The Aldrothi deity stood in front of the stunned young man. He could feel her anger, the very air crackled under the soma being released. Lightning appeared and disappeared from the corner of his eye; his hair stood up as he felt the electricity flow through his body. The air became stifling as the smell of burnt hair filled the temple.

He couldn’t move or speak. The menacing woman had locked his ability to move. The air became slightly less contested as she walked toward him. Even though the room around him was bustling and contentious. The area around her was like the eye of a storm, serine. Nothing touched her, a surge of sparks warped as it got into a certain radius of her person.

Her horns glowed in the presence of so much soma. A golden glow covered her. Droplets of soma, no different from his sisters, settled upon her skin like that of morning dew. Her existence made the soma visibly excited.

As she got closer to him, her expression became softer. The disgust from earlier was still there, but he also saw a glimmer of compassion. He hoped that that would be enough to escape his demise.

As she stopped, the storm dissipated as well. In a silent room, she grimaced and spoke a second time, “What are your last words mortal?”

With those words, his life flashed before his eyes. His puny little life finally was going to come to an end. It was inevitable at this point in time. Even if he sprinted to the exit, he would be smitten before he took a single step, let alone the distance to the door. His body gave up, not allowing him to move. But his mind raced.

He remembered everything through his life, the pain, the suffering. His life had been hell. He’d been cast out all of his life for nothing except that he was born. The resentment borne from the superstition that forsaken were bringers of misfortune had deformed his lifeways that could never be reshaped. He pushed through those memories, instead of looking for a speck of information that could help. He went over the stories that he would read as a child. The fantastical tales of heroes and their quests. He remembered the book that he was transcribing and that particular phrase that had perplexed him to no end.

He escaped from his self-loathing and tried for a way to live for just a few more minutes.

He was running out of time.

The several seconds that he was thinking. The air had become crackling once more with lightning. He was to speak or never speak again, so he spoke the only thing that he thought could have even a chance of saving him.

“Hunter’s right?” his voice seemed to echo as he spoke those words. He then closed his eyes and readied for his eviction from life.

He waited…

And waited…

Instead of a bolt of lighting that would burn his body to a crisp. Silence followed his question.

Then laughter.

The sound was like a thousand silver bells ringing, he’d never heard such a beautiful sound in his life. He hesitantly opened his eyes, still afraid that he would become a black outline any second. Though, every second it became less and less likely that he was going to die.

Alvin's gaze moved towards the woman. Now red-faced and almost doubling over. It would be a lie if he said he wasn’t enamored by her laughter. It was such a beautiful noise, it drew him in and held him in place. His mind started to loll as it went on.

“-- haha, Hggunk”

Wait…

Did she just snort?

His daze broken, he looked at the Androthi in confusion and discomfort. She stopped laughing at that moment and her pallid skin turned red. They stared at each other for a moment. Discomfort replacing the tension.

She coughed in her hand, trying to distract from the extremely awkward silence. The cough did nothing to relieve the awkwardness, it only amplified it.

“Why did you summon me like this if you just wanted to go through the hunter’s right?” She looked at Al, still red, as the silence prolonged she realized she was still silencing the boy. As she released the strands of soma, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Uuuuuuuh.” Al had no intention of summoning her here. He had nothing to say, he could lie but she could probably see through anything he said. What is he going to do now? Lie and hope that she doesn’t see through it? Run to the door and become a lightning rod? He did not want to be extra crispy Al, so he went with the only thing he could do. Go with the flow.

“I didn’t know that I would summon you, um… I was trying to become a priest actually.” Al started staring at his shoes as if they were the most fascinating thing in the world.

“Huuum, you did a horrible job at that, why did you insult me?”

“What?” His head came up so fast that he almost got whiplash.

“Then why did you insult me in my own place of worship?” she repeated, growling in irritation that he had not heard it the first time.

“Did I do that?” he scratched his neck, not wanting to look in the deity’s eyes.

“Yes, yes you did, there were several insults in actuality. So why did you insult me in such a manner?” She crossed her arms and tapped her foot against the floor while she waited for his answer.

“I have no idea what I said about you, um… I was talking to myself more than you. Though I don’t really remember what I said.” His eyes started to linger on his feet again just to come back up as he heard the next sentence.

“Well, then, why did you propose to me?” she asked with a hint of confusion and a little dumbfounded.

“Wait... what!” He stepped back only for the tendrils of soma to lash back around his extremities. She then pushed forwards as he retreated and the large gap between them became profoundly smaller.

“Why are you confused, you asked me just moments ago.”

“What did I ask you?” He did not remember ever asking the woman in front of him to marry him in any way.

She looked at him as if he were an insect that she had stepped on, “The Hunter’s Right! what in oblivion’s name are you, an idiot.” She paced around him while tapping her chin, “Well then I have nothing to worry about husband-to-be. You won’t have the chance in hell to actually finish the Right if you are this foolish.” She spoke the phrase ‘husband-to-be’ as if she’d spoken it so many times that it lost all meaning at this point.

“What is the Hunter’s Right? And why are you calling me husband-to-be!” After he said this she burst out laughing once again.

“...Ha, you have no idea. Maybe you were just saving your skin. Well done then. Because you successfully did save yourself, my husband-to-be.” She said with a snarky undertone. “The Hunter’s Right is a way to marry a woman of your choice by asking for any hunter’s right, to be challenged to a hunt of any query for that person’s hand in marriage.”

Al was speechless. What had he gotten himself into?

“And because you have just asked me for any hunter’s right. Then I choose something particularly difficult for you to kill. Maybe I should also do a time limit. Oooh, a consequence would be exciting! Before that, though I need a query. Hmm, this is going to be so much fun!”

He was barely listening at this point. He was at the point where he regretted ever saying anything at all.

“So what great monsters are alive right now. Hmm, the Kraken of Mentak is still roaming around causing havoc to sea trade. That one is a little too cruel for my taste, it would be much more fun if the hunt was possible. That leaves very few candidates, though.” She then rattled off an extensive list of names, some were ordinary, while others were in other languages. After a few moments of multiple recounts, she finally settled on three. “Ssasa the Scarlet, the Shaker of Greenham, or the Swarms of the Sapphire Ruins. The swarms aren’t fair in the slightest, it's not a singular monster so that’s out. The Shaker has not been sighted in years, it might have already died, I would love to hunt whatever killed it. No, that wouldn’t do. Though Ssasa was always good at hiding, he has been spotted recently. Now, that would be a good hunt.”

He actually felt sick as she spoke their names. The Kraken of Mentak, a monstrosity that had plagued the port city of Mentak for centuries. Not even the strongest of hunters had even wounded the squid. She was right when she said it would be cruel to send him on such a hunt. He felt relieved that she may be merciful until she spoke of the next monster. The Shaker of Greenham, a massive worm that caused earthquakes and landslides all over an area called Greenham. It would eventually swallow five villages before it had disappeared. Nobody had gone back to the region and those who lived there left in fear that it may one day come back. The Swarms of Sapphire City were legions of monsters within the Geofraxian ruins of Sapphire. It had been struck by calamity as a monster was attracted to the city's natural soma production and it was too powerful for the city walls to stop. The monster itself was forgotten to history, but the herds of monsters are still within the city, living upon the never-ending soma that the bodies of the Fraxi produced even in death.

The last one perked his ears because he had not heard of it. Ssasa the Scarlet, he racked his brain for monsters with red hides. His eyes widened when he could only find one monster that had a hide that was prominently red. The knot in his stomach tightened as he realized what monster she had chosen.

“Are you ok my husband-to-be, you look like you have swallowed a Takan earthworm. Never mind, now the time limit, oh that’s obvious. Four years should be enough time. And the consequences. Yes, my favorite part. I will hunt you if you aren’t able to kill the query. That sounds reasonable.”

“Why are you doing this?” his voice was a rasp as he held bile back.

“Didn’t you specifically ask for it?” she said, staring into his very soul. He swallowed the little saliva in his dry mouth.

“Now that that’s all done, I can tell you your challenge. You will have a period of four years to slay the Dragon, Ssasa the Scarlet. If you do not hunt it down in that time period, I will personally hunt you. The rules of the hunt will be outlined in the hunter’s code. If you do not follow the rules, you forfeit the hunt and my hand in marriage. Any questions.” She paused as if to hear any questions.

“...um, can I--”

She cut him off, “No questions, good, I want to go back to sleep as soon as Androthianly possible. Oh, am I forgetting anything…” She looked around the room, and eventually, her eyes fell back on him, “Ahh, yes, your Forsaken, poor thing. That just means that I’ll have to get creative on how I will track you.” She stepped close to him and laid a hand on his exposed neck. His face flushed at the contact… until the burning started.

“Ahhhh!” The tendrils vanished as his legs crumpled to the ground and he cupped his neck in his hands. The smell of burnt skin was wafting from the place she touched. The pain was like a hot metal rod had been placed on his throat. His voice quickly became too raw to scream anymore.

“The Brand of the Lost should suffice,” she spoke calmly, “wow, that took a lot more soma than it should have…”

She waited for a response, but he had nothing to say, nor was he even listening. With a look of disappointment, she spoke her parting words. “With that my husband-to-be, I will see you in the near future.”

Then she vanished without a sound.

He laid there on the floor of the temple wondering,

“what have I gotten myself into.”

----

The priests were not happy.

They sensed that something was wrong when the soma in the House suddenly spiked ten-fold. That made them start to panic and try to find the source of the disturbance. When they found a, slightly crispy, skinny kid in the main sanctum of their order. They were well and truly pissed.

Seth and five other head priestesses stood around Al. he sat on a stool while the Holy people argued on what to do with him. The main consensus was to kick him back on the street where he came. Seth was, of course, against this and was constantly defending Al in most, if not all, the exchanges. He had not said a word since they took him out of the sanctum. No, he had other more important things to think about, like how a certain deity had signed his gravestone with ‘died like the fool he was’, or ‘burned to a crisp by a Dragon.’

They were not comforting thoughts.

Of course, he wasn’t dead to the world…yet. He heard snippets of the conversation that was happening as he was silent. Four of the five women were yelling something about “sacrilege”, and something about the years of ministry before he could even dream of having the possibility of becoming a priest. Seth was calm, as always. He and one other priestess were on his side, which meant not wanting to punish the boy. Even Seth could not willingly vouch for Al any longer, simply because he was not in the room when the occurrence happened. He did protect him from the priestess’s wrath. That only went as far as punishments. It was obvious by how they spoke that he was not welcomed any longer.

There were a few interesting things that he noticed while the argument went on. First, most of the clergy were young women. Actually, almost all of them were. The only men present were Seth and him. Because he now knew without a shadow of a doubt who they worshiped; he was able to puzzle out why that may be. But the outlier was Seth himself. Why would the man bind himself to a deity mainly known for her maidenhood? That, and why had he stuck with it for so long?

The man was a mystery. That’s for sure. The second interesting thing he noticed was the way the women looked at Seth. They all seem incredibly respectful towards him, even though he made a blunder that let an outsider in their most holies of holies. They never interrupted him when he spoke, for the majority of the conversation they never were mad at the old priest. They were only angry at Al. Which, he had to admit, was pretty justified.

The third was the most interesting by far, to Al at least. No one noticed the brand on his neck. Not one comment on the new patch of burnt flesh that stuck out like a sore thumb. One of the head priestesses did look at it for a few seconds and then she lost focus and acted like she hadn’t seen a thing!

The arguing petered out with the main agreement being that Alvin was not to stay. Seth tried to give Al a few more days to recover, but it was to no avail. Even the priestess on Seth's side of the discussion would not allow him to stay in the temple. Rather she wanted to put him in the hospital or an inn and leave him there. With that, the discussion ended and the verdict issued, Seth walked him out towards the exit.

That was where he was now, outside of the main temple gate. Seth was there to say his goodbyes.

“Well, I guess this is the last time I’ll see you for a while.” he looked quite sad as he spoke. The age showed through as he stood in front of the gate, the winkles that were usually invisible seemed to become more noticeable when he stopped smiling. His robe was a little bit more disheveled than it was just hours ago. He had bags under his eyes from staying up all night, waiting for Alvin to leave the Sanctum and then trying to open the ‘jammed’ door when he felt that something was wrong.

That and he was arguing for the last three hours.

“Bye Seth, thank you for nursing me back to health these past few days. I wish I could give something back, but--”

“You do not need to give anything back, I and the temple gave willingly.” He bowed his head slightly. “If anything, I wanted to give more, but things do not go as I wished they would.”

“Well, then thank you again, and maybe I’ll come back in the future.” Yeah, in a coffin when your deity shoots an arrow through my heart.

“Oh, before you go, I was wondering. What happened when you were in the sanctum? That has never happened before, and I have sent in my fair share of would-be priests, and that type of reaction never occurred with any other disciple.”

As Al heard that question he couldn’t help but cringe. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

The Priest did not push instead he nodded his head and strode through the open gate. He then turned his head and spoke his parting words.

“Goodbye Alvin Morrow, may the fortune of the maiden smile upon you.”

He then kept walking as the gate shut behind him.