Revaramek the Resplendent - Chapter One Hundred Twenty Two (Patreon)

*****

Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Two

*****

For several weeks after he saved Ibba, Rain forbid Etchka from leaving their home without her. Even then, she only allowed him out into the area surrounding their yurt, so that he could bathe, help prepare food, and enjoy the sunshine. Often, she kept him resting in bed, or on comfortable sitting mats. She kept most of the tribe away, shooing them off with bared fangs and snarls if they even tried to broach the subject of his healing powers. Rain allowed well-wishers and friends to visit, so long as they kept conversation away from certain subjects.

Ibba’s family came to share a meal with the one night, bringing and preparing all the food themselves in thanks for what had happened. Etchka enjoyed their company immensely, and got to spend some time playing games with Ibba, who had brought a few dolls woven from reeds and carved from wood. No one brought up what had happened to her, aside from hugs and licks of thanks and affection, and whispered words of gratitude. Ibba herself seemed to be no lasting emotional trauma, either, as if it had never even happened. She remained as playful and mischievous as ever, and her parents had to keep careful watch on her to make sure she didn’t sneak out of the yurt while the adults were talking.

Etchka’s strange visions and feelings of déjà vu faded as the weeks passed. He made it clear to Rain he considered her the impetus for his recovery. Rain only smiled and told him she was glad he was feeling better. Gradually she gave him a little more leeway so that he could bathe in the oasis again, rather than in a tub. Then she let him hunt with some of the others, after swearing them to their best behavior on penalty of teeth in ears and knees in more tender places.

When he was fully recovered, Etchka returned to his prime shaper duties. At Rain’s encouragement, he took a more active role in training the rest of the tribe’s best shapers, especially those who showed abilities with healing. In private, she confessed to him that it was her hope to avoid any of the tribe coming to rely too greatly upon him. Though it was clearer than ever now that none of them would ever be quite as strong as him, together they could accomplish all they’d ever need to ensure the tribe’s prosperity and continued health.

As he trained the others, Etchka learned more about his own abilities. While helping them study healing, he found that with enough focus, could peer inside someone’s body. When a malady struck, he was able to visualize their entrails, and their functions, even the way their blood flowed through their bodies. In this way, he was able to discover more about how their people worked, and how they might best deal with illnesses and injuries.

Rain took up duties working with him. Though Etchka suspected she wanted to keep an eye on her mate and make sure he had no more problems, he was happy to have her by his side. They had little in the way of written languages, but Rain had an excellent memory, and soon knew which plants and herbs worked best for which maladies, the best ways to bind specific bones, what salves and balms to make for cuts and burns and so on. Between the two of them, they were soon able to treat most of the tribe’s problems without relying upon his healing abilities.

Some of the elders took that as a sign that Ibba’s salvation was meant to be an awakening, of sorts. That such healing was to be used only in the gravest of emergencies, but also that he could use his powers to learn how to best care for whatever his people might face, and pass that knowledge on. That suited Etchka just fine. The last he called upon his healing, the less the tribe would rely upon him, and the less it troubled his head.

Though the visions had faded, from time to time he still had odd dreams, filled with urd’thin who seemed somehow both familiar, and foreign, and a desert both like, and unlike, his own. In some of the dreams, he was a chief to those people, in others, he was dying, and in yet more, he was as a ghost, walking amongst them but never seen. In the most haunting of his dreams, he wandered a vast, broken land, holding the hand of a young pup. Whenever he awoke from such dreams, he remained adrift in an dark ocean of confusion. Etchka knew they were only dreams, and yet he could not shake the feeling that he was somehow glimpsing things that had already happened. Worse, other dreams were as if he was seeing things that should have happened, or events that would someday be visited upon him. It was as though he was dreaming about some other urd’thin’s life, and their past and futures were all jumbled up, a tangled skein of stars spinning above him in an incomprehensible sky.

At least Rain was always there to comfort him after such dreams. She could not always make sense of them, but she could hold him, and remind him that dreams were rarely sensible to the waking mind. With the way everyone had been asking so many ‘what if’ questions about the way he saved Ibba, Rain told him it was no wonder his subconscious mind was filled so many possibilities. And as far as dreams of a pup were concerned, that one should be easy. After all, he’d told her himself, they’d have a pup of their own someday.

After that, they took a more active role in trying to have a child. When Rain’s cycle came next, they mated as often as they could, and cared not for who knew. When her cycle passed and she did not grow heavy with child, they kept trying. The season turned, and again her cycle visited her with greater receptivity. As before, despite passionate efforts, Etchka’s seed never quickened inside her, and eventually they were faced with the realization that they may be unable to conceive together.

By then, most of the tribe’s intial mated couples had children. The first among them to be born were old enough now to learn to hunt and harness their own shaping. That Etchka and Rain did not yet have a child of their own was impossible to miss, and as it was known they were trying, the encouragement and sympathetic words from the rest of the tribe soon grew to frustrating platitudes. Etchka could only hear ‘the gods shall will it soon enough’, and, ‘at least you had the fun of trying’, so many times before he had to fight back snarls whenever the subject was broached again.

One night, after waking from another dream of a pup, Etchka lay in bed, frustrated. Rain was fast asleep at his side, but he could not find his way back to slumber. For all his people’s talk of the gods, Etchka was certain that if higher powers had a hand in this, then surely they must want them to conceive a child together. Why else would they trouble him with such dreams? But if the gods wished them to have a pup, what was stopping them?

Etchka heaved a soft sigh. He knew it had to be something biological. Something must not be functioning right in at least one of them. Perhaps if he knew what it was, he could fix it. While Rain slept, he coiled his shaping, and sent it throughout his own body. Swallowing back a bit of humiliation, internally examined all his organs related to mating. With his shaping, he probed and scrutinized each part, but so no signs of injury or improper development, nor any other maladies. If anything, he seemed in perfect health. Slightly confused, he sent his shaping through the rest of his body, and found every other part of himself in perfect health, too. He bore no lingering signs of any injury, nor any sickness. Even the healthiest of the other urd’thin had a few scars or blemishes that showed up inside them. But his body looked as if it had not only never been sick of injured, but it did not even show the normal signs of wear and tear that came with mid-adulthood.

That only left him more confused than ever.

It also left him saddened. In a strange way, he hoped to discover their problem with conception was his. If he found a flaw in his own anatomy, or some lingering injury from his rambunctious youth, he could have healed it without ever having to tell Rain. But if the problem was hers…part of him didn’t even want her to know. Maybe he could tell her it was his fault, and that…he believed the gods did not wish him to heal himself.

But Etchka did not want to lie to her.

Not this time.

He flattened his ears. His own voice, posing as a stranger, echoed in his head. Etchka wasn’t even sure what that meant. He had never lied to Rain about anything other than a few drinking escapades, and she saw through those lies in a heartbeat, anyway. Etchka sighed, and curled up against her, his muzzle on her shoulder.

Rain stirred, turned and licked nose, then peered at him through bleary eyes. “Morning.”

“It’s not, actually.” Etchka returned the lick, then shifted to cradle her in his arms. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“That’s alright.” She snuggled up against him, a perceptive sharpness glinting in her eyes, even through bleariness and darkness. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t even know where to begin.” Etchka gave a soft laugh that turned into a sigh.

“At the beginning, of course.” Rain stroked his fur, her bare body pressed to his.

“I had another dream, about our pup.” Though it wasn’t truly their pup, Etchka had taken to referring to him that way.

“A happy one, I hope.”

Etchka shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. After I woke, I couldn’t get back to sleep. I’ve wondered, for a while, if the gods wished for us to not have a child.”

“I think that’s nonsense.” Rain tugged on a tuft of thick fur to emphasis her words.

Etchka yipped and swatted at her hand, then smiled. “I know you do, and…you’re right, I am certain. But if it is not the gods, then it must be…” He glanced down at their half-twined bodies. “Physical.”

Rain smirked at him, brushing her muzzle against his. “We’ve not had any troubles, there. If anything, perhaps you’re too eager sometimes.”

Etchka laughed and gave one of her ears a playful nip. “No, I mean, internally. That…maybe something doesn’t work quite right. Something we couldn’t tell, even when we’re together. I thought…I thought perhaps the problem was mine.”

“Oh…” Rain’s voice softened, and she lifted her head from his to gaze down at him. “Everything…seems normal enough, but if it’s inside them, or…it…or…you know.”

“That’s the sort of thing I’m talking about. Something that just…doesn’t work as it should.”

“You could fix it, right?” She lay her muzzle on his shoulder. “If you knew what it was. Could you…use your powers? The way you do to find injuries and illnesses inside the others.”

“I already did.” Though Etchka was glad she had the same idea, that did not make the subject easier to broach. “I examined myself, while you slept.” He reached for her hand, and twined his fingers through hers, squeezing gently. “I…Rain, I…I could find nothing wrong.”

“That’s good, right?” The sudden brightness in Rain’s voice was almost as painful as the way her ears drooped and her shoulders sagged when she caught on. “Oh…”

“I’m…I’m sorry, Rain, I…”

“Shush.” Rain’s voice trembled, but she returned his squeeze. “You’ve nothing to be sorry for.”

“I wasn’t sure you’d want to know, but…I didn’t want to lie to you.”

“Of course, I want to know.” Rain swallowed, and rolled onto her back, tugging his arm across her belly. “So if there’s a problem…well…go on.” She pressed his palm to her lower abdomen, stroking the soft fur on the back of his fingers. “Find out.”

Etchka nodded once, and coiled his shaping once more. He pushed it through his fingers and into Rain, let it settle into her body, into her blood. His shaping mapped her whole body for him, from her muscles and bones, to her organs great and small, even the network of vessels through which her blood flowed. She appeared to be good health, better even than some of the other urd’thin of the tribe. He sent his shaping through, seeking any problems, natural flaws, injuries, illnesses, or anything else that might prevent her from conceiving a child.

In the map he saw of her body, two tiny areas were soon aglow, his shaping alerting him to a potential problem. Flaws she must have had since birth, the tiny canals meant to carry her eggs to the place where they would quicken with his seed did not connect the way they were meant to. They were narrow, and small layers of tissue, grown in the wrong places, kept her from conceiving. A tiny thing that would likely cause her no greater health trouble, but would not allow her to bare a pup.

How could I have missed that?

Once more, his own voice rattled around in his head. The voice was familiar, but the words were those of a stranger. He never had reason to examine her this way before, let alone to miss such a tiny imperfection.

Too eager to live amongst them…

Etchka tried to shove the voice in his head aside. He stroked Rain’s fur, just above where he saw the problem. “There’s…I’ve found…”

“Is it putting me in danger?” Rain found strength to speak where he faltered and stumbled over his words, but the fear was clear enough in her voice.

“No.” Etchka kissed her muzzle, and smoothed back her ears. “Nothing like that, love. Nothing dangerous, nothing that can spread. A flaw, of sorts, that prevents the process from completing. For my seed to quicken, it has to join with a part of you, just as small, and together, they grow into a pup. But that part of you, like an egg, you could call it, it cannot make it to your womb, and so no matter how many times we mate, there is never life to be made.”

Rain heaved a long sigh, nuzzling up under his chin. “Strange, that such a tiny thing can make such a lasting impact on your lives.”

“At least now we know.” Etchka stroked her ears in turn, his muzzle resting between her horns.

“Can you heal it?”

“I…I don’t know.”

“I find that hard to believe.” Rain pulled back to stare into his eyes, cupping his muzzle in her hands. “You can heal it, can’t you?”

“That’s just it, though. You’re not injured. It’s not a wound, or a scar, or a disease.” Etchka leaned into her hands, closing his eyes. “You must have had it all your life. You’re not sick, Rain. You just developed differently. There’s nothing to heal.”

Rain was quiet for a time. When she finally spoke, fire crackled in her voice. “Then shape it away.”

“What?”

“If the problem was yours, if some tiny thing inside you prevented you from giving me a pup, would you not shape it away?”

“Rain, I-”

“You would, and you would speak of it not once.”

Etchka’s gaze fell. Rain was right, and he knew it. If he had discovered some flaw in himself while she slept, he would have twisted his power, and re-shaped his own flesh so that at last, their family would grow. He would have never told her, just celebrated with her when at last a child grew within her. But the problem was not his, and it would not be fair of him to deny for her what he would do for himself.

“It could be dangerous.”

“I understand that.” Rain cupped his muzzle, then kissed him, slow and tender. She eased back and smiled. “And I appreciate your concern. But I want you to do this. It’s my body, after all. Let me make my own choice.”

Let me make my own choice.

Another voice drifted through his head, a flicker of golden-beige fur flashed across his vision. Like his own unwanted echo, he pushed it aside, and smiled down at Rain.

“The choice is yours, my love.”

“Then just this once, I want you to change my story. I want to have a pup with you.” Rain settled back, swallowing. “But after this, that’s it. Whatever fate the gods have for me, I will embrace it. You understand?”

Etchka gave a single nod.

Rain splayed her, and she set her jaw, nervous. “Will it hurt?”

“Having a pup?” Etchka managed a smile, trying to break the tension. “It will hurt a lot.”

Rain swatted him, but laughed a little, too. She set her hand down on her belly, wincing in imagined pain. “You know what I mean.”

“I expect it will be painful, but I think I could…” He trailed off, unsure. He’d never actually tried what he was about to propose any more than he’d ever done what Rain asked of him. “I could try to ease you to sleep, first, with my shaping. I could keep you that way until it’s done. Then in the morning, you’d wake, and it would all be finished.”

“Alright, then.” Rain lifted her hand to stroke his jaw, smiling at him. “Thank you. For telling me the truth.”

Etchka kissed her hand, and smiled. “The least I could do.” Once Rain got comfortable, Etchka stroked the sides of her head. “Just breathe, slow and deep, like you’re going back to sleep.”

Though this was new to him, Etchka was certain it would work. The more he used his shaping, the more he realized it could do. But that certainly left him no less nervous about its implementation this way. He settled his shaping around Rain’s mind, saw it awash with waking light, and ever so gently, eased her into slumber. Bit by bit, dreams took over her conscious thoughts until at last she was deeply sleeping. Then he left a bit of his shaping there, like a heavy blanket across her mind, to ensure she’d remain asleep even if her body experienced pain.

Before Etchka started, he went over the process a few times in his mind. It was a simple thing, he was certain. As he could shape stone, surely so too could he shape flesh. After all, was that not what healing was? Shaping the flesh back the way it was meant to be. In a way, it was like greatly accelerating the body’s natural healing processes. It was different when he healed Ibba, though. That had happened on instinct, and was an instantaneous process.

Etcha grit his teeth. The longer he sat here thinking about it, the more he’d doubt himself, and the more difficult it would become. He coiled his shaping, and sent it into her. He bid it to find those tiny imperfections with outsized impact upon her life, and to remove them. Again, he saw her body mapped out for him, and this, he could see his shaping, like glowing tendrils, curling around the obstructions. His power, as if possessed of a singular will to do as he instructed, cut the extra tissue away.

Afraid it might trouble her, he bid his shaping to eliminate it entirely. His power dissolved away the extra flesh, and left it to be reabsorbed. Now, Rain bled inside from the little wounds left by the removal of the troublesome tissue. So Etchka focused on those spots next, willing his powers to heal them. The wounds closed, and the bleeding stopped. He followed her blood flow a little while, making sure there were no clots that had escaped, nor any tissue particulate that might block a vessel. Only when he was sure he had done all he needed to did he with draw his power.

Rain remained peacefully slumbering, just as he hoped. With any luck, she wouldn’t even be sore, come morning. A sense of serenity settled over Etcha as he curled against Rain. He worked his arms around her, and cradled her against his body, to keep her warm and secure. Now that it was over, he was glad he told her the truth, glad he gave her the choice to make. Now they had but to wait until her cycle next came.

Then, at last, they could start their family together.

*****

When morning dawned, Rain showed no ill-effects. Ethcka was happy to hear she did not even feel any lingering discomfort. They went about their lives as normal, with Etchka training the tribe’s best shapers and healers. Rain served as an instructor to the younger pups, teaching them herbs and medicines and anatomy.

Sometimes, Etchka tried to test the limits of his shaping. When a new ruin was discovered in the desert, he went with a group of hunters and his shaper apprentices to explore it. As the elders had given the group permission to use their shaping to excavate the place, Etchka took that as permission try and push his limits.

He had everyone else stand back, then pushed his shaping out into the world, swept away the sands, and lifted immense stone tunnels from the earth. He set them the desert, then bid his power to put them back together. Before an awed group of urd’thin, corridors and rooms built of stone reassembled themselves, and a great tower rose alongside them, floors stacked atop floors. More bits and pieces rose from deeper in the sand and put themselves back in place. There were even bits of crystal that affixed themselves to the roof, and a strange collection of rings of silver and black.

Even then it was complete, there were large sections of stone and other materials still missing. Holes dotted it everywhere, and it took Etchka’s shaping to hold it together. But that did not stop the other urd’thin from howling their excitement and approval at such a display of power. But for Etchka, it put him ill at ease. The rings at the tower’s top left him tense, his stomach churning. Though he was not sure why, something told him they were not meant for his people to look upon.

Etchka led the other urd’thin back to a safe distance, and then withdrew his power from the structure. Everything wobbled, rumbled, and soon collapsed into the sand amidst a great crashing clatter, and a massive cloud of sand and dust. The two rings shattered once again, and light flashing within the dust, like strange, localized indigo lightning.

The prime shaper declared it a relic of Those Who Came Before, and had the hunters collect all the black stone and strange silvery rock they could. They could take it back to the tribe and repurpose it. If there was true silver in there, perhaps they could melt it down. They’d found silver in ruins before, and used it to make decorations for high ranking tribe members. Etchka would enjoy giving Rain something made of silver, too. As for the rest of it, they could use all the stone to build sturdier structures to shelter the village from the occasional storms that ravaged the land.

His demonstration proved troublesome to some of the other urd’thin he was training. When they discovered another ruin, one of them wished to lift it from the sand just as Etchka had. Etchka allowed the attempt, and had everyone else stand well back. He offered encouragement as the brown-furred male slowly pulled stone out from under sand. He lifted a section from another tower, still intact and rounded, and for a moment, left it hovering above the sand.

The others gave howls of approval, and the shaper glanced back at them, grinning. But the distraction cost him his focus, and before Etchka could guide him on how to set the tower section down, the urd’thin lost control. The stone crashed to the sand at his feet in an instant, and rolled towards him. He screamed and stumbled away, tripped, and fell onto his back. The stone rolled forward, crushing his legs. It would have crushed the rest of him in a blink had Etchka not caught it with his own shaping. Etchka hurled the thing away, and attended to the other shaper’s crushed limbs. He was thankful the pain had pushed his poor apprentice into unconsciousness. Etchka rebuilt his bones and restored his legs while the rest of them looked on in breathless horror and silent awe.

Though Etchka refused to lie about what happened, he also refused to let the other shapers take any blame for it. When the elders summoned him, Rain forbade him from going, and went in his stead. Unlike when he saved Ibba, using his healing this way had not left him seeing things or hearing voices, but Rain feared another extensive questioning session might undo the progress he had made.

It did not stop talk around the tribe about his latest miracle. Etchka did not like hearing it called that. He did not consider it a miracle, and to imagine it as such sometimes left phantom voices drifting through his dreams. Rain suggested he stay at home until the talk subsided again, and it was a suggestion he was happy to take. His apprentices came to visit him, and he trained them in the desert behind their house. Rain made sure they knew what not to bring up.

Staying home while the tribe’s chatter about his healing slowly died down provided them plenty of time to take advantage of Rain’s next cycle. Some nights, they even mated out under the stars, as if to ask for the gods to witness their unions, and bless them with a pup at last. When Rain’s cycle ended, they were both hopeful that this time, it would be different.

It was.

They waited until the signs of Rain’s pregnancy were unmistakable before they allowed themselves to celebrate. But when her scent changed, when her belly swelled, they knew it had finally happened. They celebrated in every way they could. They danced and sang under the stars. They threw themselves a feast, and when news spread through the tribe, the elders decreed a feast to celebrate their prime shaper’s coming child, as well. Etchka shaped Rain a necklace from the stones brought back from the ruin, a thin, silvery strand adorned with a single, perfect silver raindrop. She in turn carved him a new emblem symbolizing him as their teller of tales, this one cut from black rock.

While their child grew inside Rain, Etchka continued to test himself. After the incident with the other shapers, he only experimented with his powers when he was alone. From time to time, he took a day to himself to journey out into the desert alone, where no one else would see him using his abilities.

The harder Etchka pushed himself, the more he found he could accomplish. He built an entire village out of sand, all by himself. He bent the world beneath him, as he had when he saved Ibba, and found he could leap over entire sand dunes. He plucked a hand fruit tree, roots and all, from one oasis, and carried it another. Despite the shock of the journey, the tree survived, and was soon thriving in its new home. The more he tested his shaping, the more he wondered what he could not do.

One night, while they lay in bed together, Etchka suggested he use his powers to peer inside Rain’s belly, to see if their pup would be male, or female. But Rain forbid it. She said the gods had blessed them with this child, and they had to trust the gods, now. They were not meant to know if the pup would be male or female until the day it was born. Furthermore, she made him promise not to peek inside her while she was asleep, even if he kept it to himself. She wanted him to be as surprised by the birth as anyone else would be.

Etchka agreed. He would not use his power to gaze inside her.

Though Etchka tried to spend as much time as possible with Rain, she often pushed him out of the house. She told him she did not need to be coddled, pregnant or not. She continued to teach her lessons, and to work around the tribe. Sometimes Etchka attended the lessons with her, just to watch her with the children. She was always kind and patient, she knew when to make them laugh when their spirits were down, and she knew how to engage them in whatever subject she was teaching at the time. Sometimes she even invited the pups to come up with lessons to teach to her, and she listened with rapt intent no matter how nonsensical the pups’ instructions may be.

Each time Etchka watched her teach them, he beamed with pride. He knew she was going to be a wonderful mother.

Since Rain forbade him from using his powers to check on the pup, he convinced her to let the tribe’s other healers examine her now and then. They brought in the birthers, those who had attended and helped other females through the difficult and painful birthing process. Etchka wanted to know what to expect, when the time came, and wanted Rain to be prepared as well.

Whenever they visited, they took time to examine Rain, and do things like listen to her belly to see if they could hear the pup moving, or hear its heartbeat. They explained that for the first part of pregnancy such things were unlikely to be noticed. It was only in the later stages when the child was better developed that movement and sound would be more easily observed by those other than Rain. After their examinations, they did have a few minor concerns, suggestions of potential narrowness, and the width of this and that. However, they assured Etchka there was no cause for serious concern, especially considering his abilities.

Even as Rain grew heavier with child, she refused to let Etchka take care of her any more than was necessary. She preferred to do things on her own, and told him she was not about to spend all day lying about in bed while there were children to be taught, and medicines to be made. Some days she kicked him out of the house entirely, or snapped at him to stop following her everywhere. Always she apologized later, and he simply hugged her and told her he understood.

On the days she didn’t seem to want him around, Etchka ventured into the desert again to train with his shaping. The stronger he discovered he was, the more confused he became. He began to wonder if the gods simply gave every tribe a singularly strong shaper. Perhaps someday, when his pup was grown, Etchka could journey across the desert in hopes of meeting another tribe, to see if they too had a prime shaper as strong as he was.

More and more, it seemed there was nothing he could not shape. He sculpted a flat section of desert into rolling dunes, and then he sent them washing across the land like waves upon a golden ocean of sand. He cast the sand into the sky, and formed it into a swirling spiral, a dust devil that formed all around him yet never so much as ruffled his fur. From the earth, he forged stone. From dry land, he brought forth water. And in an empty sky, he birthed clouds, and rain.

One day, Etchka sat atop a dune, watching a distant rainstorm he created deluge the desert. After a lot of thought, he had come to a decision. He decided against telling his people some of the things he could do, or how easily they came to him. If they understood what he could do, what reason would they have left to do things for themselves? If it was dry, they would ask for rain, and when it rained too heavily, they would beg him to part the clouds. Such abuse of their powers was what brought about the downfall of Those Who Came Before. Better that they did not know such things were possible.

If only they did not know his healing was possible, either. Etchka wondered then if he could even shape them. Could he alter their minds, the way he altered stone? Could he erase memories the way he erased wounds? Or could he alter their memories, make them recall things differently? It might be easier if they all believed that healing Ibba was a long, taxing process that nearly killed him.

No, Etchka thought, that would be wrong.

Yet, part of him believed he could do it.

But then why had the gods given him such powers? To guide and protect, not to control. He had to let his people make their own choices, and suffer their own mistakes. To do anything else would be…

Which god are you?

His head felt strange. He groaned, clutching under one of his horns. That was enough shaping practice for today. Better get home before Mica gets worried, he thought. He took a few steps before it sunk in that he’d used the wrong name, again.

Perhaps he should give up the training, for a while.

As he made his way home, he pondered the strange memories and dreams. Some days, he felt as if the gods had given him someone else’s memories, as though they were showing him stories from the old times. Maybe that was it. Maybe he was meant to use those strange images to tell stories about his people, of things long forgotten, and names long faded from their histories.

“Mica’s a pretty name.” Etchka continued to mumble under his breath as he reached the village. “Maybe if our pup’s a girl, we’ll name her Mica.”

A flash of light in the desert.

Etchka stumbled into their home, and flopped down onto a sitting mat. He hunched over, panting. Something tumbled around in his head, as though a confused animal had gotten loose inside his skull, and could not find its way out.

“Are you alright?”

“Mica.” Etchka glanced up and smiled at Rain. She sat on their bed, grinding dried herbs. “We should name her Mica.”

Rain set the herbs aside, tilting her head. “You want us to name our child after a high priestess?”

“High Priestess?”

“From the old stories, you used to tell. You’re not alright, are you?” Rain scowled, and pushed herself up out of bed. Her belly was quite swollen, and their pup would be here any day. “I think you’re been pushing yourself too hard out there in the desert. If you can’t tell the tribe how strong you really are, why bother discovering it in the first? Get comfortable in bed, I’ll get you some nice, fresh handfruit juice.”

“Very well.” Etchka rose back up, wobbling a little. “Do you need some help?” Etchka went to take her arm to steady her, only to have her laugh at him.

“You’re the one wobbling about.” She brushed a hand over her belly. “I’m used to this, now. You should have felt it moving about in there, almost frantic. Ready to meet us, I think.” She smiled and sighed, the nuzzled him. “Now. Into bed.”

“Alright, alright.” Etchka settled into bed, and lay back against their pillows, soft hide cases stuffed with feathers and reed fluff. “Happy?”

“Happier, anyway.” Rain filled their largest drinking vessel with hand-fruit juice fresh from that afternoon, and waddled back to the bed. She handed him the cup, and then eased herself down next to him. When he offered his arm to help stabilize her, she took it, and then glared at him once she was comfortable. “Drink. All of it. You’re no doubt quite dehydrated. You forget the strangest things. You’d probably forget your clothes if I wasn’t around to remind you to put them on.”

You forget you’re supposed to wear clothes, didn’t you?

The echoing voice made Etchka flatten his ears. He took a long drink of the juice, and it’s sweet flavors and cool temperature did much to ease his troubled mind. Etchka licked his muzzle, and set the wooden cup down. “Do you ever feel like we’ve done this before?”

“Yes.” Rain folded her arms, still glaring. “Because we have.I don’t know how many times I’ve had to remind you to drink more liquids when you spend the day in the desert, or how often I’ve put you into bed because you’re done something to send your mind spinning off in strange directions.”

“Not that. I mean…” Etchka took another drink, then waved his other hand at their yurt. “This. Our village, our lives. All of it. I…I hear echoes, sometimes, as if from other lives. Sometimes…I feel like we’ve lived it all before, and…no one can tell but me.”

Rain sighed, and took his hand between hers. She squeezed it, and settled it over her belly. “We’ve talked about that before, you know. But you never seem to remember it. Almost as if some things get…blotted out, in your head. Maybe that’s the gods’ balance, for you, for all your power. It takes no toll on your body, but on your mind…” She rested her head on his shoulder, smiling again. “How about this? If we do live other lives, isn’t it comforting to know that in at least some of them, we must have gotten things right? To know we’ll be together again, even after it all ends?”

“Yeah…” Etchka soon found himself smiling, as if her optimism were contagious. “I like that, to think that…even when I die, someday I’ll see you again.” He finished off his juice, and parted from Rain just long enough to set his cup on the floor nearby. Then he returned to her side and gently worked his arm around her shoulders. “I wouldn’t want to live my life with anyone else.”