Interlude - The Callous Saintess

“Are you there? I have a request for you, cloud in the sky.” I thought, directing my attention above. My mind was already starting to fade. I could no longer feel my hands and feet, and soon, the rest of my body would follow. I was dying, after all.

My life up to that point wasn’t very interesting. For the first three years, all I remembered was the constant rumbling of hunger and a parched feeling in my throat. I lived in a village bordering a desert, so the conditions were harsh. Salamander descendants like myself could survive the climate better than most; however, that didn’t mean we could live without eating or drinking. We were still living creatures. Without food or water, we would only survive for a few years.

I didn’t know why, but one day, I decided to pray to the gods to bless us with water. Of course, I knew the gods wouldn’t answer – they were people, just like the rest of us. The likelihood of one of them showing up here was pretty much nothing. There wasn’t anything better to do though. Eventually, I would die like the rest of the villagers. Praying helped keep my mind off of it.

Praying ended up becoming a daily routine. I woke up just before the sun rose and walked to the fields. My hands would clasp together as I muttered the same words over and over until the sun set. Then, I ate whatever food my parents left on the table before heading to bed. That same monotonous task went on for…months…

…

…

Ah. I blacked out there for a moment.

I looked towards the sky. My vision blurred slightly, but even through the smog, I could see a cloud hovering over me. Yes, that was the…thing I wanted to talk to. It seemed like reaching out with my mana was the correct move.

One day, after three months of praying, this cloud happened to float over our settlement. Unlike the gods, the cloud answered my prayers, raining down upon us. The other villagers cried at the sight of rain; however, I continued to pray. I simply thought it was a passing shower. Supposedly, they happened every once in a while, so I didn’t bother getting my hopes up.

The next day, when I started to pray, the cloud rained down again. It hadn’t moved from its spot in the sky. This can’t be any regular cloud, I immediately thought. There was no reason not to take advantage of the rain, so I continued my prayers.

Every time I prayed, the cloud rained down from above us. It happened no matter where I was, as if the cloud could always see me. Soon enough, the village no longer needed rain – it was completely revitalized. All the crops grew in abundance and the villagers looked like normal, healthy people. The rain also seemed to increase the quality of the crops, meaning they would never starve again. Seeing the smiling faces on all the villagers…

…I felt absolutely nothing.

I wasn’t surprised by that revelation. Our previous lifestyle had likely broken me. Most emotions were non-essential when trying to survive. Praying was only a method to pass the time. However, since it had become a habit to pray every day, I wasn’t able to stop. I needed a place where I could keep praying. The village didn’t need any more rain, so I decided to leave.

With some simple clothes my mother had given me, I continued visiting the other villages, delivering them rain. It was a win-win situation: I passed the time while the desert villages were revitalized. The villagers even started calling me the ‘Rain Saintess’. It didn’t really matter what they called me, but the title made my life easier at times.

After five years, I had finally visited every desert village within walking distance. In human years, I was coming up on my forties. It was getting harder to move every day. Even the rain couldn’t stave off old age. I started to want a change of pace or, at least, something interesting to happen. Praying was occasionally monotonous.

With that in mind, I decided to head towards the city. I hadn’t visited before, and I was kind of curious to see how it differed from the villages. Maybe it would provide something interesting. I asked one of the visiting merchants to take me, and they agreed without a complaint. They even said the trip was free. Being a saintess is awfully convenient sometimes.

As the caravan rolled down the uneven path, I found myself staring at the cloud once again. I wasn’t sure when it started, but at some point, my attention was slowly drawn towards the cloud. I would stare for hours upon hours when I wasn’t praying, trying to reach out and grab its attention. I focused my mana…

And focused…

And…focused…

And…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

Agh. I’m blacking out even longer now. I have to make my request quickly.

“Cloud in the sky, I have one thing to ask.” The cloud above hadn’t changed, but I felt as though it was staring intently, curious as to what I might say. I hadn’t felt my emotions for a long time, but after that knife wound, one emotion in particular raged deep within my heart.

“Please…destroy the person who stabbed me.”

Yes, I wanted revenge.

Who could blame me? I was about to experience something different, something new, only to die in a back alley who knew where. The only reason I took this alleyway in the first place was because somebody said it was a shortcut through the city. I had never wanted to live so much before. It was infuriating.

Who I wanted revenge on, I had no idea. It didn’t seem like my attacker took anything from me, so I doubted it was a robber. It could’ve been the religious group behind the church here, but it hadn’t even been an hour since I saw them. It wasn’t likely that peeved priest could have put together something so fast after I turned him down. All I knew was the attacker was likely still in the city.

The cloud seemed to stare for a while, as if considering my request. I wasn’t sure what it was thinking. But then, I felt mana encompassing me on all sides.

A loud snapping sound–