Green Desert - Chapter 4.3.3 - Vata

Névazhíno’s energy swirled around me, tugging at the flames, tugging at my skirt. The cow shuddered. Her blood flew through the air, individual iridescent spheres of red liquid floating slower and slower, catching on the divine spirit of Névazhíno, whirling around the altar and me and the cow.

“O Névazhíno, I feel Your presence. Will You accept this sacrifice?”

I looked up at stars, a moonless night sky. A giant bear towered above me, His eyes glowing with every color. The crackling vortex continued to whip around us, enlarging the flames and knocking the grass flat.

“Are you the recipient?” Névazhíno’s voice boomed, echoed in my skull. I staggered from the divine contact.

Louder, He repeated, “Are you the recipient?”

I drew in a deep breath of the cool night air, stared the bear in His eyes, and replied, “No, I am the petitioner. There is no recipient but you.”

“Petitioner?” The bear loomed. The tornado of energy and blood tightened around me and the dying cow, pushing us together. The stars disappeared. “What is your request?”

The god’s spirit brushed my skin, charging my body with tingling power. “My husband has been possessed. Zhíno abandoned his own body and took over my husband’s.”

The bear disappeared. The wind slacked. The flames died down. The tingle remained.

Névazhíno returned, stronger than before. “No, he hasn’t.”