“Stay with me. Do you feel the rain? Can you smell the forest?”
My eyes had never closed. My vision began to clear through half-cracked lids, revealing a heap of bones and charcoal viscera. The organs of what had just attacked me looked long dead. Rotten.
“Is it—”
“Oh, fuck, it’s beautiful to hear your voice. That’s a good girl. Just keep talking for me.”
I saw the blurry image of a man—gray ink striping his forearms—bending over my body. I felt pressure behind my knees and shoulders, and I became weightless. Warmth swallowed my side as the cold mud disappeared, replaced by body heat. A brush of rough skin grazed my leg. The wet hair tickling my nose was swiped away.
We began to move. His steps felt uneven. Jerky. Was he… limping? Tattoos and an injured leg... Could it really behim?
Who elsecouldit be?
My thoughtswantedto race. My lips wanted to blurt out apologies and explanations for not returning that night. My heartwantedto pound. My eyeswantedto cry tears of relief. But the realization was dreamlike and muted. All I could muster was a weak sigh of relief.
As much I'd like to pull myself together enough to ask if he was the Quadmos I’d met, I could barely think straight, much less form a coherent sentence. It was a question for once I was in my field, settled and safe. Recovering. I knew the best way to do that after years of struggling with Earth poisoning in New York.
“Up the hill.” I sucked in another shallow breath. “I need…”
“What do you need?”
“My cat.”
Theo
I was taller than just about everyone, but this goddess wastiny. I could’ve easily carried her over one arm; there was no need for the other three. Regardless, I assigned each limb a purpose: support upper body, support lower body, shield her face from the pelting rain, stroke her leg. Provide comfort. She was coming to after having her life force devoured. I wanted to make the experience as pleasant as possible.
I remembered thinking she was beautiful when I was facing my own mortality, but the hazy memory didn’t do her justice. Her features were sosoft.Round and pink and full of life even as she recovered from death.
I knew I was in the presence of someone holy, but she wasmore.
I considered myself a devout male. I attended temples. I did my best with my prayers, especially the ones for forgiveness. But being in her presence felt entirely different. Like every moment I’d spent worshipping had been misdirected. It was the most blasphemous feeling I’d ever had. I could only hope her mother would forgive me for idolizing another, since it was her own child I was cradling with reverence.
“Up the hill… I need.” Her lips pouted against my chest.
“What do you need?” Whatever it was, it was hers. I’d make sure of it.
“My cat.”
I didn’t know what a “cat” was. It could be confused nonsense after what she’d been through. It didn’t matter. The remedy she needed was up the slope, so that was where we’d go.
The first stalks of grain became visible over the curve of the hill and I exhaled in relief.Her field. A sanctuary.
I felt the magnetic waves of her power as we passed through the perimeter. The hairs on my arms raised. I’d found many abandoned and un-assigned fields over the years. They always felt special. But this was my first with its paired goddess present. I could feel her energy shift in my arms, harmonizing with the surrounding air. Each passing current grew stronger. Deeper. Brighter. Their dynamic felt symbiotic. A positive feedback loop of vitality to bring her back from death now that she was where she belonged.
As much as the field was healing her now—evident by her steadying breaths and eyes blinking to alertness—she also seemed to fuel it. It burst with life like something out of a children’s book.
A dense line of pale-green grain plants grew around the perimeter. These were called “wheat” by the goddesses. It was a staple of their lands, although the type and pattern varied. Within that border, the ground was a grass native to Cyciciah that remained low to the ground, round, and delicate—speckled with small white flowers. Large bushes grew all around, bright green and covered in dark berries and white flowers. It was the only plant I didn't know, so I had to assume it was the special flora from Earth. All sacred fields had one plant fromthe “human” realm. It was one of the many observations I documented on my travels.
Despite the steep trek up the mountain, the field itself was incredibly flat. One could easily forget the high altitude. The massive, blue-toned trees surrounding the open area on all sides turned it into its own world.
A creek flowed on the far side of the clearing, splitting to loop through and around a rocky alcove worn into the cliffside of a moderate hill topped with lush grass. A small waterfall trickled over the ledge—partially down the length of a stone column—and joined the outer branch of the stream.
The column obscured some of the under-hill nook, but I could tell that she had supplies inside. Was that hard, dim cavern functioning as her home? That devout part of me felt sick at the thought. At least it was confirmation I could make a difference while here. Stunning as the field was, I had a lot of work to do to make itlivable. Not just survivable.
A small black beast ran towards us, making the most obnoxious noises I’d ever heard. I thought predators couldn’t enter the sacred fields, but this one seemed to have slipped through. Its sharp white teeth couldn’t hurt me, but might do a number on this smaller female in my arms.
Was it a Lumick? Too small. A baby Lumick, maybe? But weren’t they an Eastern Continent species? I flipped through my wildlife textbooks in my head, finding no answers.
