PRL Serials

Forgiveness

– 2 – 

In the town square, the ruins of rhadswiis were low rise buildings of gray stone that crumbled around the edges, giving the town a weathered feel, but there were strings of bright, multicolored lights lining the structures and hanging from the tall and thin wooden trees. There were makeshift statues of the handsome God along the main street that were arranged in various vignettes to illustrate the story of his arrival on Wiis and the awesome impact that he had on the Hafjeris. The statues of the handsome God were made simply from sticks and wires, and then wrapped in lights to simulate the common perception of him as a being made of light.

“Oh look,” Rusa said excitedly into Pultine’s ear as they approached the decorated square that was filled with jeris dancing and singing. The lights of the festivities were bright as they approached, and Pultine smiled at the reverie.

“They’re lining up for a light dance,” Rusa said. “We should land here, we won’t be able to get very close but there’s a great view on the hills.”

As they descended to the hill below, Pultine noticed the jeris sitting there, many couples snuggling together as they watched the jeris gathering on the street.

Some of the jeris on the street had lights adorning their wings and others carried bells of various sizes as they organized into formation for the Light Dance. Pultine stood in the grass, Rusa sat to rest at her feet, as the jeris with the bells began to ring them in a heavenly rhythm that quieted the commotion of the party that raged around them. The jeris dancers with the lights on their wings moved to the striking sounds, at first like ballerinas in controlled movements that showcased the subtle strength of their bodies, and then like acrobats in routines that resulted in them diving into and catching one another as they assembled into the form of their handsome God.

As the handsome God – that was made of the bodies of the jeris performers – stood over the festivities at the center square, the large crowd surrounding it exploded in cheers and applause. Pultine sat as the body of the handsome God slowly disintegrated as the jeris performers returned to the ground and the festival continued in the spot where it had been. 

“This is exhilarating,” she said to Rusa who was watching the party on the street. His face glowed in the intensity of the lights off the street and Pultine half smiled. “But I should be honest with you Rusa…”

He looked at her curiously.

“Were you here already?” he asked. “That’s why you were so bruised and beaten? You were enjoying yourself too much and it all got away from you?”

This made Pultine laugh out loud.

“I like you so much,” she said and stroked the feathers on his cheek with the back of her black hand. “He chose well, sending you. He knew I’d want to save you. Such a pretty boy, how could I resist? I won’t resist, I know that he has put you in a most difficult position and I won’t let him hurt more innocent people.”

“I’m sorry, most pristine one, I don’t understand.” Rusa turned his body completely toward Pultine and he put his hand on hers that rested on his cheek. He nuzzled her wrist with his beak. 

“If you rip at the veins there, you could mortally wound me with that fine beak of yours, and he will reward you greatly for that. You would know riches beyond your imagination. The ruse is over, if there ever really was one. There wasn’t, I just couldn’t resist. Here, I won’t fight it. If this is all so important to you, I would give my death to you before I’d let any other of Seraphiel’s minions put me down. Because he is a coward isn’t he? And he plans an ambush here for me so that he will not have to face me again. Because he cannot stand the sting of my light, the concussion of my fists, and what he showed me earlier today was the best he could do. He exhausted himself in his panic, didn’t he, while I am so multifaceted that there are levels to me that I’ve yet to access. Do it, sweet boy,” she put her other hand on the back of his head and pulled him close for a gentle kiss on his beak. “Rip me open like Seraphiel could never do and I will be happy to give you the life you envision you deserve, the life you can afford if you deliver me to the man that will destroy your world. Me, the last hope for Wiis to avoid sure destruction. Do it Rusa.”

Rusa Gawol was crying, his face wet with tears that sparkled under the intensity of the lights and he trembled, almost convulsing, in Pultine’s arms. 

“D…did I be…betray m…m…myself?” Rusa stammered. 

“Seraphiel is a jara…”

This made Rusa laugh and Pultine kissed him again.

“He is less than a coward, I figured it was all a game of some kind, but I was naive enough to believe that the sunset fights would be the game. A coward won’t take chances, not at the possibility of losing its life. You, Rusa, are just too good to be true. I cannot heal myself from the admiration of anything like the Aerphim, I have to want it. You’re hard to resist. Tell me what he is planning so that I can protect the innocence here.”

By this time, Rusa had calmed enough to speak clearly. He rested his head on Pultine’s shoulder while she stroked his feathers.

“I love you,” he said sincerely. “I knew that the instant I laid eyes on you and I regretted the circumstances, but they said you were the real enemy. A foreigner opposed to progress who had come as the black anti-God to stop Wiis from realizing its true potential. I know that they will lay off the workers in the mines, they need the ore on a much larger scale and a much faster timeline than jeris labor can produce. But the Aerphim have no intention to destroy Wiis, pristine one, I know and believe that. Excavation of the ore is a necessary step to build the fortified throne of Seraphiel. He will not destroy Wiis, he intends to rule it.”

Pultine frowned and shook her head.

“The performers will descend on you soon,” Rusa said. “They have orders to put you down and deliver your heart to Endla.”

Rusa sat up and grabbed one of her hands in both of his.

“But I love you. I cannot see you hurt…”

“You don’t love me,” Pultine said sympathetically. “You are my thrawl, pretty one. An aboatia such as myself has the power to control the minds and emotions of things. Here,” she opened a dark hand wide in his face and a flurry of her aspect surrounded his head, clearing in an instant. “The spell is broken. Go on, before the destruction starts, back to your life. I only ask that you try to clear the area as best you can. Save as many others as you can. Those performers were most impressive, this is sure to be a blowout. I regret interrupting such a beautiful party, but it’s not really my fault at all, is it?”

Rusa shook his head slowly.

“You can’t take away my love so easily,” he said defiantly. “I told you, pristine one, I will not leave you, ever. I do not deserve it, but I will live the rest of my days with only one goal, to earn your forgiveness.”

“Then save the innocence,” Pultine said as she levitated from her position in the grass. Her aspect began to intensify as she hovered over the festivities, and her resplendence dwarfed that of the town square wrapped in the lights of the holiday. 

Rusa went to work immediately.

“There’s a bomb!” he screamed, spreading panic on the hill that sent crowds screaming from the area. He made them think that Pultine was to explode any second and as most everyone scattered, he noticed the gang of performers, now clad in armor and wielding high-tech laser weapons, flying up to destroy Pultine. The gang unleashed a barrage of laser fire. Rusa felt his heart wrench with fear, full of regret for agreeing to work against the woman that he came very quickly to identify as his pristine, his reason for being. He hated himself and he wanted to right the wrong, no matter the danger. He steeled himself to join her, but before he could leave the ground, there was a crackle of sound like fireworks, and then lights issued from Pultine’s body that obliterated her enemies. Rusa fell to his knees staring up at the beautiful and fearsome display, and when she was done, she landed on the street before Rusa with one of the performers protesting in her grip.

“He is no longer on Wiis!” the performer yelled frantically, “I promise you! Please, just don’t melt my flesh, I will tell you everything.”

“Then talk!” Pultine yelled.

“He figured that we would be enough, and he went back to Endla to avoid any appearance of involvement. He wants you dead, but he doesn’t want the credit.”

“He’s not man enough,” Pultine said, her wings full at her back. Her eyes were balls of yellow energy. “Was this is? You are all he sent?”

“We are…were the elite acrobats of Wiis. We should have been enough…”

“But nothing is.” 

A flare of light intensified at Pultine’s hand where she gripped the performer and the area was blanketed in light. When the light subsided, there was a pile of ashes at Pultine’s feet.

“What will you do now?” Rusa asked her. He was on his knees at a distance.

“I will take a cue from the Hafjeris and hunt the jara,” Pultine said. “I’m going to Endla.”

“Then so am I,” Rusa said.