by Jasmine Walt
“Okay, you reason with that big barrel of a gun aimed at us. I’m going to bring some heads home to Daddy.”
Behind Bryn, Hera lifted a brow in approval. Seriously? What was with daughters of gods and their daddies. What was with all Ishim and their fathers?
The Olympians were forever trying to live down the shadow and shame of their father, Cronus. Bryn and her Valkyrie sisters were forever bringing the souls of the dead to their father, Odin. Zane, Tres, and I all defied our fathers’ wishes.
I wondered if all the troubles of the world—this one, the one beneath, and the other realms—could be solved if our dads had simply spent some quality time with us at Disney World in our youth?
With a screeching battle cry, Bryn ran toward the soldiers. Everyone looked to me, as though waiting for my command.
“We can’t just stand here,” I huffed.
“All right,” said Desi. “But are we stopping the blood-thirsty Valkyrie with a magical sword of light? Or are we attacking the humans with the guns and missiles?”
I opened my mouth. Then I shut it. Precious seconds ticked away in my indecisiveness. The muffled grumbles and screams said it was too late. Bryn had reached the army.
Bryn slowed her charging run to a moderate canter. Confusion and disappointment colored her face as one by one the army of men and women fell like plastic toys.
A body was thrown into the air. Its gun fired into the sky, its muzzle sparking like fireworks. Another body was thrown to the side. And yet another yanked from one of the Humvees and discarded.
The soldiers faced away from us, trying to meet the threat. It was amongst them, not coming from our side.
The deep growl of a large feline predator rumbled low. I saw a flash of fur. The flash of an eye. The glint of fang.
“Are those wolves?” asked Demi.
“No, I think it’s a jaguar,” said Tia.
Shots rang out, but the pride of shifters quickly pounced on the military, knocking the soldiers unconscious or just impotent. The animal threat was unexpected, but the humans weren’t outfoxed completely.
The leader of the band of misguided human protectors called for the soldiers to close ranks. Unfortunately, he didn’t check his flank first.
Under the dark of night, flashes of gray and white came up on the other side of the humans. The wolves plowed through the remaining rows of humans with ease. Knocked them down to the ground. Disabused them of their weapons. Made them add to the puddles of storm water with tears and other fluids.
Out of the fray, a woman emerged. Two women. Walking side by side. Bare from head to toe after their change. Boobs pointed up proud in all their royal glory.
“Skye, Skully?” I raced to the gates to meet them, embracing their naked flesh in my arms. “What are you doing here?”
“Us?” said Skye. “You’re one to talk.” She frowned at me and then spotted Zane in the crowd and growled at him.
“After you two died”—Skully looked accusingly at me—“the Deadbeats said to be here at this day and time if we cared to collect you.”
The Deadbeats? She meant her fathers: Hunahpú and Xbalanqué, the God Twins.
“They knew?” said Zane. “Back as far as the Serpent Mound, they knew exactly what would happen. And they let it happen.”
Anger was plain on Zane’s face. But I was uncertain. The God Twins were tricky. If they knew what was going to happen, and they didn’t warn us against it, they had a reason for letting this all play out. What game were they playing?
Another male made his way onto the scene. No, not one male, two. One more delectable than the other.
I tried to tear my eyes away. Really, I did. But a girl was entitled to look.
Zane, who never showed an ounce of jealousy, let out a gruff sound as the Mohegan twins strode forward in all their delicious, naked, delicious, tan… did I say delicious?… glory. Their dark curtains of locks blew in the windless night. Their muscles rippled as they flexed, glistening with the sweat they’d just broke saving our asses.
“More are coming,” said Chak as he and his brother, Saka, came to stand before us.
No one answered. No one moved. Well, the men all shifted in annoyance. The women fidgeted and fanned themselves and sighed.
“Hello,” said Loren, Bryn, and Demi. Hera cocked her head to the side. Tia tugged at the collar of her prim business shirt. Even Vivi stared with wide eyes.
“We’ll need to take cover,” said Saka. “We weren’t able to get into the tank. That missile is still in play.”
“You don’t think they’d fire on Disney World,” said Tres. “It’s a national treasure.”
In response, the gravel crunched as the tank maneuvered into place. It turned on its tracks to aim the long barrel at the Magical Kingdom. Well, that answered that question.
“We have to get out of here,” I said.
“I know a place that’s impenetrable,” Loren said. “I just need to tap into a ley line. There’s enough energy here somewhere. I can feel it.”
Loren closed her eyes and held out her hands. She took a couple of tentative steps like a blind woman without her cane. But then her steps picked up.
I motioned for everyone to follow her. Zane and Tres, Bryn, the Olympians, the Balam and the Mohegan all crowded around the divining witch. She led us to Fantasy Land and the small castle there.
“Really?” I said. “Here?”
“Children’s wishes are as potent as prayers,” Loren said.
Ley lines existed on places of great importance to humans. Places where they showed devotion and care. We stood outside of the It’s a Small World ride.
My bestie shut her eyes again. She held out her hands and began to chant. The tank still crunched in the distance.
“Loren?”
“Hush,” she warned. A small light emitted from her hand, making a tiny circle of a portal. Not enough to fit a single body through.
A loud bang split the air. The odious smell of chemicals burned my nose. But even more disturbing was the bright blaze of light arrowing toward us.
“Loren!”
Loren continued her chant, unhurried, her voice barely above a whisper. With barely a second to spare, the small window of energy opened into a large door.
We all raced through. The last wolf’s paw crossed the threshold when the explosive crashed into the castle. The wolf yipped as a few flames tugged at its tail. Loren clasped her hands together and the hole closed into darkness.
Silence rang out, but the ringing of the explosion still shrouded us. Loren grinned at me, holding up her hand for a high five.
“Look at you.” I slapped her palm.
“Learned a couple of new tricks since you’ve been away.” She grinned.
“Where are we?” someone asked. I’m not sure who. Our small band had grown to a medium-size force. But it was about to get larger.
“You’re in my house.”
I grimaced at the deep growl. It didn’t make me squirm like the growl of the Mohegan Twins. It got my hackles up and made me yearn for a blade.
“Hey, Artie,” I said.
I turned to see not only his big barrel of a medieval chest, but also Sir Lance and Sir Tristan as well.
“Are we in Camelot?” I asked Loren.
“No,” Lance answered. “You’re still in Florida. This is one of our strongholds.”
“How did you guys know to come here?” I asked.
“Igraine,” said Tristan.
It was the only word needed. I wished the old witch were here now. She gave the best hugs, and I needed one since my dad was trying to kill me. Or at the least, he was complacent in my demise.
“What have you done?” Arthur said.
I opened my mouth to respond. But for once in my life it wasn’t me his ire was cast upon. He glared at Loren.
“I told you not to trifle with a god,” he said. “‘Loren, do not steal Odin’s hammer,’ I said. ‘Loren, do not go to the Garden.’ And what do you do?”
“This is not my fault,” said Loren. “This was already in play when I got there.”
“She made it worse,” volunteered Bryn.
“And you bring wolves and Greeks and fae into a castle?” said Arthur.
“We’re all on the same side,” I said.
“Against who?” said Arthur. “Who’s on the other side? Would that be God?”
“No, not precisely,” I hedged. “It would be God and her angels.”
Arthur shook his head. “What did you steal now?”
“I didn’t steal anything,” I said. “I’m trying to save the world. That’s in the knights’ job description, right?”
Arthur fingered the scabbard of his sword. “What do you need?”
“I don’t know. All we’ve been doing so far is running. First from Eden and the Elohim, then from the human military.”
We’d been caught in the middle. Which was funny, because we all were in the middle of this war. We were children of gods, or somehow touched by gods. But we made our homes on the surface, surrounded by humans.
It was time to take a stand. But where? How?
“Everyone,” said Lance. “I think you need to come and see this.”
Lance stood at the window of the castle. I marched over to him. We were up high in a turret. It gave us a clear view of the sky.
From the sky, fire and brimstone rained down like meteors. But they weren’t meteors. They were Elohim. They were here. They were coming to the surface and headed toward the amusement park.
21
We came out the front doors of the medieval castle in the heart of Orlando. The Arthurian stronghold was a true brick-and-mortar castle, but the front was a luxury hotel. An exclusive luxury hotel where no mere mortal had ever been admitted.
Once the drawbridge was raised, we were confronted with a scene out of a dystopian novel. The streets of Orlando were cluttered with immobile cars. There wasn’t a soul about in the darkness. Even nearby homes were cast in shadows.
With the ley line’s doorway into the park blown to bits, thanks to the military, we headed back to the park on foot. Not all of us walked on two feet.
The shifters ran on four legs. Loren tried to climb on Saka’s back, but Tres took one arm and Arthur another and hefted her onto a magical steed from the castle’s stables. The rest of us bipeds road on horseback. Those with other godly attributes, like the ability to harness fire, water, or lightning, sailed through the air on said elements.
“It’s like the Avengers assembled,” said Loren. There was a light in her eyes as she claimed the title for us all.
I tried not to laugh as we headed back into a battle that I had no idea how it would end. But I giggled despite myself. A little levity couldn’t hurt this moment.
Beside her, Tres gave her the exact same look, trying but failing not to laugh. The corner of his mouth kicked into a rare grin. He caught me looking and averted his gaze from my best friend, his natural brooding scowl affixed firmly back in place.
“I’ve seen that one. There’s only one woman in that film,” said Bryn. She rode in front of us. Her dark tresses trailed behind her like a personal wind had assigned itself to her and kept her shining face in the spotlight. “And that woman, the Russian one, she’s a human. She doesn’t have any powers outside of the ability to wrap a man between her thighs. I prefer the Justice League, myself. Much more pro female.”
Loren scowled and looked to me for backup.
“She has a point,” I said.
“I’m not talking about the film,” Loren said. “I’m talking about the comics. And DC Comics mainly has male cast-offs of females like Batgirl, Hawkgirl, the Wasp, and freakin’ She Hulk.”
“She Hulk was an embarrassment,” said Bryn, “but they also have Wonder Woman.”
Loren opened her mouth to protest. Then she closed it and tilted her head. Both Loren and Bryn tilted their heads as though weighing this last piece of evidence of an Amazonian, sword-wielding princess, before coming to a mutual conclusion. Loren ceded the battle. All was quiet for a few moments until we turned the corner.
We came back to the park. The bottleneck to the highway had cleared, and all the families that had been enjoying the park that day had evacuated. All that remained was the military. As predicted, they’d called for backup.
More tanks had rolled in. More troops replaced those who’d fallen. Many of the fallen were on their feet again.
I had hoped that they might stand down now that they saw beings of light rain down from the sky. No such luck. Like cockroaches, they were. Stomp on them, but they rise again, bringing their friends for a taste of the danger.
A chorus of guns cocking sounded in the night. A few weapons clattered to the ground as the Balam Queens and the Mohegan Twins amidst their packs took on human forms before the soldiers’ eyes.
A single shot rang out. But a bullet wasn’t much to most of us. It was easily dodged, and then it was our turn to keep the peace.
Loren raised her hands, and with her powers, she lifted the muzzles off the front row of guns. If they wanted to pull the triggers, the soldiers would shoot birds. Psi and Vivi sent water to collect weapons from the remaining soldiers. I was pretty sure we had their attention now.
“Remember us?” I asked.
The tank clanked and whirred as the turret turned toward us. Desi raised his hand, and the green of the painted metal turned a rusted red as it heated.
A man oozing the authority of one with a large number of bars and stars popped out of the tank and climbed down. I assumed he was in charge.
“Hear me now,” I said to the advancing human leader. “Not a single one of your soldiers is dead, and you can see that was our choice.”
The man was red-faced as he halted in front of me. He was brave, I’ll give him that. I just hoped he had ears large enough to listen.
“You’re no terrorists,” he said. “I’m not sure you’re human. What in god’s name are you?”
“It doesn’t matter.” I pointed to the Elohim advancing from the gates of the park. “Those are the real bad guys. And they will not extend you the same courtesy we have. In fact, they’ve come here with the express purpose to eradicate humankind.”
In the crowd of soldiers, a few raised a cross to their lips. A few others made the sign of the cross over their hearts. And I swore I heard the beginning of a psalm about the shadow of the valley of death.
I refrained from shaking my head. If only they knew what shadow was about to fall over them. I turned my attention back to the military leader. “I’m going to offer you some advice, and I hope you’ll take it. Stay out of this.”
He looked around at the insurmountable odds. He looked at the Ishim, wolves, jaguars, knights in armor, gods who controlled the elements. Then he looked beyond us at the approaching Elohim.
They were all in skins, but their light was no match for the flesh. It shone through, bright as a fluorescent light. It was clear they weren’t human. That they were something else. A few humans correctly guessed: angels.
“Sorry, ma’am,” the leader said. “Afraid I can’t do that. Not in my blood to turn tail. I’ve got a family to fight for. So do all these soldiers. We have family, friends, country… hell, humankind to fight for.”
Behind him, the men and women, who were divested of their weapons, still stood ready to defend those they’d sworn to protect.
“You’re a good man,” I said.
“I still don’t know who or what you are.” He eyed me with a level gaze. “But we’ll stand with you.”
“Ishim,” said a voice as deep as a drum. My father stood only feet away from me. His gaze was on me as he spoke to us all. “Move out of harm’s way.”
“We’re not the ones doing harm.” Zane moved in front of me. He addressed my father, but his gaze was on his own sire.
“The time of humans is up,” said Michael. “You children can move or face the same consequences.”
Instead of moving, the Is
him all gathered in a line. Tres stood beside his brother.
“So be it,” said Michael.
“You’d kill your own sons?” asked Loren. “That’s cold-blooded. But then you have no blood, so…”
Not a single crease of emotion touched Michael’s eye. “I’ve had many sons. I’ll have more.”
Gabriel turned his head almost imperceptibly toward Michael. So did a few other angels, not a majority. That’s when I saw who all this army of light was comprised of. There were many Elohim whose faces I didn’t recognize. But I knew a few.
Off to the side, Rhea clutched Cronus with one hand. Cronus’s nose was up in the air, his mouth hanging wide like a dog sniffing a bone. His eyes were glued to the army of humans just within his hungry reach.
The God Twins looked on with their typical amusement. They also eyed the humans in uniform, likely searching out any women with Native American blood to toy with before, during, or maybe even after this trial was over.
“Hey, Dads,” said Chak.
The twins gave their offspring a fleeting glance and a slight nod of acknowledgement.
“You think you’re fighting for all of creation,” I said to Michael. “But you’re not. You’re fighting for yourself.”
“Precisely,” said Michael. “If we allow these ill breeds to continue to exist and infest the surface, it will mean the end of creation.”
“But that’s just it,” I said. I waved my empty hands for emphasis. Arthur had offered me the use of a sword, but I had declined. This battle wouldn’t be won with weapons of steel. Our only chance was words.
“They’re not going backwards. None of us are. We’re the ones going forward. Evolution isn’t going backward. It’s gone beyond you and you can’t stand it. You’re like someone’s grandpa who can’t work a cell phone. You can’t blow up the world for that, because you’ve been left behind.”
“Preach the truth, sister,” Loren shouted.
I opened my empty hands toward Michael. Thought better of it and faced my own father. “Let us show you how it works, all these emotions and feelings. The ability to connect even though you’re covered in flesh. You might like it.”
