The Goddess of Death and Her Empress

"Ryl, where are you going?" Ge asked her as she gathered up her blanket and robes. Ryl smiled a big bright smile.

"I had my cleansing! I'm an acolyte! I am dedicated to the goddess and can move into the quarters for the acolytes!" She had a large smile on her lips. Ge looked at her friends.

"Is it hard?" She asked. Ryl shook her head.

"It might have been if I hadn't seen the Empress also get her cleansing, but she let me watch. I was embarrassed, but..." she sighed. "It was so beautiful." She whispered. She looked at the three northerners, the ones born to the tribes of Jie.

"Have any of you witnessed family members dying?" She asked. Gli and Wei frowned.

"Of course. All of us have seen someone die." Ge said.

"Whether by starvation, war, or murder, we all die." Ryl said. "Those Offered to the goddess have lived for thousands of years. Rachel is six hundred years old, while Hannah is five hundred and sixty. Someone called Lydia, who works in the goddess's throne room, is two thousand years old. They don't die after being Offered." Ryl sighed a little.  The small girl did not realize that except for Hannah, the rest were just numbers they threw out.  Rachel was slightly over five thousand years old, while Lydia was at least three.  The reason they didn't tell the complete truth was they couldn't be bothered to remember as it had been so long ago.

"When I get older, I won't have to die. I will be Offered, but I won't die."  Ryl said with a sweet smile.

The three girls watched as Ryl left, and looked at each other. No death, and just a little embarrassment. They hadn't taken it seriously up to this point, other than working hard and showing the Empress how good the children of the tribes of Jie were.

Now that Ryl left, they weren't so eager to remain complacent. They were the first initiates in over five hundred years, but none of them became the first acolytes.

That did not sit well with the girls at all.

* * *

"Four new acolytes." Lena said with a soft smile. Sol had a lazy sexiness about her while she laid down on the bench in the main hall.

"They are still new, Empress. They may have been able to do a cleansing, but they will need to learn about the goddess to develop a love for her." Sol sighed a bit. "We needed to develop our love over a few decades."

"That makes sense." Lena said. Her tone was a bit quiet, and she appeared a bit subdued.

"Empress? Is there something wrong?" Sol sat up and observed her carefully.

"There is a chill in the air. We'll need that firewood real soon." She yawned delicately. "The closer it gets to winter, the more tired I feel." Sol frowned slightly.

"That is unusual. Our people don't hibernate." Sol thought for a moment.

'Goddess, why does it feel like the Empress is ready to sleep out the Winter?' Sol asked her silently.

'She has always been an unusual paradox, Sol. She must need to rest her body as she is still human. When she sleeps, have her shadow guards watch over her closely.' Sol opened her closed eyes.

"The guards will have to watch over you from now on, Empress. If you need to sleep, then you need to sleep. This is the first time a human has ever accepted the goddess's mist like this." Sol sighed. "Which means that we do not know what affect it might have on you."

"Just ask Kyrie to come to me before the snow flies." Lena said in a soft voice, and yawned. "If I'm going to sleep for a few months, then I want to see her eyes last." Lena said, but she wasn't serious.

Who could have foreseen that after the goddess gave her a goodnight kiss, she would sleep for the next four months?

* * *

"Ever since the Empress fell asleep, the goddess has been erratic." Sol said quietly. She stayed at Lena's beside, and was replaced by another every eight hours.

"True." Hannah said, and sighed. "But I can understand how she feels." She leaned over, and lightly put her lips to Lena's forehead. "I want to hear her voice again."

"Mm." Sol yawned delicately, and stretched. "I'll go take a walk around. This eight hour shift that Kata has us on feels strange. I could sit with her all day and night, but we switch out a lot." Sol stood up, and left the room. Hannah smirked a little.

"It's most likely that Kata just wants to spend a little time with you, Sol. I'm surprised you don't notice her glances."

* * *

Hannah wasn't wrong. When Sol left the High Priestess's room, she found that Kata was in the main hall, doing strange body movements where she laid face down and pushed herself upward with her arms.

Sol smiled a little. These body weight movements were similar to the ones she used to do back in the Asmarian Empire. Her fellow guards, the all female units, would often join the army, and slowly gravitate towards the squads that braved the forests and swamps.

They were called 'Squads of the Vhaac'. The Asmarian legends said that her people were once a nomadic people, the Akol, but when the Great Desert was formed, they settled on the coast. They built the first cities of the Akol, and slowly conquered the surrounding tribes.

After a few centuries, and the tribes blended their bloodlines, they became known as Asmarian. The Vhaac were the last tribe to be conquered, but never joined the Empire. They fled to the forests and swamps, and would rather die than submit.

Their units became known as Squads of the Vhaac, or more simply, the Vhaac. Eventually, the Vhaac would lead the teams that crossed the Great Desert, seeking the gods of the ancient world, and came to hear the whisper of the goddess of death.

With the help of her sisters, members of the Vhaac, Sol survived the trip across the Great Desert ten times, until she heard the whisper of the goddess. Once she heard the whisper, she made her way through the Great Desert, and to the Great Temple of the goddess of death.

Yet, here she was, quietly observing a human female while she did body strengthening exercises, and finding that her lustful nature was not complete suppressed.

Kata's rippling muscle, her firm body moving with ease while sweat rolled off her skin, had made more than one person quietly observe her.

"I dare to wonder if the Empress appreciated how fine the flesh is while it is within reach." Sol licked her lips with a long tongue, and felt a familiar heat invade her belly.

Sol left the hall where she hid her presence as that heat began to warm her insides.

* * *

"Still sleeping." Hannah sat down on the chair, and quietly observed Lena, and gently rubbed her cheek that twitched slightly.

"You must be dreaming. I wonder what kinds of dreams go through your mind, Empress." Hannah said softly. She sat down, and closed her eyes.

She didn't see the Empress smile, and lick her lips. Her teeth had elongated, and her tongue was long and slender, like one of the Others.

The lick of her lips was exactly like Sol's.