Risha: Chapter 48

Risha stared for a long moment, lost in the majesty of the creature in front of her. It was large, and unlike anything she’d encountered before. 

“My beauty has brought many sailors to a watery grave. It is best not to stare too long.” 

Risha gulped, the sensation strange when surrounded by so much water, then she bowed, “Risha is awed by your beauty.” She nodded her head several times.

Laughter echoed through Risha’s mind. “You are too kind, young one.” The creature drew itself up, and Risha realized that it was even larger than she’d first realized. “I am Hwahwei, the Ocean Mother, and you are Risha, the Goblin Grand Mother.” The mother’s name came with vibrations through the water, whistles and song that gave Risha a feeling of comfort and protection.

Risha mutely nodded, overwhelmed by the mere presence of the creature. She clenched her hand, her claws pushing into her hand, the pain helping her think, “Why did you call for me, Mother Hwahwei?”

“To decide.”

“Decide what?”

“I usually don’t speak with the Grand Mothers until they enter my oceans.” Hwahwei said, ignoring Risha’s question. “I have no desire to fight in your wars, nor do I greed for your treasures. There are things in the dark that I watch, far more terrifying than the worries of the surface creatures.”

“Things that terrify you?” 

“Yes. Be grateful you walk where fire still holds sway.” Hwahwei paused, then the ocean moved with her as her large eyes appeared in front of Risha. “Tell me, Grand Mother Risha, what do you fear?”

Risha looked into those eyes, feeling incomprehensibly small. “Many things. Risha fears fire. Risha fears the eyes of the dead. Risha fears failing her people. Risha fears you.”

“It is wise to fear, when you are so small and weak. What does your fear tell you, young one?” 

“Tell Risha?” Risha frowned, but before the Ocean Mother could respond, Risha continued, “It tells Risha nothing. If Risha let fear speak to her, it would destroy her.” 

“So it does, if you let its words slip into your mind. Have you felt love, Risha?”

Risha nodded, holding Hwahwei’s gaze, “I love all my children.”

“A good thing for a Grand Mother. And what does love tell you?”

Risha stayed silent, her mind going over the question in her mind, “Love tells Risha… It tells me, that there is purpose. That there is meaning. Love tells me that I am not alone.” 

Hwahwei watched Risha for a long time, her thoughts unknowable to the small goblin, “You are classless.”

Risha considered lying, but something in her told her that she shouldn’t, “Yes, Risha evolved into a Grand Mother.” 

“Strange. Very strange. Mother Risha, when you are ready, meet me here in the ocean. I would like for you to see the things that terrify me so.” 

Risha paled at the very thought of being so deep in the water in reality, but nodded her head anyway.

“I must think. You can return home, young one.” 

Risha bowed to the Ocean Grand Mother, then turned away from her and willed herself back to the starry void, another step forward and she was back under the canopy of her own home inside the council. 

Risha took several breaths of normal air. She was more unsettled by the visit than she wanted to admit. She’d never met a creature so overwhelming. It reminded her of her first time in the pit, armed only with a bone against the warbeast. 

She spent a moment in the comfort of her tent. The familiar leathers grounded her, calming her fearful heart. Risha took one last breath, then ended the ability.

***

Risha opened her eyes to see the same languid river. Its waters reflected the stars of the sky, shining brightly so far from the fires of the city. The furry pillow under her head shifted, and Risha looked up to see the large eyes of the wolf who’d accompanied her here. 

Risha picked herself off of the kobold’s lap, and fully sat up.

“What happened?” Mist-Prowler asked.

“Someone wanted to meet me,” Risha reached out, and dipped her hand in the water. The ocean water felt different from this river. She watched as the drops filtered through her hand. 

Her other hand waved under those drops, and they lifted, following her movement as [Shaman’s Magic] activated. She made the drops dance, enjoying the simple movements of magic.

Her hands fell and the water fell into the current.

Such simple magics were nothing compared to the way the ocean moved with Hwahwei. As always, Risha needed to get stronger.

Risha stood up, and reached for the bow that she’d just bought. With practiced movements, she strung it. 

Mist-Prowler looked at Risha in confusion as she walked down the stream. “Grand Mother?” 

Risha didn’t answer as [Hunter] activated, her movements quieting and her feet becoming sure. 

Risha ran. 

Mist-Prowler followed.

The road quickly gave away to animal tracks and trees. Here, Risha was at home. They weren’t the same forests that surrounded her home village, but she still knew these trees. The three spiderlings hidden in her clothes woke with the adrenaline that flowed through Risha.

Risha stuck close to the river until she found tracks that were large enough. Then she turned, [Hunter] helping her track, despite the darkness. 

Risha hunted a predator, shadow clouding its movements. Risha’s sharp teeth gleamed in the darkness, reflecting the bright moonlight. 

She pulled two arrows from the quiver at her waist, and notched one as she approached a clearing. Behind her, Mist-Prowler followed, her steps lighter than Risha’s. 

Risha stepped towards the clearing, and [Hunter] warned her just in time. She turned, drawing back her arrow and loosing it into the maw of the jumping panther.

The panther shifted into the shadow, dodging the arrow and landing in the leaves a few paces away. Risha drew her second arrow in that moment and loosed it, catching the predator off-guard. 

The arrow landed, piercing its throat. 

The panther tried to roar, but couldn’t with the arrow in its neck. It leapt at Risha again. Risha smiled as she dropped her bow and rolled under the panther, drawing the dagger on her leg in the same movement. 

The panther turned to her in an agile movement and lept again, Risha twisted out of the way, her dagger flashing as she drove it into the panther’s ribcage, just above the heart. She let the dagger go with the momentum of the lithe predator, and suffered shallow cuts from the creature’s back claws as she rolled away again.

The creature staggered as it turned towards Risha once again. Risha picked up her bow, and grabbed one of the arrows that had fallen out of her quiver during the fight. 

She drew the arrow back, recognizing the panther well. One just like it had killed a hunter right in front of her when she was a child, dragging the still screaming hunter away as the other goblins attempted to pierce its tough skin. 

A familiar rage filled Risha, her vision focusing as her blood turned ice cold. 

She loosed the arrow. The panther tried to shift, but something in Risha screamed NO.

Her arrow pierced the panther’s eye, and it fell to the ground. 

Risha let out a cool breath, her brain calming.

Why did she do that? 

This wasn’t the same panther who killed that hunter. This one hadn’t done anything to her or her people. Yes, in that moment she’d had no choice, but she sought the fight.

Risha walked up to the dead creature, and pulled out her dagger, then the two arrows in its body. As she worked, she spoke “I’m sorry. I thought I wasn’t angry anymore, but it looks like that isn’t true. You suffered because of my weakness.” Risha picked up the bleeding panther, and threw it over her back. “Risha will respect you in death, for you were a mighty warrior.” 

Risha turned and started walking back to the city, the blood of the panther flowing down her back. 

Mist-Prowler stepped up beside her, “Would you like me to carry that, Grand Mother?”

“No. Risha owes it this respect.”

“Yes, Grand Mother.”

“Call me Risha. Risha fought hard for her name.”

“Yes, Risha.” 

They walked through the forest, kept company by the sounds of the creatures who walked the night.

“Is it heavy?” 

“It always is.”  

“You don’t have to carry it alone.”

“Risha doesn’t. You walk beside her.” 

“As long as you remember that.”
“Risha likes you, Mist-Prowler.”

“I like you too.” 

“You will have to come with Risha more often.”

“I’m not much of a warrior. I work better in the shadows.”

“That’s good. We can’t all be warriors.” 

The fires of the camps around the city became visible as they crested a hill. Heads turned to look at the goblin who walked through, carrying a panther larger than she was. Mist-Prowler walked beside her, growling at anyone who thought to approach.

The warriors at the gate of the city moved to stop the pair, but Mist-Prowler walked ahead and said something to them. The goblin and the kobold were let through without question.

The night market parted for them as they made their way through. Risha walked with purpose, so Mist-Prowler followed her as they made their way to a group of orcs and goblins. 

Risha stopped outside the group of hunters, and dropped the panther at their feet. “I need tools.”

An orc stepped forward, annoyance on his face, but before he could open his mouth, Mist-Prowler was in front of him, flashing something shiny.

He barked something to one of his associates, and skinning tools were brought to Risha. There, in the middle of the market, she began to skin and declaw the panther. 

Monsters gathered around, watching the skilled hunter as she processed the different parts of the monster. Her hands moved with practice and skill, from a life that was far gone now. 

The parts of the panther seemed to keep the strange shadowy affect that they’d had in life. Over the next several hours, Mist-Prowler ran to various market stalls for items, while the group of hunters made sure that no one bothered Risha. 

Risha wasn’t sure why they did it, when they didn’t realize who she was, but she didn’t think about it too hard, instead focusing back on her task.

Risha paused as she stared at a particularly tricky part, and one of the hunters stepped forward to help her. 

Every part of the animal was used and treated with respect as she worked. 

Finally, Risha stepped back, covered in blood. 

She smiled wide, happy with her work. All of her clothes were dirty, except for the cloak, which had somehow avoided the bloodstains. 

Mist-Prowler handed her new clothes, and she stepped into the hunter’s tent to change.

Risha stepped back out to a group of excited hunters, asking her a bunch of questions about the hunt. 

She happily told them, and the night devolved further as they all started drinking alcohol. Then someone happily brought out a new set of gambling-tiles. Risha borrowed more shinies from Mist-Prowler, and promised to herself that she’d pay back the kobold double of what she’d borrowed. 

Drunken laughter filled the night.