Rings of Gold

...begins

Shara was close to giving up when she finally saw the vegetation becoming less sparse. The small trees started to become taller, and the land was finally evening out, revealing the presence of water underground and that she had finally reached the outermost area of the lands around the river Az. She stopped for a moment, taking a few heavy breaths before she pressed on, her body spurred by her willpower. The broken ground became softer, and she felt her energy return as she began to see more frequent animal tracks and signs of life.

It was not long until she came across the first sign of intelligent life. Heavy footprints revealed the presence of someone walking in thick soles that protected their feet from the bare and broken ground. She could not make out what kind of creature it was, but the depth and width of the footprint meant it was one of the larges species. An anubian or perhaps even a wolf. She had heard of the wolves of the north but did not know much about them. It was an anubian, she would be better off if they never crossed paths as she still did not possess the power to take her revenge.

The first time she saw other actual intelligent beings she almost ran into hiding.  Two years of avoiding contact had given her instincts to flee, but she suppressed them and kept walking. The two men who were working a small dry field saw her but paid her no heed. They were clearly poor anubian farmers and they clearly posed no threat to Shara. She was not the first wandered they had seen that they and she would hardly be the last. She found a small dirt road leading away from the field and followed it. Shara could make out footprints and wheel tracks in the road, meaning that other’s hade come and gone before her, so she relaxed a bit as she concluded that the people living in these remote farms would not mind her passing by. As she passed the farmhouse, she noticed a few chickens pecking at the ground near the road. For a moment, she almost went for one of them, but before she had the chance someone called out and the chickens ran away. She sighed and told herself that she would eat once she reached the city.

The town of Shakthep appeared almost unreal to Shara as she saw it in the distance. The heat made the light vibrate and gave the city an unreal almost living appearance. The terrain had changed, and larger trees had begun cropping up along the road. The riverbank was lush with trees and other plants, while the grass and greenery were a sight for sore eyes for weary travelers. The city, built on both sides of the river, made for a welcoming sight and Shara noticed the guards stationed at the city gate. Her heart started beating faster as she realized that the guards were anubians… Dark furred and muscled, the guards would hopefully pay little heed to her.

The town was surrounded by a wall made from solid stone. Whoever had built the city had made sure that it was impervious to any of the bands of raiders that served as a constant threat to the traders of the region. As she approached, she noticed the large murals that covered the towers near the gate. It depicted the gods of the anubians on one side and a large sphinx on the other. The mere appearance of a sphinx made her feel strange as it felt like an old ancestor even if the image must have been made up from a description rather than an actual sighting. She had always been told that she had sphinx blood running through her veins and that it made her special compared to other lionesses, but she did not know much about the mythical race that had once ruled these lands.

When she passed into town, one of the guards followed her with suspicious eyes. He was rather tall for an anubian and he growled. Shara increased her pace and hoped he would not stop her. Soon enough she had passed into the crowds that passed through the city and despite being surrounded by people, she felt safe. The streets were bustling, and it seemed that she had arrived just as the local market had opened again after the heat from the mid-day had begun to dissipate. She saw both anubians, lizards, foxes and even some of the stranger species that inhabited the landscape. Not a single lion could be seen in the streets as she walked, and she noticed that more than one person gave her a passing glance as she moved through the streets. The smell of food suddenly caught her nose and she stopped dead in her tracks. How long had it been since she had an actual meal? She had eaten mostly fruit and small animals since she escaped the temple and the thought of digging into a large juicy steak or filling her tummy with soup made her quiver. Her eyes focused and her ears lay flat against her head as she moved towards the scent, only to come upon a building with a large open area for tables and seats. People were eating and servants came to them with food and drink… but the most enticing part was a large table filled with bread, cheese, and other complimentary food items.

The scent of the food became overwhelming for her and she found the entrance and walked into the tavern. As no one approached her, Shara went straight for the table filled with food. She reached out and almost managed to get some food when something caught her hand. She tried pulling back but the grip was vice-like and she could not get free. She growled and looked up at the woman who had caught her, expecting her hand to released… but the anubian woman simply gave her a very annoyed expression. She was dressed in a long skirt and a wrapped top in a multitude of colors and was clearly a servant at the tavern. She had short, well-kept hair and her soft blue eyes matched her grey fur. She was shorter than most anubians and rather thin for her age.

“Unless you expect to pay for that, we don’t serve street urchins” she said with a dry tone and her facial expression was almost disgusted. Shara began “I need food and you…” the slap was quick, sharp and a complete shock for Shara. No one had ever dared to lay a hand on her, and her entire body went stiff. Flashes of what had happened to her mother and the other priestesses went through her mind and the anubian woman shook her when she did not get a response from Shara for a moment. “I could have you arrested for stealing, but I haven’t seen you around before…” she gave Shara a more investigating look and her eyes widened a bit when she noticed the golden piercing that Shara had on her lower lip. “That’s an awfully expensive piece of jewelry for a kid” she said and grinned “That would suffice as payment”. Shara’s eyes flared with anger at the mention of her piercing “It’s mine!” she hissed and snarled “I don’…” she was interrupted by another slap and she whimpered, unused to the pain. “You should learn to not be so disrespectful…” the anubian female began before she grinned and hissed “If you’re not parting with them…” before hauling Shara out of the tavern. Even though the female was not exceptionally large, Shara was a cub, and she was exhausted from her journey and lack of food, so she could barely put up a fight as she was thrown out into the street.

Shara scarped her knees and hands as she was tossed on the ground. She rolled over and tried to stop tumbling, but she crashed into the street. Before she managed to stand, someone gave her a kick to move her out of the way. The pain spread through her as she rolled up against the wall on the other side of the Shara felt the pain spread through her as she rolled up to a wall and she gasped for air. The anubian woman on the other side of the street called out “if I see you again, it’ll be worse” before she headed back into the tavern. No one seemed bothered by her treatment and Shara only managed to stand by leaning against the wall and she blinked to remove the blurriness of her vision. If she had not spent the last two years in the wild, she would have collapsed and broken apart at the treatment. She managed a soft growl and limped away, her arm covering her side. Water was easy to get as a public fountain was situated in the middle of the market. Food however, had turned out to be more difficult to get than she had anticipated. She ducked into an alleyway and sat down, gasping for air for a moment before she summed her power and called out to the spirits. She felt the stinging pain go away and the bruises she had on her ribs faded. Healing magic was difficult and exhausting in normal situations but when she was exhausted already, it was a risk to divert her power into the wounds.

Once she had recovered a bit, Shara managed to get back out into the market. She looked through the stalls and searched for any food that was left unattended. It took almost until the evening, when the stalls began to close before she found something she could take. It was not much… just a piece of bread that had been put down at the very end of a table in one of the market stalls, but her hunger was so great that she had to risk it. She darted forward, summoning her power to avoid attention. Had she been fully fed and recovered, she might have had the focus to get away with it, but as she snatched the bread, someone called out and shouted “Thief!”. Fear did not enter her mind at all as her focus was solely on the bread. One of the men that worked at the stall gave chase but having spent two years running and hiding gave Shara a significant advantage. She spent more of her power at once than she had ever done in the two years since she fled from the temple. Her heart pounded as she ran down a flight of stairs and she heard the grunt of the anubian male who followed her on top of it. She took a quick right turn into one of the many alleyways that surrounded the market, and it was not long until she had shaken the pursuit.

She huddled down between a couple of crates to hide herself better from the outside world. Devouring the bread made her feel some hope that her plan to see what she could learn from the local temple was not utter folly. For the first time in years, she had eaten something that was not dry fruits, berries, or the occasional small animal that she managed to catch. Once the bread was gone, she leaned back against the crates and enjoyed the feeling of a full belly before falling asleep.

Her dreams were vivid and chaotic. Moments from hectic flight from the market mixed with the slow and painful memories of the journey through the badlands. She tossed and turned as her mind created dozens of images of what could have happened.

She was not certain what had caused her to wake up in the middle of the night, but the moment she felt the anubian presence at a mere arms-length, her eyes snapped open. A ragged and clearly outcast anubian male was standing just above her. He watched her with eyes that made discomfort spread through Shara’s body and he reeked of some sort of alcoholic beverage. He was swaying and for a moment she believed that he was unaware of her presence and that she had simply taken his regular sleeping spot.

His eyes focused on her and it quickly became clear that he knew about her as he mumbled “p…pretty lion…ess…” before his eyes focused on her body. When he noticed she was awake, he moved forward, his hands going for her throat. Shara gasped before she instinctively focused her power and caused her aura to flare in the unseen world. She was not sure that anything heard her, and she felt the drunken grifter’s hands close around her throat. She felt herself struggling to breathe for a few moments before something answered her call and threw itself at the grifter. The man gave out a sudden shriek as a spirit lashed out at his mind and caused him to relieve his most painful moments. She felt his hands let go of her throat and he howled in terror as he ran down the street.

Shara gasped for air as the spirit that she had summoned turned its hungry eyes upon her. It asked for payment for its service and without doubt she let her aura flare for a moment so it could feed off it. Once the spirit was content, she collapsed back to her sleeping spot, falling quickly into slumber as the spirit kept guard until the dawn.

Every shamanesses had access to a great power called Sejd. It was an ancient power that connected them to the other world and was a boon when communing with spirits. Every living being had at least a small amount of Sejd, and as spirits sought the power of the Sejd as it gave them substance, it was easy to use as a bargaining chip to make them do whatever a shamaness could want. The Sejd was extremely wild and difficult to wield in its raw form however, as it was a chaotic and fluid power that seemed to have a will of its own. Using raw willpower, a shamaness could command her Sejd and make it obey her.

Aside from bargaining with spirits, raw Sejd could also be used to alter the very fabric of reality. Shara had seen her mother light fires and lift objects without touching them, but such feats required a significant level control over one’s Sejd and the wielder better have significant will or such attempts were dangerous at best.

When not being used, Sejd flowed softly through the body, but when a shamaness took control and focused it, it poured through the body in a surging current. At certain points, the Sejd would flow at the height of its power and the most potent points were referred to as the 6 points of life. These points corresponded to the womb, the belly, the breasts, the mouth, and the tongue. All shamanesses were pierced in at least two of those spots to focus their power and to show their rank and status. A common shamaness would usually have one or two piercings, but some had more. Shara had five piercings as her mother had trained her from birth and made a point of showing the temple that Shara was to be the next high shamaness.

Wielding the Sejd was a power and distracting sensation. As it flowed through the points of life, the areas around them became more sensitive. It began as a slight distraction but given enough time without rest or refraining from using more Sejd, even the most willful shamaness would be unable to focus her will enough to wield the Sejd. More than one shamaness had to learn the hard way that Sejding for longer than they were used to could lead to them incapacitating themselves. Of course, it was also an obvious weakness. Pulling a ring or piercing caused not only physical pain, but it also caused pain in their very soul, as the piercings bonded with the very soul of the shamaness and became an integral part of their being. Stimulating a piercing the right way could break the focus of the most devoted shamaness and when shamanesses fought, a primary tactic was always to see to it that your opponent was unable to keep her focus. A quick flick or slight tug could be all that was needed to break an opponent’s willpower just enough to win the battle.

It was uncommon for males to wield the Sejd in any significant amount. It was a common belief that males were more connected to the arcane powers of the world and that females held dominion over the Sejd, but there was no proof of that being the case. Even so, that it was more common for females to wield Sejd made it a clear distinction for most species.

Shara opened her eyes at the break of dawn. Her head spun for a moment and she groaned as her senses fully returned. Her piercings throbbed softly and felt sore. She caught herself trying to move away from the piercing in her tongue as the slightly painful sensation was too much for her right now. It was clear to her that she had spent far too much Sejd power yesterday, and she would pay for it during the day. Her mind felt sluggish, and her body felt drained even though she had had a full night’s rest.

After a while, Shara realized that she could not hide away all day despite the pain. She needed somewhere to stay that was more permanent than a pair of broken wooden crates in an alleyway. The events during the night had proved that as effectively as any other argument. She headed out and was careful to avoid the part of the market where she had stolen the bread even though she was certain that they had not seen her.  She headed back almost the same way that she had left the market the previous day but made sure to take a few extra turns and she ended up a few blocks away before she finally came back into the busy street. People were already flooding the market to make the most of the early morning before the midday heat came and made it impossible to move outside of the shaded areas.

She managed to snatch some small pieces of bread from an absentminded merchant, and she made sure that she was not noticed this time. Just as she had finished the bread, she saw the temple she had left the valley for. It was located at the end of a large street that led away from the market and the street was lined with gardens and monuments. It reminded her of temple gardens her mother often worked in when she was not teaching Shara or some other student. The temple itself was built with the same material as the rest of the town but the builders had used white paint to give the temple a reflective image. The temple was surrounded by a small bronze fence and in the center in front of the temple was a small pool filled with water. Three buildings in total made up the temple and she had expected the altar-housing main building to be larger, but it would have to do.

Shara prepared as she approached the temple. She let her Sejd flow through her and she whispered to the spirits that lived nearby. Even before she entered the area inside the fences, a few of the servants and guards of the temple had noted her. When she passed through the gate, a rather tall anubian male gave her a glance before shrugging. The temple was open to all Shara sighed in relief as she passed under the door that led into the main building. She could see at least four shamanesses inside, of which one clearly was the high shamaness of this temple. Shara touched their Sejd for a moment to make them notice her before she stopped. “I need training” she stated and didn’t wait for a response before she looked straight at the high shamaness, who was an older lizardess who’s hair was slowly turning white. She had once had bright blood red scales, but they had faded with age and given her a pink look. The shamaness had red eyes and her markings looked like a tribal tattoo that spread out over her left arm. She seemed surprised and her three golden piercings glowed. She had several silver pins in her frills and as her eyes focused on Shara, the lioness could feel the age and experience of the lizardess. She would be perfect for Shara’s plan and she grinned “when can we start?” she asked and headed up to the high shamaness, only to be stopped by two guards who held out their staves.

“You may not approach the high shamaness without permission” the female guard stated and gave Shara a glare. Shara growled and said, “out of the way, I don’t care about your silly permissions, I need training by the high shamaness if I am to grow in power”. The sheer audacity of Shara’s words made the guard flinch and the high priestess stared at the young lioness in disbelief. Shara tried to pass the guards and the high shamaness made a gesture to have the guards step aside so Shara could approach. “I can see that you have some training…” the high shamaness begun and Shara interrupted her “yes! My mother has schooled me, but I need more training if I am to progress and carry out my task!”. The high shamaness eyes darkened a bit as she clearly disliked that Shara interrupted her, but she went on, thinking that Shara would come to her senses. “…but we don’t train just anyone. We select students and train them for a fee. It’s a noble pursuit that you want to pursue, but since you clearly do not have the coin to pay for training nor will you give up one of your golden rings….” Shara growled at the mention of her rings and the lizardess glared back at her “…I do not think we can train you…”. Another lizardess approached and stood beside the high priestess a bit protectively as Shara talked with the high shamaness. She looked a lot like the high shamaness except that she was clearly expecting, and her swollen belly gave her a glowing look. She had the blood red scales that her mother had once shared, and her tail was covered in the white linen of a first-time mother. ”I don’t think she understands how this temple works…” the woman begun and the high shamaness turned to her to respond, only to be interrupted by Shara who angrily stated “I’m more powerful than any other shamaness in this temple and I’m just a cub! It would be an honor for you to train me rather than this…” she looked over the woman beside the high shamaness before sneering and saying “…fat cow who clearly has more interest in males than in training”.

Any other woman would have noticed the dead silence that struck the temple like a hammer and had anyone dropped a needle, it would echo throughout the corridors for days. The other shamanesses stopped breathing and the guards froze as Shara’s words about the high shamanesses beloved daughter rang out into the halls. Even Shara noticed the silence after a moment and she was just about to say something when the high shamaness snapped her hand upwards and Shara was engulfed in Sejd. The lioness attempted to counter the high pristess but the elderly lizardess was not just far more experienced than Shara, but she had a considerable amount of power herself. With a twist of his hand, Shara’s piercings felt searing hot, and she cried out in pain. “You did not just call my daughter that” the priestess snarled and drew Shara closer with her Sejd. “You, my dear, require some discipline…”,

Shara was carried out of the temple by two of the guards. Her head was spinning, and she felt the taste of blood in her mouth. She could feel her Sejd flicker as they dropped her just outside of the fence that surrounded the temple. The high shamaness had been harsh in her punishment and she had not just made sure to drain away what Sejd the lioness had in her piercings, but she had also branded her Sejd in such a way that all shamanesses that looked at her would feel that Shara had been punished by the local high priestess. She could barely stand as the first guard turned his back on her and the female guard sneered “You are lucky she decided to be so lenient since you are nothing but a cub. Do not show your face here again until you have learned some humility, or the next punishment will be harsher”. Shara shuddered before managing to say “but… what should I… do? I came here… to… join the temple… to get training…?”. Her voice faltered near the end. If her entire journey had been for nothing, she would not know what to do next. The guard shrugged before saying “I do not know and neither do I care. You insulted the high priestess… be glad that she respected your piercings and did not rip them out”. She gave Shara a swift kick so she tumbled back on the ground before turning away from her and heading back into the temple.

Shara remained on the ground for some time before she finally gathered the strength to get up and move aside. Her piercings throbbed from the branding and she felt her Sejd flicker. She could barely focus it enough to get out of the way as a big wagon passed her and she managed to get all the way back to the alleyway were she had spent the night before she sat down and began to cry.