She found herself in an open expanse of grass. The blue above her was wispy with clouds, rolling across the sky effortlessly. The wind blew in her face, and flecks of rain even broke over her skin. She stepped forward through the grass and felt the cool plants form around her toes, soft to her weight and smooth on her skin. She walked forward to the only thing on the horizon; a single tree not far in front of her.
She approached the tree at an amble, running her fingers along the bark and feeling its coarseness and texture. The branches shaded her from the sunlight, but obstructed her view of the clouds. She reached up and touched one, and it shook gently. As the sunlight danced through the rapidly shifting leaves, a few petals fell from the blooms at the ends of the branches. Serene. That was what filled her mind at this moment. It was serene here. It was peaceful. There was something about this place that felt…powerful. It felt inspirational, and influential. But why? It was merely a plant amidst an expanse of flat land, how could it be so strong?
"Paravant."
Her head snapped around at this sound. The petals from the tree fluttered through the air around her, swirling in patterns familiar to her. She turned fully and stepped towards the leaflets. "Show thyself," she spoke, "prithee, that I may speak to thee; that I may learn of this place."
The petals took form of a face, a mask floating in the air. The lips parted, and the same voice that had broken the silence came forth from it again. "Thou shalt be known by such a name," it said. It was feminine, warm, and strong. The petal face seemed to smile. "Such a name belongs only to such a mortal that is worthy of our majesty in killing-questing-healing."
She shook her head. "Spirit, prithee speak to me not with riddles but with truth; what is this place? Have I seen thee once before, in a dream days ago? Answer me, please."
"Paravant," the spirit said again, "thou needst not concern thyself with this place. Put it from thine mind and listen." The petals fell to the earth, lifeless.
She began to panic. "Listen to what? Thou shouldst leave me so soon after such a message? What game dost thou play with me, spirit?"
There was a burst of wind against her face. She turned from it, and behind her there was a new mass of petals, forming a face. It spoke to her again. "Thou shalt be the first of thine kind, as thy name 'Paravant' means in the old tongue. Thou shalt be ruler of all, for within thee lies a will greater than that of thine masters, and righteous to our eyes. Thou hast found the meaning of mine first message, that thine freedom will come if thou wills to take it. And now, I bring thee the first of the means by which thou shalt take it, the means that shall empower thee to become the leader that thou art meant to be."
Before she could speak again, the petals blew off in another gust of wind. They soared up, and up. Higher and higher into the sky. They twirled and danced amongst the clouds, drawing the smoky white shapes into its cyclone. The cloud was absorbed into the petals, and it was quickly engulfed by the plants. With a mighty burst, the cloud was expelled down towards the earth, like one of the che's arrows fired from a bow. It made landfall at her feet, billowing over her body like a wave, tossing her hair around her face and whipping loose foliage against her legs.
She uncovered her face, peering at where the cloud had crashed down. A figure rose from within. What she saw…
"This is mine Breath, Paravant." The spirit's voice rang out across the plain. "Winged, he shalt descend to thee when thine brothers and sisters share your hope in freedom. He is Man, as thou shalt know him as thine ally against the oppressor. And, as the Bull may do, he shalt break the oppressors down and grind them beneath his feet."
She swallowed deeply. "Who art thou?"
A cloud swung low from the sky, sweeping across the figure and removing it from sight. "Dost thou not know the work of one Handmaiden? Thou art one as well."
The sun began rapidly descending through the sky. "Lady Kyne?" It passed from noon to sunset to dusk. "Lady Kyne, art thou truly with me?"
"This is mine Breath, Paravant." Midnight. "This shall be thine cornerstone."
Black.
Many of her brothers and sisters were happy to spread word of her vision. The name Paravant littered the whispers of the sleeping quarters; people addressed her as such, sharing with her their emotions of excitement and hope they had found in the wake of hearing her revelation. Jaan had taken to calling her Perrif, a word the old woman said came from the old tongue as well and had a similar meaning to the title bestowed upon her by Kyne. She liked the name Perrif, it was much preferred to her old name the che had given her. She asked those around her to call her Perrif, trying to phase herself out of the world of the che and gain ground as the leader of her people that Kyne prophesied her to be. Her name was not the only thing that would need to change; she would have to rename her people all together. The che called them "nothing." Her people were known as "nothing" to the che. Nede. It sickened her. Living, breathing, thinking creatures. Nede. Nothing. That would change soon.
Three days passed after Perrif's second vision, her waking hours filled more and more by others spreading her vision throughout the humans of Sancre Tor. On this day, there was a palpable buzz hanging over the open-air courtyard where her che lady had chosen to recline for the afternoon. Perrif stood vigilantly by her lady's side, ready to respond to the che's needs. As one of the long, dainty hands raised slowly, Perrif stepped forward and placed a goblet inside it. The lady continued the motion of bringing her hand to her lips undisturbed, taking a sip of the wine from within the cup and letting her hand fall away from her face again. Perrif took the goblet from her quickly, pouring a mouthful of drink back into it from the decanter to return the contents to their original state. The che lady ruffled the scroll she was reading; Perrif could never tell if she was satisfied or not.
"(Thou hast trained thine Nede well, Anaya,)" came the voice of another che lady passing through the courtyard, "(it is so attentive.)"
"(At times.)" Perrif resisted the urge to grit her teeth. The servant at the hand of the other che lady met her eyes and nodded. Perrif could hear the unspoken address of "Paravant." It was impossible to resist the pull of the smile at the corners of her mouth. There was hope in this place now, in all her people. Kyne had promised freedom, and they all believed.
A rumble broke across the sky. Everyone's heads snapped up to the heavens, where there was not a cloud to be seen. Perrif's che lady frowned in concern. "(Rain? On so clear a day? Such a shame. How glad I am I need not oversee the Nedes in the fields; such a chore must be both boring and tiresome.)"
The fields? The rumble had come from that direction. And there had not been so much as a hint of rain all day, but the rumble had sounded as though it was directly overhead. Perrif stared up at the sky, and another rumble crawled forth from it. From the edges of the columns that lined the courtyard, white clouds began to creep in towards the center of her vision. There were statements of worry from the che around her, but Perrif wasn't listening. There was something about this that was familiar, as though it had happened to her before. The clouds swirled around and around, a twister dancing through the sky. It began to funnel down towards the earth, and that was when it hit her; this was the Breath of Kyne.
She took off running from the courtyard, her lady shouting after her with venom on her lips. The funnel was pointed towards the fields, that was where she needed to be. She was swept up in the mass of che and her people alike that were rushing to the fields as well, curious and afraid of what it was that had appeared in the sky. She pushed her way through and burst out of the crowd, now outside the gates of Sancre Tor and in front of the farmland.
The twister grew longer and longer, nearing the ground moment by moment. The tip began to whip to and fro, as though it itself was being blown by wind. It stretched further and further, being pulled out by some unseen force. Then, something erupted from the end. It hummed through the air like a hawk, twisting and turning and aiming itself downwards. It flew low towards the fields, grazing the top of the forest before breaking into the clearing of the farmland and dipping again towards the ground. It was massive, moving faster than one would have thought possible, skimming the ground not higher than Perrif was tall. It tucked its wings in and turned itself over in the air, rolling forward so its rear whipped down and smashed into the ground. With a mighty flap of its wings, the creature slid powerfully to a stop, the clouds dissipated, and the world seemed to fall silent.
As the creature unfolded its wings from in front of it and stood up, Perrif continued to walk forward. Even from the distance between them, she could make out its features. It had the body of a man, but stood taller than any che. Enormous wings, brown and feathered like an eagle, folded onto its back. It was not clothed, and Perrif could see that it was male, and that he was covered in thick, brown body hair. He reached his full hight and surveyed his surroundings slowly. Quickly, he locked his gaze on Perrif and began to walk towards her; she froze in place.
"(Hey, what is the meaning of this?)" A che man stepped forward and attempted to stop the creature's forward progress. He was not successful. The che was brushed out of the way effortlessly. Perrif could see beneath the body hair a mass of thick, bulging muscle. His core, his arms, his legs; powerful. He approached her and stood still, towering over her. His face was square and ragged; a tangled beard adorned his enormous, block chin and matted together with the unkept hair that sat atop his head. His nose was pierced with a ring, like a steer, and from each of his temples protruded a horn that rivaled that of the oxen she shared her bed with.
It was not unlike what she had seen in her vision. This was the Breath of Kyne.
He knelt before her, looking her in the eyes. "Paravant," he spoke, his voice deeper than the thunder that had signaled is arrival.
It took a moment for her to find her voice. "A-aye, I am she. Thou art the Breath of Kyne, as was shown to me in my vision?"
He bowed his head. "Before thee kneels Morihaus-Breath-of-Kyne, son of the Handmaiden. The time is nigh for thee to realize thy purpose. As promised, I shalt be thine cornerstone; my life is yours, Paravant."
Perrif shook her head. Her mind was blank of ways to address this enormous spirit that had manifest itself at her feet. To think that she could have power over such a being dumbfounded her. Before she could form a sentence, there was the sharp snap of a whip. Morihaus-Breath-of-Kyne snorted, his face furrowing in disgust. He rose to his feet and turned, revealing to Perrif a line on his back from being struck. The che man that had been pushed aside earlier stood before the spirit in a frothing rage. "(The indignity! Dismissed by such filth as shares guise with the Nede! The dirt beneath mine feet is more worthy of thine attentions than such Nedes! Thou shalt bow to no creature but me, cretan; on your knees!)"
As the whip cracked again, striking the Breath of Kyne across his chest, the giant winged man's face alit with a smirk. In a flash, his massive hand whipped forward and fastened around the che's neck, and with an impossible strength the aggressor was lifted from the ground and suspended by the front of his cloak. "Thou hast taken thine presence in this world for granted, elf," Morihaus-Breath-of-Kyne snorted, "and thou shalt now face the consequences. These 'Nede,' as thou call them, are worthy of much more than thee shall ever know." Morihaus-Breath-of-Kyne lowered the che to his face. "A new era will dawn, and thou will not live to see it."
The giant man leaned his head back, and drove his horn forward through the che's eye. Perrif had never before heard a scream of pain so loud, nor cut so short.