Spirit Speaker

The temple district was a sprawling plaza of gardens, statues, and temples, all of which were dwarfed by the colossal Temple Of The Seven which was a key feature that made this city such a tourist attraction. 

Pilgrims, architects, painters, historians, sculptors, priests, saints and sinners alike would travel from all over the continent just to bask in its glory. 

She led me past it, winking occasionally at a priest, or priestess, who would proceed to cough and splutter, or completely forget what they were doing.

"They're all so serious." She explained. "It's exhausting. My siblings may enjoy it, but it irritates me." She blew a kiss at a group of temple guards, who promptly froze completely still. 

"They love the idea of you, Weaver." I said. "The reality is a little overwhelming. It's like they spend all their time looking at a painting of the ocean, without ever standing on the shore."

"And you Master Mage? Are you looking at a painting? Or standing on the shore?"

I looked around, saw that we were alone, and said her name. "I'm afraid I'm in the water, and I'm getting further and further from land."

"Careful, Lukas." The goddess said, that same strange crooked half smile flashing across her face. "Swim too far, you might never make your way back."

"That's the plan, ma'am," 

She hummed an ancient, playful tune in response, opening an old iron gate, to an overgrown garden in a far-forgotten corner of the temple district. 

I followed her inside, watching the branches and thorns, and weeds and briars and vines part ways to let her pass. 

I was reminded of the queen's garden, though this one was considerably more unkempt. 

The trees pulled away from me as I walked, and something caught my attention. I stood for a minute, under a natural arch of trees and brambles, and listened to something I wasn't expecting… 

Music. Gorgeous, unending, unceasing music, filled the garden and caused the spirits within to dance and sing along. 

The Weaver waited on the other side of the long, shaded tunnel, patiently this time. She knew what I was hearing. 

I picked up the pace, clearing the tunnel just as the branches closed behind me. 

"This was once a holy place, a sacred place." The Weaver said, gesturing broadly at broken masonry, overgrown cobblestone, fallen statues, and overgrown pools and fountains. "It's far older than the city itself, and like much of the old things, it has been forgotten."

She walked to the centre of the garden, and sat down on the ground, her back up against a broken statue of something I knew I knew, but had forgotten.

The spirits congregated around her, landing on her clothes, and in her hair. "Come here, Lukas, and remember with me. Remember the old things, the forgotten things, the ancient things that all sighttouched used to know." 

She patted the earth next to her. 

I did as she asked. 

"This was a shrine, a simple shrine that a young shepherd boy built one day while watching his sheep on the plains.

He wasn't a particularly religious young man, there were only three of us back then, and the boy had a problem with each of my siblings. 

They lived here, among the mortals, ruling, commanding mighty armies, holding lavish feasts, hosting magnificent games, and generally just being a nuisance to everyone that didn't worship them directly."

Her light tone didn't match the grim look on her face.

"Back in those days, there were bitter rivalries between my siblings, rivalries that resulted in bloodshed, and in a particularly deadly war between the being who is now known as the Seeker, and the Pale Queen, tens of thousands of mortals were slain. The boy's father was among them.

This shook the boy's faith, though the gods were far too mighty to notice a mere shepherd boy. 

An oversight they lived to regret."

"The Spirit King, though he was known back then as the One That Stood Above All by the very few that even knew of him, had grown tired of my siblings' constant bickering, and their wars, and had commanded them, on multiple occasions to stop what they were doing, and to care for the mortals, like they were supposed to. 

"My brothers and sister didn't listen." She sighed.

"They defied the Spirit King?" I asked incredulously. No one in their right mind defied the Spirit King. The existence of the gods was always debatable in the Academy, but the Spirit King was a concrete fact that none could dispute. No one even tried. Denying his existence would be like denying the fact that the sun was shining while basking in its light.

"Oh yes. The problem was simple. They knew the plan. They knew it from the beginning to the end. They understood perfectly the destiny of this world, and the many others that the Spirit King watched over. They used their foreknowledge to block him, and even defy him."

"So the Spirit King made other arrangements. If my siblings weren't going to care for the world, he would find someone that would."

She raised her palm, and one of the spirits that rested in her hair hopped down onto it and began to float and dance, adoring the attention the goddess was giving it. 

"When he woke the first spirit, he began to study it, to learn of it, to make sure he understood it perfectly. And the first spirit studied the Spirit King right back, and a sort of…understanding grew between the two of them.

"It wasn't a marriage, per se, but she was young, and curious, and energetic, and kind, and sweet, and loving, and the Spirit King had been alone for an untold number of millennia. Eternities on eternities. Once my siblings outright betrayed him, he began to feel very lonely. And here was this wonderful creature that knew no evil, no hate, no shame, no pain, no sorrow. Perfectly innocent, and she adored him. And he fell in love."

She smiled, and this time there was joy in her eyes. "I'm told she was magnificent, and the only one the Spirit King ever thought of as his equal."

"You never met her?"

She shook her head. "She's been sleeping somewhere in the universe for as long as I can remember. Only the Spirit King knows where she is, and he's not waking her. Apparently, she gets cranky."

"Really? She was perfectly wonderful to me when I met her." I grinned, knowing exactly the effect my words would have on the thoughtful, golden-eyed goddess beside me. 

She didn't disappoint. The Weaver was stunned. Speechless. She gripped my head, twisted it to face her, and stared deep into my weave. 

I saw the moment she found the memory because her eyes lit up, her face began to shine, her lips quivered with excitement, and her whole body began to shake, as though she was suppressing the sudden urge to dance.

So it was surprising, though completely understandable when the blow came, knocking me to my side.

"You knew? The whole time you've been travelling?" She wasn't angry, it wasn't possible to be angry after witnessing what she just saw.

"You didn't once think to mention something like this?"

I grinned at her expression, she was outraged, but couldn't keep a smile from her face. She was frustrated, not at me, but at the fact that she couldn't be angry because of the sheer joy she felt.

"Is this funny?" She asked, and began pacing, she couldn't stay still. 

"Pretty funny." I replied. "Would you like to meet her?"

"I can?" She asked, her voice small… and then she shook her head. "What? Of course, I can, I'm the goddess here."

"You'll have to take me along, you make her nervous."

"She knows about me?"

"She saw your mark on me. She gave me her blessing and then asked me all sorts of questions. Mostly they were about the Seven, which inevitably led to you."

"Um…" The goddess looked down, a faint blush growing on her cheeks. "...did you say…" she mumbled. 

"Sorry?" I said her name, "I didn't quite catch that."

"...what did you say…"

I stepped forward, put my finger under her chin, and raised her head so that I could see her eyes. 

She was blushing. 

Hard.

"One more time?" I asked, suppressing a laugh. 

She glared at me, her lips quivering. "What did you say about me?" She asked slowly. 

"Oh, that!" I teased and quickly caught a right hook before it struck me in the chest. 

"Lukas." Her voice was firm. I was reaching the limits of her tolerance. 

I released her hand. 

"Just the truth." I shrugged. "I told her you were wonderful. I told her how you healed me, how you took me to your home. I told her about the gifts you gave to Anna. I told her about our pact."

I told her what you mean to me. I told her everything.

And she leapt, wrapping her arms tightly around me, pressing her face into my chest.

"Did she say anything?" She asked her face against my white shirt. The shirt she had given me to hide my scars at the Academy. 

"She said she'd like to meet you." 

And I felt her arms tighten around me, squeezing the wind from my lungs.

Though I wouldn't have asked her to let go for all the world. 

She loosened her grip. 

Sorry.

"It's a long ride to the mine." I said, speaking her name. "So I'll have to introduce you on my way back from the forests."

"Yeah, no, there's no way I'm waiting that long. Tell me where she is, and I'll have us there in an instant."

"Do you know the spirit stone mine i-"

And we were there. 

No shimmering. No doors. 

Just one moment in a forgotten shrine behind the Temple of the Seven. 

The next, a dusty mining settlement. 

"Gods!" A couple of workers leapt backwards. "Where the blazes did you come from?"

I didn't have time to answer, the Weaver had a firm grasp of my hand and was dragging me to the mine at a rapid pace. 

"Ah, Master Mage!" Naraith, the dwarf that had been our guide on my previous visit ran up to me as I passed. "You appear to have a goddess attached to your arm."

"Nothing gets past you master dwarf, though I'm a little surprised you aren't falling over at the sight of her."

He shrugged. "When you get as old as I have, you tend to let the little things pass you by."

He was jogging beside me as I was dragged through the mine by the goddess. 

"I'm terrified to find out what you consider a big thing, master dwarf."

He chuckled, "The Lady, sir. Now there is something precious. I don't suppose you noticed the mining crew packing up? None of us will dig here anymore, it's sacred ground."

"Told you if you knew who was down there you'd build a temple." I replied. 

"Some of the lads were thinking of doing just that. It's all down to whether we can convince the Count to go for it."

"Let me chat with him, he's not unreasonable."

"Am I interrupting something?" The goddess snapped irritably. 

"Not even a little bit, ma'am." The dwarf replied, he removed his mining cap as he spoke to her. "Me and the Master Mage here were just catching up."

She looked at me, then back at the dwarf, then back at me, we had the exact same grin on our faces. 

"Gods, it's spreading." She said and pulled me faster. 

It wasn't long before we reached the pit, where another dwarf, the same dwarf that stood guard over the pit on my previous expedition proudly stood guard. 

"Ho Master Mage!" he called out when he saw me. "Do you see the goddess on your arm, or are we just not going to mention her?"

"What…" The goddess pulled up short of the pit. "Do you dwarves not have any sense of propriety?"

The other dwarf grinned, the exact same grin that I and the dwarf beside me had on our faces.

"No, ma'am." He said, taking off his hat when he spoke to her. "We've been keeping the Lady down there company, and I'll tell you this, after spending three days with her, you won't bat an eyelid at anything anymore."

He reached for the winch, which now had a wooden platform attached to the end of the rope. 

"She's been expecting you, sir." He said. "She said you'd be dropping by today, with a very special guest."

The Weaver looked down, shyly. "She…she said I was special?"

And my heart melted. I watched as the twinkle left the dwarves' eyes, replaced with a simple, gentle love. I shared a knowing glance with them. They'd been caught. They were hers now. 

"Aye, ma'am. Do you want to use the winch to go down, or?"

She shook her head. "No, thank you," She paused. "Naraith. I've got it from here."

 "As you say, ma'am."

She leapt into the hole, dragging me with her.

Our descent slowed considerably the closer we got to the bottom. 

It was a long way down. 

The Weaver sat on a disk of lilac light. I sat beside her, smiling to myself while she fussed nervously with her hair. 

"Do I look okay?" She asked. 

"Radiant." I replied. 

"You didn't even look."

I said her name. "There is no woman on this planet that could hold a candle to you. You know that."

"Thanks, Lukas." She said, dryly. "That's helpful."

I sighed. "Look at me." 

She spun to face me and I looked at her hair. "In the old days, when she wanted to dress up, the princess would wear it like this, and she seemed to like it."

The lilac disk stopped descending as I arranged the Weaver's hair for her.

"After the king died," I said while I worked. "I was the person Anna felt closest to. Her mother was grieving and she didn't want to disturb her, so she taught me to do her hair." 

I smiled fondly at the memory, I'd messed it up so badly my first time. 

"Well, that fills me with confidence."

"Relax," and I said her name again. "I've been doing this every day for nearly twenty years. I started the day after the king died and did it for her the day we went into battle for the last time. I've become quite proficient at it."

I let go. "There, done. Look at me?" 

I checked if it was even, and then sat back on the lilac disk, smiling at a job well done. 

"Perfect."

"Let me see." the Weaver summoned a mirror and patted her hair, careful not to disturb it. "Do I look okay?" 

I smiled. "You do," and I said her name. "Though it's a little unfair. You'd make anything beautiful."

"Shut up, Lukas."

"Yes, ma'am." 

The spirit stone vein ended. 

And I felt a gentle, sweet, calming presence fill my soul. 

- Twisted Weave, you're home.

I nodded, feeling a little nervous for some reason. "Yes, ma'am. And I brought someone with me."

- I see, hello Weaver. Lukas told me so much about you.

"Hello…" The Weaver was looking down, so, so nervous. 

A light coalesced behind her, and I watched the first spirit, the bride of the Spirit King, queen of the universe, and mother to every soul out there, wrap her arms around the goddess, my goddess, and fill her with the sweetest love I'd ever experienced. 

- You did her a disservice Twisted Weave, she's far more beautiful than you showed me. 

"She did her hair up special for you." I informed her, teasing the goddess as I did so. 

The Weaver kicked me. 

- Is that so? You look wonderful.

The spirit looked at me, though I could just make out her features through the glow.

- Sleep, Lukas. The Weaver and I have much to discuss.

I blinked, once, twice, and was out.