previous part here: https://jordynsaelor.com/2026/08/20/caricaur-lore/
all parts: https://jordynsaelor.com/cant-catch-me-now/
***
A chill crept into my bones
but the caricaurs were starting to link arms and approach the water,
shouting at me
that they were coming to help
so I dove under
and slipped between places
like I’d practiced,
asking the sea deity to guide me
to safety
like it’d offered,
and the water shifted around me
from sparkling blue
to murky brown,
warmer,
with a current tugging at my clothes.
But still I had to ask,
And what is it you’re preparing me for?
It whispered a laugh in my mind,
You once said
I only wanted a piece of you
and you didn’t want that deal
and now you ask
what I prepare you for?
And yes,
I had said that
but didn’t know who else to
believe in
if dracans were killers
and caricaurs were too
and everything in my past
had just tried to hurt me–
Well, adventurer,
I prepare you
to become everything.
I prepare you
to tell me about lands I never reach
I prepare you
to tell strangers about me
I prepare you
primordial and strange
I prepare you
for yesterday
and today–
But why? I asked.
If time means nothing to you,
if I’m just a mortal drip
in an ocean,
I can’t possibly do anything for you.
The sea said, time means nothing,
one moon god dies
and another is born,
one storm conquers
while another languishes
but I
have depths unknown to even
grander creatures than I
and eternity stretches
in coils
hollow to myself;
adventurer,
I prepare you
to explore
everything
and tell me
what you see
so I may know
what lurks in my own darkest wells
and silent canyons.
I said, so you just want me
to believe in you,
just like the dracans believed in their moon
and the caricaurs believed in that lightning.
Because it makes you stronger.
The sea enveloped me in warmth,
no, adventurer, I don’t need your belief
to make me stronger,
I would like it
because even beings of great power
like to share what they know with others
and hear new voices
every once in a while.
Whether you believe I’m malicious,
selfish
or not,
I’ve been at this longer than
that moon
and I see no point
in letting you fail.
Did I believe the sea was selfish?
Probably.
On a fundamental level, what isn’t selfish?
But I think
the dracans
messed me up a little
such that I didn’t trust myself
to choose good things
or make good friends
with good people.
So I didn’t object
to letting this grand sea god
lead me somewhere
or use me
as its short-lived friend.
***
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Jordyn Saelor 