yael

“Yael, Seer of ze Edge,” she replies formally to the General after he introduces himself, dipping her long head down to bop against her chest for a moment. She vaguely remembers him from bone-gathering, but to be honest, neither of them had been paying much attention to the other, so all-encompassing was the conflict between the clones before them. “T’ank you,” and a small smile continue on, followed by, “Eet ees really a circumstance of birt and luck.” And in the little foreigner’s eyes, it truly is a lucky happenstance that Kaos chose to write in the ancient language of her people – Yael still doesn’t know why he did, or where he learned the melodic, twisting words. Her people have been around for centuries, wandered whole continents and survived a thousand tormentors who would seek to eradicate them. Truly, the knowledge could have come from anywhere, but she does find that he would use a monotheistic relgiion’s language as his chosen platform.

Anyway. Moving past theology and philosophy to what really matters – how these things affect their life. Her head bobs up and down once more. “Yes, I xaf heard of bote good and bad t’ings xappeneeng while ozers are on patrol, but not kite like zat. Eet ees… ah, deesturbing, to say ze least…” And once again, makes her question Kaos. Surely, like most Gods, he is capricious and bestows favors on those he likes, while attempts to warn or smite those he doesn’t. We know which category Yael falls into, but what about the other Helovians? If were trying to win them over, why send an undead ice bear? What is the difference between Yael and others?

”Ah… unfortunately I do not xaf any ozer eensight for you…” This conversation truly exposes how much Yael doesn’t know, thinking perhaps, that others might be as open minded as she is. But the truth is that most of the other herd leaders have been very skeptical – polite to her face, but she can see the iron walls go up, seedlings of information left outside to wither in the hot sun.

And in then end – what if they are right to throw up those walls? What if it is Yael who ends up being eaten by undead ice bears when the beasts of Kaos come to reclaim the world. Would she be lumped in with friends or foes? And then there is her newfound Mistress… whom she imagines would not take kindly to a turncoat, even if she is trying to promote peace.