by Unknown
I tried not to think about the impossibility of a floating mountain after we all traced into Thunderbird territory. It was the God Realm after all, anything was possible. We had arrived in the Thunderbird version of a tracing chamber, which was a tepee (don't even get me started) erected right outside their front door.
I say front door but what it really was, was a giant cave with a large rock outcropping in front of it. The mountain soared upwards and stretched out to either side of the shelf we stood on and I could see openings everywhere. In and out of those openings Thunderbirds flew in their massive bird form, screeching and calling to each other. One of them dove past our ledge, disappearing into the clouds.
I followed his flight with my eyes. The clouds were so thick, I couldn't see past them but the question was, did I really want to see past them? I decided not. So although the urge to grow some wings and have a look was itching my shoulder blades, I decided to stay human and just follow the others inside the cave. See? I can have moments of restraint.
It was a fairly well lit cave. Obviously lit by god energy since I saw no light sources. A big difference from the caves I'd seen within the Greek territory which were more of the dark and scary variety. It was a welcomed change definitely. This cave, well really it was a tunnel so far, had a grass covered floor and all kinds of plant life growing up its walls. It kept the air fresh, more like being outdoors. Also, the cave wasn't creating nightmares to try and kill me. That was always a major plus.
We all followed Mrs E and Teharon deep into the mountain, and when I say we I don't just mean the God Squad. All of the Intare had come as well, ready to stand beside me in battle. As many as there were of us, still the ledge was roomy enough for all of us to fit, and the tunnel into the mountain was wide enough for us to walk several men abreast through it. Thunderbirds were big.
The path curved several times but we never veered off it. We followed it all the way to the end, where it let us out into a massive central cavern. A hush fell over our group as we were led further into the heart of the mountain. It gave me shivers and this is from a woman who's seen Heaven.
The cavern wasn't really a cavern since it was open to the sky. It was really a crater, I think, but unlike any crater I'd ever seen before. On Oahu we had an extinct volcano called Diamond Head. It was technically a crater but it was nothing like this.
Sunlight filtered down in golden shafts, so bright near the top that the thick vines growing around the edge of the crater appeared almost white. The light had a long way to go though and by the time it reached the cavern floor, it was a more subdued glow. Still, it had no trouble illuminating the numerous cave entrances that riddled the crater's walls or the Thunderbirds that stood within them. They regarded us somberly, with their feather cloaks draped regally over their shoulders.
Plant life draped over the top edges of the crater and flowed down the walls to the floor below. The floor, stretching out before us, was actually a meadow spotted with trees and other plant life. At its center was a clear pool of water which reflected the sunlight into little sparkles. In front of the pool was a large, white tepee and in front of the tepee stood Kohana, leader of the Thunderbirds.
He walked forward to meet us halfway to the tepee, spreading his arms in welcome as he did.
“We are honored to have all of you in our home,” he said as he took Mrs E's hand and kissed her cheek. “Come, we've prepared a meal for you. It's not often that birds and cats get to dine together without actually dining on each other.”
“I'd be hard pressed to say who would be the diner and who would be the dinner,” I laughed as I shook Kohana's hand. “You've got some fierce warriors.”
“As do you,” Kohana eyed the Intare at my back. “I'm grateful that they're willing to fight beside us. Welcome, all of you!” He said to the group and the Intare roared a greeting.
As their roar echoed off the walls, the Thunderbirds pulled their hoods over their heads, hoods which really were bird heads, and their cloaks closed about them. It sealed together up their bellies and transformed them into giant birds. They all swooped down in graceful spirals and we all craned our necks to watch the stunning display. They finally landed beside a long banquet table laden with food.
“Please, help yourselves,” Kohana indicated the food. “The grass is soft here, rest wherever you like and enjoy the meal before we begin our preparations.”
We all went over to the banquet and made ourselves plates before finding places to sit. I found a nice spot by the water and Trevor, Kirill, Odin, and Azrael joined me. After awhile, Kohana came over and sat with us as well.
“If it's alright with all of you,” Kohana looked around our little group, “I'd like to personally help you with your rituals.”
“We'd be honored,” Trevor answered for us.
“Can you tell me what these rituals include?” I asked and then popped another piece of fish in my mouth. Damn but these birds could cook.
“You will be dressed and adorned,” Kohana explained. “We've already magically charged the face paint and made the garments for you.”
“That's a lot of work,” I thought about how many people we'd brought. Then Kohana raised one black eyebrow at me. “Oh, right, territory magic. You just transformed random things into clothes, didn't you?”
“Yes,” he grinned. “Not so difficult, as you well know.”
“It's a handy trick, isn't it?” I nodded.
“Indeed,” he winked one black, almond shaped eye at me and then his eyes fell on the emerald at my throat. “That's the jewel that can hold magic?”
“It helps me filter magic,” I corrected. “The gold band around it is what actually stores magic if I have an excess that I don't want to just ground.”
“So the emerald itself doesn't actually take magic?” Kohana continued to stare at the pendant.
“I don't think so,” I frowned. “I don't know for sure. I already had the ability to reclaim magic from the gods before I came into possession of the emerald.”
“Guard that jewel, Vervain,” Kohana finally looked up into my face. “If it can function on its own, it would be a deadly weapon in the wrong god's hands.”
I shared a concerned look with Odin. Bad enough that Odin might have the ability to steal magic as well, if it got out that my emerald could perform the theft on its own, gods would be itching to get their hands on it.
“Maybe we should have another talk with the dwarves,” Odin said and I nodded my agreement.
The dwarves had made the emerald specifically to help me acquire new magic since I'd lost all of my fey magic when Aednat had cast a spell over me, cloaking me with humanity. They told me it would help me become stronger than any god by allowing me to collect numerous powers. What they never told me was whether it could do the same for someone else.
A feminine laugh caught my attention, pulling my thoughts out of my musings, and I looked over my shoulder to see that my lions were mingling with the Thunderbirds. They already knew each other from when the Thunderbirds had come to Intare territory to help us fight Iktomi, the Spider God, so I expected them to get along. I just hadn't expected the Thunderbird women to take such a liking to my Intare men.
I groaned internally. Not because I didn't want them mixing but because I had a feeling the Thunderbird men wouldn't take too kindly the idea of their women running off with a bunch of large cats. Sometimes my lion's good looks were to their detriment.
After our meal, Kohana took me and the guys into the huge tepee. A few of the other gods were being led inside by some of the Thunderbirds as well and I gave a quick wave to Torrent who was holding Artemis' hand as they followed a lovely Thunderbird woman. Kohana led us over to a partitioned off area where a few blankets were laid over the grass. One had bowls of paint on it. On another were stacks of clothing beside a row of boots.
Kohana took a white, leather dress from the top of the pile and a pair of white, moccasin boots. He handed them to me and indicated a little curtained off
area where I could change. I looked down at all that white and cringed. White? To a battle.
“You're the Trinity Star,” Kohana smiled gently. “You need to wear white. It will announce your status.”
“And make me a huge target,” I sighed. “I'll wear them since you made them for me but I'm not guaranteeing their safety.”
“Let's hope that very little blood will be shed today,” Kohana said soberly.
“Sure, let's hope, though that's never done me any good,” I muttered as I went inside the partitioned area to change. Damn, when did I become so negative?
The dress was made from buttery soft leather and so were the boots, though they were soled in thick hide. The dress had bone tubes sewn down the front of it, like chest armor, and those were outlined in silver beads. Silver stars were sewn at the top of each of the short sleeves and the same silver beads outlined the splits down each side of the dress. There was also a pair of leather pants to wear beneath the dress and I was grateful for that. I wasn't looking forward to wearing a dress into battle, even with the hip-high side splits.
When I came out, the guys all smiled at me. Right, I was wearing a white dress. Awkward. I smiled back a little self-consciously and tucked a strand of hair back into my braided crown. I wore my hair up in a braid for battle whenever possible. Especially now that it was so long, it could become a huge problem when I was fighting. Trevor kissed my cheek as he stepped past me into the changing area.
“You look wonderful,” Kohana nodded approvingly. “Like you were born to the leathers. Come, sit here.”
“Thank you,” I sat where he indicated I should, on a blanket before him. The bowls were set out beside him.
He picked up a bowl of red paint and waited. After a few moments, drumming came from somewhere outside the tepee and low voices added to the music, chanting in a language I didn't recognize. I assumed it to be a Native American dialect but it could have been Atlantean for all I knew. Kohana smiled at me and dipped a finger into the red paint.
He started chanting as he laid the paint over my face. It tingled on my skin and I felt the magic sink into me. A jolt of energy ran through me and I took a deep, power-filled breath.
Then he placed his full palm into a dish of black paint. He pressed his hand over my mouth, his fingers extending over my left cheek. Another tingle of magic spread over my skin as my own victory magic lifted inside me, responding to it like an old friend. This battle was ours, the mingled magic seemed to say, we were unbeatable.
Kohana wiped his hand off on a cloth beside him and picked up the white paint. He began to chant again as he painted a symbol on my forehead. I gasped as the star inside my chest started to glow, brightening until its light was all I could see. Then I blinked and my vision cleared so I could see the men before me.
All of my guys were dressed in the Native American style. Kirill's hair was braided back and out of all of them, he looked the most natural in the garb. They each had bone chest pieces laced over their otherwise naked chests and fringed leather pants tucked into moccasin boots. They made an impressive group, muscled chests adorned with bone, trim hips strapped with leather. I swallowed hard and tried to tamp down the response my three inner beasts were having.
“You look fierce,” Kirill said to me.
“Right back atcha,” I grinned.
“No, really,” Odin lifted his brows. “You need to take a look at yourself.”
“Here,” Kohana gave a little laugh as he handed me a small mirror.
I held it up to my face and blinked at the warrior who stared back at me. The lower half of my face was red, from the middle of my nose down. Over this was a black hand print, the longest finger reaching just beneath my left eye. On my forehead was a nine-pointed star in brilliant white.
“Whoa,” I breathed.
“The red is for strength,” Kohana explained. “The black hand shows that you've proven yourself in hand-to-hand combat and gives you the power of victory. Finally, your star is shown, as both a warning and as an enhancement to its powers.”
“Thank you,” I bowed my head a little.
“Your very welcome, Trinity Star,” he grinned. “Now, move aside so I can paint your honor guard.”
“Oh, I like that,” I grinned as I stood up. “My honor guard.”
“Great,” Az rolled his baby blues. “Now you've added to her ego.”
“Hey,” I pointed at him and glared. “Watch it, angel. I'm a bad ass warrior now.”
“Minn Elska,” Trevor laughed, “you've always been a bad ass warrior. Paint doesn't change that.”
“No but it makes me look bad ass.”
“Da,” Kirill nodded. “You usually look more fine ass zan bad.”
“Nice one,” Trevor high-fived Kirill as I grimaced.
Chapter Twenty
It took quite awhile to get us all painted and I saw why the Thunderbirds had seen fit to feed us first. I don't know what time it was in the Human Realm but there, in the God Realm, the sun was setting when the last of us were finally finished.
All of us had red on our faces in some way but the individual symbols varied. The Intare, including Kirill, all had lines of white going straight across their mouths, with sharp downward points on either side of their lips. It represented fangs. I was told that originally it was used to portray bear teeth but for them it was meant to be lion fangs.
There were so many beautifully painted faces. Each of the gods had something that had been chosen specifically for them. It was strong magic with careful thought put into it and I loved them all but my favorite had to be Torrent's. He had white stripes going down one half of his face and blue down the other but the blue stripes were made of zeroes and ones, binary code. The Thunderbirds had recognized his magic as Internet energy and were highlighting it as if it were something Torr should be proud of. Which of course it was. It was just nice to see someone else acknowledge it.
“Why blue?” I asked Kohana, “I've seen Torrent's energy and it's green.”
“Blue for wisdom,” Kohana answered sagely. “The white is for peace.”
“Peace?” I looked down at my dress.
“For you, the color has a special meaning and purpose,” he patted my shoulder. “I've been told that you've been chosen to distract Naye because of the connection between your star and his sun. The war paint will help to distract him and dispel his desire to fight you.”
“Sounds good to me,” I grinned at him.
“There's something all of you need to know before we do this,” Mrs E sighed and Teharon put his hand on her shoulder supportively. “My sons' magic lies within their feathers. Their magic is powerful and difficult to combat. Nayenezgani can heal all wounds, even death if he acts fast enough. Tobadzistsini has the power to vanquish his enemies. This manifests in different ways and can't be predicted but it's always powerful. Yet the magic has its limitations. They must touch you with their feathers in order to use those powers and without the feathers directly in their possession, they have no way of accessing their magic.”
“As in, they become mortal?” Finn asked.
“No, they won't be mortal,” Mrs E's jaw clenched. She must have felt as if she were betraying her only remaining family. “They'll just be without magic. Our people believed they were children of gods, without power until the feathers were gifted to them, and so if you remove their feathers, you remove their power.”
“Thank you,” Kohana nodded to her. “That must have been hard for you to reveal.”
“It was,” she sighed, “but it's for the best.”
“Are we all ready for this?” Kohana looked around at everyone.
“Yes,” it was Mrs E who answered, her dark eyes grim in her painted face.
“Then let's begin,” Kohana led us all out to the ledge where we'd arrived. “Each of the Thunderbirds will take two of you over to the location we've reconnoitered. Once we're all there, we'll attack.”
A line of painted gods began to file into the tracing te
pee. Just saying the words tracing tepee made me want to get one so I could say them again. To the tracing tepee!
Chapter Twenty-One
It wasn't night at all when we arrived at the location. The sun shone down with wicked intensity in fact, causing me to squint as I adjusted to the brightness. We'd traced out of the Aether in front of a collection of sad looking buildings. They huddled together in the dry, packed dirt like a bunch of unwashed children. Rust and broken bits hung from their structures and their windows were so caked with dirt, they didn't need curtains. They may have been storehouses for some kind of business at one point but now they were home to an army. An army was under attack.
We were spotted immediately but we still had the element of surprise on our side and the Thunderbirds used it to shift forms. They took to the sky with angry screeches as their war cries and the humans cringed in terror.
“Wakiya!” One man started shouting as he pointed up at the giant birds. “Wakiya, it's the wakiya!”
“Intare!” I added my shout to his and waved my men forward.
We ran into the throng of bewildered humans, knocking as many unconscious as possible, intent on disabling and disarming instead of killing. It was their leaders we were after, not them. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Azrael release his wings in a great rush of sound and leap into the sky. Men screamed in terror and fell to the ground, covering their heads with their arms.
These were people who'd been misled by gods. They were already familiar with the supernatural so we'd decided being subtle was unnecessary. We would strike in full god glory and hopefully show them that their gods weren't the strongest ones on the block. Then, even if we didn't stop Tawiskaron and the twins from waging war, we still might scare their soldiers into deserting.
The sky darkened and filled with angry clouds. Thunder rumbled and lightning shot down from above as both Thor and the Thunderbirds released their magic in a radiant display designed to intimidate. It worked, the soldiers cringed and many cried for mercy, throwing their weapons down and dropping to their knees.
