Chapter 482

Kusi’Wi

The presence of her god pressed against her mind. And he was angry. Furious. Enraged beyond compare. His emotions were always overwhelming, painfully so, but this was magnitudes greater than ever before. So far as she could understand, it was that the Great Hunter’s presence had been snubbed, rejected, overpowered by an old enemy. His oldest enemy. The so-called conquering witch had returned, had been somehow capable of doing with her fledgling people what he’d barely managed to do after centuries of concentrated individual worship with the Misti Hawar.

After nearly a whole minute, the overwhelming rage dissipated, and the beginnings of self-recollection returned. Every time the Great Hunter attempted to speak to her, he blotted out her sense of self, leaving her with only the rebounding emotions that he felt at the time, though this time was the worst she’d ever experienced. With all that he’d bombarded her with, it was only after a few minutes that she was able to remember her name, why the god would deign to speak to her. Kusi’Wi realized she was laying on the ground, her fur in the dirt. When finally she recovered and she ran her hands over her head, it came away wet. The pads on her fingers and the white and gray fur between them came away slicked with scarlet. The taste of blood filled her head, as well as the scent of iron, and she forced herself to her feet.

“What would you have us do?” she asked, not showing any of the frustration, fear, and dejection that consumed her. She was the Nyust’Taa, a position she’d won through her intelligence, as well as her breeding, and she would maintain it just the same. She had brought strength to her people through further abnegation to this god, the one her people had worshiped for so long. She would never give up just because it turned out that the god was weakwilled and foolish. She would simply turn him and his purposes to serve her.

<<Fool. I am no clansmen of yours. I am the Great Hunter, he who devoured the stars and created the night. I will not be cowed by your schemes. Now serve me.>>

The moment of strength, of determination, bled away, and Kusi’Wi was no more for several minutes. The Great Hunter’s fury at her willingness to conspire against him washed away any pretense of taking control of her people and her life again. Deep within her soul, Kusi’Wi maintained hope of someday restoring her control over her people, but perhaps that would only be possible after these walls were taken and destroyed. Then, of course, every keelish’s head decapitated and egg smashed.

More humbly than before, she spread her hands towards the heavens as she bowed her head, the fur on her arms waving in the wind of the early morning’s coming. “What would you have us do?”

<<Rest.>>

The word was spoken with an overwhelming hatred, as if the thought of allowing rest to hurt people was an affront to his divine glory. Despite herself and her recent experiences, Kusi’Wi fought, and partially failed to master her derision towards the Great Hunter’s inability to control himself. His commanding warning didn’t end there, though, and there was a certain, inexplicable emotion in his voice that she couldn’t understand when he continued.

<<My spawn will prepare themselves for the final assault. We will not spread ourselves like wolves or run like thickfeathers nor swarm like ants. If you are to be disciples of the Great Hunter, you must act as the umbral ophidian. After all, we are the greatest hunters on the face of this planet.>>

“Do you wish for us to act as pairs?” Kusi’Wi attempted to clarify.

<<No, you must strike with strength, determination, and pick off the week. The hunt is not a slaughter, but occasionally, to teach those who have overstepped their bounds and now think themselves greater than they are, allowances are made to cut to the quick and kill to the last. There are creatures that are not prey, but pests.>>

“Yes, Lord Great Hunter.” The form of respect had galled her to say when first his voice became audible to her, but now, the words came easily. Fortunately, it wasn’t more than a handful of seconds after that that the presence faded from her and finally, the Nyust’Taa was allowed her own mind once again. Her aide stood nearby, and the first few times that had happened, had hurried to attempt to help her however possible. Now, Aingin’kalu had learned to allow Kusi’Wi the opportunity to recover by herself. The presence, ire, and even approval of a god was a heady and heavy thing to experience, requiring no small amount of effort to center oneself from after.

Finally, she was prepared to speak with her people once again, and, with a nod to her aide, the Nyust’Taa stepped out of the cave that she had carved for herself to spend the days within. In the small clearing outside, the clan had waited for her words. At least, those clan heads which still survived. The zealotry and furor that she had imported to her people was infectious, even to the typically levelheaded clan heads who would sacrifice anything before themselves. As such, several of the representatives from the surviving clans were only representatives, not clan heads. Of course there hadn’t been enough time on the battlefield to go through all of the rites required to establish somebody as a clan head.

All around them loomed the pulsating forms of the Great Hunter’s spawn, offputting but something that they’d all grown to be accustomed to. Kusi’Wi barely had to pull her attention away from them to begin her speech.

“My people, followers of the Great Hunter who has condescended to send his spawn and his children to aid us in this holy war. He has spoken and promised the conclusion of his wrath to be visited upon the keelish menace this very next night. They have prepared for an extended battle, to attempt to hide behind their walls and waste our strength against them.“

Kusi’Wi had always maintained no small amount of pride in her ability to speak before the masses, to push their emotions to a fever pitch. Today, she was unable to. The hundreds of deaths that her people had sustained were too much, and pushing them to the breaking point. They were never a populous country, and though Illan’Klli was providing additional bodies to throw at the walls, they weren’t enough to regain morale. With that in mind, Kusi’Wi decided not to wax poetic or eloquent. Instead, she gave the news she wanted to, trusting in the divine words and the clan leaders to convince their people.

“Rest for the day. Don’t worry about patrolling or doing anything. Rest. The god will take care of everything. Just prepare yourselves for nightfall, when we will strike back in vengeance for all our fallen friends and brothers. Sleep, and hone your claws and magic, because the god will not allow our magic to be thwarted once again.”

Ragged cheers answered that declaration, and they retreated. Kusi’Wi saw several who wanted to speak with her, but couldn't manage to bring herself to care. Instead, she retreated to her little cave, where she could attempt to get back into fighting shape. The feeling of everything that she’d gone through loomed over her, and she couldn’t bring herself to politick the way she usually would.

And maybe an hour after she returned to sleep did her people’s screams fill the air.