At the end of the siege of Kaldorn, when the walls fell, young Jrodha Nosin sought shelter from the invading armies. Jrodha found it in the temple of one of the city’s most prominent gods. Yet while the rage of the invaders faded with Jrodha safely behind the barricade, safety always comes at a price… -- Deathshead419
When the world ended, a child ran for the shelter of Boreas' temple. Her name, when she entered the stone structure, was Jrodha Nosin. What she was when she came back out... well... That must be explained.
Jrodha had barely dodged three arrows on the way to the temple, and got hit by a fourth as she stumbled onto sacred ground. She was six and scrawny, so of course it knocked her off her feet. She half-scrambled, half-crawled to the altar, and gripped the tusks with all her remaining might.
"Lord of Ice, maker of the cold winds, he whose mercy we beg of every dawn and every dusk... Bring your mercy hither now. Take my blood. Take my body. If you do not, there will be none to sacrifice to you, there's barbarians... attacking us." It was not a very formal prayer and Jrodha knew enough to believe that the gods needed formal words. All of the important ones flew out of her head. So she said the ones she said most often, "We thank the gods for all we eat, from field and flower to our meat. To the gods for mercy pray, that we may live another day."
Heavy footfalls behind her. The low chuckle of a bully. The soft drip of blood on the packed earth of the temple.
Tears fell, and Jrodha gripped the tusks like it was the last thing she'd ever do. "Gods bless me, keep me good. Help me grow up like I should..."
Her heart felt like it was burning for a brief instant, and then she felt a warmth like Gramma's bed with three of the dogs and half a clowder of cats.
They'd kill my worshipper at prayer, would they? thundered Boreas. He did not thunder like skyfire. He thundered like an avalanche. You invited me in, little one. Will you be my bones and meat for the sake of justice?
Her only other option was to die after the invaders were done playing their cruel games with her. Or, more likely, during them.
Come in and be welcome. Take my meat. Take all of me if you need it.
So Boreas did.
Jrodha felt like she was being cradled in kind arms, somehow watching through another's eyes as her body turned on the laughing invader. Her hand raised, and it poured out a one-man blizzard. Freezing the invader to the spot.
The body walked out, but it walked out one foot above the ground. Snow followed it. The eyes that had once been hers identified every invader, and brought them Kaldorn's revenge. Stabbing icicles, freezing blizards, treacherous ice of all kinds. Every puddle became water too cold to freeze until an invader boot sank into it.
The battle turned now that Kaldorn had a god on their side. Those able to fight back certainly did so. Those not yet capable made any attempt at invader victory cost them dearly.
Much blood was spilled. Invader and citizen alike. The spark of Jrodha recognised her mother, weeping and holding out her arms. Calling a name that Jrodha barely recognised as her own.
She was not entirely Jrodha any more. She was barely Jrodha at all.
"Thank you," said the body through the will of Borneas. "Thank you, woman, for bearing and caring for this vessel. She has given it freely to Me, and her soul has flickered out."
Wait. What? thought the echo of Jrodha.
"She is with Me still. I am taking her as an aspect of Myself. Mourn her, for she is Mine forevermore."
It was a great victory for Kaldorn. And a great cost for a very few of Kaldorn. The city would pray to Borneas for His mercy, and then prayed to Jrodha to make sure it took.
[Photo by Krista Bennett on Unsplash]
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