Little Pink Starfish

But instead of surrendering as he always had, Nyne once again asked Amon to set him down. A different kind of emotion was still pooling inside his chest. Amon glanced over the ground and gently set Nyne down on a flat surface. Nyne walked to the leopard still lying on the ground and pulled the dagger from its body. Blood, previously pooled, flowed in a stream. Thankfully, it didn’t splatter.

“I offer this leopard to you as a tribute.”

Amon looked down at him—Nyne kneeling with a blood-soaked dagger, pleading. His mouth was dry and his body taut with tension, but he carried on steadily. His overworked heart today felt like it might leap right out of his chest.

“But from now on, I don’t want to offer humans.”

In a suffocating silence where even birdsong and wind had vanished, Nyne spoke with desperate effort. It was an attempt—however small—to improve his own life.

“Amon-nim. If you ask me to offer beasts, I’ll do so as many times as you want. But humans… I don’t want to kill or sacrifice them. I don’t want to become used to it.”

The reason Nyne could speak so boldly had many parts: they were alone, with not a single priest around; they were outside the Grand Temple; and Amon’s recent tenderness had left a sliver of hope. Nyne desperately tried to find a human-like warmth in the transcendent and cruel being’s affections.

Amon gazed at him in silence for a while, then finally opened his mouth.

“But I want you to become accustomed to the death of humans.”

“Is it because you want me to share your tastes, Amon-nim?”

“In some ways, yes. I simply don’t want the same thing to happen again.”

“The same thing? What do you mean?”

Nyne couldn’t understand what Amon was referring to. Instead of answering, Amon helped him up. His gaze flicked toward some point in the woods—Nyne, sensitive to Amon’s reactions, realized warrior-priests must be approaching. As Amon took the dagger from his hand, Nyne hurried to speak.

“Couldn’t we at least reduce the number of rituals? Once a month feels too frequent—how about once every three months?”

He clung to the chance to persuade Amon, doing everything he could.

“Just… a little slower would be fine. After all, don’t you and I have an eternity ahead of us?”

“We’ll see.”

The beautiful and cruel god didn’t agree. His icy gaze grew colder as he muttered,

“Whether or not we have an eternity together depends entirely on you.”

It sounded like a veiled warning. “Watch yourself.” So Nyne called out, “Amon-nim,” desperate. When Amon ignored him, Nyne clung to his robe and called again. Only then did the cold gaze finally turn toward him. As it reached him, emotion faintly flickered across Amon’s face. A subtle shift in his brow, a hint of motion at his lips.

“If I agree, you must also promise to try.”

There was no need to ask what he meant. Nyne hesitated, then finally nodded.

“I promise.”

“Will you do your best?”

Amon tilted Nyne’s chin upward and asked. Forced to meet his eyes, Nyne reluctantly replied.

“Yes… I promise.”

“Good.”

Having heard Nyne’s answer, Amon gave a faint smile. Both believed this exchange might help improve things—albeit in different ways. Nyne still had doubts, but Amon was confident.

“Many humans already enjoy slaughtering their own kind. You’ll eventually come to enjoy it too.”

Nyne’s heart sank at Amon’s words. He was speechless. Remembering the behavior of the temple priests and Resha, he couldn’t refute it. Even Lu, after all, enjoyed watching warriors and slaves risk their lives in combat.

His already unsteady heart wavered. Amon’s words began to sound more right than wrong. If the priests at the heart of Trastasa were like that—and if the most noble being of all said so—maybe it really was he who was strange, who was making an unreasonable demand?

But at that moment, someone surfaced in Nyne’s mind. A faint light returned to his eyes, sunken in confusion.

I need to meet with Lan Gwen again…

He needed to hear more about the world outside Trastasa.

Just then, a voice calling out for the Sha rang closer and closer.

“Sha!”

Pale-faced warrior-priests burst onto the scene, having desperately searched for Amon after his sudden disappearance. They collapsed to their knees before Amon and Nyne, not even catching their breath. Seinka Hoan struck his forehead to the ground with a thud and spoke in a mournful voice.

“Forgive us, Sha. We were lazy and lacking and failed to serve you faithfully. Please punish us.”

Seeing Iyu groveling like that made Nyne uncomfortable. Amon, meanwhile, had no interest in them and was merely inspecting the bloodied dagger. Clicking his tongue lightly, Nyne rebuked the warriors.

“You’re all outrageously insolent.”

“Sha Nyne.”

Still on the ground, Seinka Hoan replied calmly. But the other warriors were faintly trembling.

“Why are you begging forgiveness? Your words just now made it sound as if mere humans dared believe they could keep up with Sha Amon.”

“That’s not true, Sha! We would never!”

Seinka Hoan raised his head, face pale. His forehead had split from the blow, and blood ran down. The sight made Nyne frown.

“Your task now is not to beg forgiveness, but to clean the Sha’s sullied dagger and recover the hunted leopard.”

Nyne had learned from experience that the best way to manage fanatically loyal priests was to give them something to do. The warriors, finally rising with apologies, were issued another order from Nyne.

“My robes and legs are stained with blood. I’m thirsty and hungry.”

“We shall carry out your command, Sha.”

The warriors cautiously took out their waterskins and dampened linen cloths they’d brought. Nyne looked down uncomfortably as Iyu crawled forward on his knees, offering a waterskin and wiping the blood from Nyne’s sandals and calves. Though he wasn’t hungry, he forced himself to chew a few dried dates. Seinka Hoan, with great care, received the dagger from Amon and wiped the blade with his own robe.

As Nyne, in a gloomy mood, watched a bird chirping on a tree branch, Iyu suddenly hesitated. He’d found the scratch on Nyne’s calf and asked softly,

“Sha, should I apply ointment?”

“…Alright.”

Nyne answered reluctantly, and Iyu took out the ointment he’d prepared. As he gently applied it to the scratch, he asked,

“Does it hurt?”

“This isn’t even a real wound.”

Embarrassed by the situation—getting ointment for a scratch in front of a warrior-priest—Nyne answered coldly. But Iyu grinned as if he understood completely, and Nyne felt a bit better.

Then he noticed Amon’s gaze. He was watching them, eyes lingering on Iyu’s hand as it applied ointment to Nyne’s leg before turning away. Receiving the cleaned dagger from Seinka Hoan, Amon gave an order.

“Let us continue the hunt.”

With Amon’s help, Nyne was able to hunt several more animals. The warriors returned carrying three large deer, seven birds, and one leopard. The results of the first day’s hunt were impressive, and the priests were overjoyed. The offerings were perfect for the altar.

They placed the leopard at the top, then the deer, then the birds. Drained both mentally and physically, Nyne didn’t rise from his chair. Lu, Popo, and the attendants bustled around him.

“You were amazing, Nyne-nim! To catch such a majestic leopard… Your skill with a bow wasn’t ordinary the first time either!”

Nyne started to say it was thanks to Amon’s help, but shut his mouth. He was too tired to even bother correcting them. Lu, quick to notice, brought sweet, low-alcohol wine. When Nyne drained the cup, he returned with sweets, placing them one by one in Nyne’s mouth and fanning him gently.

“You must be exhausted. Just eat dinner and rest tonight. I’ll give you a massage until you fall asleep.”

The gentle, caring voice was especially pleasant today. When Nyne opened his eyes and smiled, Lu smiled even brighter.

“How’s your hangover?”

“Thanks to your concern, I’m perfectly fine!”

Despite the dark circles still around his eyes, he did seem better than in the morning. Nyne watched the ritual under Lu’s attentive care. Offering already-dead animals to the altar wasn’t as unpleasant as he’d feared. In fact, watching the priests divide and eat the meat from his hunted game—even made him feel a bit proud. Amon may have shown him where they were, but the kills were all Nyne’s own.