To Know Sweet and Sour - Part Seven (35 - Epi)

Last edited by TerishD on May 11th 2020, 6:33 am; edited 1 time in total

To Know Sweet and Sour
Chapter Thirty-Five
(Hallith)

I kept waiting for Ayither to demand to spend time sparring or active in some other activity to refocus after a period of calm. She however stayed with me through the day. Having visited Chertish over the decades, I knew things about him. I had not really focused on him being married, but when I met his wife I remembered her. Everyone that came as we walked to the temple then moved through the complex wanted to meet the lady who would join my life. Ayither stayed a pleasant companion surprising me by continuing to keep a smile on her face.

Chertish brought us into an auditorium where he spoke of getting a message from Straekin about the adventure with the champions of black and white. She mentioned providing for the church a translation of her final compilation of her notes, but desired a copy of all the details Chertish could get from me and Ayither of our time together. Chertish found the lady to speak in an animated fashion that made my report of the adventure on her world entertaining to the audience.

I met Atagandes later assuring me that he would be with us in the morning to move on up the mountain. It seemed that others had spoken of the chillier temperatures at the heights we would need to reach. He had thus been spending some of the money I gave him to gain warmer clothes. I accepted that I had not made preparations for Atagandes to make the journey up to the entrance to Morlin, although had to assure him that the money I gave him was only a small fraction of my wealth. I told him not to fear spending the rest on further items of comfort, as he would be sleeping on the ground tomorrow night.

As I knew would be happening in other estates of those I called friends, Chertish let me know that I now had a suite in the temple. I spoke my praise of the accommodations as he showed me through the apartment. While he kept mentioning things about children, servants, and others Ayither and I might add to our lives, I let him know that my active life would probably keep the suite from ever feeling small.

Ayither said Chertish's name, and when he turned to her she said, "I can tell that Hallith is waiting for me to grab him for some activity, but I want you to know that you are nothing like those calm back home. I feel wonderful. I feel that I will always be comfortable in this place."

He replied, "You did not know me back then, Ayither, but you can say that I was the storm of the Quartermasters. Anerth was the power, but I was the fury. Pesloe gave us purpose, and Hallith was our foundation. You trust Hallith. He did not stop my storm, and I can assure you that he will provide you with a foundation for your own."

"I am definitely getting the impression that he will not dampen my storm. I already mentioned that he is probably waiting for me to get him for some activity. He brought me to Terish and Straekin saying they were calm, and I had a most amazing time with them. I am looking forward to this life."

"Having him find a woman like you makes me believe that maybe I made the wrong decision in turning down my immortality. I however remember that journey here, and it was evident that the gods saw a different path for Hallith than they did for me. I thus see you as something to make his eternity pleasant, and I believe that something equally pleasing will stay in my life."

We sat and visited for a long time. Ayither did not play hostess, but Chertish's wife and young daughter did that. Ayither would get up occasionally to add movement to her responses, but each time I found her returning to sit beside me.

After everyone left, I turned to hear Ayither say, "I can spend the night in your room again, Hallith. I enjoyed speaking with you, and Typhorsh does consider me your wife."

Accepting that I would not ever speak against the lady, I said, "I will not stop you, Ayither. As I told you however, you are not as I had Kierle. I did not gain you for a night of fun, and will not take you for a night of fun. I hope our marriage stays active and wonderful, but I will assure it starts properly and continues without spoiling our divine relationships." I then smiled as I said, "And tomorrow night we will again be among others out in the open, so it is best if we maintain things."

"The night we are coming back?"

"We see what happens after an active and wonderful day."

I believe it helped us both to have the nights of speaking with each other. We chatted on many topics with some not related to what we thought our married life would be like. I did what I could to speak of my life before devoting it to Zetrullid. She found it interesting to hear me speak of Pesloe back then, so I did all I could to remember what events had happened when I was only her bodyguard.

Ayither rode around in her usual fashion the next day speaking of what I had told her. Pesloe had her own version of the events, although they really did not put her in a good light. While I was being a faithful and trusted bodyguard, she had been a young and adventurous young lady. What she sometimes told me to do was questionable with me maintaining my dignity in obeying.

It strangely caught the attention of all of us when Atagandes commented, "There is a lot of water."

While I knew for certain I had said certain things, I guess the words had not really been heard by Atagandes. Pesloe and I performed a couple of simple tricks with water as we went through the aspects of our deity. We even included the historic rants of how water from the earth would be claimed as a benefit of Redinnick and rain would be claimed as a benefit of Nekeli or Bestolger. With so many water displays from the various springs that supplied the volume of liquid for lakes and ponds on the mountain and the grand rivers that flowed from Mount Lorigard, I could tell that Atagandes finally accepted certain things about who I worshipped.

He asked in a manner of desiring clarification, "So we are going to visit a water god?"

I replied, "One of the six deities that rule this reality."

"And Ayither worships?"

Again I felt certain that he had been told, but Ayither politely floated up while going through things about her religion. While her reality had a multitude of deities, she worked to present the active gods and not just Typhorsh. Instead of asking more facts from us, Atagandes then turned to Phesdorra as if confused about his own religion.

"And our world only has one God."

As if also feeling that he should know, the pixie gave a simple answer, "Yes."

Hoping to support her, I said, "That is not unusual. I have friends that come from a reality with a single all-powerful deity."

Atagandes replied, "But these limited deities cannot be as awesome."

Cornispe said, "And just how limited and unawesome are you implying? You have here people that travel between worlds and fight horrors most would not want to imagine, much less have in their lives. We however do not go to other worlds and say, 'Oh, the gods here are much more powerful and awesome, so we need to start worshipping them.'"

"Is that possible?"

I had to answer, "Yes, it is, but it is usually more of a mentality of accepting the reality than being overwhelmed by the grandness of the deities. One reason is that most people really do not involve themselves with the religion, but focus on their lives only looking to the gods to maintain a certain consistency. Another reason is that any god, however limited, is still vastly more powerful and aware than any person."

"How about a reality where people obtain the status of gods."

"That only happens in peoples' minds, never in reality."

Ayither supported me by supplying a fact she had learned, "Terish said that some claimed he was a god, although he assured me he was not."

Atagandes pressed the issue, "But if the gods limit themselves too much."

Pesloe said, "But they are still the one who made the rules, and still maintain the reality. However much they limit themselves, they are still gods and have a potential far greater than most can imagine."

"I am now really interested in this meeting tomorrow. Far more interested than I was in meeting Chertish, although I find him interesting."

Cornispe said, "And I am now really interested in your meeting with Zetrullid. Far more interested than I was in watching other idiots, but I should find Atagandes meeting with Zetrullid interesting."

I had to admit that I was pleased with Atagandes when he did not retort. Cornispe usually could bring out the worst in people with me usually liking those that did not allow themselves to be made into fools. I had to admit that Cornispe had a good reputation in spite of the dumb things he could do, but I respected those with a more sensible mentality.

That night Pesloe taught me some songs related to the worship of Zetrullid. She was speaking to Ayither of children, then began singing something those around her presented as a part of instructing the very young. I tried to sing one from my youth, and with Chertish and his wife joining Pesloe I managed to get through a couple of verses. Ayither sung one from her own youth dealing with Typhorsh. It was when Phesdorra sang one about the worship of her God that Atagandes became interested.

He asked, "Where did you learn that, Phesdorra?"

She replied, "From Chifar. He has a hymnal of those songs. He would teach some to his children, although he really is not good with music. I caught him a number of times trying hard to work out a melody from the words and notes in the book."

"So we do have a religion?"

"Yes. The humans had it. The elves say that their worship of our God did not develop into institutions. I don't know if we should build churches, but some recognition of how our God wants to be worshipped should be taught."

I was glad that Phesdorra answered in the way she did, as it reminded me that her world was going through a transition. Some things that applied to previous ages did not necessarily apply to the new one. I however felt that the way Atagandes asked his next question to infer that he found a problem with her knowledge.

"And how do you determine how our God will want to be worshipped?"

"I don't know, Atagandes. The easy answer is to ask Him, but it does not seem that easy. Still, I believe we need to do what we can to learn those answers so we can teach those who do not know."

"In other words, we need to write the rules of our religion."

Phesdorra shot into the air as she answered, "No, Atagandes! There are books. Books from you humans! We read those books, we pray, and we seek guidance from our God. What we write down are our reasons for the rules we teach, so that later generations understand why they should do certain things. Rules for rules sake, even divine rules, should not be."

Atagandes put a finger to his lips, then moved the finger to the mouth of the pixie as he said, "I will agree, Phesdorra. Rules for rules sake, even divine rules, should not be. Maybe if I explained myself better you would agree with my rules."

"Maybe if you would not be so dominating with yourself, I would care to learn your rules."

"Let me apologize, Phesdorra. Now, can we talk about my rules?"

She settled next to him, then said, "I was always willing to listen to you Atagandes. Let's talk."

Subject: Chapter Thirty-Six May 6th 2020, 6:32 am

To Know Sweet and Sour
Chapter Thirty-Six

(Phesdorra)

I woke hearing laughter along with Hallith and Ayither making sounds as if sparring. Feeling a spray of water had me get up. As Chertish called out to the couple that they had disturbed my rest, I saw Ayither in the air with Hallith standing on a pool of water. Both yelled an apology to me, then moved back to solid ground with me hearing Chertish state something that I felt was the reason for the activity.

"So, Ayither, you can fly."

She replied, "I can be moved through the air by the power of Typhorsh. It is not a natural ability."

"I am still impressed, although I have to give credit to Hallith for what he did in return." Chertish turned to Pesloe to say, "I haven’t ever seen you do some of those things."

She replied, "An aerial target will usually have me reaching for a bow."

Hallith replied, "And I could have reached for a rock, but I felt a desire to get Ayither wet."

Ayither looked to me as she said, "And I am not water. I am sorry for doing what I did, as it got you wet, Phesdorra."

As they explained what had happened that awakened me, Atagandes sat up from his bedroll to ask, "Do we have breakfast?"

Chertish's wife mentioned that there was indeed food prepared. Atagandes moved to where things were set out. Probably meaning nothing more than a comment, he mentioned something he had not seen.

"With all this water, I’m surprised not to have been eating fish."

Hallith said, "You can’t fight fish. Sounds silly, but it’s true."

Pesloe commented, "We have."

"Can you remember it? I want to say that we have a few times, but other than a sense of attempting to see something in the dark while floating I really cannot remember."

I went to get something to eat while the two attempted to get Chertish involved with pulling out events from each other’s memories. I found myself amazed to see a few pastries so tiny that they could only have been made for me. I picked one up to find the crust and icing to be extremely delicate. Before I could attempt to thank someone, I found Atagandes fixing him something to eat while asking a question.

"Can we go ahead and get to Morlin?"

Cornispe replied, "Certainly. Eat, then help me break camp and load the horses."

"No time constraints or anything like that?"

"Trust me, if there were rules like that, I broke them as well."

While the others chuckled, Atagandes simply asked, "Your god did not fuss at you for breaking his rules?"

"He wasn’t my god then. Honestly, that was something I expected Zetrullid to demand from me. I asked him about that, and he said it was not his demand to make. He was right. Pesloe did make the demand, and having her willing to accept me had me accept Zetrullid as well. I do worship the guy, and have taught our children to worship him, but I honestly leave any relationship with Zetrullid to Pesloe."

"Would you break the rules now?"

Cornispe replied, "I know what the rules are now. I have read the holy books, and I have spoken with Zetrullid a few times. Those of us that marched on this place were not the ones doing wrong. Those who had gained authority over his religion were at fault."

"The god allowed them to gain control?"

"The only way I make sense of it is to say that the stunts idiots like me perform to overcome the faults are a better teaching tool to the regular people than anything the god himself might do. I know Zetrullid has always been friendly to me, and I do my best to return that friendship as well as be a good husband to Pesloe."

Atagandes wolfed down the rest of his food, then said, "Well I am interested in meeting this god. Let me help you with things to get us ready for travel."

I did thank Pesloe for the pastries. She spoke of me not being the first little person to socialize with her. I remembered it being said that fairies and sprites were present on this world. Pesloe commented on the trouble necessary to every step in making something so tiny, but that she always found the thanks she heard to more than make her glad to have gone through the effort.

It was not that many hours later that we arrived at a rock face. Men in robes came down stone ledges promising to care for our mounts. I believe Atagandes groaned when Pesloe’s response to a question had it sound like we would be present for a time, but Hallith answered with a quick statement saying that more could be related later. It was not that long before we had unloaded the horses with some items before walking up the ledges.

After trudging up the mountain for a couple more hours, we came to a simple stone building with Atagandes advancing to a set of rock doors to ask, "Your god lives in a hole in the ground?"

Cornispe chuckled as he walked up to open a door while saying, "You aught to see the way I got in the first time."

Chertish said, "You might be surprised how many turn back after coming this far."

Atagandes stated, "I am not turning back."

"Then welcome to Morlin."

No sooner did Chertish say that than a strange light shown from a circular glow I recognized as a portal opening. A man stepped through followed by two more and a lady. All four appeared shocked, then spoke of recognizing those with me. I found myself introduced to the present group of Quartermasters. I had heard of Anerth, so really was glad to meet him. He handled the introductions, then simply blurted out a question I could tell was bothering him.

"What’s the trouble?"

Hallith replied, "I’m getting married."

"Oh, well," he turned to Ayither and said, "congratulations!"

I listened as the four spoke of having met the lady before, although they also seemed surprised to have arrived for the occasion. The words of the Quartermasters going from fight to fight were made real with their realization that they had been brought for such a friendly event. I heard words from those committed to Zetrullid with two of the new Quartermasters who did not really worship him speak of a desire to freshen up before the ceremony.

Stepping through the door I found nothing to speak of us advancing to the presence of a deity. There was artwork, but nothing overly splendid. People did pour out another set of stone doors beyond, and it was due to their actions I felt we were going someplace special.

I watched the people as they did little rites, and found them no more appealing than the things done by Hallith and Pesloe. They were obviously attempting to set the mood, although I felt they were mostly working to entertain us while the active Quartermasters were allowed to make themselves presentable. The passages we were directed through showed signs of being excavated through a variety of periods with various styles of architecture. There was no direct route through the mountain corridors, but as we moved through rooms and hallways I saw people eating, sleeping, and socializing. What I saw did not appeal to me as actions performed by those serving a god, but only the lives like those of any other group who served someone of importance.

Finally coming to the main chamber, I did not see what I expected. Hallith and Pesloe had admitted that they were champions of a water deity, and the amount of liquid flowing about the room was exceptional. The circular area of mountain rock barely could support those who served in the room along with those that rushed in to fall prostrate to the large form that rose to greet us. While the others, including Atagandes, did enter, I stayed in the doorway feeling disappointed.

The words from Atagandes at coming before the god did sound as if he accepted the reality of the one before him. I thought that was good. Seeing Atagandes however turn back to me and say my name only caused me discomfort. I wanted to tell him to get what he could from the meeting, although I cried feeling that I would gain nothing by coming before the god.

I actually felt the man was worried as he came back to me, but knowing my words were not for him I flew into the room to confront the deity. "Why is this all there is? Surely I am not the first one with a need for more?"

The deity asked me, "And what do you need, little pixie?"

"I need something for Chifar."

"And who is Chifar?"

"He’s an owl, but he believes. His family kept the items. I know our God is real, and the items truly are holy. It is because of them I was able to go to Hallith. I however was hoping for something – something, I don’t know – something that would help him know to keep up his faith even in hard times."

Atagandes stepped up to say, "Zetrullid, this is Phesdorra. She is actually the reason I am here."

Zetrullid simply said, "Phesdorra, aren’t you a divine champion?"

I admitted, "Yes. I represent Sweet."

"Then let me give Chifar you."

"Me?"

"What do you think your job is? It is your place to stand and represent your God to your people. That should include Chifar."

While I agreed with what was said, I had to reply, "Chifar already has me."

"Yes, but you came all this way for him. You obviously have a friendship with him. Your problem will be that you will need to face him through hard times, and I have to say as you and he face others who you might not be friends with."

"And what will I have for them?"

"I will give them you as well."

Atagandes admitted, "For a pixie, she is a rather tough person."

Zetrullid chuckled, then said, "I feel certain that your God is pleased with her. Atagandes, how about going to my throne and getting the things on the left arm."

After walking to the large stone chair, Atagandes reached for something while asking, "Zetrullid, you had these ready?"

"I had the ring ready for Cornispe when he first came to me. Please, bring them." He waited for Atagandes to bring the items to him, then presented them to me. "Phesdorra, this is a cape with my symbol on it. You should not ever wear it, as I am not your God. Along with it is a crystal vial of some water that flows around us. Should you ever, ever, doubt your service to your God and feel unworthy of standing before others, look at these and remember that you stood before me."

I took them while thanking the deity. After hearing his response, I flew with them down to Brequir. The bear had me fly before him to show the items to him. He then thanked the deity for them, although gave the explanation to me.

"Phesdorra, I might need to come to you occasionally to see these. It’s okay that they are not for me. I however feel that they will help me just as they are intended to help you."

I settled back on his neck while saying, "Thank you for coming with me. Atagandes, thank you for coming."

Atagandes said, "Let me say, Phesdorra, that we humans are not going to disappear like the elves did. We are going to stay present. Things do need to change. I will admit that. However, I believe we humans made more of a mark on the world than the elves did, and somehow your age is going to have to deal with what we are leaving behind. When we get home, I will see what suggestions I can come up with after speaking to other humans."

"I will listen to you, Atagandes. I promise."

"I fully believe that, Phesdorra. What you might not believe is that I will be sensible, but I will promise you that as well."

I turned hearing Zetrullid say, "Hallith, I do not have a ring for you. I will accept Ayither as your wife, but she is not mine. It is not her place to carry anything stating allegiance to me. She is going to have to trust that I will support you loving her. Only with your children will I demand any allegiance from her. Both her god’s wind and my water should be presented to your offspring with acceptance whichever way their heart is pulled."

Ayither said, "Zetrullid, I support the other gods of my world, and of my friends I mostly have those of other gods. They honor me, and I them. I have traveled with Hallith, and found his ways not to disturb my wind. I will claim him as my husband, and as his god you will find me giving you honor. I have seen the same from him with my god. If you find no fault with him, I promise that you will find no fault with me."

"Hallith is a good man, Ayither. You are committing yourself to a wonderful life, but there is a standard to be met as well."

"He has faced my friends and gained respect from them. I have faced his friends and found them to gain my respect. I am looking forward to standing with Hallith as an equal, and enjoying a good life with him."

Zetrullid spread out his hands while saying, "Then Ayither, you now know where I am. Just as with your other friends, I expect you to show up and visit."

"Then I will tell you the same thing I told the god of my closest friend, you would be wise to have your doors open when I come, as I will bust them open if necessary."

The two embraced, then Anerth stepped up to perform the actual marriage ceremony. From somewhere Ayither produced a ring. The rings were not exchanged, but the couple agreed with the commitment to honor the bond of sharing their lives with the other. With the god present there was an aura of the moment being special, although I felt any marriage had its importance.

With the formality performed, everyone spoke of being in the mood for a celebration. After a number of hours of traveling up the mountain slope, we were hungry. The Quartermasters spoke of not having a good meal in a long time. While we had enough to sate us, Atagandes, Brequir, and I were given packs of food. We were then brought back out on the mountain slope where Hallith opened a portal that took us home.

Atagandes did return to the humans. They had disbanded during his absence, but still had enough respect for him to listen to what he had to say. As he spoke to them, I told my stories to others. In the next meeting with humans, we began to listen to each other as we spoke of what we desired in the age to come.

Subject: Epilogue May 11th 2020, 6:38 am

To Know Sweet and Sour
Epilogue

(Slidell)

The foolishness of storm sometimes got me upset. We had tried to reasonably discuss the situation with those of Merandy. While there were a good group of people who supported calm, even supported my goddess, Nemerry, those in charge of the city supported Thor. Their connection to storm would not allow them to listen to reason, and now General Lobritoll was letting them know the results of their foolishness.

I heard some commotion behind me, but I kept my focus on what was ahead. It was the responsibility of the officers to keep the men in line. As a Champion of Nemerry, I felt my position was right, so would fight whether the regular soldiers rallied around me or not.

"I AM STORM!"

I could not help but look up as a lady I knew flew over our heads to land on the field between General Lobritoll and the front line of those from Merandy resisting any attempts to pacify the situation in their community. I heard a man excuse himself as he pushed the soldier to my right aside to take a place beside me. He was big, so I could not help but look up in order to identify the one who felt a need to fight at my side.

"Hallith?"

He smiled at me, then said, "I know you do not talk in combat, Slidell, but hi."

I turned to face forward as Ayither proclaimed, "Thor, I have kicked your butt before. Well, not you, but I did major damage to one of your temples. I had to go to another place devoted to you and apologize. Well, there is Slidell about to go against these that promote your wet storm. She is my friend, Thor, so I will fight in this battle as well. If there ends up being any cause for an apology, look to her for it and not me."

Her name began being passed around among the men on both sides. Ayither really had not been gone that long for people to forget, but since her leaving I had found myself called into territories beyond the ones I tended to operate. My reputation was spreading, and in hearing others speak of Ayither I knew that her fame was also being passed into distant lands.

The one that claimed authority for the opposing forces called out, "Champion Ayither, Thor has no issues with Typhorsh! We of storm should stand together."

Ayither replied, "Then let me know why Slidell is wrong. Won't be first time I found fault with her calm nature, although I still will not stand against her."

"They want us to tear down our estate. In it I have established a shrine to Thor."

"It's in a marsh, calm water! It is a building to Nemerry, not Thor!"

I heard Hallith comment, "I had Ayither look over the terrain before we rushed to you. We discussed the large structure."

The opposing leader replied to the lady before him, "It's a marsh because of the storms that plague this part of the land."

Ayither said, "I see no sign of the water leaving. There must be some calm source of water keeping the land wet between the storms." I had come to the same conclusion about the marsh, so held my place as Ayither asked, "Did Thor bless your shrine?"

"Before we could do that, we had these forces come upon us."

"I told you it should be a building to Nemerry. That is a Champion of Nemerry with them."

The man spit on the ground before saying, "I will fight for Thor."

"You're stupid. I'm fighting with Slidell. I know a temple to Nemerry when I see it."

With an ease and grace I had not seen in her before, she lifted from the ground. From a distance I heard a cheer, which assuredly came from those of the community who did not feel the urge to fight. Realizing that another serious opponent would now face him, and the limited number who had joined his cause, the leader called up to the one that floated off the ground before him.

"What would you suggest, Ayither?"

She showed no sign of having trouble maintaining her place in the air as she replied, "Why did you build it there? Don't you know that at least half of the structure is over water?"

"I want to feel the motion of a storm as it moves on the water."

"That's a good thing. Hallith?"

The man to my right replied, "Did he use an architect?"

"Yes. What architect did you use?"

The opposing leader replied, "Architect? It's a big house, but just a house."

"Tear it down gently so you can reuse the wood. Get an architect, and build something that will gain you the support of all your people. Really, Thor does not need idiots like you making him look bad. Build him something that will please him so much that he will rush a priest to bless your home before these of calm can finish their discussions."

Again I heard a distant cheer. What I also saw were the men of the opposing force begin to move as if holding discussions among themselves. I smiled hearing the officers behind me remind the men that our duty was not over until all matters could be settled.

I did want to speak to Ayither. Usually she would rush upon me, but she allowed herself to move among those of the community and listen to their various stories about the situation. I turned wondering what Hallith would say or do. When I told him, 'Hi,' he grabbed me and planted a kiss upon my lips, then told me he would speak to me later after my business was completed.

Generally I felt pleasure in assuring a true resolution of a serious disagreement. In this case I heard the jubilation of those speaking with Ayither and Hallith. The leaders would even put off their discussion with us to have a drink with her, then would come to the table with terms that were clearly rational even if their speech was not. I found my enjoyment of gaining a reasonable end of the disagreement to fade as I also sought to spend time with a close friend.

Finally approaching her, I saw a difference in her youthful form. I could not help but think of her as calm. Having no doubt that such dramatic change did not come over her, I looked at her form wondering what was different about her.

She proudly said, "I have accepted Hallith as my husband, Slidell."

The only response I could give was to say, "So there is hope for me?"

"No. Sorry, Slidell, but you are still going to have to suffer the indignity of having your calm spoiled by me rushing to claim your friendship. Any man of calm who looks to you will find himself discomforted."

"And you will need to suffer through periods of calm."

She banged a fist over her heart as she said, "My storm is inside. It is now a part of me, Slidell. I do not have this constant need to act, but can feel the action even in peaceful periods. I can be nice to people knowing that what I do to help them will not affect who I truly am."

I looked to Hallith as I asked, "That is the secret?"

He answered, "I believe it is."

I spent the evening speaking with Ayither and Hallith. She continued to demonstrate some of her storm, but I found her to be a lot more comfortable to be around than I remembered her. Hallith did nothing to constrain Ayither, but showed pleasure in our company whatever either of us did or say.

After a discussion of her plans as a married lady, Ayither asked, "Slidell, what about your infant husband?"

I replied, "Nemerry will not offer me any promises. I feel that she is happy with my service. If a child grows into a fine, noble, calm man, I will gladly accept him as my husband. At the moment I however feel that Nemerry is pleased that her domain will not have to suffer your storm."

"Zetrullid put up no resistance to meeting me. He was very kind. I felt he wanted to do so much for me, but understood that I belonged to another."

"You met Hallith's god?"

"Up close and personal. I have seen so much, Slidell. I have fought with the Quartermasters. I have communed with champions of gods of other worlds. I have met friends of Hallith, immortal friends, and have faced threats I never would have encountered here on our world."

I fought back tones of sadness as I said, "Well, visit as much as you can."

"This is my world, Slidell. I will be around doing what Typhorsh leads me to do. Yes, I will join Hallith should his god gives us a mission. We also will visit his friends." I saw her look around, then wipe tears from her eyes as she said, "But you are it for me, Slidell. You are my only friend. There are others I know, and of course I will be about my homeland. Still, if I want to visit a friend, I will need to disrupt your calm."

"If you see me with a young man, give him Hell, Ayither. If the lad cannot tolerate your storm then he cannot be the man for me."

That had Ayither begin a discussion of Hallith. I had to admit that I found qualities in the man I liked. Some of the things Ayither said did not fit my personality, but I could see in her face that she was happy with him. Accepting that he would now be part of my inner circle, I gladly discussed the man to learn all I could about him.

The evening ended with both of us being given missions. One messenger rushed in to blather out a call for Ayither to go handle a problem with some monsters. As she was speaking an apology to me of needing to be off, a dignified gentleman in a suit approached me speaking of a need to handle some matter in another land. After hugging the couple, I left in the company of the man.

Coming out of the building, he asked, "That was the champion Ayither you were socializing with?"

"Yes, and her husband, Hallith. Let me give you advice to never act against them."

"I understand that you are their friend, but Ayither is storm. Should you not fear their company?"

I wondered about the teaching of those of calm in this part of the world as I replied, "Yes, because they are happy. As content as I might be, their joy troubles me greatly. Still, they speak to me of the future, and I speak to Nemerry of the future. As divine champions we are not to have the people look to their present situation, but toward a better future."

"She is still storm."

"Do you not remember not that long ago? The gods themselves were being threatened. It was Ayither who destroyed a temple to Thor, the other god of storm. It was also Ayither and Hallith who stood with me to oppose the corruption seeking to promote my own goddess. Do not fear the storms that rage through our world, because they can be forces for good. Fear evil, and work to prevent evil. Ayither is not evil, she is a good friend, and I will ever seek her company."

"I am not yet comfortable enough with my peace to chance facing a storm."

I looked at the man. He did have icons of Nemerry on his person. I however saw things that were tied to his horse, so had to ask a question of the man.

"Are you seeking to become a Champion of Nemerry?"

"Yes, Slidell. If you do not mind, as we travel could you provide instruction?"

"Of course, but you will need to seek the goddess yourself if you truly want a close relationship with her."

Instead of asking a question of my connection with my goddess, he fell back to the earlier topic. "And what does Nemerry think of you socializing with one of storm?"

"She knows to open the gates of Tranquility, as to prevent the entrance of a friend would be to spoil the harmony of that blessed land. Friendship should be a strength, and I assure you that the strength of my friendship with Ayither will enable her to overcome any barrier put between us."

"I was told your instructions would come from a different place than those who taught me. Please, speak freely as we travel."

"Of course, as only combat should limit the speech between others. As long as we are able to talk, there is a hope that we can find a means to a better future. That is why I speak to Ayither, as we both want a good future. If you get a chance, you should approach her storm to speak to her as well. If we all put our effort into speaking with each other, however different we might be, we might find ourselves in a world without combat."

» To Know Sweet and Sour - Part One (1-5)
» To Know Sweet and Sour - Part Two (6-10)
» To Know Sweet and Sour - Part Three (11-16)
» To Know Sweet and Sour - Part Four (17-22)
» To Know Sweet and Sour - Part Five (23-28)