Through the In-Between

[Rhonya]

“Well. No going back now...”

His voice was easily heard in the silence around us. My attention was on the orc in front of me and I lowered the now empty vial in my lap. The liquid tasted strange, not something I’d tasted before. To put my trust in this orc had been hard though, but if he knew more about Sadok… then I wanted to know. He continued talking with the pipe in his mouth, violet smoke surrounding him.
“...Before you... well. Before you meet your teacher; I remember something you said when I first met you... You said that for all your time with the trolls, the Loa you grew up with never once spoke. Never once listened. “  He paused a moment after this and I gave him a light nod, not really knowing where he was going with this.
“And..well...”

Suddenly he took a breath and blew the smoke into my face. I tried to waft it away with my hand and as the sharp smoke got into my nose I started to cough, but it wouldn’t go. I heard Siyah’s voice again.
“…You…”
The smoke stuck to my face and blocked out my sight completely and I started to panic, clawing at the smoke.
“… Thought…”
I couldn’t breathe anymore, the smoke was curling around my neck, blocking my windpipe, as if it was a living being in itself, choking me. My vision started to go dark and I felt myself slipping, but I could just hear the last word he spoke before I lost consciousness.
“…Wrong.”

A fear passed through me, my thoughts muddled and thick, almost feeling likea sort of syrup I was trying to wade through. What was I doing again…? Oh, yes. Sadok! I had to find him, had to find out what happened to him, if he was still alive or if Siyah had been right all alone. So I had accepted his offer for this…vision quest. But I wasn’t too sure about it anymore now…



I woke up, blinking into a sudden darkness and breathing in deeply, glad I even could breathe after that choking sensation I still remembered. It looked to be the exact same place I was in, just a little darker and I was alone. I got to my feet quickly, looking around. My voice sounded small and fragile as I spoke.

“Siya’? Lian? W’ere’d ya go?”
No answer. I swore to myself softly and muttered, moving to the tree to look down below. A gaping, spinning void was below, swirling and aggressive, and I stepped back right away. A voice sounded above me.

“I wouldn’t go down there.” It said, and I responded quickly, looking up. “W’o be dere?”
A raven came into view, sitting down on one of the branches, a sort of shadow surrounding it. I could hear clearly what it was saying as it opened its beak, but it was a bit odd because I could also still hear him squawking.
“Who I be? Why do you need to ask, you chose me yourself.” He said, while tilting its head and clacking its beak. At that moment I remembered, the card Siyahgosh had made me pick, our of five cards total. He said one of them would be my teacher, guide me through this whole madness I already hated. Former spirit quests had left their marks on me, and I didn’t trust them. At all.
I scowled and looked back at him.

"Da 'Anged man. Ya dun look muc' like a 'anged man ta me. Ya supposed ta be ma 'teac'er', ya? Watever dat is gonna be." I spoke, my voice a bit mocking and annoyed.
The bird made a shrug. I was actually surprised birds could portray such humane gestures, but then I reminded myself this wasn’t any normal bird, if it was here.

"It's just a title one gives to me as the card's... 'story' matches mine in some ways. Or so I am told. I am not much a card reader.  But you have seen me before, Kyrazha, do not worry. I won't be hurting you… But... if you wish for a more formal introduction...Rrk. I am Portent-of-Ill-Omen."
The name sparked a memory, and I realized this was Siyah’s raven he sometimes had with him. I asked him that much and he admitted to it, making a bow down towards me, puffing out his feathers. We spoke a little more about me choosing him as teacher and what it meant. He just told me not to worry about anything and came down closer, eyeing me over. I didn’t really understand everything he tried to tell me, but I made it clear I was here to find Sadok. Or learn more about his fate, anyway.

"Well. There are two exits here, one... “ he said, and at this he looked down the swirling void below, “And two.” And he turned again, eyeing the way back towards the Rangari Refuge.
"Either is an option. But time is wasting..."
The void behind me suddenly crackled, violet energies moving up into the sky. I had the feeling I needed to really get away from there, that if I’d come closer to that..void that I’d be lost. So I walked away from it very quickly, proposing to just go towards camp then. The Raven followed slowly, looking almost as if it flew a lot slower than it moved, which gave me a very odd feeling. Damn these spirit quests.


The road ahead wasn’t much like I remembered, twisting and turning and every plant and grass beside it was dead and the sensation of walking through them felt really weird, as if I was walking through thick mud. In the distance I could see trees, moving as if a dark sort of hurricane had them in its grasp, casting very long and dark shadows across the sky. I looked back to the road ahead and walked on.
“Be we still in Tanaan, o’..? Be dis some odd reflection o’ somet’in’ else? Can’t say I like it much.” I said to the raven, which was flying just behind me.
"It grows on you. There is a serenity here. Chin Up, orcy. Your kind has endured worse!  "And yes, it is -A Tanaan-. Unique, mind. Not many get to see it more than once. So, consider yourself lucky.  Just enjoy the stroll... take a deep breath and... try to avoid the natives. The spirits on -this- Draenor are awfully angry!” he said, and let out a merry whistle to follow the dark words.
He was a little too cheerful for my taste and I started to get a little worried, maybe I shouldn’t have done this after all…

"Lucky... Sure. If ya say so. An' if I enjoy da stroll depen's entirely on wat be gonna 'appen. Bu' I suppose ya can't really tell me anyt'in' abou' dat eit'er." I spoke with a light tone of worry in my voice.
He responded cheerfully again. "Well, part of the -point- of these 'spirit walks'...Rrrk... is to find these things out of yourself. They have less of an impact if I just tell you..."
"But don't worry. I'll be here. I'm patient and this path is one trodden by many before you. And possibly many more soon, I think. Ah, a raven can dream..."
As he spoke he turned to fly upside down and I could’ve sworn I saw him smile, but Ravens can’t smile, so I just discarded that thought quickly again.


As I rounded the corner I could see what was the Refuge. Or what was left of it. Everything looked dead, broken and a dull color, as if nothing had lived here for a long, long time. A light breeze moved past and I couldn’t help but shiver. I voiced my concerns, but the Raven just shrugged it off and told me everyone here was slaughtered a while ago. He flew towards one of the buildings and settled down as I made my way carefully into the ruins. We spoke a little back and forth, small jokes, which kept me a little more cheerful, considering this place was a ruin. I reached what once used to be the fireplace, remains of a great beast still over the fire, but completely rotted. The smell was so bad I had to breathe through my mouth, but that didn’t make it much better, it only made me feel rather sick and I put my hand on my bulging stomach.

As I looked around I heard a noise, something close to sobbing. Scattered around me lay the remains of weapons and armor, and I picked up one of the broken weapons. It wasn’t much, but perhaps it would come of use somehow. Making my way towards the sobbing carefully, I held up a finger to the Raven to be quiet.
A female Draenei came into view and I noticed she was crying. She looked like one of the Rangari guards, and I wondered what she was doing here all alone. I cleared my throat and hoped I wouldn’t cause her too much of a scare. She didn’t respond to me at all. I reeled back from her anyway in surprise, noting she wasn’t crying tears, but more… a black ooze, running out of her eyesockets. Her face looked like a corpse, and she was wounded all over, rocking back and forth on the spot.
"Can ya even 'ear me?"
She didn’t reply, but the Raven did.

"Most Likely." Said the Raven.  “Yet unless you are exceedingly patient, I should not worry too much about her. I would not worry about anything . She’s one of the lost. Rrrk. A shame. Spirits who could not let go. Usually they go to..Auchindoun. This one didn't. Couldn't accept the truth I suppose. Don't worry though, you have me! R-rawk!”

I looked up at the animal at this and stepped away from the figure. I didn’t have time to deal with her, I had to find Sadok, or something related to him if I could. We made our way towards the larger building in the Refuge, maybe some clues were to be found here. This place still gave me the creeps. Portent flew up behind me, asking if I’d seen anything yet that would lead me to Sadok. I shook my head in response and moved into the building, on guard. I could see a lot of flayed corpses in the room, clearly Orcish. The odd thing was that they were all hung to the wall with spikes through their hands, and had no faces anymore. It almost looked as if something had clawed them off, including the rest of their skin as well. My stomach churned again and I damned this pregnancy, making me feel so sick so often. This wasn’t anything I’d not seen before. Flies flew around the corpses, though they looked to be very dry.

"Demon Invasions. Never seen the point of all this brutality...any of yours?"
I jumped a little at the voice before realizing it was just the Raven who followed me in. I sighed and my voice was soft as I responded, as if speaking out loud would awaken the dead in the room.
"Bah... Never liked dose damned demons. An'.. I dunno, I can't.. see deir faces." I said softly, looking over the corpse nearest to me. I could see nothing to tell who these orcs were, apart from a laughing skull mask I found under the rubble. As I picked it up, a dull rumble of thunder sounded from outside.
"A mask.. Well dat doesn't tell me muc', da guards 'ere were Laug'in' skull. I wonder if we be gonna fin' Sadok 'ere anyway, if dis be like... Da future. O' somet'in'.. 'E wasn't 'ere." I said, relief clear in my voice. No dead Sadok this time, so far.

"Well that's good then, isn't it?" beamed the raven. How it managed to do this with a solid beak, I didn’t know.  "If he's meant to be found we'll find him on this path, I assure you..."
He turned to look back down the path we came from.
"Thunder. Hrm. Someone's getting hungry, I think! No matter, no matter, we have time aplenty...You know I knew a thunder-bird totem once. Why, she had the most frightful temper!”
I admit I zoned out a little at this point, not entirely listening to the bird as he kept on rattling about a shaman of some sort. This bird really talked too much.

“…Lead on then, Kyrazha, I'm sure there is more to see!"
Only when I heard my name I snapped out of it, turning my head.
"Erh. Ya. W'o be 'ungry t'oug'?" I said a bit distracted, turning to walk outside again and leave the corpses behind me. I took the Laughing Skull mask with me, for some reason. It just felt bad to leave it behind. My feet took me down the path towards the Iron Front as I remembered it. The raven followed me.  "Oh, don't worry about it. Don't worry about anything. Rrk. Just idle chatter. I like to talk before we reach the end of our journeys. It helps lighten the mood, you know?"


The road ahead was dead as well, very quiet and the breeze coming up made me chilly in my bones. I shivered, still not trusting nor liking this forsaken version of Tanaan. Was I the only one here, together with that Raven and that shell of a Draenei?
It was a steep way down, and I had to make an effort not to fall, my balance already being off due to my stomach. This wasn’t how I remembered the road to be, at least. I managed my way below without slipping and looked around. More bodies all around, long since dead, accompanied by some beasts of war.

"Oh, Oh! Horse!" said the raven, elated. He flapped up to the nearest war-beast, still fresh despite the passage of time and pecked out an eye with a gory 'schlick'.
I wrinkled my nose in disgust and just looked away from the scene, yelling out to see if anyone was even still here. I got no response at all, apart from the Raven still speaking. I just let him yap away and looked around, noticing it was getting darker. The breeze was getting more chilly too and I shivered slightly. I decided to just walk over the front and started to walk towards where the citadel should be. "Oh, this way? Right way, thought you might want to look around a bit more first. Most people do...", the raven spoke behind me, following me with lazy flaps of his shadowy wings.
Everything was empty, everything was dead. It disturbed me to no end, what kind of place was this? Spikes stuck out from in the ground, creating long, dark shadows that surrounded me, giving the place an even more creepy feeling.

My voice sounded small as I spoke.
“It all seems ta be dead orcs an’ watever ‘ere anyway, I doub’ I be gonna fin’ somet’in’ “ I kept walking, the air around me feeling colder with every step and when I glanced over my shoulder, I noticed I couldn’t even look far behind me anymore, the road filled with a thick mist. “No going back now!” sounded the very cheerful voice of the Raven next to me.
“Ya soun’ very ‘appy abou’ dat fact.” I responded somewhat sullenly. The answer came soon enough. “Oh well. A job wel done and all that!” 
I didn’t really know what he meant with that, but at that moment I felt something, so I got distracted. Something warm, familiar… Just from behind that tower over there. I hurried my way over to see what it was…


[To be continued…]

[Rhonya]

[Part two]

I walked into a small pile of corpses before my eyes fell on the furry, orange and black striped form of Lian. He looked horrible, curled up into a ball and looking incredibly frail.
What was Lian doing here? He hadn’t come with me, had he…? I approached him carefully, not wanting to spook him, holding my hands out and speaking softly in a gentle tone.
“Lian..? Be dat really ya? Wat be ya doin’ out ‘ere.. It be me..”

The big cat opened an eye, and I noticed the other one was completely ruined. He stood up, limping over to me, uttering an affectionate and grateful sound. I could see wounds all over his body as if he’d been fighting, and he was limping very badly. Softly he pressed his head against my hand and I dropped to my knees, feeling for his injuries. He had several stab and sword wounds, but yet he felt utterly warm, familiar. I wondered how he was even still standing, and I softly whispered words to him as I stroked his soft, round ears. The voice of the Raven pulled me out of my thoughts however.
"Don't worry. Take him with us! Nearly at the end of our journey now, and no sign yet of your husband so that's a good thing!"
For a moment I was confused, looking down at Lian. Take him with us? But he was so wounded, he’d never-…

Lian proved me wrong right away, moving past me and giving me a nudge, clearly ready to move on. I grunted softly in worry and put my hand on his head as we started to move on again, making sure he could keep up with my pace.
"Well.. If 'e can follow, per'aps den. An' 'ow be dat a good t'in' I saw not’in’ of Sadok, den I still dunno w'ere 'e be." I spoke softly in reply to the Ravens earlier words, focusing back on my task ahead, now with Lian limping at my side.

"Well of course it's a good thing, it's means he's not...well. Lost! Rawk! Nevermind then, let's just go. Not far now." He said back to me. I didn’t really get yet what he meant at that moment, so I just walked on further into the jungle. The scene around me only got more and more disturbing. The road under my feet was falling apart, ending in puddles of a thick black sort of mud. Lian avoided them, so I walked around them too, not wanting to step into them. The thunder still sounded around me, more frequent now, the chill still surrounding me.

In the trees around me I noticed little lights glowing. This place mae me feel safe, comfortable, even though the area surrounding me was still the same bleak, dead land as before.
“Wat be dose little lig’ts?” I asked the Raven, keeping my eyes on the road still, not wanting to step in any of the puddles. “Depends on who sees them, usually. Sometimes they're the proverbial will-o-wips leading you to your doom. Sometimes they're echos of the things you needed to see the most before continuing. Sometimes they're both the same. Rrrk- with those things? It's all about conviction."

“I jus’ see little lig’ts t’oug’, not’in’ special I be supposed ta see?”
"Nothing special? Possibly. I won't force you, but sometimes I makes what's down the path a little more easy. You've got your big cat though! Double trouble! We'll be fine I'm sure." The raven flapped down the road just ahead of me.
"I think we need to be where there citadel was. Makes the most thematic sense. No signs of your husband yet?"
I shook my head in answer to that question. I wasn’t really sure if I should be happy or sad about this fact. With my hand still resting on Lians head, I moved on towards where I remembered the citadel would be. “No’ dat I can smell o’ see ‘o ‘ear, no…”
"Don't worry about it, Kyrazha, don't worry about anything. This is a good thing, him not being here. Means he is safe! So... you ready for what lies ahead?" The Raven made an odd noise, then continued to speak.  "This part of the journey people usually get second thoughts."
My answer came fast. I was a little nervous, but I couldn’t hesitate now.
"Ya keep sayin' dat, no' ta worry abou' anyt'in'. An' I dunno if I be ready, I dunno wat be a'ead! Bu' ya said I can't go back anyway, so secon' t'ougt's be kinda useless as well. I be 'ere, gotta get out someway, no?"
“That’s the spirit!” Came the answer right back, and I perked an eyebrow.
"It's also myself. Because I'm the spirit. It's my domain. Hakhak! See! Rr-awk." The raven chuckled to itself. "Oh relax, could be worse. Can always be worse. Besides you -can- turn back. Many people try. Some people are forced. Never ends well, though."
He paused a moment.
"...but we're so close now!"
The Raven swooped forwards and the jungle around me seemed to thin again, the trees with the little lights gone. We ended up on a grey, dusky plain, and across a dune ahead I could see a faint purple light shining.

"Well. Been a short one this, I admit. The Journey with me tends to take longer, but I think things will work out fine. No husband around here, nor any of your other...er.. children? Was going to say fledglings then, hah! So... that means it all turns out alright for them." He said while flapping up to a twisted branch on the dune.

I suddenly realized something and looked down at Lian at my side.  My voice was very small as I spoke.
“Bu’… I met Lian.”
“Spirit world, remember? It’s an echo as much as it is the real thing. Though perhaps it isn't. I am afraid I can't give an answer to that at present. In the spirit world... hrm. What did Shadra always say to her witchdoctors?  Yes! The Spiders exists in your head. Does not mean they are not real? Don't worry. We're here now anyway. It'll be over soon." He said, sitting on his branch and looking down at me expectantly. I wasn’t very comforted by these words, so I leaned down to give Lian’s huge head a firm hug before focusing on my task again. “So wat now? I walk dere, an’ ya stay ‘ere? Or..?”

"Come over and take a swim. Or leap. Some don't want to think about it. But it's alright, I'm here. As is your tiger." He spoke, and at those words Lian made loud, rumbling purr in his chest, pressing his head against my leg. With a soft grumble I approached the dune. “Fine den. I’ll see wat dis be abou’. Ya made it soun’ muc’ worse before.”
The answer came from behind me. “It’s never as bad as you’re lead to believe.”


I looked over the edge. Below was the gaping chasm again, leading into that deep void. Occasionally flashes of purple lightning and a low rumble  of thunder emanated from it. I looked over my shoulder and saw the mist closing in, blocking my path back. I couldn’t see anything anymore now, apart from Lian, and the branch the raven was sitting on. I didn’t want to be near this void, it made me extremely scared. I don’t think I’d ever been that horrified before, standing on that edge with that below me.
“Ya firs’ warned me no’ ta go dat way an’ now ya wan’ me ta leap inta it? Ya make no sense.” I said, keeping my eyes on what was below.

The Raven answered, "I never said you couldn't. I just said I wouldn't. Not yet. There is meant to be more, but I think Tanaan is so... wrong now it you've not had as much. I am sorry. But we know for certain your husband was not here. This means he is safe and well."
I started to sound a little annoyed now, on edge. "No' 'ere, no.. Bu' wat abou' any ot'er place? Dis jus' be Tanaan. 'E mig't no' be 'ere at all. O' on dis world, bu' back on Azerot'."
The bird shrugged. "The nether and spirit world is... more interconnected than some would believe. This world is as much in the mind and the bonds you form as much as it is yet another layer in the Titan's emerald dream. Time means little here. Besides. This is your world and your journey. If something needed to be here, truly, it would be. The rest is embellishment.”

As we spoke, the void started to move. It crept closer towards my feet, up the sand bank. I quickly took a step back, not wanting to come anywhere near it.
"Just don't worry about it. Besides, you have been very calm so far. Most people would have since broken down. Most people do."
That did nothing to calm my nerves. "Break down at wat? Seein' some corpses an' dead broken stuff? I've seen worse. An' I know dis be no'.. really real. As suc'. Learned dat muc' from da former walk I once took in Fros'fire."
The raven blinked. "Kyrazha..." The calm humor was gone from his voice. "...you are wrong. This place is real. “
“...you do remember what has happened to you do you not?"

I turned my head to look up at the spirit animal, perking an eyebrow. I didn’t know what he meant. "Wat 'as 'appened ta me? Wat ya mean? Not'in' 'appened ta me."
As I spoke, the void still came closer, and I took another step back, closer towards the mist. The raven replied, his voice soft.
"...Kyrazha, I am sorry. I thought you understood. The 'hanged man' motif the sorcerer calls me, that is a hint to what is my purpose and personality. I -cause- those to adopt my sense of self as this helps them...well. The hanged Man is that of acceptance. For myself it is a willing sacrifice of time and energy, for the greater good. For even in this world everyone deserves a guide at this, their most vulnerable." He paused for a moment before continuing.
"...the Hanged Man is a symbol of respite, of introspection and thought before I do my -actual- duties as a spirit." He said, looking down at me. I kept my eyes on him, not wanting to believe what I was hearing.

“Kyrazha, I am a Psychopomp.  You have been dead for the past three hours." The raven let the statement hang in the silent air.
I could only stare at him after those words. I didn’t believe him. I couldn’t believe him. I wasn’t dead. I couldn’t be dead, my unborn child was still here with me, and Lian too.
My voice was angry as I spoke. "... Wat? No. Dat can't be true. Ya said we didn't see any o' my c'ildren. Dat dem be safe. Wat abou' dis one den? We didn't see dis one. An' if I died, dis one woul' 'ave died as well!”

"That's why I was surprised there were two of you.  You have not seen your husband, or your other children, because they are not dead. The child you carry was never born, thus is never had a presence outside."
I shook my head again, folding my arms protectively around my stomach. This wasn’t true. “Ya be lyin’. Siya’ wouldn’t kill me. ‘E wouldn’t!”
I started to approach the branch, weapon in my hand. A growl sounded in the back of my throat as I grew more and more angry.

The raven answered in a neutral, but calm tone, as if he was explaining something to a stubborn child.  "Siyah'gosh is a Trickster. He handed you poison.  He said he was tired of your constant angst. He was never your friend nor your ally. I am sorry, Huntress. I thought you knew... He summoned me to... make sure you stayed away. Said your husband was better off without."
At those words my upper lip curled back up into a snarl and as I got close enough to the Raven, I lashed out at him with the sharp side of the broken weapon in my hand. He hopped out of reach, letting out an alarming squawk.

“Ya be lyin’! I c’ose my own card, ‘e didn’t summon ya! An’ Sadok needs me!”
I felt my eyes tearing up now, but I was so angry that I didn’t care.
"Please, don't fight. You saw what happened to those that didn't move on! I don't know anything about the card, only that you carry it. It's how the sorcerer identifies me, but I have no say in this. Please- just- " He paused a short moment.
"...everything will be okay. Don't worry about anything. You're free now. I know I don't have the gravitas of my primal god-bretheren, Bwonsamedi and the Old Man of the Desert, but I offer peace. There's no more pain or suffering, no more want. Just blissful eternity. Are you not tired of all this? The arguing? The misery of Draenor? The horror of what you may be seeing soon?"

While he spoke, I tried to locate the card in my pouch. I found it and pulled it out, the wrong side up. I moved my arm and threw the weapon towards the Raven in my anger. I turned the card around and saw it was myself on the other side, not the hanged man of before.
"I be no' tired of it, no! I wan' ta fig't fo' our sakes! None o' me tribe be 'ere, we didn't see dem, so dem still be alive! I wan' ta fig't fo' dem. Fo' Sadok an' fo' our c'ildren!"
The raven was clipped by the broken weapon and he flipped around the branch, hanging from it wings outstretched and upside down in a grim parody of the card's figure I was holding in my hands now.
"It's too late Now, huntress. I am so sorry. But you must let go. It's time now. The end is approaching. There is nothing I can do. I am no primal Loa. Just a wild spirit with a conscience. A common house-loa that merely wants to help. Please. Don't make this difficult. You should not have to suffer. I have no power to help you any other way..." He spoke in a sad way, still hanging from the branch. I tried to rip the card in two, but it wouldn’t break. My voice nearly did however as I spoke.
"No. I won' give up. I owe it to my tribe an' my mate! I dun care wat kin' o' loa ya be! If wat Siya' said be true an' one -did- listen ta me once, den let 'im listen again! I be no' dead!"

"Oh, Kyrazha. Rrrk. Please..." the Raven said, and suddenly the dune that was still so nearby jerked violently and started to seep into the void below.
"There's no going back now. Why would you want to continue with this? Your husband is both gone, yet safe. The tribe lives on. That much is clear. You don't need to suffer any more. There will be no more like Luk... No parents to abandon you. No alien culture to take you in. To form you into their own ways...."

I stepped aside even more, frustrated because I couldn’t rip the card apart, before just smashing it back into my pouch. My voice was a low, dangerous growl as I answered him.
"Suffer? I dun' suffer! I go' a mate, I go' me cubs! I go' a tribe that I fit inta! Me parents never abandoned me, dem were killed, dat was no' dere faul'! An' Qa'ajn raised me as 'is own, I 'ad a fat'er. I jus' go' stron'er from wat 'appened wit' Luk, me -an'-  Sadok to'et'er! W'y be ya so tryin' ta tell me dat me life be a sufferin', w'ile I dun t'ink it be!" I nearly yelled while reaching out to the spirit bird with my claws. Suddenly I noticed they looked like proper â€"claws-, and it shocked me a moment, but I didn’t halt. The raven flapped up in panic, not wishing to be hurt.
"But, you are not strong enough! You were killed! You cannot escape death! Please, listen to reason, you are damning yourself!"

"W'o says I be no' stron' enoug'?! Ya, a silly little bird? Ya jus' said so yaself, ya be no' powerful loa like da primals!"
I tried to grab him now, climbing on the branch, my face flushed in anger. I wanted to kill the damn bird. He would not have me, I would not give up! I felt my fingers close around his form and only now I noticed how frail he was looking, looking up in a very sad way towards me.
"Wat ya say we do, Lian? Bite 'is 'ead off? Break 'is win's an' t'row -'im- into dat void down below?" I asked in a mocking tone. Lian just looked at me. He suddenly looked a lot more healthy, most of the wounds gone, but I was too angry to actually notice it now.

"Da Trolls always taug't me if ya eat da 'eart o' ya enemy, dem power flows inta ya instead. I wonder if da same goes fo' ya?"
I actually grinned wide now, near manically, a feral and wild glint in my eyes.  The Raven still didn’t answer, which only pissed me off even more. So I snapped my head down and bit him.
He suddenly seemed to melt, disappearing into a small, shadowy cloud. It moved through my fingers and hovered above the void. I suddenly realized I was looking at a small loa spirit, no form anymore now that I had bitten it in two. He looked very small and I felt a sudden sadness.

"That Was A Choice. Though Not One I Thought You Would Take. I Am... Disappointed. I Do Not Think You Understood This Lesson." A voice sounded around me. The shadow twisted back into the form of the Raven and it continued. "...I can't teach you anything further. Perhaps I am in error, and pushed you the wrong way. Your Strength is admirable, but it was not what I was hoping for."
"Dissapointed me ass. Ya asked fo' it, wit' da t'in's ya were sayin'! Den tell me wat ya were 'opin' fo'. Dat I'd let ya go?  Dat I'd let meself die?"
"Yes." He didn’t tell what question the yes was supposed to answer, though. I snorted softly.
"... There is nothing more to be said. I do not think you have grasped the meaning behind all this." He said, sounding a lot harsher now than he did before.
“Den tell me!” I responded, angry, still sitting on my branch.
"...No. I said. I cannot. You must find meaning in it yourself, for this is what your husband faces also...Yet, pray fortune, for I am counselled by Compassion. You will return, and not be trapped here for your insult to me. But I will not be helping you again. Next time I will not give the chance for introspection."

"Insul' ta ya.. Wat abou' ya insul' ta me? Doesn't dat coun' fo' anyt'in', jus' because ya be some spirit an' I only be a lowly Orc in ya opinion? Bah." I shook my head.
"Ya mig't be a loa spirit. Bu' even dose make mistakes. Ya pus'ed me too far, an' ya know w'ic' Loa I 'ave always 'onored. Den ya know I woul' fig't until da end, no matter wat. Dis were ya own miscalculation, no' mine."
"It was never you fighting to the end that was issue. Only how you did it." He paused, still looking down at me.
"In the end, what are you in the dark, Kyrazha?"
The question lingered before finally, a cold blackness started to engulf me and I suddenly awoke with a gasp back on the hill above Rangari Refuge, next to the tree. Lian was lying a little bit away, watching me with calm and somewhat tired eyes.

My hands moved to my stomach right away and I sighed in relief as I noticed the little creature within twist and react to my nervous state. She was safe… I looked around, but no trace of Siyahgosh or the raven.
Damn these spirits… And damn Siyahgosh, actually killing me. I would talk to him later… For now I just needed some distraction, something to do. Hunting… I’d go hunting.
“Come on Lian… I need ta see if I really still be alive now. “ Lian stood up at my voice, following at my heels, bumping his head against my leg with a grunt. I stroked the soft fur. “At leas’ we know ‘e be no’ dead yet… We’ll fin’ ‘im. Some’ow.”