BogMod/LuZhinDreams8
Creation was in dire straights. The Chosen of the Gods made war against each other. No longer did the Solars work as one for Creation's greatness. No now they competed and made war against each other. The period that would become known as the Snow Period had ended four years ago. The century of arming and eyeing each other was over and the violence was rising once again. In the east there lived a woman. A courier and minor thaumaturge she like many other mortals in this era just tried to get by, get by and hope that their city was not the next to suffer from the warfare between the Exalted.
Of course even without open warfare the world was deadly enough. Experimental creations that didn't live up to their creator's expectations would be released into a rival's territory. They would rampage before being set down by the local military but only after causing the deaths of many innocents. These reckless and pointless uses of experiments to further the deadly killing knowledge of the Solars would later be regretted but that wasn't on a certain woman's mind today.
She was riding hard. Her steed was frothing white at the mouth. Even with its superior breeding it was only a matter of time before it slipped or its heart gave out. She didn't relent though and urged it on faster and harder as her long blonde hair trailed behind her. She could hear the roars of hunger from behind and the heavy footfalls of a monster. Like a crocodile but with eight legs, bony spurs along its body and a deadly spiked tail this thing had been following her for miles. No matter how quickly she pushed her horse she couldn't get any serious distance between her and it. Then the inevitable happened.
Her steed's foot came down badly and with a sickening snap bone broke and they went down. "No." she thought. "This is not how its supposed to be." And with that thought it was like her body became lighter. The world seemed to be in slow motion and she leapt off the back of her collapsing horse and rolled coming to her feet safely a few yards from it. Turning to look behind her she saw the creature pass by and almost casually gut the horse with one of the boney blades along its body. Its great size filled her vision and its fanged long maw aimed for her head to bite her in half. She twisted though and her foot came up as she flipped backwards and hit it. Impossibly her strike snapped its jaw shut and forced it back a step as she landed lightly back onto her feet.
She wasn't even thinking now. Her body just reacted as if guided by a will and power not her own. A will and power greater then she. Still she had no weapon and even with the half remembered charms she couldn't hope to break through the hide of the creature and give it a blow enough to do more then hold it back. Then she saw something from the corner of her eye. A line of light that scathed across the ground and cut through the creature with all the ease of a warstrider cutting through an unarmed man. With a roar only half done before it was suddenly silenced the beast fell dead to the ground as its blue blood dripped onto the earth.
Ashima looked to where the attack had come from. Her heart pumping in her ears, adreniline clouding her thoughts, she kept her fists up and ready to fight. For a moment there was nothing then slowly a small airship materialized into visability from nowhere as it hovered lightly off the ground. Shaped like a stingray she didn't recognize it as any standard design that the military used. It lowered its altitude a little and hovered, a small hum as its engines kept it afloat and a small ramp opened and lowered down. Jumping out of the ship was another woman. Dark hair cropped short around a beautiful face with sharp blue eyes looking at her. A breastplate of Orichalcum and a pair of gleaming orichalcum swords on the one side of her body at her waist. She seemed familiar and Ashima's lips slowly formed a name to the face she somehow knew even though she had never met her before in person. "Yasalin."
Yasalin well that was a name a lot of people could tell you about. The Twilight member of the Circle known as the Five Mountain's River Circle. Their accomplishments in the past were well known but of their later actions less so. They controlled territory in Creation's northeast and had been very defensive during the Thousand Struggles Era. This was quite out of her way to be in this part of the east. Old habits though die hard and the young woman dropped down to kneel before the Solar woman as she approached her swiftly only for Ashima to find herself hauled up to her feet.
"Myr or whatever your name is now we don't have time for that. Get into the ship we need to get underway and quickly. Odovacar would jump at the chance to get me and if we waste time here he will." She said quickly and turned. Half pulling and half dragging Ashima the two got into the airship and the ramp closed. Ashima was pushed into a chair as the Twilight went to controls and the humming of the ships essence engine seemed to grow louder a moment before dying off and they took to the air. From outside the ship seemed to evaporate into invisability. While this was going on Ahima noticed how bright the room was. Like a golden light was being shone on everything. She looked at her hands and saw how the light changed its play along them as her head moved. Swiftly she brought a hand to her head and felt her brow which seemed warmer like the light of a sunny day.
As she remained stunned and marvelling at this she suddenly realized Yasalin was trying to get her attention. "What? Sorry I was just...what were you calling me?"
"Your old name. Myr. What do you call yourself now?"
"Myr? Me? Oh uh...my name is Ashima. I work for the Toanen Sen Courier Service where I deliver..." She stopped as the other woman held up a hand.
"I didn't want your life story. Allright Ashima listen up. You are a Solar. In another time we could have had a big deal and a big party in Meru but well you know how things are now. You are of the Night Caste and my circlemate. Kejack was able to tip me off about where you would exalt after you had died trying to kill Desus for us."
"Kill Desus? I would never try to kill a So."
"You are a Solar now. You were a great assassin though not great enough it seems to take care of him. Listen the details of all that I can give you later once we are safely at our manse with the others. These are dangerous times to be a new Solar. So listen I know you have a lot of questions about whats going on but for right now I need you to sit there and be quiet." There was something in how she said that which made Ahima just nod her head softly and sit. She looked to the window at the front of the ship which showed them passing over the great trees of the northwest and yet the only thing she could think of was that this couldn't be happening to her.
