Atop his trusty steed he rode, Osiris travelled day and night to his next destination; somewhere hare and rabbit alike had most suffered defeat at the hands of humankind; most suffered humiliation and degradation; turned into nothing more than test-subjects under the hand of the human. It was at this very location that Osiris would seek to peer into the past.

The wind carried the sharp smell of men - oil, smoke, and the cold scent of iron. He headed now, to a place he knew, but not as it was today. From memory, long ago, this valley had been full of burrows, but then men came. They arrived in roaring hrududil, beasts of iron that smelled of smoke and poison. The men walked on two legs like wounded herons and carried sticks that cracked like lightning. Where they passed, the grass died and the earth was cut open. They did not hunt as foxes hunt, nor kill as stoats kill. They killed and left the bodies lying, as though death itself were their purpose. Men dig the earth and poison the grass, yet they never eat what they kill. To Osiris, he knew he had to temporarily disembark with his mount. It was not safe even for that half-beast half-rabbit kit. Snow covered what may be dead, but new life would soon spring up from under that frosty blanket. Perhaps Frith had given the world to rabbits once, but men had stolen it with fire and thunder.

A dangerous glow broke on the horizon. It was all too familiar, Osiris had seen this before. After all, how do you think he ended up as the last? The last Liege of the Rabbits.
He knew he was nearing trouble, rune-stones had strange markings on them, a rocky outlook appeared to give a better view from whence they stood. The clearing made itself apparent, Osiris made his way down to it as he approached the other side of the mountain he had just awkwardly clambered up. His mount he left behind, sniffing the air with the same sense of dread he did - anticipating the worst. Fear. Then he saw it clearly. Behold. The City of Man.

Such a beauty as Osiris looked out on a great stone burrow that men built above ground. He could spot the monument of old, and notice it's delicate stature, this one, had been left alone. In fact, water now surrounded it where once a field would. The turn of weather seemed to have frozen off access to it, but that was not all.
Inlé appeared to have left his disregard with the moon, a total eclipse formed in the sky whilst the sun spurned outward - yet the sun burned so brightly from behind that eclipse with Frith's anger that a beam of fire struck down upon the one remnant of rabbit's in the area. It was as if Frith was attacking El-Ahrairah's dream himself. Inlé was signalling 'there's nothing to see here' with his dark moon, but Frith's madness shone brightly. A higher war raged on in turmoil.

Osiris thought to himself: That sun... Frith!

Of course. Frith was still here. El-Ahrairah's dream slumbered, but it did not rest, Frith helped to guide what little good remained in the world for the rabbits and their ilk. Yes, indeed. Even in the darkest of places, with the most horrific of rabbit's past.

While Inlé and Frith battled high up in the heavens, Osiris noted that there were no visible spirits on the landscape, no life of any kind to be seen, anywhere... At least, from out here. Just these... Strange rune-stones, and men-made burrows. He longed for answers, but Inlé provided none at this moment. The god of death wanted to hide and cover up the truth. Was it time for a recompense with Frith and El-Ahrairah's dream, or should he stay Inlé's hand once more and heed the advice in the sky. Such a fierce battle of the gods was clearly visible, but Osiris longed for the truth. He needed answers, and so, he made his choice.


Theme: Forsaken - As I Lay Dying
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtLX5xS6bmk


Art by  Miloff