Elegy for a Star

Gwen had said that they’ll make it to Hastenburgh tomorrow, but that they shouldn’t risk traveling more for tonight, given that it was still colder than normal, with Thyr mostly covered by that black hole in the sky. Tess had more questions, but couldn’t keep pace with the warrior she was following, so Gwen told her to conserve her breath for travel, and they could talk later. Tess found it difficult to let these questions linger in her mind, but wanted just as badly to get to Hastenburgh and see what Gwendolyn was talking about.

They made their camp underneath a large boulder with a sharp overhang that could protect them from most winds and any rain. Gwendolyn was busy with another campfire ritual when Tess took a seat beside it.

Gwen was sprinkling the shiny salt when Tess asked, “How do you do that?”

“Practice, creativity, and hoarding a lot of useless junk,” She answered, “You don’t remember anything about circles?”

“They’re round,” Tess offered.

Gwen gave her a blank stare for a couple seconds before continuing to build her ritual, “Okay, there’s a few parts. One is your goal. What are you trying to do? Imagine what that thing takes or what it’s represented by. My goal right now is to make a fire.”

“Alright,” Tess nodded. She looked Gwen over as the woman explained, finding it hard to focus when it dawned on her once again how beautiful her companion was.

Her attention was brought back quickly, “Then there’s your reagents.” She gestures to her circle, “I represent building a fire with wood chips, some quartz dust for the flint, and a bit of charcoal to symbolize warmth.”

Tess was hung up on the charcoal part. “Why not add… straw, or pine leaves? Wouldn’t that make more sense?”

Gwen gestured to her circle, “That’s the creativity of it. As long as you have the right intent, and it makes sense to you, there’s a chance that it works. This is what works for me. Maybe for you, you could do flask oil, ipe bark and pine leaves, or something. But this is what works for me.”

“Where does the magic come from, then, if it can just be whatever you want?” Tess could remember that the gods gave magic, that one’s blood gave magic, but not this.

Gwen snapped her fingers over the circle and their campfire burst to life. Tess found it even more amazing this time than last, given that she understood a bit more. “Somewhere between the Soul and Stars. That’s what my sister always told me,” Gwen replied with a wistful look.

“I get it that the reagents you use are a representation of yourself. Your soul. But what about the stars?”

“See how I have them arranged?” Gwen replied. It wasn’t easy to see past the bright light of the fire, but through the rippling haze of heat, Tess could see that each reagent was placed in a very specific way.

“Constellations?”

“Mmhm,” Gwen confirmed, “Each constellation has its own magical profile. They each rule over certain aspects of our reality. Knowing which pattern to put each reagent into is just as important as the reagents you use.”

Tess muttered to herself, “Soul and stars.” Gwendolyn nodded and Tess pushed further, “Will you teach me?”

Gwen sat back and warmed her hands by the fire. The light danced over her soft features and gave her light hair an orange, blazing hue. “I can’t teach you anything about your soul, and if you are a demon, then you may not have a soul to use.”

Tess’ enthusiasm deflated for a moment, before she remembered Miri. Miri was the demon, not Tess. Tess should be more than capable, right? Hopefully Miri’s ministrations last night didn’t taint her in some way.

“But you can teach me the stars?” Tess persisted.

Gwendolyn nodded, “I can. It’s good knowledge for anyone to have.”

“Gwen?” Tess asked.

“Gwendolyn,” she corrected.

“Gwendolyn, thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Tess. Now get some sleep.”

But sleep didn’t come to Tess so easily. Last night she’d been so distracted by other things, not to mention exhausted from the events that day. Tonight Tess had so many questions spinning up in her mind that sleep just wasn’t a possibility until she’d mulled over at least a few of them. So while she sat beside the campfire, she looked into its fiery core as if expecting to find answers.

Tess knew that the best way to solve a problem was to list out all of the questions. Where did she come from? Why did she only remember some things and not others? What’s with the dick? Who’s Miri and…

“You called?” A familiar voice whispered into her ear. Tess turned and once again, Miri’s golden gaze was staring her directly in the face. She nearly screamed before the demon clamped a hand over her mouth. “Relax, sweetness, I’m just here to talk. I’d never hurt you, unless, you know, you’re into that thing.”

Tess’ eyes were wide, looking back and forth across Miri’ features. She was too unusual to just pick a point to look at. There was definitely human-like familiarity, but even beyond the strange eyes, the fangs and the horns there was something decidedly inhuman about her. There was this uncanniness to her face that wasn’t unsettling, but was just different. A gracefulness to it. Something beautiful. She was sculpted, not born by chance.

Tess took Miri’s wrist lightly and moved her hand away. Miri obliged. Tess knew from before that if the demoness wanted, Miri could easily overpower her, so she was relieved to not have to fight against her. “Where were you?” Tess hissed under her breath, “I didn’t even know if you were real. You just disappeared.”

Miri just smiled with a softness that put Tess at ease. The horned woman reached out to brush some hair from Tess’ face. There was a comforting warmth being in Miri’s presence, something beyond what the fire was providing. There was something about Miri that made Tess want to be closer to her. To be important to her. To make her happy.

“Sorry for leaving,” Miri cooed, “I had some things to attend to.”

“Like.. like what?” Tess stammered at those big, golden eyes staring into her. Miri was dressed oddly. They weren’t clothes per se, but some rubbery, skin-tight wrap that only concealed strips and small areas here or there. A line up across the navel connected the top and bottom areas. The top consisted of two cups that kept full breasts high and presented. The bottom was a small covering of Miri’s modesty (if you could call it that) that did nothing to conceal her rear end. There was so much to look at and ponder about her new companion that Tess wasn’t sure where to look or what to examine. 

Just seeing her sweet face again and smelling the caramel notes of her scent had something stirring deep within Tess. Miri used a clawed finger to hook some hair around a horn. She looked down at Tess’ lap and purred, “Looks like someone’s happy to see me again. I’m glad I made such a good impression last time.”

“Miri, please..” Tess insisted, “Just.. answer some questions. There’s too much that I don’t know.”

“But that’s so boring,” Miri complained, slipping away from Tess. She floated in the air, lounging backwards on it as though she were reclining on cushions. “But fine, ask your questions, Tess.”

“Well, like I said, what was it you were ‘attending to?’”

“Boring. Ask something else,” Miri said, dismissing the question with a wave of her hand.

There was a twitch of irritation in Tess’ face, but she didn’t push it. “Okay, well, where did I come from?”

“How am I supposed to know?” The demon responded.

“Well, I was hoping..”

“This is all new for me too, you know.” Miri added in a way that milked Tess’ sympathy.

“So you’re like me?” Tess inquired, hopeful for definitive answers, “Summoned? Unable to remember much?”

“On the memory front, I think I got the better end of the deal,” Miri mused with a fanged smile.

Tess’ confused look must’ve asked the question she did not have the composure to voice.

“I suppose it hasn’t been made totally clear just yet. We’re sharing this body, you and I. That’s not your body. It’s not mine. It’s ours.” Miri explained.

This wasn’t the surprise to Tess that Miri may have expected. To be truthful, she had expected something like this. How else could Gwen not have heard her last night? How else could Miri have known her name? Of course, she didn’t know for sure, but it was one of the suspected answers that Tess had thought possible.

“I remember more than you do,” Miri continued, “Which makes me think we only came to this body with so many memories, and most of them were mine.” Miri huffed and added, “Just a guess. Don’t ask me to figure out the arithmetic behind that one.”

“Can Gwendolyn see you?” Tess asked, moving along before Miri decided to perform her vanishing act again with only one question answered.

Miri shook her head, “Well, in a way, when she’s looking at you, she’s seeing me, too. Again, that body is mine too. Don’t forget it.”

“Right, of course,” Tess said, apologetically, “But if she were awake, would she see you floating there?”

Miri slipped through the air like a fish in water, moving in a figure eight before ending up hovering just above Gwendolyn’s half covered form. She reached out to poke Gwendolyn’s face, but Tess hissed, “Don’t! Start with the rock. Don’t wake her.” 

Miri instead reached out to touch the rocky wall that they’ve camped against, but her hand stopped flatly upon the surface, “I can’t go through this.”

“Probably because I can’t see past it. Your limit is what I can observe, I think,” Tess offered, and Miri floated back toward her and nodded her agreement.

“Look at the big brain on you, Tessy,” Miri quipped with amusement.

Tess wasn’t sure if it was sincere or not, but didn’t linger on the thought either way, “Well, if you don’t know where I came from. Do you know where you came from?”

Miri nodded. Tess just looked at her expectantly, and one of those claw-tipped fingers pointed upward toward the sky. Tess didn’t have to move past the rocky outcropping to look at where the demoness pointed. She knew.

“The Black Sun.”

“That’s the one,” Miri acknowledged, “And I bet we’d find more answers there, too.”

Tess looked confused, “How do we even get there? It’s in.. You know, in the sky?”

“Further than that, actually. Maybe ask your pretty little traveling partner.” Miri floated to be face-to-face with Tess, “In the meantime, you need sleep.” Miri put a hand to Tess’s face and with index and pinky fingers she closed Tess’ eyes.