Author Games: The River of Night

Task Four Entries: Of the Heavens

Masika Aarahm

She prayed on knees as the demon had come closer with her hands clasped together in front of her face. Her lips formed a gentle whisper to the Goddess of the Sky, no louder than the rustle of barley in a soft wind. As soon as her name had left her lips she felt somewhat light – almost as though she wasn't real. The gravel no longer dug into her knees and the voices had died around her.

"O Goddess Nut!" she whispered in a shaky voice with her eyes closed as she envisioned the stars that would be dominating the navy sky, "Spread yourself over me, so that I may be placed among the imperishable stars and may never die. Protect me from Earth, save me from the world that lay under't as I pray you give me your strength,"

Her heart thundered in her chest much like the sky did on a stormy day. She screamed in fright as a pair of hands grabbed her from behind.

I'm dead, she cried in her mind as she thrashed about. She could see her bare feet kicking against the coarse red gravel and feel the pain as the stones dug under her skin.

"Let me go! Let me go!" her voice cracked as she frantically writhed her body under the unfamiliar touch. She'd changed her mind – she wished she didn't give her name. She wished that Nut would listen.

Her feet suddenly hid something harder – wood. Her feet began to slip on the boards as she felt her captor pull her up a steep rise. She stopped screaming and yelling for a moment. It was just long enough for her to hear the gentle waves lapping up against the wood and just long enough for her body to feel the mild swaying of the ground. She went to speak but no words came out. As soon as she felt the pressure release from her arms she ran forward – much to distress of the shouts behind her – and clutched onto the banister in the side of the boat. Her eyes searched the hideous crimson and grey shoreline until she finally saw what she searched for – the demon.

Four bodies lay around him as he stared at the boat with such malice that made Masika want to cower. Yet, she stood. Masika's eyes stared him down as the boat drifted further down the river. She could see the horrible smirk on his face but this wasn't one of hunger. It was as though he knew something that the people on the boat didn't. Her own eyes burnt with rage and she felt an odd nauseating feeling in her stomach. Suddenly, a showed formed over him and his body – and the ones that surrounded him vanished into the air with remnants of blackened ashes floating away in an unfelt breeze.

She blinked twice to make sure he was gone before turning her back on the shoreline. Her mind was slowly coming to terms with what happened. She remembered saying her name to the demon but what had gone wrong? Did they take her place? If they did, Masika had never experienced such selflessness before. No one had ever given their life for hers – she wasn't sure that she even liked the idea.

That's why they were chosen, Masika told herself, for their bravery.

Masika could barely believe that she had been brave enough to say her own name and, then, when Nut had saved her she had stared him down to show that she didn't fear him any longer.

Did Nut save me though? Masika found herself actually questioning who had saved her – the Gods or the humans who worshipped them. She always placed her faith in anyone but when no one had said their name, her faith in humanity had faltered. Masika had never questioned her faith in the Gods but the sight of the four bodies made this faith also falter.

She turned away from the banister and let the rocking of the boat calm her thoughts. Each wave washed a new thought over her while replacing another. She thought about the dancing rituals she had been in to worship the Gods. She thought about her undying love to please the Gods every day. She remembered when they would forget to make it rain. She remembered celebrating their victories. But not once had Masika been asked to save a God.