Ankyra Sound Nightspun

@The Listener <3 
A day or so after Eldritch meets with Kukutux and Kausiut

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The Seer returned as she said she would, and as she came upon the shoreline, she called in her low tones for the nameless prophet she had pledged to. 

Eldritch would wait patiently for the unchild to greet her again.

a low howl carried over the bridge of souls, rousing the listener from deep sleep. she rose, and swept along the shoreline under thrashing winds and a dark, moody sky with clouds dimly backlit by a sallow sun. the witch cloaked in raven-dark furs awaited her at the sound, elegant in her bearing and in her fine midnight coat.

eldritch. come, the listener beckoned, and led her to the bridge of souls. water was beginning to flow over the stretch of sand, higher with each passing minute. they would reach the island in time, the prophet knew, but there would be no return trips until the tide receded once again. you will meet the speaker. the first of three.

As she expected, the listener came to her beckon. 
The seer was urged to cross the bridge to the islands, which was quickly being submerged by ocean waters. 

The voidspun witch nodded once and trotted alongside the unchild, silent and observing.

as they walked, a distinctly uncomfortable feeling crept up the listener's spine and into her shoulders. a shivering tension, tightening muscles and tingling nerves. her head jerked upright and her neck went rigid, pawsteps shuddering to an abrupt stop.

mismatched eyes went black with overblown pupils. razored hackles rose and rippled.

the spirits sang.

eldritch. you must bring her. the pale one, in her mind's eye, a wolf; vesta? the pale one with sunfire in her soul. she — no, no, not vesta. a new wolf. a queen.

the water rose, swirling around dark ankles. her voice dropped to a whisper.

she fights, but the battle has no end. not in the land of mortals. you must bring her here, eldritch. she holds our future.

Eldritch watched with quiet curiosity as The Listener stiffened, eyes widening into black with expanded pupils. 

She spoke of The Pale One. That she must bring her. The one who fights forever. 

The Seer immediately thought of Nyra. Her scarred and massive body. 
Who else could Listener speak of?

"I don't know where she could be. How will we, I, do this?" Eldritch inquired. Would they do a ritual? A sacrifice of some sort? Eldritch noted the rising waters with a quick glance downward.

the spirits call her. she cannot answer.

the listener trembled, weakness grasping her limbs with an iron grip. she saw the faces of the druids' wards. the distant silhouette of a wolf on the shoreline. the secret embrace of lovers by the sea. the sound. this queen would rule there; she would guard the gates to the druids' sacred islands.

she was needed. eldritch was needed.

you will answer.

Eldritch offered her shoulder for support if The Listener needed it. 
It was becoming all too clear to Eldritch, in her mind, that her purpose here would be one of a divine sacrifice. A necessary one for the greatness to come in the future. 

"I will answer them with my life. This must be the way. But how do they say I must be offered?" Eldritch murmured in response. 
How would they choose her departure from this world?

the listener did not understand her own words. did not understand the visions coming to her. it came in fragments, disjointed and disordered as each spirit crooned its own part in a divine cacophony. slowly, she uncovered the will of the unnamed god.

a summoning ritual. the sacrament, no — the black sacrament.

she shuddered, and her eyes began to show color again. the spirits went silent, and she slumped against eldritch's proffered shoulder.

i have done this before. but never with a living creature. never with a wolf. her voice was weary.

what is the pale one to you, eldritch?

she would know this before she took eldritch to her death. she felt that the elder witch would not have agreed if she did not see the truth in the listener's words. the spirits had spoken to her of this, too. but what had they said?

Eldritch nodded softly as Listener decreed the Black Sacrament. Though the Seer knew not what this was, she steadied the younger witch as she answered her question.

"The Pale One is...my sister." Eldritch answered. She felt this to be true in her core.

She took a slow step forward. Would they proceed?

the pale one is my sister.

the same power flowed through their veins.

the listener moved with eldritch as she stepped forward, and together the pair trudged through the churning black waters to the misty island ahead. there, under cover of twisted mossy trees, she would begin to prepare eldritch for their ritual. as they walked, the listener prayed under her breath for strength.

fading into another thread for this <3 you can respond again or archive here