Heartworm

The sound that resonated from the lake was akin to a cry. Or perhaps it was a song? It was difficult to parse the emotions of the noise, but it seemed to wail in a steady thrumming tone. Uroro Lake was lit up green, but only in the small area around where I stood. I was only a few feet away from the water’s edge, and like it was being drawn to me, as I was to it, the green light was slowly moving towards me. Despite lighting up a large section of the lake, I could tell that the green light had an origin point, a small orb that light bled out from, illuminating the waters with a rapturous light.

“What are you? Or- Who are you?”

Perhaps it was foolish to attempt to ask a question. For me, I was merely trying to cross off possibilities of what this phenomena could be. Sentiency seemed highly plausible, the light was moving towards me after all. But if it was sentient, speech wouldn’t be out of the question. Maybe the noises that were gently thrumming across the waters into my ears was speech, in a way that I couldn’t understand. Was there some sort of race in this region that hadn’t been within the books I’d read?

The small orb of light continued to float towards me. Perhaps ‘float’ wasn’t the right word to use as it stayed underneath the water while it moved. I was starting to wonder if I should move. I was calm as ever, but being so calm at a moment such as this felt odd. Should I be calm? Was this a tactic to pull in prey? If it was, it was an ingenious way of doing so, luring food in before they could react by ensuring they felt no need to react. I took a step back tentatively, both of my hands gaining a translucent shadow coverage that served as an in-between before I had fully formed claws.

It was like the orb could tell what I was feeling at that moment. My own apprehension seemed to reflect upon the orb, the slow movements pausing for a moment. Was it afraid of me? That wasn’t entirely unbelievable, I’m sure animals had some way to sense that I was a much greater threat than I looked to be. The leathery nose and the mostly floppy fuzzy ears on my head certainly indicated I was beyond human. While my ears were still somewhat small at this point, they could probably be seen poking out from underneath my hair. They were a feature that was growing by the day, meaning I would have to find a way to hide my ears, along with my nose, if I wanted to seem human. Something to ask Phern about before we get to Urden I suppose.

“Are you scared? I won’t hurt you, little thing. Unless you’re gonna eat me. I don’t wanna be gobbled up by a sea creature. Or… lake creature?”

The orb pulsed, and the singing or wailing-whichever it was-picked up in pace. Was it responding to me? It began to move towards me once more, slower than before.

“The books I’ve read are really failing me now. Are you a spirit? An animal?”

Another green pulse.

“Yeah okay I gotta stop asking questions, this isn’t getting me anywhere.”

A pulse. A shimmering song that thrilled through the air.

“Are you laughing at me? I’m just trying to figure out what you are, you sea salt hard candy!”

Another pulse, this time accompanied by the very water swirling at the whims of the orb. A small funnel of water formed, before a jet of the lake’s water was suddenly sprayed directly into my face. It hit me with enough force to throw me onto my back, the salty water stinging my eyes and dripping into my mouth with an unpleasant taste. It did not seem to enjoy what I had called it.

“...sorry.” I spat out more water, in the vain attempt at cleansing my palate of all the salt. I realized, quite abruptly, that if the orb had taken offense to what I had called it, that it could understand what I called it. Curious.

“My friends mentioned that they saw you last night. Are you watching us? Following us?”

The green light bobbed up and down beneath the water. I had to assume that the movement was some kind of nod in acknowledgement. If this thing was following us, but not attacking us, it left a number of remaining possibilities. I wasn’t entirely sold on the idea that it was harmless, at least not yet, but it certainly seemed like it was being driven by its own curiosity, much like I was. The green orb swirlied more water around, this time forming the shape of a question mark in the air with funneled water. Odd. The orb shot out a small shell that landed on the shore just at my feet. The shell was admittedly the most beautiful shell that I had ever laid eyes on. I hadn’t seen many shells in person, sure, but this was still the best. It was small, but swirled with a clockwise pattern on one side, and counterclockwise on the opposite side.

“Is this for me?”

Another thrumming song.

“Oh. Thank you. It’s beautiful.” It felt strange to receive a gift from the lake, but it felt even more strange to do so without giving something in exchange. I still had a copper coin in my pocket from when Phern, Cecelia, and I were counting up the Bandit funds, as Phern called it. Was this shell worth a copper coin? I certainly hoped I wasn’t underselling the gift that I had been given, but this was all I had on me. I tossed the coin towards the orb. It never even made it into the water before it was caught by the floating water the orb seemed to control. Once the coin was pulled under the water towards the orb, little spouts of water erupted in a symphony around the orb. Was that a celebration? It was adorable.

“You’re a strange little light.”

The sound of a branch snapping caused me to quickly turn around, claws raised towards my face, body ready to defend.

“Relax, Bandit. It’s just me.” Cecelia, dressed in a sort of nightgown, was already walking towards me. It was odd to see her not within her armor. She always woke up before me, and it only ever came off at night, which meant most of what I had seen of Cecelia was in her leather armor that had been customized to every detail over the years of hunting Deathless.

“Why are you up?”

“Because I heard someone talking. Why are you?”

I looked back to the lake, figuring it would make her question irrelevant when she saw the glowing, singing orb of green light in the lake. When I turned back around, the light was gone, replaced by the steady reflection of the moon and the stars on the calm water of Uroro Lake.

“There was just… there was a light in the lake!”

“Like Phern and Sebil said?”

“Yeah…”

“Do you think it’s a threat?” Cecelia asked. It made sense that was where her mind went. She was always focused on survival and safety first, an instinct that I didn’t seem to share unless I was on death’s door. I suppose if I’m hunted for long enough, I’ll develop that level of caution towards everything.

“I don’t think so? It was odd. Beautiful to witness, though.” I replied, still searching the waters for a sign that the orb was still there. A distant green light, some rippling waves, anything. I couldn’t find anything.

“I know something else that’s beautiful to witness…” Cecelia drawled as she approached my side and sat down on the grass near the edge of the lake. I took that as an invitation to sit down next to her. The company of the orb had quickly been replaced with the company of Cecelia. Her words were cheesy, latching on to an easy segway into a compliment. Smooth as ever, for the blonde haired minx that she was.

“So flirtatious, CiCi.” I smirked.

“Oh. Did you think I meant you? I was talking about the stars, button nose.” Cecelia grinned. While she had turned to look up into the sky, I could see that out of the corner of her eyes she was looking over at me to see my reaction to her misdirect.

I, on the other hand, was blushing from the embarrassment of falling right into her coy trap. She’d led me right into it, and even though I think I learn more of her tricks each day, I still fell into her suave trick.

“I’ll dunk you in the lake.” I responded, dryly. The smile in the corners of my mouth betrayed my intention to act annoyed.

“You want to skinny dip while we’re being hunted by the Council? What a fiery creature, you are.”

“That’s not what- Maybe I should just drown you then!”

“Asphyxiation as well, darling? You’re a box of surprises.” Cecelia laughed while I roiled on the ground. I hadn’t been ribbed so hard by someone since Vyra. Joking with Cecelia felt like I was mounted atop a horse for a jousting match, and everytime I thought I’d lined up a hit, she’d slip past and land one on me. It wasn’t like I’d say it aloud, but I enjoyed the witty back and forth a lot. Clearly Cecelia did as well. It seemed like it was her primary way of flirting, above anything else.

The gentle hug that Cecelia had pulled me into ceased our squabbling, as we instead sat on the cold grass, wrapped around one another in a warm embrace. I could have been in that position for hours without even noticing. When Cecelia spoke to pull me out of my comfortable drifting, I truly had no idea how much time had passed.

“It really is beautiful to witness. The sky. You’re not too bad to witness either.” She added with a slight chuckle from her end.

I followed her lead and looked up into the sky. She didn’t have to convince me of the evening’s beauty. I had already cried over the sight before she showed up.

“You see that constellation up there?” Cecelia pointed up at a cluster of stars. “It kind of looks like an egg, right? Symbolizes new birth, maybe you could take that as a sign of something, yeah?”

I started to laugh. A full, hearty laugh that caused Cecelia’s face to twist into one of confusion. “Gods, you are such a good liar. You could convince me I was a caritune if I were blind.” I continued to laugh, while Cecelia continued to be confused. “What do you mean?” She asked, attempting to cut through all of my laughter.

“None of that is true, CiCi. I spent months looking into constellations at Varenthell.” I clarified. That seemed to be what it took for her to finally relent and roll her eyes. Even after being called out, she had waited until I told her how I knew she was lying to give in. The way she could hold onto a fib even as it crashed into the ground amazed me, she must have gotten real used to lying at some point in her childhood.

“Caught by a bookworm. I keep forgetting you’ve read books on practically everything. I bet you even know the etiquette of how to shed tears nobly or something.” Cecelia pressed her finger onto my nose to give it a light push as she smirked.

“It’s not lame to know things, CiCi. At least I know which one of us wouldn’t be kicked out of a royal dinner for improperly crying.” I replied, confidently.

“If I was at a royal dinner, I’d defenestrate myself out of the nearest window.”

“I’d be going right after you. They were never really my scene.”

The two of us laughed a little, but as the volume came down, and our mirth came to a natural end, I picked up the conversation to move it back towards what we had been discussing earlier.

“Piae Lacrimae”

“Gesundheit.”

My eyes twitched as I looked to the sky towards the constellation that I had just named. The memory in the garden with Vyra burned bright in my mind, like its very own star behind my eyes.

“The constellation. The one that you lied about earlier. It’s called Piae Lacrimae, it’s supposed to represent the God’s tears.”

“It’s not an egg?”

“It’s a teardrop. At least that’s the consensus amongst astrologists of our time. It was said to have formed in the sky after Ynnthylul betrayed the trust of Inthenia, resulting in the death of Inthenia’s child.”

“Who cares about a couple of God’s though. Why can’t you look at it as an egg and make up your own meaning?” Cecelia asked.

“I suppose you could. Only some people believe in constellations anyway. They’re said to be able to read the fabric of the world. Understand the unknown, read the future, examine the soul, things like that.”

“Do you believe them?”

Wasn’t that a question. Did I? I sure did while I studied them. I found comfort in there being some greater force that I could use to guide my way. It was a way to commune with the Gods themselves, if you knew what you were doing. I wasn’t sure what to make of my constellation readings that I had done. When I was younger, I tried to divine through the stars, and got a result that told me I was hiding myself from everyone, including myself. I always thought that was ridiculous until lately. Then there was Pulchra Flamma and Duo Amantis. If I was to believe in those, it meant I doomed my relationship with Vyra by acting as I did back then. I suppose that too had come true.

That certainly made quite the case for believing in the stars. But it glossed over the biggest reasons why I could never fully believe in the divinations of the constellations. I had made a wish in the academy. A wish in the desperation of my isolation, using the stars that I could see on my visit to the library. They allowed me to travel up to the library past curfew, when all the students were asleep, as a reward for my good behavior. It was meant to allow me to select a few books, but I instead used that time to go to my favorite secluded spot in the library to gaze at the stars.

It was a childish wish, perhaps. But one that I made through tears in the stale room with a singular window. I wished that my parents would love me. I wished that they would take me away from Varenthell, out of my isolation. It was hard to believe in the stars when that wish never came true.

“I don’t know… Not really.”

“Then don’t worry about what those astrologists say. As far as I’m concerned, the stars are just a beautiful sight to behold. Like that one! Doesn’t it look like a goose that got its leg chopped off?”

Cecelia pointed up at one of the constellations in the sky. While it certainly wasn’t a goose with its leg chopped off, it was amusing to imagine that it was.

“Or like that one! It looks like a plate of chicken legs.”

Once more, I watched her label a constellation as something entirely different from what it was. But the more I imagined it as a plate of chicken legs, the less I focused on what the constellation was supposed to represent. There were no superstitions, there were no anxieties about the future. It was just… chicken legs.

“I guess that one looks like a horse with no back legs?” I attempted to play her game, gesturing towards a constellation directly above our heads in the sky. Cecelia followed my gaze and let out a heartfelt giggle as she looked at the stars. “Oh my Gods it does! See, that’s more like it!”

“That one looks like a frog with a crown!” Cecelia pointed.

“Those kind of look like two squids fucking sloppy style.” I motioned towards a cluster of stars.

“That one is straight up just a penis.” Cecelia laughed as she pointed at a constellation.

“It’s a sword, CiCi! That’s like… the most well known constellation!”

“It’s a dick, Bandit! It’s even got balls for Gods sake!”

“That’s the hilt, Cecelia. It’s Inthenia’s blade, the sword that struck down Baehevar. Did they not teach you that in school?”

“Depends, did they teach it before or after age 7? If it was after, I might have missed the class on account of my parents being dead.” Cecelia shrugged, acting extremely nonplussed about something which I knew nagged at her. Perhaps the jokes made it sting less? That was certainly the case with Vyra, whenever she would joke about her parents, it was to ease the tension that she felt about it.

“I still think it’s a dick. The sky is kinky, Bandit. I mean look at those two, they’re gettin’ frisky, right?” I looked to where Cecelia was pointing. She had pointed at Duo Amantis. The two lovers. My breath hitched for a moment.

“We should go back to sleep.” I spoke softly.

“Oh. Okay.” Cecelia looked to me with soft concern behind her eyes. It was clear to her that something in the air had just changed. What was a playful back and forth of what we saw in the constellations had become cold due to my reaction. I admonished myself for stepping on such an entertaining back and forth. It felt like the only thing that I could do to get away from the aches of the Heartworm.

“It’s nothing you said, promise. This was nice, being out under the stars with you.” I smiled towards Cecelia, and she wrapped her hand around mine as we walked back towards the tent.

“It was. Maybe we should do it again sometime, Ester. Just you, me, the stars, and the moon.”

My hand tightened around hers for just a moment as she spoke the name. It was enough for her to realize what she had said.

“I’m sorry- I shouldn’t have- I know you said-” Cecelia was quick to apologize, but I was quick to cut her off.

“No, don’t apologize. I uh… It was nice. It’s me. Maybe you could-uh… between the two of us?” My sentence’s syntax was lacking in tact, but it seemed to convey the message just fine. The name Ester sounded like honey when it dripped from her lips. I wanted to hear it again. I wanted to hear my name again.

“Yeah. Yeah, I can do that.” Cecelia smiled with a hefty portioning of reassurance layered into her words. She squeezed my hand affectionately and continued to walk us back to the tent.

“Let’s get some sleep, Ester.”