The deathly regents

Chapter Ten

My first time

Letum

"I am a deathly regent–an unseen guide to the afterlife. I appear at the moment when one's life comes to the end to accompany his or her soul in the last journey to the Afterworld."

"Do you want to say that all the pictures of the world all of us are used to don't exist?"

Carved snowflakes landed on the light lashes, framing her eyes of the color of the deepest and clearest sea which were fixed on me with fear and eagerness to hear the truth about what would happen next after your body stopped functioning.

I saw my breath when I exhaled, "I am afraid it is so, Kasimira."

There is no protocol for what to do when a fleshy is communicating with you and no bans for telling the structure of the Afterworld, so I broke no laws. Kasimira's view on the world order had been imposed by her ancestors and I was not to blame her for ignorance–all of livings are unaware of the life behind the border for they could not come back after death and inform everyone about it and that is why they made up the legends and myths to smooth the fear of death.

The girl turned to face the earth mound–her brother's new cradle until the very end of time.

"Can I ask you not to tell me what is waiting for me after I'm dead?" she asked me, affectionately patting the mound.

Her request stunned me with my inability to speak and I needed a moment to shake away the shock.

"Are you sure?" were my first words to her after a while, "Lots of inhabitants of the world of living would sell their souls to find out their destiny when they die. Some of them even tried to revive their deceased relatives to investigate the ghosts because the fear of obscurity of death is stronger than anything here. You have a chance–"

"Please, stop," Kasimira interrupted me, "I don't want to be rude, but I need no more attempts from your side to persuade me for learning what I'm not eager to know. If Mother Nature decreed for humans to live without knowledge, I would respect Her decision."

The connection with nature in the lands she resided was strong and even after the refutation of her beliefs, Kasimira would not give up cherishing it and it. That was worthy of my respect.

"As you wish," I nodded humbly.

She was sitting on the frozen ground, never shifting her sight from Vsevolod's grave. She was mourning her little brother and, although the girl exposed no sign of it on her face or by her behavior, the picture of it demolished my heart. Kasimira retrieved a tiny pouch from the pocket of her wolf coat, trying to untie it with her almost rimy fingers.

Noticing my closer look, she hurried to explain, "This is our father's amulet which he got from his father. It's supposed to be his." Kasimira managed to pull the amulet in the shape of an ax and, putting it on her open palm, exhibited it to me. "It's made from bone by the most famous carver of my grandfather's era. We call it the ax of the gods. A man who possesses the amulet is hardy and tough physically. The ax presets its owner with overcoming fears and doubts. The men in our lands have to be decisive and intrepid, especially during hunting, if they want to survive." Her thumb brushed the carved bone and I spotted some kind of pattern on it. The amulet was no bigger than a half of my point finger, but the lines of the pattern were flawless.

"I had to give the ax of the gods to Vsevolod when he was old enough after our father's death because he was the only man in our family," the sorrow she said the words which made the entire world be silent. Not a single bird dared to twit.