The First Hellhound

“My Ember!” Nugund enters the tent as Tika pours some soup into the bowls. “You woke up! Thank Vyena! But why are you blushing?” His question makes me fidget and I feel even more blood rushing to my face; however, I’m too embarrassed to answer myself. I even avoid eye contact with my lover!

“We were talking about the Full Moon – and the new life it will bring” the old Witch butts in while putting food in front of me. “And you know very well how the Tribe reacted to her Aura… especially many women.”

“That’s true” the Volkhlun sighs deeply. “After all, there is a small crowd waiting in front of the tent” you’re not helping! “There are even 3 Vodyakin women among them!” That picks my interest and I raise my head; it makes the Wolfman roll his eyes – and it doesn’t help with my blush.

“Ekhm!” I fake a cough and try to change the subject. “S-so… about what happened at the Gathering…”

“Ah yes!” Nugund seems to get the cue. “Pretty much everyone’s in awe of your power – especially the Tamarans seem deeply shaken and confused” I frown.

“Those warrior-monks?” He nods. “So they believe in that story, but… why would they be so… distressed about it?”

“Your flames feel a lot like the flames of Goddess Zorya they carry in their weapons” the old Bobala answers. “But you should question them yourself later, darling; you need to recover your strength, so – eat!” She points to the dish, a soup that smells way better than it looks; I can see clearly that my portion has some more stuff added to it… stuff that looks very suspicious as I scoop it up and look closer.

“Are those… testicles?” I ask with incredulity; the old lady giggles.

“As I said, you will need strength… and endurance, as what your young lad told us is true” I was on a way to stop blushing, but that comment made it impossible; in the meantime, my partner seems to be upset by being called a ‘young lad’, but decides not to comment on it. “Those are from Pink Rabbits – not only do they match your fiery Aura, they are great aphrodisiacs and taste really good!” She urges me to eat.

“That amount will keep you going the whole night” I pull my eyes off the small organ on my spoon and look at Nugund; he seems to be worried. “You need sleep, Kora of the Wilds” he continues, seeing that I hesitate. “You were punched on the head twice in last two days. Both times you were knocked out cold. You need to rest” he grabs my hand. “I worry about your health” his concerns make me feel warm inside, so I decide to flirt with him for a bit.

“Are you worried” I say, making my best impression of Pola’s coquettish and mischievous smile. “Or are you just jealous?”

“What!?” He shouts, standing up suddenly and slamming his fist on the table; it startles me so much I drop the spoon. “How dare you…?!” He utters, to my shock looking genuinely angry and hurt by my words. I panic and start apologising, explaining that I was only trying to joke and to flirt with him, that it was. I feel tears welling up in my eyes and I stumble, stuttering all the time; however, it seems his emotions pass as he slumps back on the chair and rubs his nose.

“Right” he says finally, with a heavy sigh. “You speak Kolokolan so well, I forget you know so little about our customs” he breaths another sigh and looks me in the eyes; he looks tired and it’s clear to me that his ego is still bruised. “What you just did was accusing me of putting me and my feelings above you and yours; that I want to control you; and that I want take your freedom away” he squeezes my hand. “Don’t do it, if you don’t mean it. Especially not in front of others.”

‘Kolokolans value their clan, tribe, and freedom

.’ The words from last night echo in my head, as the memory of my talk with Yuras the Boulder resurface; only now do I get the ramifications of what he said. Or at least I think I do.

“Hohoho, you are such an interesting person, darling” Baba Tika interrupts my line of thought; I completely forgot about her! I snap my head towards her – thankfully, she doesn’t look disturbed by our lovers’ quarrel, but rather amused. “I’ve heard you have quite detailed memories of your past life as a Human – which is unheard of and I would like to know more about it in the future; other Witches too, I believe. But now is not the time for that” she points to my bowl. “Now is the time for eating; and young Nugund can talk as you eat – as he has yet to tell you the most important development.”

“That’s true – start eating, you need it” he agrees as I scoop out the testicle; I hesitate a bit, but still try it… and to my surprise, the taste and texture are quite exquisite and delicate; it is so tender it practically dissolves in my mouth. They also leave a curious fiery aftertaste and a warm feeling that spreads, slowly, to my nethers the more of them I eat.

“It’s good!” I say and look up; Nugund’s smile seems a bit forced – in contrast to a warm, grandmotherly smile of the Witch. I wonder why that is… but I am devouring rabbit balls; does it make him uncomfortable? Or maybe he’s plainly disgusted? Or… sympathetic? But I am too slow to ask, as he shakes it off his head.

“Right; there are things you should know, my Ember” I feel slightly embarrassed by him calling me that in front of Tika, but I don’t dwell on it, urging him to continue. “First and most important is that we are attacking the Dragon in a week” I pause with the spoon midway to my mouth, but he’s not finished. “Both of us are to take part in this hunt.”

“Good” I comment and ask quickly, before continuing to eat. “How many others will be there and what’s the plan of the attack?”

“Eight. Chieftain and his daughter Roka of clan Burda; both of the Tamaran warrior-monks; talented twin hunters – aptly named Kolo and Kola – of clan Yazas; an experienced Witch named Hyrek of clan Males; finally – Toborite leader, Azrag” he nods. “Adding us makes it ten challengers.”

“Is that enough? Or too many? And are Vodyani not helping?” I question him in a rapid succession.

“It’s perfect” the Beaverwoman is the first one to answer. “Ten is a sacred number” I roll my eyes. “There are ten Great Gods – five Old and five New – as there are ten Great Stars and ten planets in the sky, as there are ten fingers in the hands and ten toes in the feet, as there are ten hours in the day and ten hours in the night, as there are ten days in the week and ten months in the year.”

I abruptly stop the spoon midway, causing the testicle to fall off. “WHAT?!”

Nugund and Tika tilt their heads, confused – but it seems an idea and understanding spark in his head. “Are you asking about the counting of time?” I nod. “Was it different in your old world?” He asks with curiosity.

“Yeah” both of them seem intrigued and it seems they won’t explain things to me unless I elaborate. “Ugh… so, back in the world where I lived in my past life, the week was 7 days, the month was 30 or 31 days, the year had 12 months and 365 days normally or 366 every 4 years.”

There’s a moment of silence when I finish – and then both of them… burst into a fit of laughter!

“That’s… that’s so silly!” Says the Volkhlun.

“And the weeks… the weeks” the Bobala struggles to second him. “The weeks… they don’t fit in months!”

“And what on Zhemay’s ass is with that day added to some years?” Continues the hunter. “That makes no sense at all!”

“And why is it so short when it has so many months?” The Witch adds, while holding her stomach. “And why make some months longer?”

As they continue to mock the calendar I knew my whole past life, I feel strangely defensive about it; I’ve got no idea I was so attached to it, but… “It’s easy for you to laugh, but it worked – and was based on the reality of movements of celestial bodies!” I pout; I have questions as well. Serious questions. “So how does it work here, in Yavea? Does it make any sense, huh? And how do you measure it at all?!” I get more and more agitated as I speak, my irritation gradually increasing.

“Now, now” says Nugund, his tone conciliatory. “You will understand why the calendar in your past world is so funny to us, when you see how perfectly and elegantly everything is arranged in our world” he suddenly turns serious and looks me straight in the eyes. “Don’t forget it’s your world too, now” I feel myself blush and look to the side, which makes Baba Tika laugh again.

“You see, dearie” the Witch says when she calms down. “The Gods, or rather: a God – Old Man Ostaran to be precise” I roll my eyes; it seems the mythology lesson is inevitable – I need to finally get to know it, so now is as good of a time as any. “Made everything to align perfectly: the Moon always takes 40 days to make a full rotation, which can be divided neatly into 4 weeks: the New Moon Week, the Widening Moon Week, the Full Moon Week and the Thinning Moon Week; then he made a year to have 10 months, when the Moon goes through 10 Great Stars in sequence, going from the Last Star back to the First Star” her eyes are shining and she seems in awe. “It’s… perfect. It’s astonishing. It’s beautiful

.”

Even I am swept in by her emotions, as I have to agree that it makes more sense and is truly elegant. I also groan internally, realising that with such a perfect mathematical equations that can be used to describe the Universe, the belief in some Higher Power must be even more ubiquitous than I thought earlier. And… I have to admit – no matter how hard it is for me to do it – it seems logical.

I look back to my interactions with the Alchemist and how they refuted claims of godhood on technicality. Maybe… maybe I am wrong? Maybe Gods do exist?