Sawtooth Spire Here are the holy birds

Sutekh walks this strange land and breathes its history. If this earth has known war, its wounds have long ago healed. This odyssey is as deathless as his intent. For the longest time there has seemed to be no destination other than West.

But now a shewolf has told of a pack in the nearby canyon. She speaks of a god. Sutekh wants to know Him. Perhaps this canyon is the destination. Perhaps here there are whispers.

In the seclusion of the cold mountain shadow he disappears to bathe. The spring brook is cold with snowmelt, he bristles and submerges into the chill.

she had moved betwixt the caynon paths, and traced the edges of these two packs. la xtabay wished to know and see more of them. that was until the rather lithesome man was noticed. pausing in her steps the umbra stared, ears pressed forward with an urgency of sorts.

did he belong to either of them, or what else would this shadow be doing here? shaking her coat out she waited, would he notice or must she speak? was it even a good idea for her to remain? xtabay simply wondered if this man had information.

Upon emerging, he is not alone.

He would be forgiven for misreading his company as a contortion of shadow. At this distance, they are a mirage, a sable illusion fixed in posture, deceived only by two blue moons that loom for him.

He solicits them with a melodic coo.

Will they fold back into the safety of their shadows? Or fly off to reconvene with their murder of crows?

He is moored upon the bank in wait.

the apparition took in a breath before stepping forward on light feet. what would the meeting with this cryptic presence hold? la xtabay had not been made to feel small in a long time, but the golden stare following her made her touch on it.

❝evening, ts'ulo'ob.❞ a quiet utter to the shadows that loomed around them.

she stopped a short distance from the man, tracing her eyes over his tall figure.

The deep wood sires a sooty specter. They are female, watchful and wary, nevertheless receptive of this little call to sojourn. His mouth curls but he remains still. She is wise to be vigilant, there are strangers rustling the leaves and devilry in the wind. He thinks in her moon-eyes she knows it.

He opens his ears to receive an uncommon tongue.

“Such a lovely accent” He trills. Softly, soothingly, a sweetness upon his timbre for the flighty starling that does not befit his pitch black pretense. “Which languages do you speak?”

He seats himself gracefully while his dribbling velvety coat pools river water around his paws.

so sorry for the late reply! job changes :,D

she knew the tongue of flattery, but offered the slightest smile. xtabay thought her ajaw's language to be beautiful as well.

❝yucatec mayan,❞ she responded with a quirked brow as the enigmatic man sat.

❝what brings you to this place?❞ the umbra softly spoke, did the wanderlust merely whisper to him?

or was his presence here intended?

irl is always a priority, no need to apologize!

---

There is a fondness suddenly and upon her mouth a lip will curl. This will not go unnoticed by the jackal whose teeth bare broadly in return. A winding grin.

“Yucatec Mayan,” he's purring with recognition. “How is your canyon God?” The question asked with a flick of creek droplet off one pointed ear. Then with resonant and mischievous laughter, "To bathe, gbgb

crow

. That is Kemet."

will edit if you would like this set for another time of day ^^

this strange man knew? a flash of caution appeared in her gut. should she retreat to the shadowed depths she belonged to and warn her ajaw? no, she would not. her relaxed expression did not fade, showing no tells of the change of perception; unless this man could see the shift within her eyes he would not know.

❝he is well and strong.❞ she boasted.

❝i see, a lovely night to bathe in starlight.❞ xtabay followed his words, glancing to the reflection of the night sky on the water's surface.

for she had done so only days prior with caro's company.

❝how do you know of this caynon god?❞ she was vague, if he did not know anything she would not offer him more.

in this shadow's mind, wolves had reason to be unhappy with tikal's presence. they were powerful and demanding.

“What fortune.”

He sits like an onyx statue, absorbing every detail of her with desert sun eyes, his slick tail tracing along the bank beside him. “Lovelier yet with company,” He grins.

“I’ve had the pleasure of encountering another disciple, though perhaps, I am too old for the teachings of a new god. She seemed more like to chase me off the mountain than spread the good word,” he laments with an aggrandized sweep to his voice.

“I should quite like a council with your god, now we are to be neighbors.”

her eyes slightly narrowed with thought as he requested a meeting with her ajaw, but the smile his charming words had coaxed out was still present. then he offered a description of what seemed like any of her sisters;  xtabay's smile grew into a smirk, choking back a laugh.

❝i can't see why they would decline.❞ the middling shadow responded while making an effort to keep her eyes trained to his face.

he was sharp, tall, and bewitching. it reminded her of a man she had known long ago. he reminded her of the man who's scars she bore in her skin, the man who's life she had taken. yet, whatever name her momentary companion held, he did not leave a bitter taste in her mouth.

❝and who might i be speaking to now?❞ la xtabay danced around the asking of his name.

His smile swells.

“Sutekh of Shuyet, former Vizier for the late Pharaoh Akhenaten of Kemet.”

Though so far afield from the magnificence that was Kemet, stripped of title and the great deeds of kings and queens with empires that would rise and fall at their paws.

Here, he would be known merely as, “Seth, you may call me.” The epithet lingers as it slides between glossy teeth.

“And who have I the pleasure of conversing with?”

quite the name, she'd thought.

❝la xtabay,❞ she responded with a curt nod before moving to sit down. ❝one of ajaw's eight holcan.❞

details would be offered if asked, but she left it at that.

❝sounds like you were important. what happened?❞ her head cocked sideways as she pried.

while she hoped she didn't offend him, she was curious. such titles.

“A dead Pharaoh has little use for their vizier,” he’ll despair with a bitter laugh and a ruffling of mane, “Perhaps again I will return to Kemet, but there is an awful lot of world to see before the day goes dark, wouldn't you agree?”

He strikes a pleasured grin when the crow chooses to perch alongside him, “La Xtabay,” He'll purr, how honorable on the tongue!

“How long has La Xatabay served her Ajaw?”

❝of course.❞ she nodded, turning to look upon his rather sharp, alluring features from beside him. ❝natural causes? or did this pharaoh hurt others?❞

she had wondered, murdered, or an accident? those in power often left reason for others to be upset. then she listened, thinking on his question. how long had it really been? how much had changed?

❝a year, close to two.❞ xtabay nodded. ❝it was a life to pursue in the midst of my own short comings. for what it's worth, the training has buried the scared little girl i once was.❞

she rambled and overshared, but it didn't weigh on her. the things she spoke on rarely hurt her anymore.

“Infection from a tragic hunting accident,” he reveals with remorseful lilt, but does not explain further. Her air is vigilant and he is drawn to watch her as she gathers her darkened threads and begins to weave a story. She is not a gleaming fair dame, they are born from parallel shadows, more alike than not.

“So she trades tears for a blade, is it so? Fear is not a flaw if one knows how to cut it out?” It is in earnest the jackal will ask. If some fragment of herself is entombed, she certainly shares no anxiety with the casual passersby. An intentness comes over his face as he looms at her side.

“In Kemet we do not bury the dead without dissecting them first. We believe all parts contribute to a being and so must be preserved. Even the parts that make for scared little girls.”

xtabay didn't answer, she only adjusted her stare to seth's face once more. she was seen. with furrowed brows, she swallowed back a feeling she didn't know what to do with and the slightest nod followed.

❝yes, it is so.❞ she spoke before fluttering blinks aided her gaze away from him towards to ground.

was that part of her preserved, somewhere? or was it indeed cut out?

❝i wonder,❞ xtabay sighed before continuing. ❝i wonder if she is- preserved. it's a part of myself that hasn't surfaced for years. perhaps she truly is dead.❞

❝what parts of you are dead, seth?❞ would he allow her to see him?

just as he saw her.

With every word he is absorbed, attentive sunlight on cool eyes that speak of pain. Like a vaulted cathedral his shoulders arch high and ornate, a lowered head pressing into the intimate space between them. A pool of moonlight in which to unearth hidden skeletons.

“Do you desire truth?” Comes the question in a hush, spilling into her ear. “All of me.”

A shatter of laughter. His mouth hinges, teeth brandish the moon, a prominent hymn born from midnight lips raises high. “Rejoice! There is no despair. This is evolution to something other.”

His voice is loud, commanding- this he shares with the mountain. And then quieter, “But you keep yourself; even in death. All the parts that fueled you in life.”

his voice was a cold brush against her ear. to xtabay, his tone was ardent. all of him, had died. what flaws, yet not, had seth cut out? just as he had spoken it.

then a doe eyed stare fixed onto the self proclaimed hollow man beside her as he sang. perhaps not hollow, merely replaced. in the moment, she had thought no wolf was the same as who they had been.

❝pretty.❞ in the slightest movement xtabay's chin had titled upward as her native tongue slipped, ❝but what do you believe you have become? what is other?❞

her inquiry was announced into the slight air between them, hushed just as he first was. could she have derived a flawed reasoning of his hymn. apart from death, there was only life. had suhtek merely traded all of him for something else- was she wrong to believe this brought him new life?

❝just as i've traded who i was for something new, what have you traded?❞

“I see wolfkind, La Xtabay, and their wants. War. The contest for power. Blood in the name of a God before it is spilled. The flesh of a young woman,” he wafts away the words with a twirl of paw, “Wolfkind is simple, once you see.”

“But do you know what I see, when I look at you?” To her ear, he presses the secret, “A mirror.”

"This is what you will have to trade. All of yourself, for a mirror. Then, you will see."

a mirror required all of her. only time would show if she would. now, she looked to him with a misty stare. had he meant to strike a nerve? xtabay didn't know, but she inhaled a sharp breath that she would hope went unnoticed. what if she'd rather live in ignorance? embarassment was hot under her skin as she felt at a loss for words.

❝and do you truly think this is better?❞ she asked with furrowed brows; this expression was not due to anger, but true concern.

bloodshed for her ajaw was what she knew. la xtabay was content with that, so she thought. did she want to see things for how they were- how seth had seen them? sutekh saw, and what he painted was true.

thank you so much I love writing with you!! I had so much fun with this! I hope they will meet again =)

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So unsettled is her voice that Seth now will do what he can to soothe, softly he will speak, “That is only for La Xtabay herself to answer. A blind wolf will not want for things they have never before seen. Yet once seeing, there is no going back.”

In laughter he rises- no, but a wolf cannot! Nor choose to if they could! Kiss the lips of that entombed body that was once yours. You’ve never needed it anyway. The body will rot, the mirror is deathless! Seth will not say such things, he will share with the starling only a finishing grin for the rapture of her company at midnight.

“Oh your Ajaw would feel the loss of his shadow warrior. You are kind to amuse an old serpent,” he’ll croon, the gentlest brush of maw to her cheek, if she allows. And in a sweet whisper presents her with a parting offer.

“But ever you long to see, come find me.”