Song of Seven

Song 8: Wolf and Lady

In the far reaches of the north, the wind howled like a vengeful spirit, mourning the aftermath of a battle that would forever change Axel. The thick wilderness trees now bear the scars of conflict, transformed into a haunting and desolate graveyard.

Axel and Seven walked among the bodies, the Hound still uneasy in the presence of the woman who was central to the conflict. Tears streamed down her cheeks as Axel led her around the battlefield and showed her the Sanctuary's destruction and his friends' death. Though Axel had very little trust in Seven, he enlisted her help in gathering the remains of his friends for a makeshift funeral pyre, the ground being too hard and frozen for a burial.

As the day went on, Axel described to Seven who his friends were. First, it was Kellard, the young man who hunted with the Hound when he first arrived in the northern sanctuary, though their relationship was tenuous, Axel expressed deep sorrow and wished that he could have redeemed himself for his time in the Crown Hounds and what his squad had done to Kellard's people. 

Then came Bruth, the man who had been a practical leader for the free people, few of the men and women who lived here knew much about Bruth's history, only that he was a fair and equitable figurehead for the freedoms they enjoyed. Axel remembered how easily Bruth accepted him into the ranks of the northern folk, and how he was not judged or questioned about his past. 

The most mysterious of Axel's friends was the priest Andus. "This was the man who sought you out, he journeyed a long way to find you, though I don't know for what purpose," Axel told Seven, heaving Andus' lifeless body onto a loose stack of wooden planks. 

Seven watched mournfully as the last of the companion's bodies were set upon the pyre, her eyes took in the sight of the priest and she felt something stir inside her soul. She looked at the staff in her hands, feeling a strange bond between herself, the whitewood staff, and the priest. "When I was... being used by the group you call cultists, I remember hearing this priest's voice in my head. He was calling to me, trying to free me from the magical imprisonment that was placed on my mind. I can't explain how, but something he did free me. I owe him much" Seven spoke softly, her delicate voice quivering in sadness.

The Hound turned away from Seven and let out an exhausted sigh, "I don't know what to believe. If this was how Andus' quest was meant to turn out, then Lyris is a strange and cruel Goddess". Axel's anger simmered in his thoughts, feeling a mixture of distrust towards Seven and a deep hopelessness. 

The woman approached Axel cautiously, resting a hand upon his shoulder, "I wish that I had comforting answers for you, my mind is still blurry and there is much for me to figure out. I know little of Lyris myself, but she and Andus have given me freedom. Perhaps she can offer you the same..."

Axel moved away from her touch, too consumed in his grief and anger to listen to any hopeful words from this strange woman, "Freedom? I came here seeking freedom and look at what it got me. Look all around you, woman. This world has nothing but death and cruel men. An empire intent on expanding to all corners of the world, cultists who wish to destroy, blind priests who chase after women, and Goddesses who refuse to intervene. Andus was a good man, but just like me, his life has been a waste. He died for what? Where the hell is freedom? Where are the benevolent Goddesses to descend from the heavens and save us all?" The warrior spat as he spoke, "No. There is no freedom."

The sky above roiled in thick, brooding clouds as if mourning the carnage below. Smoke rose from the still-burning trees, their gnarled branches now little more than blackened cinders. The scent of burning wood and acrid smoke filled Axel's senses, mingling with the metallic tang of blood that stained the snow and earth.

Seven searched for the words that might ease the warrior's anger but could find none. Instead, she stood silent vigil as Axel lit the pyre and mourned the loss of his companions. Guilt gnawed at her heart as she watched the flames, she knew that had caused all of this and wondered if Andus had made a mistake in rescuing her. Then she recalled the vivid Songdream she experienced, she remembered coming face to face with the vision of Lyris and how hope and light had penetrated her spirit. Guilt and hope were two emotions she would have to heavily carry with her for the rest of her life. Yet, Seven did not despair, as she watched the flames consume the remains of these men, she resolved to shoulder the burdens of her former enslavement as a reminder to herself that she would atone for these crimes, that she would spread beauty and goodness to erase the evils she was forced to commit. The world was a song that could be rewritten, she thought to herself, and dissonant chords and sour notes can be replaced with orchestrated joy and beauty. This was her truth. She felt it, and she knew it.