Paradise

Bard stared at the water while Sen returned to her conversation with Paradise. He recognized this churning and discoloration. The reason the lake existed in the first place was because Paradise used his roots to dig it. But when he reached out his hand he felt a pringling sensation until he touched the water, then it was a sharp shooting pain. He quickly withdrew, clamping his mouth shut. Just how was the Elder making the lake that painful for those who were purified by that ritual? Kai looked at the water with sadness. Bard comforted him as he started to listen in to what Sen was learning.

“Paradise is a gift, but gifts demand caretakers,” Paradise lectured.

“Sure. But it’s not easy.”

“The ripples you create will echo long after you are gone. Where good water flows, you shall always find paradise.”

“But what makes up good water?” Sen asked. Bard looked out at the water around them. It was considered holy until he stirred and changed it. Sen came over and touched the water, and Bard watched as she was relieved it didn’t hurt.

“Now you touch it, Bard. Don’t disguise what the sensation is,” Paradise said. Bard looked back at Paradise in surprise and did as instructed. He yelped as he touched the water again, and Sen was stupefied for a bit.

“Are you alright?” she asked. Bard sighed.

“Been worse, but ya, it’s not pleasant.”

“I don’t understand,” Sen grumbled. “How are we to drink this?”

“Paradise is fragile, easily clouded. Yet, it always remembers clarity,” Paradise said encouragingly. Sen looked at the water and then sat in an almost meditative pose. She then straightened and looked at the water again. Something about the way she looked about seemed odd.

Her gaze fixated on something, and she looked around again, this time on the island. She grabbed a leaf and broke it till it easily fit in her hands. She then took the leaves with her as she grabbed a container and scooped from the disturbed lake. She then placed the water inside, and Bard gritted his teeth. That would be a painful drink. She then set the canteen down and proceeded to sit still as she watched the sky.

The suns began to lower when she moved again. She gently picked up the container and then took the leaf and slowly began to pour. What came out was clear and, what Bard thought, looked like holy water. Sen gathered that water into a larger leaf and then invited Bard to come over and touch it again. He hesitated but did as she asked. There was only that tingling sensation at his fingers as he touched the water. No pain. He looked at her confused.

“It’s just mildly uncomfortable. What did you do?”

“I noticed it when I cleaned off the water last night. Elder Paradise’s leaves seem to have a bit more use to them. There is something with their texture that seems to alleviate agitation. I figured if I had the water stop moving and return to its paradise state, and then strained it onto a leaf, then it wouldn’t be so painful. It’s not like you guys can leave, and the catfolk will be all over me if I go to fetch us some drinking water.” Sen said proudly. Bard was surprised that is where her line of thinking went, but he was grateful. Kai came over and licked the water off the leaf. He hummed and then stuck out his tongue and looked at it.

“Guess it’s not quite right,” Sen said a bit disappointedly.

“You’re on a good track,” Bard said. “There are a few other things that change this water. What else have you learned from Paradise?” he asked.

“Well, without sunlight, there is only death. I’m not sure why he says that.”

“You know that trees don’t grow unless they get enough sunlight.”

“But they need more than that,” Sen pointed out. “Water, ground, and the lack of harmful things like too much salt.”

“But not all trees need less salt. I’ve met a few that grew well in salty water,” Bard said. Sen looked at him with a skewed twist in her lip and nose. “It’s true. Though, I’ve not met an elder among those… yet.”

“Okay. So, as long as the water is what the trees like, and the ground is what the trees like, and they have the kind of sunlight they like, then that’s it?” she said after a bit. “I feel like you could probably argue against any specifics I point out.”

Bard shrugged. That was probably true. He had seen and met a lot of trees.

“But… this doesn’t seem like that’s it. There are things trees need to grow, but it doesn’t feel like that’s all that I need to understand here,” Sen muttered. Bard smiled, knowing she was being guided on the right track. He turned to help Kai, who was humming his discomfort.

“The tree drinks from the spring, but its fruit feeds the world,” Elder Paradise said kindly. Kai looked up at the tree and then Bard.

“Are you sure?” Bard asked.

“Paradise does not exist for one; it is shared, or it withers.”

“I see. Go ahead,” Bard said calmly. Kai left quickly and Sen seemed quite lost in her thoughts. Bard decided to explore around as well while Sen learned. Part of this was seeing the balance needed for everything to be ‘just right’. Sen had figured out some of it, the being still part, but if every day was still, then, like a pond, it would decay and become stagnant if good water wasn’t flowing in and out. But too much water coming in was like a flood. He shuddered at recalling his experience with that.

“Hello Bard,” Kihana’s voice flowed over to him as he walked around. The island was huge, but most of the land was taken up by Paradise.

“Hello Kihana,” Bard said, grateful she wasn’t using all the formal greetings of the temple and her people. She tended to do this when she was with just humans.

“Are you worried about joining the temple? You seemed a bit too grateful for being trapped here,” Bard teased.

“Oh, and you seem unconcerned that this water will hurt us. How are we to drink and survive until your betrothed is finished?” Kihana quipped. Bard waited and heard the happy sloshing of Kai drinking, and he cocked his head. Kihana looked over to see that Kai had found the fruit of Paradise and was drinking the juice from it. “I see.” Kihana sighed. “Fine, you win this one. What is your question?” she said and Bard grinned. She still played this stilly game.

“Kihana. I talked with the Dawnseer, but I’m not any closer to understanding what it is your people do about the shades. Or what their nature is. I’ve learned how to combat them from experience and the Elders, but it seemed like…” he found himself unable to formulate the words.

“Did she explain about how the shades began and where they come from?” Kihana asked. Bard thought back on it.

“Sort of. She mentioned a god in the sun? And his children? And that some of them helped him fight and goddess of the dark and her followers are the shades?”

Kihana tried hard not to laugh. “I can see where you got a bit lost. She does tend to stick to a prophetic style of speech, which can take some time to get used to.” While Kihana laughed, Bard moaned and flopped on his back. “How can I phrase it to someone outside the know…”

“Let’s start with the suns,” Bard said as he pointed to them as they traveled across the sky. It would set soon, ish.

“Those are the palaces of the god Erasaphim and his twelve oldest children. They circle this land in search of the shades. It’s why those foul beasts only come out at night. But if the sun palaces stopped and tried to cover the whole earth with light, then it would burn and become a land of ash. Am I making sense?” Kihana asked. Bard thought it was a strange way to explain the cycles of day and night. He nodded. “Then how did they kill the goddess of the night? Don’t we still have night?”

“No, what we have is darkness. The night is gone now. Only those from the moon would know what night truly felt like.” Bard paused as she spoke. He knew someone who claimed he was from back then. He filed that tidbit of information away for later.

“I see. So what about the children who helped kill this ‘night’?”

“The four oldest sons. The warrior, the archer, the healer, and the duelist, they-”

“Like the four constellations?” Bard asked, sitting up.

“Y. Yes? Oh. Yes. Like the four constellations. As traders, we named a lot of the constellations and shared it with the Elders. Since we were going to use them the most, the Elder’s adopted our interpretation of the stars.” Kihana said as Bard looked up as the shattered moon began to appear, and the suns began to set. “It’s somewhat convenient that you know about them.”

Bard looked at Kihana and wondered what else they had shaped. Had he unknowingly been looking at their teachings without realizing it?

“So, what else do you want to know about those four?”

“So if they are the oldest and are part of the twelve suns, then… well… I’m not sure how they fit in. Sorry, guess I was just surprised that they were in the star charts.”

“Hmm. It’s not too abnormal to be surprised. Well. As far as those four go. The healer is the third sun. He’s exclusively worshiped at our temple here since we have the healing waters.”

“Are there twelve temples for the twelve suns?” Bard asked.

“Well, there’s more, but there are the thirteen main temples. One for each of the surrounding suns, or the children of the sun and then the sun god himself, Erasaphim. There are also those that worship his wife, Sera, mother of light.”

“Ugh. More names,” Bard groaned and Kihana laughed. “Has anyone ever seen the sun god and his children?” Bard asked.

“Well. I don’t know many of those outside the dawnseer and my father who has. Dawnseers of our temple have said that the third sun will sometimes take on the form of a man with a staff, and other times he takes on his full form. A six winged beast with sharp face, a snake-like body and four appendages. In his wings are orbs of light, and along his body he carries mini suns that shine bright enough that we would be blinded, behind his head-.”

“That’s pretty hard to imagine,” Bard interrupted.

“Hmmm. Ya. I guess so. That’s why he mostly looks like a human when he talks with us.”

“I would have thought he would have looked like a catfolk. Wouldn’t you guys follow better if he was one of your own?”

“Not really. Catfolk like my father gain what’s called the lionsmane, a mantle that changes their shape and size in order to better serve Erasaphim. Only those who successfully accept the changes can fly through the orb to the palaces of the suns and alert Erasaphim and his children of the movements of the shades.”

“So Kihana, that brings me to my next question,” Bard said. “What are the shades, and why are you the ones who fight them?”

“That’s two questions, but I can see why you say it’s one. Anyway… the shades are… children of the night. Just like we are children of the sun. The children of the night’s war hasn’t ended after all these years, and it’s basically a fact at this point that one of us will be eradicated for this war to end.”

Bard paused. So while the Catfolk had avoided fighting with the dryads and humans, it was in part because they already had their war, the war with the shades.

“But, for some reason, we’ve been falling behind. More and more shades are appearing and at this rate, we might really be in trouble. I don’t know what changed, but… it’s somewhat frightening to be honest.”

“What would happen if they won?”

“It’s been prophesied that if the Goddess’s children were to win, then she would return and destroy this world, just as she did the moon.”

Bard shuddered. That wasn’t a happy prospect. But it also sounded like some sort of fantasy. He wasn’t sure what to believe.

“Bard!” Sen shouted, and he looked towards the direction her voice came from.

“I’m over here!” Bard said. Sen appeared from around the corner and was relieved when she spotted him.

“Here, try this,” Sen said as she approached and then handed him a container with some water. Bard poured a little on his finger and didn’t feel any sting. He then hesitantly proceeded to fill his mouth and then swallowed. No pain or numbness. He smiled.

“Well done, Sen,” Bard said.

Sen sighed as she sank to the ground. Her moan was the sound of relief. “Thank the Elders,” she hummed.

“Return, Sen. There is much still left to talk about. Well done,” Paradise’s voice floated over them.

“Coming!” Sen shouted as she unsteadily rose and began to walk back. Bard finished the water she had brought him while he watched her leave. This next part would be interesting. It was the principles about creating paradise as a group. Bard looked once more out at the water. So much could be learned by water. Though, the method of teaching seemed to be very different than what he learned, the principles seemed to be similar enough.

“She certainly is diligent, and thoughtful,” Kihana said. “Oh well,” she hummed as she looked out at the setting suns. “Hey Bard, up above us, I set up some sunstones from my father. We can use them tonight to protect us. With the water being tainted, who knows if the shades will come.”

“Oh. Thanks,” Bard said as he looked up and saw the faint glimmer of several sunstones.

“Just have Kai help me set them up. We need to keep Elder Paradise safe, too.”