The Hallowed Land Experience

The Harvest Festival

 
"Liander.", Kendra said in a voice as cold as ice.

Liander stared off into space. Usually Kendra's voice made his heart jump up into his throat but now he was too numb to respond. "I have to tell her.", he said to himself. "I have to tell her that I can't do this anymore. I have to tell her that I'm quitting, that I'm going rogue.", he paused. "She's going to destroy me."

"I…, I…", Liander could barely get the words out. "I can't go on like this. I can't."

Liander sat quietly, expecting to feel Kendra's wrath at any moment. He was ready for it. He even wanted it, if it meant that he could get out. But instead there was nothing.

"I…, I quit.", the solemn demon said quietly. Feelings of both relief and dread began to fill him. The feelings made it easier for him to get the next part out. "I'm going rogue."

Liander awaited Kendra's words like a condemned man awaiting execution. Her reply took him completely by surprise.

"It wasn't always like this.", Kendra said in a voice that was warm, or at least it wasn't so cold that it froze Liander's soul. "There was a time long ago when mortals' hearts were pure and the beings you know as angels and demons lived in peace. In a land across the sea I once ruled as a goddess."

Liander was beginning to feel slighted. Here he was telling her that he was going to leave her service and she was ignoring him. He wasn't in the mood for stories, he just wanted out, and he knew that nothing that she could say could change how he felt. But as she spoke her words took form around him and he was transported into the past to a time long before he existed.
 

Liander was working his field. He wiped his brow as he saw the sun getting closer to the horizon. It was almost time to go in to town. "Still time for a little more work.", he thought to himself. He loved working his field. It made him feel one with nature. It made him feel one with the gods. Tending his crops brought him peace and happiness. But alas, the growing season was over and winter would soon cover his field with snow. It was all the more reason to spend a few more moments in the sun.

"We're going to miss it. We're going to miss it!", a woman's voice called out from across the field.

Liander turned to see his wife running towards him through stalks and vines. She seemed to have boundless energy. She cared for their children, fixed all their meals, cleaned their cottage, and still found the strength to make him happy every evening.

Kiri ran up to Liander with a big smile on her face. "Come on.", she said tugging on his hand. "You've worked enough. The harvest has been good this year and we have more than enough food. It's time to have some fun."

Liander let her drag him away, stopping only to pick up the last basket full of tomatoes on their way to the wagon. He took a long look at his field before loading the basket onto the wagon and climbing up on to the front seat. Kiri and their three children were already sitting next to him and urged him to hurry. He smiled, clicked his tongue, and off they went.

In town the harvest festival was in full swing. Merchants were everywhere trading exotic goods and spices, and colorful tents and displays lined the streets. The children jumped off the wagon and let their curiosity run wild with Kiri chasing after them and making sure that they didn't get into too much trouble. Liander took his load of vegetables to the market and soon returned with plenty of coins for his family to spend. Everyone he knew was in town and he stopped to chat with all of them. Biffon's harvest had been as good as his and Shelak had finally taken a wife. It seemed that everyone had good news.

"Liander! How are you!", Tyraeth bellowed and grabbed him about his shoulders. The big man was all smiles. They talked about farming and their families and how long it had been since they'd seen each other and then finally about the night's celebration.

"You brought your wife along again, right?", Tyraeth asked.

"She wouldn't miss it for anything.", Liander replied.

"Good, good.", Tyraeth smiled even wider. Then he spotted another companion and was off, "Isaiah, you old dog you. What have you been up to?"

Liander had seen many festivals, but they always made him feel like a kid again. He walked through the market with a smile on his face and wonder in his eyes. Everywhere happy people bustled about, going from stand to stand and seeing all there was to see. As night fell his family rejoined him, their hands holding baskets full of stuff, and they headed toward the temple in the center of town for the annual harvest service.

Torches lit up the temple of Innana and statues of gods and goddesses welcomed the flood of worshippers. Once they were inside a priest gave Kiri and Liander each a silk robe to change into and ushered their children into another room where they would be told wondrous stories about the gods until they could no longer stay awake. Once dressed appropriately, Liander and Kiri were led into the great room of the temple. Standing at the far end was a towering statue of Innana, the goddess of love and fertility. Liander took a long look at her features and saw the unmistakable resemblance to the demon whom he now served and feared, but the statue gave him only a feeling of warmth and acceptance. Tables were arranged in a circle all around the room and each was overflowing with goblets of wine, bowls of fruit, plates laden with meat, and foods from every land. In the center of the room was a large shallow circular pit filled with pillows and silken cushions. Between the pit and the statue was a large, ornate throne befitting a goddess but upon which no one sat. All the men and women from the town had gathered in the room and were engaged in casual conversation. Then a priest rang a gong and all eyes were upon him. The ceremony had begun.

"Welcome friends.", the high priest spoke as he stood, looking like a child at the feet of the statue of Innana. "The goddess has blessed us once again with a bountiful harvest and protected us from the storms, the lions, and the locusts. For this we owe her our gratitude and our praise. Praise be to Innana!"

Everyone in the room chanted along with the priest. "Praise be to Innana, whose blessings bring all that is good."

"Unto you we sacrifice our most prized beast so that we shall ever be humble in your presence.", the high priest continued. Then he and the congregation knelt before the statue and bowed their heads as two other priests entered the great room carrying an enormous roast boar and laid it before the empty throne. They then knelt before the statue and chanted along with the congregation, "Praise be to Innana. Praise be to Innana."

Then the high priest rose and turned towards the crowd, "And now I bid everyone to do as the goddess wishes: eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you may die."

With that the crowd rose to their feet and began feasting on the mountains of food about the room while chattering with each other about how good it tasted and how blessed they were. Liander chuckled to himself, "Religion without guilt? This has to be a dream." He headed off for the nearest table and indulged himself on some of the finer foods from lands far away. Kiri had attracted a crowd of men, as usual, and soon had them feeding her fruits and sweets by hand. He was watching her enjoying herself when two pretty young women walked up to him and struck up a conversation. They talked for a while about unimportant things and then the first one removed her robe, revealing her shapely body. As Liander looked her up and down with an approving smile the other one removed her robe as well and showed him all the wonders that Innana had given her. Each woman took one of Liander's hands and led him into the pit where they lay down together on the soft silken pillows. There Liander made love to them slowly and gently, feeling as if he had all the time in the world to spend with them.

The orgy was in full swing when Liander finally uncoupled from the two beautiful young women. He stood up to stretch his legs as the women quickly found new partners. All about him lay the congregation engaged in every manner of sexual union. Everywhere he looked he saw family, friends, and strangers giving and receiving pleasure as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He saw Kiri engaged with a number of men, Tyraeth included, in what he knew was another one of her attempts to do everyone who came to the harvest festival. "How did she know if she had done it?", he wondered with a smile. "Did she count them all?" But he felt not an ounce of jealousy as he watched her. He just felt lucky that she was his wife.

Then his eyes turned towards the once empty throne. Sitting upon it with a piece of roast boar in one hand and a goblet of wine in the other was a vision of pure divinity. Instead of being gaunt and jet black, Kendra's body now shimmered with brilliance. Her skin was fair, her limbs full and healthy, and what was even more unusual was that she wore the most contended smile. Liander couldn't remember ever seeing Kendra smile, those few times that he dared look upon her face, but there she was, not angelic, not demonic, just peaceful, loving, and full of life. She raised a hand towards him and with a sweeping and delicate gesture gave him her blessing. Liander felt a warm sensation moving through him. It felt wonderful as it coursed through his body and finally settled within his cock. Then he felt a pair of lips wrap around his member and he soon got to work spreading Kendra's blessing around to the others.

Liander made love to so many that night: friends, strangers, older women and young ones, and even a few men. It didn't seem to matter who he was with, all that mattered was that the bond between them all was strong. For a night they were all one big family, they were all in love, and they renewed their bond of companionship for another year. His final partner that night was Kiri. That was something that they always did at the end of the festival. No matter who they were with that night, when they were with each other it always felt the best.
 

The scene faded and the darkness surrounded Liander once again. "That was how it really was?", Liander asked as his heart yearned to return to the dream.

"And should always have been.", Kendra replied coldly.

Liander was stunned. "I had no idea.", he finally said. Then questions filled his mind and he felt compelled to ask them. "What happened? What changed?"

"There were many lands, ruled by many gods.", Kendra began. "Some you now know as angels and some as demons, but then we were all one race."

Liander listened intently. What she said was completely different from the stories he'd learned when he was an angel, but then, placing trust in the sources of those stories seemed rather foolish to him now.

"Some ruled with an iron hand, some were more permissive. We all had our own ideas of how to govern.", Kendra explained. "We spread out across the earth and made it our home. A thousand lands. A thousand gods. It was a golden age, but not everyone thought so. Some were not content with what they had, and others were not as prosperous as their neighbors."

"Jealousy, greed, selfishness.", Kendra hissed. "These things are not known only to mortals. And so there was war."

Kendra's words rang true to Liander. He had seen even those among the most pious of humanity succumb to bitter seeds of avarice in their hearts. He realized that so powerful a force could affect anyone, even a god.

"What of Heaven? What of Hell?", Liander asked, almost desperately. "You were glorious then. How is it that you have come to serve the Princes?"

"The wars were small at first, but those who took by force found it to be to their liking. Alliances were needed and so we banded together, sacrificing the fruits of peace on the altar of war.", Kendra's voice became bitter. "I never wanted my people to fight so I chose to serve another who would protect me. That was a mistake that I have lived to regret."

Kendra paused. Liander was beginning to understand. Kendra knew that the truth would not set Liander free. A lie would have worked better. A lie would have him wrapped around her finger again. But Kendra saw the potential in the fallen angel, and knew that he would make a better ally than servant.

"Our alliances did nothing to stop the wars, they only became worse, pulling everyone into the abyss until there were but two factions. One demanded total obedience, so that their powers blended in harmony. The other side championed independence, with our powers clashing but free. We were more numerous, but they were united, and the balance has held for thousands of years.", Kendra lowered her voice. "The truth is what we all know but will never admit. Neither side will ever win."

"Lords of Order and Lords of Chaos with mortals trapped in middle.", Liander added.

"With all of us trapped in the middle.", Kendra corrected him.

"The only way that one side can win is if the other backs down.", Kendra said, her voice filled with both anger and lament. "And so we must fight."

Liander's head was spinning. Everything he had taken for granted about the world and how it worked was being turned upside-down. He felt like he was suffocating, trapped under the weight of the universe.

"I don't know where I belong.", Liander admitted. "It seems everywhere I turn there is a different master with different demands."

"It is simple.", Kendra spoke, her words cutting through the confusion in Liander's mind. "Of all the things that you desire, what do you truly want?"

Liander paused. It was a simple enough question but he wondered whether or not he knew the answer. Liander thought back over the years of his relatively brief existence. Whether he was working for Heaven or working for Hell, his life had centered around humans. Once he had loved them, but he eventually came to revile them. Through all the years there was one constant note. It was a single discordant tone that Liander had never admitted to anyone, not even himself. He envied humanity. He envied the simplicity of their lives. He envied their ignorance of just how harsh the universe around them truly was.

Finally the words came to Liander. "I want out of this war. I want to go back to New Orleans and live my life and not worry about Order and Chaos, gods and monsters. I want to forget. All of it. Can you do that? Can you make that happen?"

"You want to be human?", Kendra asked. But in the way she said it, it didn't sound like a question.

Liander's heart pounded in his chest. In the barest of whispers he said. "Yes."

Kendra's voice became like ice again. She spoke slowly, pronouncing every syllable, "It is extremely painful."

Liander drew a shuddering breath. He'd heard stories about angels and demons who had lost the essential parts of themselves through various means. They became trapped in their corporeal forms, doomed to grow old and die. They were called Remnants. He knew it was drastic but at that moment he could see no other alternative. Liander responded to Kendra's statement. "Yes."

"It cannot be undone.", Kendra continued.

Liander swallowed and spoke again to the darkness around him. "Yes."

Kendra spoke again with the slightest hint of pleasure, like that which a cat gets when it catches a mouse. "You would never see Kiri again."

Liander's mind froze. His head tilted back and he thought of her. "I..."

"Do you really want to forget everything?", Kendra's voice echoed in the darkness, making Liander feel very alone.

"No. I suppose I don't. I need to think. I need time to think.", Liander pleaded, hoping that Kendra would not demand an answer then and there.

"Then complete your mission.", Kendra spoke quietly. "When you have paid your debt to me, I will grant you what you desire."

"I will.", Liander said as relief washed over him. The darkness around Liander began to lift and the sights, sounds and scents of the dungeon assaulted him once more.