Snowlord

It wasn't just a deer. It was a snow white deer, with the most delicate antlers I had ever seen. Avor didn't have to hush me, and we were both frightened that we might make too much noise. I didn't realize how long I could hold my breath until now. 

The snow fell gently around the deer whose eyes looked so old and lovely and fair. I looked at Avor and his eyes were shut and his lips moved in a prayer of some kind. 

The deer ducked his head slightly and looked our way. He tilted his head as if curious, then skidded off. 

"Ah, damn," I said. That woke Avor from his prayer and I could see his breath. He looked awestruck, and I'm sure I did too. 

"We don't see many snowlords these days," he said. 

"No," I agreed. 

We both walked over to where the deer had stood and I saw a single sliver of silver hair in one of the deer tracks. 

"Do you think I should?" I asked. 

"Yes, yes, be careful, love."

I slid it into my knapsack with the utmost care and devotion. Please keep us safe and our village from harm, I thought.

We walked quickly and quietly back to the village. It was twilight by the time we returned, and yellow glow filled the village tents, creating soft smoke overhead. The first stars of Syla flitted on the horizon in green and pink vortexes. 

Avor rubbed my shoulders, "Let's bring it to Hava."

"Hava would love this, yes."

We went to his tent and showed him the beautiful, delicate hair. Hava burst with awe. "Oh, our prayers have come true. They still watch over us." Hava looked so cute in his dark green furs that Ivanae must've forced him to wear. She was always mindful of his sensitivity to the chills. 

"Perhaps it's a sign," said Hava.

"But a sign for what?" I asked. 

Ivanae appeared from outside the tent. She must have been using the latrines. "Yes, Hava, a sign for what? What are we talking about?"

I brought her up to speed. 

"Hopefully a sign of the sun. We could use some more warmth. Warming ice for drinking water is getting old." She hovered near the fire as she spoke. 

"Ivanae, you are always chilly," grinned Hava. "We must dance tonight. The dance of which god, though?"

"The god of Kindness?" I suggested. 

"She has been responsive," said Hava. "Yes, let's dance in her honor."

Avor and I set our weapons aside and kindled a great fire in the center of the tents, and I could already hear the children shrieking with excitement at the prospect of a late bedtime. Avor grinned at me through his red beard. I blew him kisses as we packed large logs into the bonfire (it was a bonfire at this point). 

"Shall I have this dance?" Avor asked.

"First we need music," I said. I grabbed a lyre from a friend's tent and strummed some chords. Ivanae clapped and the kids hovered near me to suggest songs. We finally settled on "The Lost Trapper", and they all hollered with glee at the refrain. 

The clumsy, makeshift "god of Kindness" statue burned quickly and billowed in pink smoke. We all inhaled that smoke and fell into a momentary trance. For a brief moment, we were not separate villagers dancing around a fire. We were the snow and the ice, the stars, and the bonfire. I smelled the soup from a nearby tent fire. Or rather we smelled it, since "I" had ceased to exist. 

Then we snapped out of it and clanged our horns of mead together. 

"Kindness has spoken!" we shouted as the stars of Kinix appeared in their grey cloudiness. Their vortexes were much slower, or maybe that was the mead affecting my eyes. 

I gave Avor his dance and we danced slowly while another played the lyre. He held me while my head swayed from side to side, and my eyes captured starlight, then captured Avor. I captured all of him later in the tent too. And he was that sweet mix of gentle and rough that had been missing for a moon and a half. 

"Don't get to relying too much on snowlords for this fervor, my love," I said. 

"What?" he asked. But since he didn't ask with confidence, I knew that he knew what I meant. 

I rolled over and fell asleep wishing I was holding the hair of that deer. "Kindness, come back," I whispered.

I could've sworn I felt a presence—a woman's touch that would've made Avor jealous. But when I opened my eyes, no one was there. Just the feeling of warmth in my arms and a kiss on my forehead. I drifted into sleep holding in mind the snowlord and his shimmering white hair.