Juniper's eyes widened at Darkeye's sentiments. She'd never heard someone suggest something so blasphemous as the idea that the Old Gods should die -- except, perhaps, for the Voice and her followers, and even they usually stopped short of that, claiming that they just wanted to coexist in peace. Who, exactly, was this man whom she'd invited into the Greatwood? Carefully, Juniper said, "I can't imagine seeking the death of our gods. They're wrong about this war, yes, but they are our gods, who shape us before birth and care for us after death."
Nor did she think new gods could arise in Caido as easily as Darkeye seemed to think. Listening to him talk, Juniper began to suspect that the man came from a world with a very different divine framework than Caido. "We don't have a lot of priests here, but we do have demigods -- individuals chosen by the gods to do their will. Talking to one of them might help you. Ronin and Remi live here in the Greatwood, and I just recently met Mildew, a demigod of Frey -- she seemed very thoughtful, even if she couldn't give me the answers I sought." (Juniper had no idea that Mildew would be dead before Darkeye could seek her out.)
Shaking her head, Juniper said, "It would probably take fire or lightning to completely kill a wicker woman -- I've never tried to do that. Usually I just try to draw out a branch so that we can cut it off. That probably won't save the eagle, though." She looked at her bow, wondering if it wouldn't be safer for all of them to just shoot the poor bird.
Nor did she think new gods could arise in Caido as easily as Darkeye seemed to think. Listening to him talk, Juniper began to suspect that the man came from a world with a very different divine framework than Caido. "We don't have a lot of priests here, but we do have demigods -- individuals chosen by the gods to do their will. Talking to one of them might help you. Ronin and Remi live here in the Greatwood, and I just recently met Mildew, a demigod of Frey -- she seemed very thoughtful, even if she couldn't give me the answers I sought." (Juniper had no idea that Mildew would be dead before Darkeye could seek her out.)
Shaking her head, Juniper said, "It would probably take fire or lightning to completely kill a wicker woman -- I've never tried to do that. Usually I just try to draw out a branch so that we can cut it off. That probably won't save the eagle, though." She looked at her bow, wondering if it wouldn't be safer for all of them to just shoot the poor bird.
Juniper
"art nouveau winged fairy" by e³°°° is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit here
