Laguz; the Temple of Sorrows and the Queen of the Abyss

I open the door and step into the Temple of Sorrows.  I know this place and why I am here.  I hear the wailing the moment I cross the threshold.  The sound is everywhere, like a whirlwind moving across the waters, 

The Temple is dark and cavernous.  There is no floor, only dark water rushing continuously in a tempest of sound and yet, I stand ankle deep with nothing solid beneath my bare feet.

I see her standing in the center of the cavern.  Cloaked and hooded in black, bowed, still and silent, surrounded by the keening of sorrow and grief.  The bottom of my black dress sticks to my legs as I walk through the waters to stand before her.  She does not even lift her head to look at me as I push back the hood that hides her face.  I remove the cloak from her bowed shoulders, her dress the same as the one I wear. She bares a symbol in ashes upon her forehead.  It is a symbol tattooed upon my back. 

Finally she looks at me and her face is familiar but unknown to me.  She must have been beautiful once, but there are dark circles under her eyes and her pale skin is dull and ashen and clashes with her long dry hair, a faded shade of what might have been chestnut in the sun.   

Her eyes are the only part of her that looks truly alive. Her eyes are hazel, green and gold with hints of warm brown around the edges. I look into them and I see glimpses of our lives, of hers and of mine and of those lifetimes in between. 

Tears begin to flow down her ashen face.  My cheeks are hot and wet and as we weep together, the keening finally stills as does the water that surrounds us.  I take her into my arms as I would my sister and I feel her heartbreak echo in my own heart. 

As I hold her, I feel a crack in the ceiling of the temple, a rip in the fabric of the stone above our heads and she sighs soft as a whisper, the only sound she has made. I promise her that I will return that I will be with her through every step of this, until she is transformed and we are both free.

Naudhiz; Connection

I step through the Door and into the Otherworld.  I look down at my feet, I am barefoot and the ground beneath my feet is covered in dead leaves.  My legs and arms are bare and my body is covered by a rough leather hide and a knife is tied at my waist.  All is quiet and as I look around me I see that I am in a wood in late autumn at dusk.  In one hand I carry a wooden bow and in the other a handmade arrow. 

There is a broad path before me and I follow it through the wood.  I walk quietly, slowly but with an easy stride.  I feel the leaves beneath my bare feet, they are soft and I am surprised at how comfortable and at ease I am in this place.  As I walk, I begin to feel a strong hunger in my belly and slowly a sense of urgency creeps into my body.  I begin to feel a strong need to complete some crucial task and return to my home before it is too late.  There are those I love in need and I must provide for them or they will suffer.  My heart is pounding so loudly in my ears that I can hear nothing else.

The feeling of constraint, of real need, becomes so strong that it is almost overwhelming.  Then I see her, standing in the middle of the path a dozen yards in front of me.  I stop and stare at her and she looks at me.  Our eyes meet and I am overcome by her beauty as I raise my bow, nock my arrow upon the bowstring, pull back and aim at her heart.

The moment I release my arrow, my heart almost explodes, and when it pierces her heart, I feel the sharp point penetrate my own.  My body convulses with the shock as I make my way to her as she falls.  When I reach her, I kneel at her head and with my knife I slit her throat.  I can feel the life and spirit leave her; I can feel our blood drain into the earth as I hold her as she gives up her life to feed my own. 

My bare legs and feet are covered in her blood as I kneel beside her beautiful body and I place my hands in the blood pooled upon the earth around me and bathe my arms and face with it.  I understand the cost, the sacrifice and the true connection between the hunter and the one who is hunted to feed the tribe.  It should be painful to take a life; it should sacrifice a part of the hunter to fill the need.