Forever Magazine Issue 102 by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: magazine, science fiction, Science Fiction - Short Stories, science fiction magazine, short fiction, short stories
Publisher: Wyrm Publishing
Published: 2023-07-01T00:00:00+00:00

Originally published in Mother of Invention, edited by Rivqa Rafael and Tansy Rayner Roberts, 2018.

Beyond the Tattered Veil of Stars

Mercurio D. Rivera

Chapter 63: Gods’ Breath

The People followed the purification rituals precisely, fasting three times a month and holding group prayers in the shallow seawaters off of Verdant Cove. With the orange sun setting on the horizon, they lay half-submerged in the surf, scrubbing the scales off their snouts with diamonds. And as their skin tore, they pushed forward through their lacerations, flesh rippling backward, downward, until their new bodies emerged. In this way, they shed their transgressions.

They collected and piled hundreds of sloughed skins. And after blessing the discarded flesh, cleansing it of all sin, they feasted. Ravenous from fasting, they tore into the mound of skins, giving praise to the gods for the food they devoured. And as they ate, they prayed for clean air.

The thick gases—identified as excess carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide—had appeared five years earlier, suffocating Mother Earth in a planetary haze. Blue skies turned sickly gray and temperatures rose steadily. Powerful hurricanes devastated the seven continents, and the Arctic ice sheets retreated, inundating coastal communities, displacing millions.

It was a cruel test of the People’s will and faith. Fortunately, House Jar-ella thrived on such challenges.

The People set aside longstanding tribal feuds to establish thinknests across the globe, teams devoted to determining the cause of the crisis. Planetary surveys revealed no volcanic eruptions, no artificial source for the gases, no explanation whatsoever, confirming what the People feared most: the threat was Divine in origin. The gods had judged them and found them wanting.

The thinknests expanded their ranks and intensified their studies, running ever more complex simulations in the hope of arriving at some answer. For while the problem was Divine, the solution, they believed, could be found in the natural world. Still, to be safe, the People redoubled their prayers and rituals, begging for the gods’ mercy.

My foremothers in House Jar-ella of the Dah-rani tribe scraped the scales off their skin until it glistened an agonizing emerald-green, while the yellow-skinned Teh-win cropped their wings painfully short, and the La-Mangri sliced into their bellies with pointed blades, leaving scars in the shape of the Divine circles-within-circles infinity sign.

Between the efforts of the thinknests and the mass prayers and rituals, the People held on to their resolute faith in the gods—and in themselves. For if they were not tested, how could they prove themselves worthy?

—From The Chronicles of House Jar-ella, excerpt by Shen-ri, daughter of Siss-ka

“Cory?” Milagros Maldonado said, pulling open the door. “Come in. You’re right on time.”

He was unsure whether to shake her hand or hug her. Instead, he stomped his boots on the welcome mat while making small talk about the August snowstorm.

She guided him into a spartan living room where he took a seat on the only piece of furniture, a sectional sofa. The last time they’d seen each other had been at MIT seven years earlier, when they’d dated briefly. She had the same dull eyes, same thin lips and dark-brown hair pulled back in a ponytail.

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