There were many things that Levani was left to consider when Kallo rose and returned to her home beneath the kamuna tree, undoubtedly retrieving the plates that she had dedicated much time to peeling off of him. There was the soft fur of the bear cloak beneath her hands, wet where she threaded her fingers to loosen caked blood. There was the aroma of the cooking rabbit meat, fragrant and hearty, bolstered by the spicy sprouts that roasted next to it - it taunted and coaxed her stomach, which begged her to replenish her wells, her power. However, ever the curious beast - the thinking one, her mind turned to other things, beyond the tactile, beyond scent and primal hunger.<br/><br/>The soft side of her was amused by this sul’ima, this stranger, who was entirely unlike the humans who could dare call Asdenni home. He was even unlike the traveling merchants, who themselves came from different lands. The most she could liken him to were the tribal warriors, but his height surpassed theirs, his bulk larger. Took up more room, more space; completely unsuitable for the forest, as a human, she thought with an entertained chuckle. There was also his seeming quarrel with the word ‘witch’, though she had met both plague-spreader and healer of the type.<i>Was</i>she a witch? Or a mage? Or a god? Or any of the things that the people of Asdenni quietly whispered? Even they, famous namers, could not seem to pick an appropriate one for her.<br/><br/>‘Lass’ she didn’t mind either, knowing now its meaning, though she withheld her humor that she was, probably, much older than him. She’d spent decades roaming Asdenni in her true form, a solemn creature unlike the others. A divine beast, a guardian, long before the black had even had a name or a face. She couldn’t even tell how long it had been that she’d been driven mad, that she’d been born anew beneath the watchers of the forest, that she’d been given a second form. One that did not age, that retained a youthfulness. So, maybe, his nickname was indeed warranted. Accepted, even, because she liked the way he formed it.<br/><br/>The lightness of such things were parted beneath Kallo’s last words, in the end. A source. Levani had always considered that there was a source - as there often was to all sicknesses, to all corruption and illness that ravaged the land - but she had not considered chasing it in a long time. Had not considered, even, that there was really a world beyond hers, one that equally needed help, needed defending. One whose guardians had failed it, to where she was sought out by a stranger, an outsider. A god, he had said? She did feel as though she had heard such whispers, amidst people, as the watchers would tell her little. Could a god become so twisted, so broken? It seemed a fair summation. What else could rend life and wreak terror as a god?<br/><br/>But to leave Asdenni? To risk corruption taking hold, to abandon its creatures, to abandon her kamuna, who she had promised to protect. To leave the tribespeople, who relied on her. Could she do this?<br/><br/>It was what Levani considered for some time, golden eyes lively as they reflected sparkling flames, hands still and fingers twined neatly with the fur. She knew she couldn’t keep fighting the black forever. As strong as the gods had made her, her reserves were not infinite; she needed rest, shelter, food, as any other creature, and the black grew stronger every year. One day, they would surpass her, they would swarm her. She would be lost to them, and so would Asdenni.<br/><br/>The image of her kamuna, wilted and sickly and black, its fruits shriveled husks, touched the back of her mind, raising the hair on the back of her neck. She shook the thoughts from her head and rose, tossing the cloak over the trunk to dry from its cleaning.<br/><br/>Kallo emerged as she did so, and Levani turned to confirm her suspicions. It had only been moments that he’d disappeared inside of the tree, undoing all of her work in so short a time. There was a small sense of disappointment, as she had taken some pleasure in his physique - again, unlike the others that she had met - but she kept any trace of such from her expression. Instead she flipped the slabs of meat, so that they would be finished when they returned, and retrieved her staff from where she had leaned it against the root. She watched him slowly from behind, long legs taking him quickly to where his sword had fallen, an ominous marker in the ground. One that would have pronounced any other man’s grave. It was an enormous thing, and she hadn’t thought to retrieve it when she believed he was courting death. Well enough that she hadn’t gone to the trouble, seeing him lift it with terrifying ease.<br/><br/>Before she went with him to the woods, Levani stopped before the rock and clay creation that she had allowed to sleep, its monstrous back of grass and weeds touched by the human’s blood. She lifted a hand and shut her eyes, forcing power up from her core, sparing and careful. It was volatile and eager, running through her veins, a powerful green. It filled her creation, became its lifeblood, alighting the runes that marked the canvas of its legs. Rough gems as eyes lit up, sentient, knowing, its face turned to its creator. She lead it to the forest, its gnarled claws and feet crashing with every step. She noted the trail of blood that she had meant to follow when Kallo died - ignorant then of his resilience - which splattered unnaturally and fully against the blossoms and the roots of trees. The earth would have happily drank from it, if it was not tainted, not touched and caused by the black.<br/><br/>If Levani had been tracking any other human, she would have assumed too that they had died from such grievous wounds, even without seeing the body. She shook her head, astounded, perplexed. “You are strong, there is no doubt of that,” she stated, catching up, glancing to either side to see the destruction of a path he had made, fighting through the woods to get to her clearing. “So what could have bested you like this?” She asked, gesturing to the crimson that dappled the dirt beneath her feet. “The black that I have met are little more than… animals…”<br/><br/>A sharp intake of breath as they breached the small clearing, the battered ground telling a story that the corpses confirmed. Two human, that she could see, begotten of savagery, mangled and maimed, limbs missing. The cuts were clean, vicious, separate from the bitemarks and torn flesh of advantageous hunting. The third body was entirely different - shattered,<i>sick</i>, contorted with the black, entwined with it. Eyes were wide, gaping, monstrous, and she was nearly swallowed by them. There were pieces of it missing.<br/><br/>“<i>Ash’ka etuala ve kevari!</i>” She shouted, angry, disturbed, her guardian moving to settle itself by the profane carcass. She lifted her staff and slammed it into the earth, allowing the companion to break apart and plunge with enough force to softly shake the world around them. The earth rose to meet it, with jagged teeth of dirt and roots, and it devoured clay and rock and a black, twisted body. Irresponsible, miserable, wretched. She should have followed the path, should have done this the night prior. Was blinded by something new, someone strange.<br/><br/>“Animals have fed on its flesh,” she spat, muscles rigid, gold eyes scanning the silent shadows. She ignored, for now, the monster’s existence, bit back her plethora of questions. They would have to wait. The shadows were starting to move.