“Was there any doubt about that? Come now, we need to get you worked in a new mentorship. Get you ready for a new apple. Perhaps a few years to get you settled in, teh?” she fastened huge gestures with a few sweeps of her arms until 5 grand archway portals opened up. The images inside the portals were of a bird’s eyeview from 5 different populated places; a farmtown, bustling city, tiny cottages near a dappled grove, beach houses standing on wooden stilts above water and a ruined castle crumbling under a heavy snowstorm.

River held on to Maksim, fastening to his arms for dear life. “I’m not going anywhere without him.”

With a hefty sigh, “I see you’re gonna be difficult about this. I’d be mad but it’s really refreshing to see Xiankere’s spirit lighting up in you. Very well. Call upon me like before once you’re ready to pass through. You can take however much time you like. I can be patient.” As she was about to step through a portal, El’rra sprang forward.

“Mercy, my goddess, I implore you. There are thousands of which we have lost. If you can spare us a bit of your power, perhaps—”

“Petty dribbles. My successor will handle this instead.”

Like ripples in a water, a whole village swung their gazes at River one by one.

In the next second, thousands of sparkling lights burst like fireworks when Brumcia passed through the city portal. Followed by a cloud of smoke as the each of the portals started blinking off into non-existence.

More tribespeople came pouring in from the entrance, filing in with what amounted to be the entire population.

River found herself searching for U’tu and Lei’la, and a choked gasp of emotion spilled free when she spied them together with the crowd. She ran up to them, hugging them both at the same time.

Lei’la held her wet cheeks with both palms, “Child of divinity, what has got you so upset?”

It may have been from the softness of Lei’la’s genuine concerned voice, or it might have been from the singing pain off her back. But like a dam spilling open, words burst through, unintelligible and wrought with emotion

“I’ve s—seen.. It was all my fault. I asked them to sing with me and like an idiot I hadn’t fully realized the dangers of curses. Maksim wouldn’t be here, if it weren’t for.. oh god they wouldn’t have to die if I hadn’t opened a portal.” She bowed, bending forward into her hands, weeping. Grief seizing her up, unaware. Once tears came trickling down, a freight train of emotions exploded.

U’tu scowled, an irritable cold iron schooled his features with wrinkles marring the sides of his mouth as he frowned. “Death is a way of life. You can’t be upset about this.”

Lei’la bent down and cradled River’s face with warm hands, “No more, River. You’re bringing us all down.”

“Wha—?” It was at that moment she recognized that the pool water had risen up to a level around her hips, strong currents rippling with tall waves in chaotic directions. It was no cause for panic with tribespeople because with their height, the cave waters only lapped against their thighs.

“It’s okay, it’s okay” Lei’la said, “We know how to swim.”

Emotions came surging up again, hot and heavy. “Make it stop.”

U’tu swung his gaze around, gauging the whole situation “We can’t. You’re doing this.”

Lei’la leaned in “Tell us how to help.”

“Maksim!” she spun around, immediately finding El’rra carrying him on one shoulder. A remarkable spectacle of strength that rendered her speechless.

Me’ren waded through the pool of water towards her like it was nothing. It was for the first time, River had actually taken in what was so otherworldly about them. Sure they moved with amplified strength before, although now, the spectacle of magnified strength stunned her breathless. The water lapping against his thighs reflected dappled light and it left a mystical wispy texture where it rested upon his sweater up to his face. There was a helpless look about him, lost and listless like he was looking to her for anchor “Whatever you need. It’s yours.” He said.

She sputtered a shaky breath, hugging herself. He was big, older and wiser. A blanket of insecurity spiked through her veins, “Yeah you already said that.”

A slash of regret crossed his expression, “You don’t understand. I have made unfounded decisions, questionable directions, and— and I may have led this entire world closer to ruin, far more than anything a helpless behagthi could make. Nothing about what happened today is your fault. I caused this mess. You were only trying to fix it.”

El’rra grunted from behind him. “Just calm the fuck down!”

River’s anger spiked at her tone. “Would I have known to do that, I would have done it, El’rra!”

A hand knotted in her hair, Na’reem’s full-blown black eyes grew piercing as he tilted her head back “You’re stressing. Stop it. It’s causing us trouble.”

Her jaw locked as he forced her, held back as her chin jutted in the air. “No. Shit.” she said, forcing a dry swallow. The hand gripping her hair by its roots tightened hard. She softened. Instantly. A quickflash submission at the sudden evidence of physical force.

His gaze narrowed as if the present oracle was staring past skin and bones “She really did a number on you, did she?”

She moved but he didn’t budge. Those otherworldly shark eyes boring into her with laser-focused intensity. “Wouldn’t you like to know, oracle Na’reem?” His gripping force had her standing on tiptoes. It didn’t hurt. Not much. She had way worse. But the pain reminded her of numerous past experiences and it felt like a slap in the face. The way he held her was awakening. As though the blooming pain suddenly focused her to a grounded reality.

El’rra appeared closer, observing her with a slow once-over. It felt as being stuck under a microscope. She took her arm and felt over the sleeve covering it. “It explains what I have suspected.”

Releasing her, Na’reem shifted to make room for El’rra as she observed the other hand “What is it? What do you see?”

The kids had gathered around her. A small hand rested on her back, another kid reached across to hold her hip and as the others tried to do the same, she immediately began stumbling backwards. Ripples of water churned at their movement. El’rra rushed forward, pushing the kids back into their place.

Me’ren frowned, “What is it?”

“Severed ones, they have a way about them.” El’rra said quietly, staring back at River with a kind of dead quiet that struck fear into her heart. A mystifying understanding bloomed behind El’rra’s eyes, softening the stress out from her face.

Growing up, there were several points in her life where she was misunderstood. And so often, with many failed attempts, she tried to voice out her own reason. Her own narrative. Her truth.

So many times, people have been looking at her the way she can never look at herself. As someone who is always at fault. To blame. Someone who always fall short than what was expected. That’s why when El’rra looked into her with complete curtain-drawing-close kind of understanding, it sent a bone-chilling terror through her body. So often people were wrong about her. And what would come afterwards were always betrayal and cruelty.

At that moment, the children looked done and tired. Their expressions hooded and withdrawn.

River’s gut fell heavy. Chills racing up her spine in anticipation of cruelty.

It seemed like a judgment.

Another judgment thrown her way to alienate and isolate. Most of her life, she had been alone and misunderstood. Therapy and moving into the city had helped her gain a career and a solid support system but it couldn’t be called friendship. She never had an ease, or a flow of connection to a person ever before. No one understood.

And she was fine with that.

She can tell herself that a good career with cordial co-workers was all she ever needed. It had to be enough. The last five years of therapy and urban living had changed and built up her resiliency to a world that used to give her grief. She changed. She took a significant amount of time to change for the better.

But why were they turning away?

With a whole village looking to her with variations of terror and sheer curiosity, suddenly she was feeling small. Like a child once more who was telling her truth but no one would believe her. No one ever did.

With her next breath, it was with a long shuddery exhale.

Whatever they think of her, she will accept. What resilience she built up over the years can weather the most damning judgments.

“There! Don’t you hear that?” A kid pointed at her, then scanned around the tribespeople next to him peering up for confirmation. “Anybody else pick that up?”

“It’s in the ritual rites of Xiankere, the one that has no name, no words— only sounds driven in a logical order.”

The children began talking among themselves.

“Aren’t we not allowed to say his name?” someone admonished.

“Why shouldn’t we? His spirit lives on with Brumcia’s progeny. And she’s right here.”

“Did you not hear Brumcia call it a fitting name?”

“Yeah I heard it.”

“I can’t believe our useless shaman translated it wrong. Xiankere’s rites aren’t called ‘unseen harmony’. Brumcia spoke it herself, you guys heard it too right?”

El’rra cradled her forehead “I didn’t believe it at first. I had feared that I must have imagined it. Who could I tell? No other elder healers are in town and I have no way to verify it for myself.”

The oracle of the present grew baffled. “What are you talking about?”

“The great world calls it dark symphony. Didn’t you hear her say it?”

”Oracle! The water level is getting higher and higher by the second.”

“River. You need to stop this and calm down.” said Me’ren.

”I don’t— I dont know how I’m doing it” before she can finish speaking, they began turning away and walked to higher ground.

Me’ren’s tone rose higher “Len’rra, Gau’tem. Awaken your tribe. The water needs to be dealt with before it messes up our settlement’s terrain.”

A bunch of snow tribespeople gathered together to form a half-arc shape. They moved together in unison, swinging arms and bending wrists. It was a practiced movement that had the waters churning in wild towering waves as it gathered critical force and receded back down through the water stream like normal.

And yet, the cave walls started rattling a shaky vibration. Upper ceilings shaking with dust, and the ground beneath them rumbling that it had River dropping down to her knees in a loss for balance. The lake waters submerging around her from head to toe.

One of the snow tribespeople yelled in panic. “This isn’t good! The waters going to crash at this rate and we don’t have a routine to accommodate this!” There was an earthquake growing stronger and stronger by the second.

The dizzying vibrations made it hard for River to purchase a balance on her feet. Without a moment’s delay, U’tu and Lei’la grabbed River by the arms until she broke through the surface of the water and rose to her feet. “Make it stop!” they said.

“I’m not doing this. I can’t..”

He grunted, shifting to Lei’la “You had to bring her here? She’s chaos incarnate.”

“Fuck you, asshole! I’ll do what I like.”

“Well thanks to you doing whatever the fuck you like, you’re gonna be burying the whole settlement down, destroying countless homes, and their families with it. You’re killing us all. You should be fucking proud!”

“Stop it! I’m not killing no more” River snapped her arms back but their tribestrength made it impossible to move. “Not if I had anything do with it. And don’t talk to me as if I’m not here.”

The earthquake was relentless, intensifying even more that bits of rocks and shale came crashing down.

Tribespeople began disappearing, flashing into nothing by the second. Harsh gust of wind blowing past her face as breezy outbursts of wind began rushing by, the whole population of tribespeople evacuating in flurries “We’re winding out of here.” U’tu barked.

Lei’la tugged her side of the arm closer to her chest “I’m carrying her.”

“Again, I’m right here.” she mumbled.

U’tu looked at Lei’la with such ferociousness, his wolf fangs distended when he growled. He looked like he was about to rebuke Lei’la but at the last second he pulled away and took a step back, surveying the surroundings then back at her “Meet us in the entrance. No further.”

As he disappeared, Lei’la leaned in “Can you believe that guy?” she groaned. “Close your eyes. Jump on to my back like a wildling Berara and let’s get the hell out of here.”

When she was about to protest, the entire underground made a low groaning sound. “That doesn’t sound right.” she said, abandoning her pride and jumping on Lei’la, tall as she is, that she head to hunch down for River to get her arms around her neck. “What a clusterfuck this turned out to be.”

Lei’la turned her head, a dazzling smile dancing on her lips. “You tell me. I never had the guts to tear the guts out of that prick, U’tu for years. I’m having the best time of my life. I never felt so free.”

Her heart skipped a beat when cave walls started making keening sounds so high it left a high-pitch ringing in her ears. “How can you be so positive when people have died?”

“Tribespeople.” she corrected. “They’re not all that great. I see them die everyday. It’s not even the worst of it. Trust me when I say that dying is a big mercy we can give.”

“You can’t possibly decide that for them.”

“It has already been decided. Long ago. By the dark assembly. Most people are under the delusion that we should live full lives but that doesn’t seem to be the matter anymore. Because we already died long ago with our birthrights, our ancestral powers, and along with our princes. If anyone else dies here right now, it will be mercy.” A wealth of shadows passed her eyes, then continued. “I should know.”