They had believed themselves invincible, had believed that they were above the petty squabbles of the rest of Myna - after all, the Gods had created them specifically to deal with such pathetic arguments, to do their bidding and ensure the growth of their world. That's what the Minadrias were, they were Myna. Or so they had been led to believe.
Only his sister had seen through the lies, only Kythe had ever dared to question the Gods in regards to their actions - Kythe, who had been born different, born under the Eclipse and set apart from their family because of this. His sister, whose mark lay on the left side of her face, as his did, rather than the right of her face like all the other Minadrian females.
No. His sister had always been set apart from their kin, and through no fault or doing of her own, not until she was older at least. Not until she had become opinionated and questioned the orders of their Gods. By Fate he wished he had listened to her, wished he had stood by her side the day she had said no to killing yet another race from their world. Maybe, if he had, he would have survived the massacre…
Now he felt nothing, other than the cold of death. The icy, rush of the river kept a tight hold of him, filling his spirit with the dull ache of the cold. Had he had bones he would have felt that stabbing ache all the way into them, but he had no body, not now, he had been dead for millennia and had only been strong enough to see the world of the living on occasion. His sins had been many… he had killed for their Gods so many times without question that his rode to the afterlife was long. He deserved it, he knew that, he deserved the suffering for the actions he had taken when he had been alive - the agony in his chest ever the reminder of that, for the pain there was strongest despite the fact that the rest of him was numb. Even now he could feel the sword as it had plunged into his heart, even now he could see the hatred in the eyes of the Elf who had ended his life… at first he had wondered what he had done, had been hurt that they would turn against his race in this way after all that they had done for Myna… until his gaze had caught sight of his little sister, hidden at the edge of their Valley, keeping within the treeline so that she could not be seen, witnessing the end of her race.
He had thought, in that moment, how lucky she had been in her exile - her defiance of the Gods had saved her life… but it had also marked her for the rest of her life, she was Minadrian, she would forever be hunted by the races of their world and she would forever be the last of them… she had never deserved that fate, she had enough weight upon her shoulders without that responsibility as well.
Kavan suffered his sins gladly, he had committed atrocities in his lifetime that he could not make up for now, so he would struggle through the rivers of his sin and atone in the only way he could - by ploughing ever onward, hoping that one day he would reach the afterlife promised to him… but all of that was a lie, he would never reach the end of his road, his path had an unexpected fork in it - one that no one could have foreseen.
One moment he was in the darkness of death, waist deep in the cold water of the river, the next he was on his hands and knees - gasping for breath as the warmth of the world slapped him hard in the face and winded him. It had been so long, since he had last drawn breath, that he had almost forgotten how. He wretched, the air assaulting his lungs, his millennia empty stomach twisting as the reality that he was alive hit him all at once.
He winced, crimson eyes narrowed at the light of the three Brothers high in the sky. He was home? But how? How could he be here? Weak and unused to the weight of his own limbs the man stretched his blood red wings wide, flapping them weakly to help balance himself as he stood up, casting a gaze at the world he had been away from. He barely recognised the Valley. The winding paths, lined with their ornate lanterns, now overgrown, broken and chipped where the world had reclaimed it from his people. His head ached, all of this was too much to take in. Before he could even question what was happening he felt the grip of his Gods on his heart, felt their minds within his… and felt their wrath - they had brought him back to torture his sister (that was something, Kythe lived at least) but it had taken them too long to reclaim him from death, and she was now far from their grasp (of that he was glad), they had no use for him.
As quickly as he had returned from his home was he cast from it, thrown out of Myna before he could see how it had aged. All he knew was that he was falling, a feeling he was overly familiar with given how long he had been deceased. The air rushed past him and suddenly he felt his body connect with fabric and wood, he grunted as he tore through it… landing in a metal bath full of water with an almighty CLUNK. Groaning he pushed his fiery, red hair from his eyes, faced with a very naked, very beautiful, and very bemused looking woman.
