open to Capoeirista and one more, thread here

The inky sky was speared with a flash of white, the burning of a bright star falling in the night. Despite the way time rushed past her in this quiet desert, it almost seemed to stand still now. The light shifted as it fell on the sands. Before her stood The Night Mother. She'd never seen a drawing or heard what she looked like, but somehow in her heart she knew.

The woman before her looked almost human, with sharp features. Her skin was a deep blackness, almost a void. Her eyes and teeth gleamed like the bleached bones that occassionally littered the sands before they were pulled beneath the dunes. Her hair was spidersilk dotted with glimmering dew, almost too fine and too thick all at once.

For a moment, Kalida could not breathe. The Mother came to her and without a word, reached out and touched her face. The cold hands moved from her cheek to her neck, and for a second a bright pain burned. It was the first thing she'd truly felt since she'd died.

A gift of a body, she thought. Rather, the voice in her head sounded like her own, but the thoughts were invaders. The goddess before her was pushing her dark will forward. Kalida could only nod and feebly attempt to thank her.

In life, you did not serve but now you are mine to command. Kalida nodded. But the dark is a comfort, not a spite. You may gain your freedom, little spirit. Do my bidding in the realm of mortals. You will fulfill my pacts in any way you see fit, but you must keep this:

If you are bidden to take life, life must be given to you in turn.

As suddenly as she had appeared, the Night Mother was gone again. Now Kalida stood in the desert sands, not far from where once she'd been killed. How long had it been? There was no real way to tell - Fallien and the desert was ever changing and yet it always managed to remain the same. Maybe her children were still grieving her, or maybe they'd grown, lived, and lost their own lives by now. It didn't matter. Her life before was so fresh in her mind, and yet it seemed so far away.

Now she only had the call of the Night Mother. It was like a beacon. The goddess hadn't told her how she would know she'd been called upon but it didn't take long before she felt a pull like a string attached to her ribs hauling her over the sands.