Song of the Soul

Dog Spike Dance

      

       A fog had settled in the forest and the night was cool as Mikhail watched for lights to go out in Korin and Samhirs residence. Relaxed in the cover of the dark he was leaning up against a tree patiently waiting.

      Eventually they dimmed. And then a little later the house swept into the darkness of night.

      An hour had passed before he began to move, pushing away from his rest.

     Hidden in the pleats of his skirts, was a thigh harness filled with slim iron dog spikes. He pulled one from its slot and proceeded to throw it into the soil. A quick snapping flick of his wrist and the spike stabbed into the earth, letting out a small ring upon impact. The sound carrying a murky wave of energy that rippled into the air.

     He proceeded, counterclockwise, around the house throwing a spike into the dirt every ten paces, until he had come all the way back around to his starting point.

     After a series of deep breaths he let the demon surface. It came up with a rattle of scales and a burst of coolness, filling all the little crevices of his being.

    Letting the demon flood his person sent shockwaves through his body. A dark power, dense and sickly sweet slithered up the walls of his soul and sank into all the cracks and crevices. It was a completion of sorts. The demon mending every little hole and leak of Mikhail's spirit so together they made a complete and whole being. If the demon had its way it would never leave the surface of Mikhail. The two beings intertwined at birth, it felt that it had just as much of a right to exist in the world around them as Mikhail did.

     Mikahil let the demon have its moment before he stretched out his arms and bent his knees. He swung his arms left while twisting himself to the right, then repeated the movement in the opposite direction. It was a methodical and fluid kind of dance that he performed a few more times before the demon came to rest in his limbs.

      The demon joined the dance a dampness shrouded the night, encasing Mikhail in indistinguishable darkness. A visible wetness soaked into the world around him. Scales already fluttering from his body began to shed rapidly, hissing and rattling. His body followed his arms in a rhythmic dance, flowing up and sliding down. The twist of his hips and the strides of his footwork became whines and rolls, slow and fluid.

   As they performed, Mikhail moved just slightly more to the left with each sway back and forth. His scales shedding so fast they blinked in and out of sight and their hiss became a stuttering purr. As he passed each spike it let out another resounding ring that traveled to the previous spike. Once he had come full circle again the faint ring held its tune. A low tone that resonated with rasp.

     Through the eyes of the demon he could see a sphere of energy surrounding Korins home. Fibers of the humming tune wound so tight they came together in thick strands.

     The demon preened, happy with itself, scales slowing to an excited pant with the completion of the ward. Mikhail loosened his posture with relief.

     Earlier that day, when he had gone further into the market with Talis he had found something he had not quite expected. His encounter was so unexpected that he was relieved he had pushed the demon into the most reclusive corners of his soul to remain unseen from the eyes of the witch.

     After he and the young medicine woman had wandered a few of the alleys of merchants, they had come upon the Mysai shamans of the southern continent.

     And found socializing among them were priests of the Great Eeno. Three of them to be exact.

     Righteous bigots, who only socialized with the Mysai shamans of the Enrobi deserts to exploit their weaknesses and undermine their practices. There had already been rumors of the priests clashing with the mysai on the great continent.