By anonymous | March 26, 2021
“The gods are angry.”
Her voice had chilled him, forcing himself to wake. Opening his eyes, he stared at the diwata before him.
She was just as she had left- beautiful, ethereal, and cold. Her silver eyes regarded him with a slight frown, dark skin radiating like the cold moon.
“Mother, what do you mean?” He spoke slowly, afraid of inciting her wrath. With her presence here, he knew Apolaki had done something yet again. His mother never cared for the mortal world, but with his uncle’s vested interest in the earth, the goddess before him would often wreak havoc. However… why would the other gods be angry now?
“Lingid.”
“Yes mother?” Answered Lingid. Her tone was dangerously low, signalling her rising anger. Though he was used to his mother’s fickle moods, the many faces of the moon often exhausted his mental strength. How he wished his mother would just scream out, it would save him all the apprehension.
Her cool gaze met his, flickering like wisps of moonlight. Lingid gulped, wondering what the gods had done to vex her.
“Find the snake.”
At her words, Lingid’s eyes widened.
Find the snake? She couldn’t have meant…
Lingid touched his hair, twirling the long wisps around his finger. He often did this when he was nervous, and right now, he needed something to calm him.
Of course he understood what his mother meant. He understood it very well. But of all people, why it?
“Mother..” Lingid murmured slowly. He reached out to take his mother’s cold hand and offered a flimsy smile. “I know you must be angered, but as your son should I not also share in this anger? Why do you need me to find the serpent? Why are the gods angry? Surely grandfather has a way to settle this right?”
His mother seemed apathetic to his coaxing. Instead, her sharp gaze looked up at the “moon” in the sky.
“You have seven days.” Her voice was curt, devoid of any emotion. If she had any qualms of sending her only son to his impending death, she gave no expression to it. Lingid was well aware of his mother’s temperament. The smile did not leave his face.
“As you wish.”
In a wisp of smoke, his mother disappeared, and Lingid found himself grasping air. Sighing, he touched the tattoos on his chest. A crescent shaped image glowed against his tanned skin and almost immediately, Lingid vanished as well.
