Name: Karaerin
Race: The Ones Before Time
Class: Deity
Level: ???
6
Fairy tale
The being in front of us was beyond anything words might be able to describe. No matter how hard I'd try to find something sarcastic or smart to say about her, I would immediately retreat back to a feeling of shame for even daring to look back at her. Her skin was an ever-changing pallet of colors, the curves and angles of tattoos moving across it seamlessly as she hovered above her throne.
Her face was beautiful but disconcerting. It was as if I was looking at a colossal tidal wave rushing to drag me to the bottom of the ocean--I was too amazed to move away and too powerless to escape even if I tried. Yet even this description fell short. A tidal wave is a natural disaster that's measurable and scientists can explain how it's created. Nothing could explain her.
The queen's ten wings were barely moving and yet everything around her seemed to be blown back as if in the proximity of a tempest. Her long robes were completely still though, peace among the chaos that was the rest of the world.
"Louie, child." She said without moving her lips, yet I could tell this deep warm voice could only be that of a goddess. "Step forward."
I looked at Louie whose tail was sometimes wagging, sometimes remaining completely unmoving, and watched him step closer to the staircase. I thought of following him but I dared not move and I was sure he was completely safe in the presence of the queen.
"Alex, child," the voice said again and my heart skipped a beat at the excitement that my name was uttered by a being so magnificent and powerful as her. "Step forward."
Without even thinking about it, I moved to stand next to Louie, fell on my knees, and took him in my lap. He didn't resist at all, but didn't take his eyes off of the goddess.
"The love you have for each other is strong," the voice echoed in our heads again.
We both nodded.
"Stronger than Death's unforgiving hand," it continued. "Your souls need only a small nudge to be eternally woven with each other. Will you take the next step?"
You have successfully completed "Man's Best Friend II".
Quest Name: Man's Best Friend III - Bind the Body
Availability: Single
Rarity: B Grade
Description: The Faery Queen, Goddess Karaerin, has bid you to embark on a quest of soul entanglement.
Success: Retrieve a blue lotus flower from the top of Mount Palm.
Failure: Give in to violence.
Status: 0/1
Time Left: Unlimited
Reward: Access to the next part of the quest
Do you accept the quest? Yes No
I mentally accepted the quest before my mind even had time to process the information it had absorbed. If there had ever been a thing in my life I was more sure of, it was that when a deity offers you a quest, you accept it, no questions asked.
"You are eager to feel oneness," the voice said again. "Yet you have not walked the day as one."
I tried to open my mouth, tried to ask what she would have us do, but my voice did not want to come out. I just kept staring at her luminosity, awaiting her commands, feeling a certain sadness every long second she remained silent.
"You will walk the dawn, the dusk, and the twilight," she continued and hope filled me once again as I heard her voice. "You will bring the pieces that will forge the link between you from these three realms. But you are to do so without giving in to primal urges. You will come back with your souls clean."
Her words were confusing, but with each one, a thousand images flooded my mind. We needed to retrieve three items from three different realms: a realm of eternal light, a realm of eternal sunset, and a realm of forever darkness. And we had to do so without using any violence.
"Leave, children." She spoke again and I immediately felt the sorrow of the knowledge that I wouldn't hear her voice again for some time. "Strive for your friendship."
And just like that, she was engulfed in white flames that brightened so much we all blinked at the same moment, only to find her gone when we opened our eyes, her throne sitting empty at the top of the stairs. Louie jumped off my lap and, still a bit dazzled by the whole experience, we both walked over to Rory. The dwarf's mouth was hanging open and I had to pat his shoulder before he turned to look at me.
"Did ye see that, lad?" he said, in a voice that was uncharacteristically soft. "A goddess. A real goddess."
"Yes, old man," I said and threw my arm around his shoulder, happy we'd gotten to experience something so intense together. "Let's find Leo and then do what she tasked us with."
Leo was waiting for us exactly where we'd split with him, the color on his face now having returned.
"How did it go?" he asked, as soon as he saw us.
I didn't tell him anything along the lines of how much he'd missed by not joining us, and nor did I tell him that whatever ailed him would have probably been healed in the presence of the Faery Queen. I would only do the goddess a disservice by trying to describe her to someone who hadn't seen her themselves.
"It went well," I replied, and Louie barked happily. "We need to go to a different realm."
"Rìoghachd beul an latha," said the undine who was still with us. "If you're ready to proceed, I can lead you to the portal of the realm of dawn."
"Let's
