A beginning path
The days have gone by quickly, have they not? Since we left our city, seeking
refuge in another settlement, I have lost track of time. I was scared and
afraid of what the future held for me and my kin. But trusting my brothers and
sisters, I want to keep continuing and walk down this path.
One quiet night in the settlement, two elders came up to me and asked me if I
were ready to walk with them to the realm of a spirit. With me still learning on
how to be a proper orc, it was more than honorable to go with the elders on
the spirit walk. I was very much excited ofcourse, but i did not want to be
childish, even if I'm still young. So I mentioned that it would be my pleasure to
accompany them. Little did I know what the elders planned for me.
As we traveled through the land, to find a safer place to walk between the realms,
my mind was racing with different thoughts. What will I see? What will
happen? Which spirit are we going to meet? Many of such questions plagued
my mind as I followed the two elders. After a long way to find a safe enough
place, we set up on top of a mountain. Before we started I was told to do an
offering to a spirit, which I would like to visit. With a confused look on my face, one of the elders
marched with me to a shrne dedicated to the spirit of protection and loyalty.
Dazkur. After I offerd a promise to the shrine, the elder and I went back to the
safe place on the mountain. The elder who waited patiently for our return
prepared already everything, for the spirit walk. They handed us a blunt and
told me to use it on their signal. Not sure how to use it, I simply mimicked the
movements the two elders made. And on their signal we took the blunts and
everything went black.
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What do you do?
As I openend my eyes I was falling through an empty space, followed closel
by the elders. The space we traversed was dead silent, the only thing I heard
was my heart beating against my chest. After I regained awareness of my
empty surroundings I started to see something fast approching our way.. In an
instant I fell down crashing to the sand before my own eyes. But I did not feel
any pain. As I straightened myself I looked backed to see the elders already
standing. I asked what place this was and one of the elders simply mentioned
that we have arrived in the realm of Dazkur. The only thing I was seeing
around us at that time was the endless stretching sand in front of us. The
elder approached me and dipped his head forward, indicating me to lead the
group to the endless dessert. I was not sure why exactly both of them were
fine with me leading the way, but nonetheless I began to march ahead,
followed by the elders. Time seemed to be stopped as we walked through the
sand beneath us, the sun beating their heat down on us. Was it a day, a
month or even a year? I could not tell as we continued or marched into the
unknown. After what felt like an eternity, something in the sand started to form
in the distance. A dune was coming in sight, so I walked towards it, having a
strange feeling about it. The dune started to shift, forming itself to the shape of
a giant tortoise.
The two elders stayed behind me, watching in complete silence. I froze up,
looking up at the giant beast in front of me. I could not speak as my tongue
would not move. The giant tortoise glanced down at me and spoke in an
ancient language, strangely I was able to understand every word from them.
They asked me what I wanted from Dazkur. At that moment it clicked, the
elders knew I wanted to meet a spirit and pact with one, I told them in our old
city. As my memory sharpened up, I steadily looked towards the giant beast
and said that I want to pact with Dazkur. My voice was not strong, I was
nervous and unsure. The tortoise peered at me, asking me what I wanted to
do with the might of Dazkur. Yet I stayed silent, just looking at the beast before
me. Through my hesitation, the giant now put their head above me, staring
right into my very soul. The beast spoke about my past, how feeble of an orc I
was. As the beast spoke more about my past, I finally snapped and started to
yell towards the tortoise. How dare they speak about something that they had
not experienced, after all the things I suffered through. After gaining enough
courage to get back to my kin, after all these years, the tortoise had no right to
talk about that. I came back to my kin to prove myself I can change, despite
being an outcast for the years I was stuck in the damn cave. To break the
chains and show where my resolve lies. The giant beast seemed still neutral,
as they said that loyalty is not fickle. The tortoise formed two replicas with the
sand. One replica who looked like one of the elders who I look up to and the
other one a dwarf who is very dear to me. The beast added that to prove my
worth I need to decide who to kill. My anger instantly faded, replaced with a
stare of shook, I was not able to process what the beast asked of me. The
beast continued with his speech, saying that if I do not have loyalty, then
Dazkur would not lend their might. I was unable to move at first, I stared
blankly at the two replicas of people I care about a lot. I clenched my fist in
frustration as I began to walk closer to the sandy forms in front of me.
My loyalty, I said, lies within my kin and my friends. With the raised fist I
punched myself hard in my stomach, falling down on one knee between the
two replicas. I yelled that I will not let my cowardness stay in my way to protect
them either. This time I was neither nervous nor unsure what I wanted to do.
My voice was strong as I looked up at the beast, holding my stomach with the
fist I punched myself with. In that moment my desire to keep the ones I hold
close to me protected and stay loyal to my kin and my closest allies were
acknowledged by the tortoise. Also at that time I was clear what my path was
going to be, I was burning with my strengthened resolve to keep my promise
even if it meant my death. The beast remained neutral, and moved towards
the tent which appeared behind it. I forced myself to stand and walked
towards the tent, as the two elders followed silently.
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A sacrifice to
be
made
Inside the tent the giant beast waited by a campfire. Above the fire there were
a pair of shears, glowing with the light of the fire. I limped over to the fire, while
the tortoise spoke, explaining that my tongue speaks of loyalty and if I seek
Dazkurs power, that my tongue is the sacrifice I need to make, to show my
determination to walk down this path. I looked at the shears for a while before
grasping them, taking them to my hands. After all this time, I was not sure
what I wanted, being held back by my weakness. But after this day I will not
linger on those thoughts, I was thinking as my hands clenched the shears. For
the truth and what lies beyond, I said as my final sentence, before I rolled my
tongue out. With one swift motion, I cut my own tongue off, sacrificing not only
my tongue, but also my words to Dazkur. The pain settled in immediately as I
slowly began to black out again waking up in the realm with our bodies…
