Radiance and Shadows

Fourteen

Zina trailed behind her friend, connected at the fingers. She couldn't help grinning with the excitement of everything. Her whole body had been purged of the dirt of the slave mines, the rock and dust scrubbed from her skin and face, and cleared from under her nails. Every single pore of her skin felt open, clear, and clean.

The summer air felt impossibly amazing paired with the sun. Zina felt that with the physical grime of the mine now gone, she could begin to put the memory behind her.

Synika pulled her to the other end of the city, past the Elemental Tree, and down a narrow street. The buildings sat closer together here, blocking the sun. The air was cool in the alley. Onwards they trekked.

At long last, the alley curved to a wider road that dumped into a large square, surrounded by shops on three sides. Ahead of them sat a massive chapel, complete with stained glass windows depicting over ten different gods and goddesses. Zina stared up at the building. It was made of white marble, intricately carved years ago. Dwarven built, Synika told her. Nothing and no one else could carve like that. Sometimes not even magic.

"I've never been to this part of the city before.." Zina said.

Synika ignored her, eagerly pulling her towards the building. They reached the massive oaken doors, which swung open of their own accord, and stepped inside.

The inside of the building was cavernous, colored light shimmering and mixing through the windows. Zina glanced around. There were shrines to sixteen different gods in a large half circle, each detailed differently and decorated with flowers or tools, even weapons or holy artifacts to appease the deities to which they were made for.

Synika had been here only once before to ask a question of one goddess in particular, a secret meeting she'd never mentioned to anyone. Though, she hadn't anyone to tell, until now.

Zina let go of Synika's hand, wandering to stand in the center of the half circle, gazing slowly from right to left.

"Synika, why are we here?"

The elf smiled. She wanted to tell her that secret. She took a breath.

"A few months ago, when I was deathly lonely, before I had a tiger and a dragon, I lived in that tower by myself. I still do of course, but I have them now, and hopefully... you, should you choose to be a part of my adventures to come."

Zina turned to face her.

Synika continued. "Fourteen weeks, three days, and four hours ago, I came into this chapel to seek advice from a goddess named Sune. I was lost in my head, trying to decide whether to follow my heart or my mind, or some mixture of the two. I wanted to know what it felt like to experience love, of any kind. But mostly, I just wanted a direction."

Synika looked away from Zina's eyes.

"People.. Fear me more than they'll ever love me. The work I did on the Sergeant's behalf was honest and I did my best.. And it's true that I changed the course of this realm, mostly alone. But while gratitude was plenty, there was no love in the work. No love in the 'thank you's. So I came to Sune, the goddess of love and beauty, to ask her where to go, what to do.. and what it meant to love."

Zina turned to face the shrines again. She pointed ahead. "This one, isn't it?"

The shrine she motioned to was a miniature archway, five feet tall, glowing faintly pink, rose vines growing over it. There was a pedestal bird bath sitting under it, with a few red songbirds floating peacefully on the water's surface. Both structures were made of white stone.

There was a single lock of long red hair twisted around a gold ring in the bottom of the bath pool. Sune's hair.

"Yes." Synika said, approaching it. The birds looked up at her, tweeting once, then returning to their silence. Synika idly stroked their backs with a single finger.