content notes: violence

It was on the third day of Hannu’s absence that Iberto got his clue. Following yet another trail through the temple complex, he came in sight of the human he was trailing. To his surprise, what looked like a second trail spun off from the man and deeper into the temple. A trail that was not a trail, faint to the edge of nonexistent. Curious, Iberto stopped following the man and followed this not-trail backward to see where it led.

The not-trail led him relatively straight through the complex. It ended at a room consecrated to one of the goddes Iberto had not met. Iberto did not risk disturbing the strange godde, instead abandoning the not-trail to return to more traveled areas of the temple.

Now that he was looking for them, Iberto found more of the not-trails. Not every person who came to the temple had one, perhaps one in twenty. And of those, most were too faint for even Iberto to follow to their end. Those he could follow always led to one of the goddes — usually one of the more popular goddes, those who still had called.

~~~

That evening, Iberto waited in the garden, eager to hear the results of Hannu’s explorations. He expected good results — the Green had remained in the gardens and — as much as that inhuman being had recognizable expressions — seemed content and unconcerned.

As he waited and strove to relax, he saw something he hadn’t expected — something that was both like and not-like the not-trails. This one led from The Green off into the distance. Curious, Iberto got up and followed the… the connection he realized. Somehow, he was seeing the connection between the goddes and certain people in the form of these not-trails.

And if that was so, then this one, so much stronger and subtly different from the others, must belong too–

Hannu! Who entered the temple even as he followed the connection back to her. She slipped in quietly among the visitors, and the monks were so distracted and disturbed by Iberto’s presence at the temple entrance that they did not notice her.

Good. If the monks had been tricking the called into believing they couldn’t leave the temple, better they not know of Hannu’s trial.

Rather than acknowledge Hannu, Iberto took the chance to study the monks. It also disconcerted them, and sometimes he would sit and stare at them openly for hours just to see how they reacted.

Today, one of the monks was an older person who strove to act like they were ignoring Iberto, but their hunched shoulders and scowl gave them away. The other… the other met Iberto’s gaze openly. To Iberto’s shock, this other monk, a young redhead, had one of the faint not-trails leading into the temple.

A monk with a connection to a godde… was it possible there were those among the monks who were not enemies? Or, considering how young the redhead was, not yet enemies? Not trained into the monks’ ways and goals?

It was a thought, a definite thought.

Now was not the time for it. With a last look at the monks, Iberto turned and headed back to the gardens where The Green and Hannu would be reuniting. He gave them a few minutes privacy and slipped in to see Hannu eagerly checking her plants.

“I am sorry,” Iberto said. “The petitioners who came were frightened of me and left. I do not know if they will return.”

Hannu looked up at him and smiled. “Oh, Iberto, it was worth it. I couldn’t go far, but I was able to walk in woods and fields and oh, you were right! The Green was with me! It wasn’t weakened by my absence, and I was able to use some of the power it gives me to strengthen the places I visited!

“Did you know that a forest is a kind of person? There is no tree that stands alone, but they all connect to each other, like the fingers of a hand, deep in the soil. I can see it now, it was glorious!”

Iberto found himself smiling with her, feeling joy for her joy. “That is wonderful. You will go again?”

Her pleasure dimmed slightly. “I have to be here most of the time. If I stop meeting petitioners, if people stop believing…”

Bowing his head in acknowledgment, Iberto said, “But you can still go sometimes, yes?”

“Yes, sometimes. Maybe even once a month, for a few days. I could… I could try to visit one of the shrines or outlying temples? See if anyone there wishes aid and can’t make the trip to the temple.”

Iberto grinned and in the back of his mind the Goddess roared in triumph. “Yes! Do that, Hannu my friend! Do that and you will find new believers and new belief, and The Green will go strong again.”

~~~

That night, Iberto had a difficult time sleeping. Hannu’s discovery was important, and if other of the called whose goddes were still acknowledged by the temple network took to the roads, it would help many of them. But it did nothing for the goddes without called, or the goddes like The Great Goddess, whose worship had been driven underground and whose worshippers were often driven out or slain where they were found.

His current task was to find called, so those goddes would at least cease to fade. But he was no closer to his answers. He fell asleep trying to find a way to use the not-trails to his advantage.

That night, the goddess took him into the dream realm again. Here, the not-trails, the connections between human and godde, were strong and luminous, lighting up the night like ropes made of fireflies. and showed him the mass of ‘trails’ that entered the temple from across the land.

“In dreams,” the goddess said, “Humans believe freely, without doubts or fears to silence them.”

Together, they ghosted through the dream to the room where Han the Sun’s abandoned alter waited. Even in the dream realm, there were not many connections. A few dozen in all. But one of them shown as bright as a candle and almost seemed to tremble under Iberto’s gaze.

“This one,” he said.

“Good, my own,” his goddess purred.

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