“Are you Pultine? Iuma’s only offspring, of the large flower? Touched by the hand of the mighty Vodun Agê as a newborn? Agê, the life bringer, creator of the forests and the jungles. Are you Pultine of the Supreme Hive, elder of the mmoatia?”
“Yes,” Pultine said aloud. She was alone. She heard the voice and didn’t want to believe that she was hearing anything.
“Yes, you are Pultine of the Supreme Hive. Capable of mass murder? Is that the way of Agê? The life bringer?”
“The way of Agê teaches the fierce sisters to live for the glory of life and to live with the sorrow that comes with the responsibility of weeding out life that is a cancer on the whole. I am Pultine of the Supreme Hive, the sorrowful excisor.”
“Yes, Pultine the Sorrowful Excisor. Butcher extraordinaire…”
“No!” Pultine screamed. “Not that anymore. That was a bad time…”
“The Supreme Mmoatia were beaten and bent to the will of the Aerphim. You became the Sorrowful Excisor, their most lethal weapon and you killed how many?”
“I never belonged to anyone. The archangels who came to Agê’s disc were the weapons of the dark Vodun and they gave us their best. But the Supremes fought back. I was, I am the Sorrowful Excisor, and was long before the archangels came. You are not a manifestation of my consciousness.”
Silence. Pultine’s face twisted into confusion.
“I thought I was imagining you,” Pultine said and she slowly came to stand. She was still wearing the drapes that she normally wore, but all of her weapons were gone. “You wanted me to think that I was imagining you so I would tell you something. I was fooled, but if you knew me, if you were me, you would know that my history predates the archangels. Free me from this box. Free me now and I will spare you my wrath.”
A silence slightly longer than the first lingered.
“There are many pursuing you who feel that you must face justice, Pultine of the Fonlands. You have been accused of mass murder and there is a preponderance of evidence against you. Consider this your trial. You are being monitored and a ruling will be issued at the conclusion of this proceeding. If we deem you a threat, we will hand you over to the Defense Ministry.”
“A trial through trickery?” Pultine said with a laugh. “I would like to appeal to the judge that this trial be rendered moot. I have no confidence in the court’s ability to conduct a proper trial.”
“You are the Sorrowful Excissor, the grim reaper from the Fonlands who rests on a planet deep in the cosmos and brought to early Wiis to execute the punishments of the shining one?”
“That is a past long removed from this present. A past that no doubt predates the conception of your progenitors. And since I have dated myself, it is clear that I am an elder deserving of more respect than this box. I will say again, free me now.”
“But you do not deny that you are the face of death to the Hafjeris? You are the dark punishment that comes to those who anger the shining one? And you bring death or dismemberment depending on the act committed?”
Pultine shook her head at her reflection. She was beautiful and even in her disheveled state, her afro came to elegant peaks on her head and her eyes were big and expressive. Her skin was dark brown and unblemished, her limbs thick with muscle but round and shapely. Even her wrappings that were tattered seemed to be crumbling in a way that complimented her curves. Her wings were retracted and she looked like an average humanoid woman.
“You are talking ancient history. Why is your knowledge of me so limited?”
“Because I have only ever seen you be the Sorrowful Excisor. Mournful at the death of your victims, but steadfastly vicious. I am jeris and there are stories of my forebears who fell victim to the wrathful judgment of the shining one. You left for a long time and then you returned to Wiis and the cycle of death continues. You are sapient. You speak and comprehend. What is your purpose other than death? And if an entity such as yourself invaded your home in the fabled heavens of the Fonlands, what would you do to that entity? Would you allow it to prey on your home? Or would you find a way to get rid of it altogether? How do you Fonlanders reason?”
Pultine shook her head.
“I am not the Excisor and he is no shining one. I am free of the dark hold of Lêgba’s influence…”
“You would name your fraud simulacrum, your shining one, in the name of the true God? I know more than you think, fearsome one, and I know that your Lêgba was a renegade copy, powerful enough to enthrall you and your mmoatia sisters and bend you to his will.”
“It was the real Lêgba. You must be aerphim and fed a corrupted history that makes Lêgba seem more powerful than he is. He is a Vodun, deserving of respect, no doubt. But the mother-father created checks to the powers of the Fonlands. This is all well above your head, feathered one. Let me out so that I may act it out for you to ensure your understanding. I promise not to turn you to ash.”
“Instead of just turning you over for execution, we have decided to allow you a chance to justify your existence. Most of us are resigned to your execution, but some among us think it would be fair to allow you the opportunity to explain your actions. If you are of the fabled Fonlands, why are you here?”
Pultine sank back down to the mirrored floor.
PRL Serials 