of nature and order. Choose a path, one or the other, but know that your choice shall forever dictate the state and worth of your life."
In a single and influential moment, Talliea released the world from the hold of her power. A shockwave of energy, all the force she had held at bay and created when she had frozen the battle, exploded and fanned out in all directions. The sound was deafening. Men and women fell where they stood or toppled to the ground from the sudden nature of their release.
All was quiet. Not a sound could be heard, not even that of an animal or insect. The sun slowly receded back beyond the rim of Li'nas Dei. Darkness would have touched the forest had not the moon in the starry sky been so full and bright.
Hunters and warriors and healers, of both Esu and Arnira, looked around in mute shock. No one made a move to further instigate any war. The men who had been around Bela'luin had all been thrown back in the shockwave and now sat rather unceremoniously on the ground. Bela slumped to the forest floor and sighed in relief. She looked at Arizira's sabre in her hand and smiled softly.
The blade's name was La'nu, which meant “hopeful in life”.
Talliea felt the last of her power fade and return to Arizira. She turned toward her love and for a long moment, the two of them could do nothing more than look upon the other adoringly. There was a satisfaction that touched the both of them, as there also was a sense of accomplishment. Their task was at an end. Their trials were over. Now they could finally focus on being in love. They could focus on their family. They could focus on them.
Talliea stepped closer to Arizira, everything else around her forgotten, and gathered her love in her arms. Without hesitation, she kissed Arizira passionately. Now that the adrenaline from before was receding, and her power was no longer touching her, Talliea desired nothing more than to reassure herself that her love was safe and secure.
She had been more frightened than she had been able to experience when she first came to. Then, her recent time with Tareya was still fresh on her mind. Then, she had been protected by the power that enveloped her. Then, she had been in control and with that omnipotence had also come a barrier that had not allowed her to be as affected as she normally would given Arizira's dire circumstances .
Now that she was simply herself again, she felt the need to reassure her mind that Arizira was okay. She kissed her love twice more on the lips, and then once on the tip of her nose, before standing back to assess her state. She brought a hand up to Arizira's middle and placed it across where the wound had been. "Ari--" she started, but Arizira stopped her with her a finger to her lips.
"All is well now, failira. Do not make a fuss."
A small laugh erupted from Talliea. "I can not help it, love. I have nearly lost you too many times."
"That is over and in the past. The war is no more. If only all of them could end so neatly.” Arizira paused a moment before continuing. “I am just heartened to be with you once again."
Before Talliea could respond, a sound behind her alerted her to Jovan. The bearded man was attempting to stand and attack Talliea when an arrow struck him in the chest. Both women turned to see who their supposed savio
r was. A young Esu man, barely out of his childhood years, dipped his head some short distance behind Arizira.
Talliea smiled at him and the boy smiled back, a simple gesture following such an important act. A sound caught the attention of all gathered a moment later. Talliea stepped closer to Arizira again and the two women held one another and watched as the Great Gate of the Arniran village began to open.
A lone figure walked out. "My tribe offers hearth and healing to any who would enter in friendship," Talyn said. "We will gladly share our food and drink and tend to the wounds of both our own and any Esu."
Most of the men gathered looked on with a curious and confused air. They had not understood the words spoken. Arizira translated for Talyn and soon word was spread around the forest. "The gods could not grant us a blessing of understanding?" Arizira whispered, light-heartedly, to Talliea. Talliea smirked and shrugged her shoulders. She knew there was still much to be done. Talks had to take place. Treaties had to be drawn up. Trade agreements and territory lines had to be made.
She knew there would be Esu men who would not take this change with happy hearts. There would likely be skirmishes fought before peace was fully achieved, but she felt confident that the scales of balance had tipped in their favor.
"Come," Talliea said as she led Arizira toward Talyn. "Let us finally rest."
Chapter 39: Peace at Last
Talliea looked around the small area that housed Arizira's belongings.
To her right, a small bed of Ophe'las leaves lined the tree wall. To her left, various animal teeth, feathers, and small weapons adorned carved shelves that were once a part of the tree Arizira called home. The room she stood in, though not large, was wide enough for her to move about comfortably and tall enough for her to stand unhindered.
Directly in front of her, different pieces of cloth and leather lay on the floor. She could see the beginnings of various articles of clothing among the animal hides and the pieces of cloth, she noticed, were light linen blouses cut in the Arniran fashion. In the far corner of the room, to the left of Arizira's bedding, a small wooden table held a basin full of steaming water.