Truth in Blood, Chapter Three: The Wind In The Rain
She always regretted the necessity of bending events to suit her, though living her lives and seeing ages pass had taught her that meddling was often the only way to accomplish what was needful. Being the wind had perhaps been a heavy-handed method, and inciting the demons to overwhelm the thri-kreen before that even more so, but these two must meet as surely as one day they must part. The stones spoke, fate whispered, and she did her part as she always had. The Remembrance had perhaps opened her eyes to a greater meaning to her path, and yet she had followed it whether or not she was aware of its purpose.
So many memories, enough to crowd even the minds of the long-lived elves, were contained within her now. Forms and lifetimes and events good and ill were hers now once more. She could scarcely begin to guess why she had been granted these recollections, nor why she had been given such an odd choice of natural form. The gods knew what she did not, however, and hers wasn't a place from which to second-guess.
If only I could deduce which god had been responsible, the mystery might not be so pervasive, she thought. She knew now that she had worshipped such a multitude of them that any number could be her benefactor, and that made the problem only more difficult to solve. She found it nearly humorous, the irony of knowing the why of her situation, knowledge which seemed paramount to those lacking it in understanding a mortal's place in the world, and having it simply leave more questions regarding who. Only nearly, however, for hers was a task too serious and ultimately too disastrous to allow for the best of spirits.
The Balance was shifting, and equilibrium must be restored no matter the cost. If that meant the manipulation of two innocent sentients, or even the ruination of the same, then so mote it be. She was the wind, and then she was a simple insect too small to be clearly seen, but she would hear and see and sometime soon she would act, with these two playing the parts they must. As would she, for all beings serve the Balance in the end.
So many memories, enough to crowd even the minds of the long-lived elves, were contained within her now. Forms and lifetimes and events good and ill were hers now once more. She could scarcely begin to guess why she had been granted these recollections, nor why she had been given such an odd choice of natural form. The gods knew what she did not, however, and hers wasn't a place from which to second-guess.
If only I could deduce which god had been responsible, the mystery might not be so pervasive, she thought. She knew now that she had worshipped such a multitude of them that any number could be her benefactor, and that made the problem only more difficult to solve. She found it nearly humorous, the irony of knowing the why of her situation, knowledge which seemed paramount to those lacking it in understanding a mortal's place in the world, and having it simply leave more questions regarding who. Only nearly, however, for hers was a task too serious and ultimately too disastrous to allow for the best of spirits.
The Balance was shifting, and equilibrium must be restored no matter the cost. If that meant the manipulation of two innocent sentients, or even the ruination of the same, then so mote it be. She was the wind, and then she was a simple insect too small to be clearly seen, but she would hear and see and sometime soon she would act, with these two playing the parts they must. As would she, for all beings serve the Balance in the end.