River, better known by its Faer inhabitants as Wind River, linking the precipitous northern cliffs and the rolling broken southern plains of Big Valley, again better known as Wind River Valley. The city is connected in various ways to its sisters downstream; the cities of Hlanae and Maelae. Caelan is a busy, bustling metropolis unlike anything seen outside the White Wastes of the north where the Fallen Star’s people rule, but it is also more sedate, almost sleepy. This contrast is a product of the city matriarch’s tight hold on her people and, in fact, on the people of all the cities and thus the entire Faer race.
The White Rel.
Also known as the Good Lady, the White Rel has ruled the Faer since they came up out of the muck on the shores of Wind River. She made them what they are, through endless toil, careful planning, and utter ruthlessness toward anything that might threaten either the peace of the cities or her leadership. The word of the White Rel is the Law of the cities and it is strictly enforced. Anyone unwilling to follow rules is reeducated with extreme prejudice. Those who break the Law of her land are summarily exiled to the great wide World, where their sheltered lives often leave them unable to cope with fauna, other peoples, and even harsh sunslight, leading eventually to madness and finally death. But through this iron-fisted dictatorship, the White Rel has kept a peace so complete that Faera overlooks the sometimes harsh reality of Her people’s lives.
But the other Goddessi are not quite so forgiving. Yet to interfere with Faera’s followers is to invite similar meddling with Their own worshippers. Thus, the situation must be changed by an outside force.
Enter Kimber and her less-than-merry band.
In a Tale not told, Kimber and Cho entered the city of Caelan. They were met by many wonders and the people of the city were kind, in an aloof, confused way, but they were amazed at a rel who spoke and their trust in the White Rel, who could not speak, was shaken. When Kimber moved on, the seeds her visit had planted led to a great revolt, which was unfortunately quashed quite quickly, leading to the exile of hundreds and the deaths of many who leapt from the city ramparts into the all-consuming rapids of Wind River, rather than face life either in the harsh World or under the White Rel’s harsh rule.
The Goddessi were not happy with this outcome and They decided that Kimber should do more. In another untold Tale, Kimber and her compatriots came into the city and as the people began to revolt, Kimber came into herself. She found confidence and became as she most wanted, something more than the wisps of a Tale always in danger of blowing away on the breeze into the lurking darkness.
Unfortunately, what she became was the next White Rel. When the Good Lady was overthrown and locked within the Pillar that upheld the city, the people knew of no other life and set Kimber as their new leader, although she had no understanding of what it entailed. Without direction, the cities began to fail and people grew hungry and inconvenienced and they remembered back to days of peace and security, until their thoughts shaped Kimber into a mirror of the White Rel and she ruled as the Good Lady had, losing herself in the role.
This too was not to the Goddessi’s liking and it angered Faera that the White Rel, whom she loved so well, was treated so poorly. Before the other Goddessi could hatch yet another plan, the Heaven Walker went down upon the World to Caelan and warned the White Rel that a strange cousin to her would soon come and disrupt the peace of her home.
The White Rel readied herself, calling down a great rain from the clouds to assure that anyone coming toward the city would have to take shelter. She went down upon the earth, though not truly, for she hovered so that her feet would not touch the corrupted remains of the World Mother. No Faer, save those exiled by her decree, have touched the earth since they left the shores of the river to live in their sky cities.
But Faera saw that the White Rel would not allow even a chance of disruption to the lives of the Faer. The Good Lady gathered skysplitters in her fists and held murder in her heart. Fearful what would happen if the White Rel were to kill Kimber, Faera warned the Good Lady’s assistant, a young boy whom the White Rel had loved best of all the Faer she had ever known in the entirety of her exceptionally long years. The Heaven Walker commanded the boy to go down to the earth and warn Kimber away. The boy was terrified to leave the city and his lady’s side, knowing he could never return should he set foot upon the World, but he did as he was told.
The boy found Kimber’s hiding place and pleaded with her to go, but the Good Lady soon found them. Fearful of failing in the mission Faera had given him, he attempted to talk the Good Lady out of her plans to kill the other rel. He loved her greatly and knew that she loved him too and was confident that she would see reason.
She did not. She sent him flying so far away that the sky split open and swallowed him up before he could fly beyond its borders and she sent Kimber and Cho and the kite off toward the heart of the killing desert unprepared, trusting the suns and thirst and the terrorous creatures and people of the sands to finish them off, leaving Bre’et and Kipi alone in the World.
The White Rel returned and reigned for many, many years as she had, until the boy she had thrown away returned. But that is another Tale.
An Exceedingly Brief Tale of Flight
‘Cross the skies they endless tore
Heaven-blessed with wings to soar.
- “The Grey Birds’ Tale”
The kite sped upward, thrusting Kimber’s stomach into her feet and then stopped, straining as if at the end of a tether, launching it back up into her throat. A moment passed as the kite floated motionless in the howling wind and blinding fog and then something snapped below them and they were granted irrevocable freedom.
The World spun. Kite and riders flew out of control.
It banked and whipped Kimber back and forth. She could not look up or down, but squeezed her eyes shut so tightly that it felt as though they might fall back into the cavern of her skull from the pressure. She thought the wind shrieked but it might have been her. It might have been Cho if she was even up there.
Her arms burned with the effort of holding tight, her legs flailed for purchase. She slipped down the length of the rope, sliding on the blood oozing from her palms. Her stomach surged.
She managed to get her legs around the rope, bringing a halt to her downward slide. Skyclaps crashed somewhere close, so loud that all Kimber’s will went into not letting go to cover her ears. Howling currents raced past her, up, up, up.
Don’t die. Not again.
The words bounced in her head from somewhere deep but could find no purchase among the whirling thoughts of ‘hold on’, ‘hold tight’, ‘don’t be sick’, ‘so cold’, ‘can’t breathe’, ‘can’t breathe’.
The wind gentled. The kite soared, its wings fluttering with a noise like a bird’s.
Kimber opened her eyes but still could not bring herself to look down. All around, the fog held them in its tender grip and the kite glided above, its rider unseen. They seemed to float there forever in the silent whiteness before the fog finally gave way and unveiled an endless vista of jild that shone as bright as the yellow sun.
Kimber opened her mouth to call to the Elanaite.
And the wind died.
And the kite fell like a stoneseed pod.
Tales of Shadows
