Chapter Two

Though the Moon hound—goaded by festive howls of revelry—had chased the Sun’s chariot off the night prior, when dawn came at last the Sun with the help of his screeching spotted rooster, managed to drive the Moon hound away and reclaim the skies.

By this time, Arktos had, of course, already been tending to his fields. He liked to start his days long before the Sun peaked out from the horizon and splashed streaks of oranges, reds, and purples across the blue-sky canvas, especially when there was work to do. Though most Argonians tended to take the Festival of the Water Goddess off to enjoy the celebration, Arktos knew this time so close to harvest more than any was vital to his crop.

Looking away from his golden rows of baracorn stalks, the well-worked father gave a big smile to Sula, who was herself wide awake and fully occupied with wrestling a wild wolf that she had found stalking the river-ewes through the pastures. Though he normally would have stopped her from doing something so reckless and fought the beast off himself, this wolf seemed docile and looked more like a lean, playful dog. He could find no harm in letting the girl amuse herself as he continued with his work.

When next he looked up from his toil, taking only a moment's break to admire the sunrise and wipe the stinging sweat from his eyes, Arktos noticed a figure approaching from the road. Never an ungracious host and always excited for company, he ran toward the shadow, expecting to find Philos, now alleviated of the worries he had had the night before, had come to thank him for the red-hide-boar he had brought to the festivities.

However, the closer the figure drew, the more certain Arktos was that it was not his brother. The figure donned a ruby cape, dipped at the edges in gold, bronze armor, and a medallion carved with the symbol of a two-dimensional eye. It was the cape of a Divine Guardsman, one with whom he shared no relation.

Rational or not, a fear immediately seized Arktos and he wasted no time pulling both his daughter and the wolf tight in his arms and carrying them in through the back of their hut. Arktos slammed the door tight behind him, trying his best to avoid the eye of the guardsman in the process. Perhaps, he wagered, setting the girl and the wolf down, the guardsman was simply passing by on his way to another peasant’s house.

“Hide!” he ordered, but the cub was too out of sorts by her father’s sudden frenzy to move. The wolf, at least, stepped between Sula and her father.

For a moment, all seemed to pass as the world remained silent. Arktos almost let out a sigh of relief, but then to his horror, a loud racking sounded at the front door. Arktos shushed Sula’s complaints and opened the door with the delicacy of the moon-lutist creeping their fingers along the strings from one haunting chord to the next.

“Hello, sir,” Arktos said, his feigned decorum leaving an unnaturally strained smile on his face. “How may I help you?”

“Good morning, citizen,” the guardsman replied. His voice sounded stilted, as though he had rehearsed the same line a thousand times, but still did not know which words to properly emphasize. “May I ask if this is the dwelling of Arktos, the revered warrior of Argonia?”

“Yes, I am Arktos.”

“Wonderful, wonderful. Then I have some auspicious news for you! Your family has been distinguished with the great honor of presenting the ultimate sacrifice to the Water Goddess.”

Arktos’ heart snapped like the bowman’s string, just before his arrow finds its mark between the startled eyes of a tusked hind. This was the very thing he and Philos had so feared the night before. Still, Arktos’ turmoil was hidden well behind his stone face as the guard continued. “I take it you are aware of this honor and what it entails?”

Arktos nodded slowly. The weight of the movement felt as though it might snap his neck, while the weight of the guardsman’s words seemed to beckon to Arktos to snap his.

“Good. The sacrifice that the Water Goddess has selected for today’s festival is Sula, daughter of Arktos,” the guardsman declared with dutiful pomp. “Naturally, I will lead you both to the shrine of the Water Goddess immediately.”

“Please, sir, is there anyway at all that I could take Sula’s place? She’s just a child!” Arktos pleaded, though he knew such pleas were useless. If the Water Goddess had decreed it so, there was nothing he could do to fight against it. And if he tried, all those he cared for most would be at risk.

“The Water Goddess has chosen. Anyone else would be unfit for the ceremony.”

Arktos expected the guard’s response, but still his sense failed him. He wondered what his darling Diantha would have done in such a situation. Would she have let her cub be snatched away by the Water Goddess or would she have clawed out the eyes of any who tried to separate them?

As if in response, his hands moved on their own. They clutched at the nape of the guardsman’s cape and lifted, slamming him against the door. It took every bit of willpower that Arktos had to keep from tearing the guardsman limb from limb. How dare he? Arktos thought. How dare he ruin my family?

In a panic, the guardsman flailed. “I’m s-sorry, s-sir. I am j-just a messenger. I cannot make d-decisions. That’s for the Goddess and the Divine Ruler!” he stuttered, the squeaks of desperate self-preservation in his voice.

Arktos felt the guardsman's heartbeat raced against his knuckles. The rhythm brought Arktos clarity, brought him focus. The guard has family too, Arktos thought. He did not choose us. He is merely following the orders he was given. Arktos’ frenzy broke and in the corner of his eye he saw Sula wide-eyed and terrified. The sight quickly sobered him up and he let the guard slip out of his grasp.

At the first chance he had, the wide-eyed guard stepped free of his assailant and into the abode. As he brushed himself off and straightened his cape, he noticed the crestfallen look on the poor father's face. “I-if it’s any consolation, at least she will be immortalized. Taken into the Water Goddess’ company for all eternity.”

To be the Water Goddess’ sacrifice was supposed to be the highest honor an Argonian could achieve. Second only to being a member of the Divine family. Even a warrior such as Arktos could not hope to match the honor, but in the moment it just felt like a lie. Why would the Water Goddess take his cub away? She was the one who had blessed him with her to begin with. Now she was going to take away the greatest gift he could ever have?

But maybe it all made sense. Of course, the Water Goddess would choose his daughter, the very blessing that she had delivered. After all, who in all of Argonia would be more worthy than Sula? He could think of no one. Though she was all he had left, this was all anyone could hope for their daughter. No matter how he felt, he decided that it would be best for her to join the Goddess.

So, with a resigned optimism, Arktos invited the guard into his home and beckoned his daughter to his side. When she reached him, he gave her a half-hearted smile and ruffled her long hair with his fingers. She swatted at him, demanding he unhand her, but he pulled her into a bearhug. “What’s going on?” she asked as she broke free of the hold, unwilling to suffer her papa’s teasing any longer.

“We must go into the city, Sula,” Arktos explained. “The Water Goddess has chosen you to be her newest companion. You get to leave me and go to live with the Water Goddess in paradise where you will play every day and never tire. You will eat any and everything you want and won’t get a bellyache after. There will be nothing but fun and laughter forever. Don’t tell me you have never heard of the Sacrifice?”

Sula nodded. How could she not have heard of the Sacrifice and the Ritual of the Companion. It was always the talk of the local children in the weeks leading up to the Festival of the Water Goddess. Each would lay awake at night wishing on the stars above that they would be chosen, though Sula never really considered it. She had thought being chosen was a luxury of those closer to the city. Now that she was proven wrong and had been chosen herself, she wasn't sure how to feel.

“But I don’t want to leave you, Papa,” she said, deciding quickly that she had no interest in living out the fantasies of the other children. She was much too busy tending to the river-ewes.

“I know,” Arktos said, taking her hand in his. He stared past her. If he was to be the strong Papa she had come to expect—the strong Papa that she needed most now in what may be their last moments together, he did not dare look her in the eyes as he knew he could not hold back his tears. More than anything else he wanted her to remember him as strong and happy, not sad. “I don’t want you to leave me either, Sula, but you must. I wish there was a choice, but the Divine Ruler and the Goddess demand it, so it must be so. But it won’t be all bad, I promise. Just imagine it. You will live in paradise with the Goddess.”

Sula squeezed tight to his fingers. “Can’t you come with me to paradise?” she asked, tears brimming in her eyes.

“No, cub, this is a trip you must take alone,” he answered, still holding back his own tears.

“But why?" She asked. “Why do we have to do what they say?”

He didn’t know the answer, or he did, but didn’t know how to explain it to her. How do you tell a child that if they act against the Divine Ruler they will be put to death? That their friends and family will be put to death? That they will be branded a traitor to history? The thought frustrated him. What options did he have? No matter what choice he made, pain would inevitably follow. It was as though he were locked in a cage that was constantly tightening around him.

“I hate them! I hate the Divine Ruler and the Goddess!” Arktos did not know if the voice was his or the squeaky cub before him.

No, Sula had said it. Screamed it. And in the presence of a Divine Guardsman.

Arktos couldn’t control himself. His hand moved of its own will before he could stop it.

Stunned, Sula brought her fingers to the pink imprint on her cheek. Her eyes trembled in terror at the man before her. Arktos struggled to keep his hand up as it too trembled with regret.

The smack must have been worth it, Arkos tried to reason with himself. Had someone heard what she were saying, she would have been punished for sure. She would never have been able to become a Companion of the Water Goddess. Luckily, the guardsman was kind and pretended to not have heard the girl’s treason.

Still, Arktos hand stung with guilt. When Sula's fear faded and the reality of what had just unfolded set in, she set her jaw and turned away from her father.