Ukko's Discovery (The Chosen 1)

by Shara Azod

  Ukko’s Discovery (The Chosen 1)

  Shara Azod

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright ©2019 Shara Azod

  BIN: 05495-01760

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  Publisher:

  Changeling Press LLC

  315 N. Centre St.

  Martinsburg, WV 25404

  www.ChangelingPress.com

  Editor: Katriena Knights

  Cover Artist: Marteeka Karland

  Adult Sexual Content

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  Table of Contents

  Ukko’s Discovery (The Chosen 1)

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Epilogue

  Shara Azod

  Ukko’s Discovery (The Chosen 1)

  Shara Azod

  Amidst a war as old as time, two ancient warrior beings find a precious gift that should not exist.

  Ukko is a general of the Spentas. He fears nothing, backs down from nothing, questions nothing -- until he finds something he can’t explain. Who is this mysterious female with powers equal to his? Who sent her? What is her purpose? And the most important question of all -- why doesn’t he care about any of that?

  Chapter One

  Ukko’s heart pounded in alarm and excitement. An urge that couldn’t be explained drove him to the seedier side of downtown. There was something, someone out there he had to find. The pull was as tangible as if it were tethered around his waist.

  Picking his way through the dregs of human existence, he pressed farther and farther into the area where drug addicts, the mentally insane and the just hopelessly lost humans existed in a filthy squalor, not really knowing what he was looking for or why. It was the why that worried him. He gave the souls he passed little thought other than to mask his presence from them. He didn’t trust this compulsion. Anything with that strong a pull had to be dangerous.

  Ukko was a Spentas, older than recorded time, more powerful than piddling supernatural types that humans used to fear and now dismissed as myth. Oh, such myths existed about Spentas -- they were once worshipped as gods. Not that they invited this kind of thing, not that they asked for it. Immense power in the eyes of those who had none had led them to believe Spentas must be the ultimate of supernaturals. More feared than the very real vampires, shifters, warlocks and others who skulked in the night. Ukko himself had once been known as the god of sky and thunder. He could call lightning from the heavens, but it was nothing another Spentas couldn’t do.

  There! He’d found what he had been searching for. Unbelievably, it was a woman -- or more accurately a female. Ukko could sense the nature of most beings, but he was getting nothing from her. Humans didn’t read as nothing, nor did most creatures. Using all his power, he couldn’t break the block she had on her own mind, keeping him out so he couldn’t probe. Long ropes of multi-colored braids fell down her back as she bent over what should be a man, but wasn’t. What the hell was going on here?

  Moving silently, Ukko pressed forward to get as close as he could before capturing her. This being had a lot of explaining to do. How had she called him, and why? What was this attraction that not even a siren could manage to pull off? Her figure was pleasing, and though he couldn’t see her face, he was sure that would be equally appealing, but he was never moved by such things. True beauty was an intangible thing that emanated from within.

  Then she sensed him -- and ran.

  There was no way a mere slip of a woman should be able to run so far, so fast, making him actually put in an effort. Although there was hardly anyone on the darkened street, he didn’t dare use the true speed he was capable of. He could move without touching the ground, but that might be seen by the naked eye and Spentas never, ever drew attention to themselves in this modern time. Nor could he dematerialize, which he could also do at ease, appearing before the fleeing woman. Besides, he wasn’t altogether sure she wouldn’t be able to beat him trick for trick.

  It shouldn’t be possible. Had she been a shifter, a vamp, even a witch, her aura wouldn’t be able to repel him. Were she human, he could have easily reached into her mind and forced her to his will. What in the hell was she?

  Ukko had only been in this new country, the United States, for four short months. The king had sent all the senior Spentas to positions of power, places where Mainyas, their arch enemies, were likely to show up. Ukko had been stationed in San Diego, where he’d sensed something at work. He was sure some dark force was gathering here, but he hadn’t run across a Mainya, hadn’t run across anything he could put his finger on.

  He’d been searching through downtown streets when he’d first seen her, among the homeless and insane in the wee hours. The last thing he had expected was a female bending over one of the unfortunate souls huddled beneath cardboard boxes. Her hand had been outstretched, a light glow emanating from her palm.

  She wasn’t hurting the male thing, whatever the hell he was. In fact, Ukko could tell she was doing quite the opposite. What had been a mind clouded with delusion and fear was clearing; slowly but surely she was healing the psychosis from which the man suffered. Could it be she was in some way involved in the weird atmosphere descending over the city?

  You will stop, Ukko projected, trying to implant his words inside her head. His words rebounded, coming up against an invisible brick wall inside her head. Okay, that never happened. The urgency to catch her increased, forcing him to move a little too swiftly. She could be dangerous, a threat, not to him, but to humanity and those who dwelled among them.

  Ukko followed her, determined to find out what she was, who she was. Later he would return and find out about the male. Her partner, her mate? The very thought infuriated him, as if he had that right. What manner of creature healed random homeless people and for what purpose? She must have had a vested interest. None of those around her had been healed.

  With renewed determination, Ukko took a chance and increased his speed, moving faster than he should. He wished he could say he was surprised when the woman increased her own speed without bothering to turn around to check his progress. She could feel him, just as he could feel her.

  He had complete awareness of her in a way that shouldn’t be possible without being able to read her thoughts. Although he got no closer, he could feel her presence. The need to catch her grew more intense with every passing second. Wild braids whipped behind her as she ran, like tiny ropes waving in the wind, seeming to invite him to wrap them around his fist, pull her face close and take her lips. The cock that us
ually lay dormant between his legs grew harder and harder. A Spentas’ phallus only became hard when he willed it. That proved whoever she was, whatever she was, she couldn’t be human.

  He wanted her. How badly he wanted her shocked him. If he could just --

  Then she stopped. Without rhyme or reason, she came to a complete standstill on the edge between the seedier part of downtown and the shiny, busy part. All she had to do was go a few more steps, and he couldn’t possibly use any of his powers to catch her -- all he could do was follow. But she didn’t do that. Ukko was so surprised he came to a halt himself, watching, waiting.

  When she turned, the vision she presented hit him with the power of a punch from an Elder, undeniably the most powerful beings in creation. Beautiful was not the right word for her face. It was an intriguing face; he hadn’t seen such a countenance in thousands of years. In these times it was easy to trace the nature of origin from one’s features.

  Not so with this woman. Her skin was a mixture of dark and light. Gold, copper, espresso, and burnt umber blended together not only in her skin, but her multi-colored braids. Her eyes sparkled a clear, bright forest green, almost glowing in the darkness. Having crystal clear vision in the pitch darkness of a moonless night allowed him to witness the jewels of her eyes glittering back at him. Ukko found himself unaccountably staring at her, searching for any truth to be found in her expression. He knew better. Expression can lie as easily as the lips.

  What the unholy hells was this about? Never, not ever, had Ukko felt such obsession for a woman. Spentas didn’t fall in love. They didn’t mate. Their lifespan was infinite, and there was no death, not even by the hand of a Mainya. There was no relief in insanity or oblivion. They lived, they endured, they suffered to watch the march of history pass, trying to shape it, but not always succeeding. This feeling swelling in his chest was foreign to him; he couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake, snap out of it! They’re coming!” The woman’s words had meaning, he was sure of it, but he was mesmerized by the sound of her husky voice.

  The first hit stunned him a moment, knocking him completely off his feet. Mainya. The dark to the Spentas’ light, they were tenaciously evil. Out of the corner of his eye he saw two Mainyas, ancient rivals to his warrior breed, closing in on the woman, circling her warily as if they were afraid. Two of the faithless bastards came at him. One had struck him from behind, probably unable to wait to attack, the impatient bastard. They might share an origin, but other than a homeland they had nothing in common.

  “Walk away and we will not chain you to the bottom of the ocean… again,” one Mainya sneered, trying to strike again.

  After so many centuries, one would think they would learn to attack in concert. Maybe then they would have a chance. They never learned. One struck while the other watched and looked for an opening. Tonight Ukko had no patience to play. Two of these heaps of dung held the woman. He had to save her.

  Ukko had expected the charge. It was a good thing because the fiend struck with blinding speed, coming right at Ukko’s head with one huge fist. Ukko spun, sidestepping the big oaf in a smooth move, striking a powerful blow of his own as the Mainya fell past him. The motion flowed into the next as he moved to attack the next Mainya, not waiting for the other male to attack.

  Before Ukko could reach him, however, the woman shot the remaining Mainya with a blinding flash of light from the palm of her hand. Energy crackled around them, charging the air and making Ukko’s skin crawl. He was certain the hair on his head stood straight up. He didn’t wait to see the result, however. He was on the surprised Mainya before the other male could do much other than scream.

  What had happened to the other two, the ones who had attacked the woman? Ukko tried to look as he hit the two he battled over and over again with bolts of energy, cast by pure rage. He’d never let Mainyas under his skin like this. Fighting a Mainya was as natural as breathing; no anger was required. Yet he had been so angry, so desperate to get her away from these monsters. There had been a rush of protectiveness he’d never experienced with another being.

  This was far beyond protecting a female from the horrible fate that could await her. Once either a Mainya or Spentas slept with a human, chances were good she would become addicted. The poor females captured by Mainyas became hollow shells, depraved and debased, craving more despite themselves. Most chose suicide over the constant depravity they were forced to endure. They couldn’t have this woman. He couldn’t allow it.

  “I think you got them down, big boy.” The light touch on his shoulder calmed him immediately, his rage falling away as if it had never been.

  It was then he noted the Mainya who had been circling her sprawled unconscious on the filthy street. How in the unholy hells had she managed that?

  “What are you?” He had meant his voice to be commanding, compelling. A certain tone worked on most creatures, forcing them to say things they would rather bury deep inside themselves. “Who sent you?”

  The woman rocked back on her heels. She was wearing the kind of boots he had seen in magazines and television, rarely in person. The soft, pliable leather rose to her knees, and the heels were at least three inches. He never understood this modern fascination with walking on miniature stilts. Her legs were encased in tight denim, showcasing her curves. Though the night had a chilly bite, she wore a simple T-shirt that clung to her body as if the cotton were attached to her skin.

  Ukko was momentarily outrageously jealous of the cotton, which got to cover skin as he longed to do -- still. Worse now. Blood rushed through his veins, centering on his heavy shaft. He wanted to touch it, to relieve the painful need wracking him. His heart beat impossibly fast, his head spinning trying to place her or her kind. “Who are you?”

  “I’m Nimah.” She shrugged, her visage becoming clouded with doubt and a touch of fear.

  Ukko could feel her tumultuous emotions bombarding him, felt them inside of himself. What was this?

  “I have no idea what I am. I just knew I had to come here -- to you, Ukko.”

  There had been many times when Ukko had seen men obsessed with a female to their detriment. He’d watched brave warriors felled by batting eyelashes, witnessed proud chieftains and kings reduced to sniveling, callow youth by soft words and sweet promises. That was not ever supposed to be him. Yet her hurt, pain and confusion touched him.

  Without a thought as to why she could defeat not one but two Mainyas by herself, Ukko gathered her into his arms. He was a fool. He didn’t care. The temptation of plump lips was too much to turn away. Amidst the fallen enemy he took her kiss with a force that frightened him, but he couldn’t stop. Forcing her mouth open with his own, Ukko’s tongue delved into her mouth, tasting the sweetness and pain there.

  The kiss ended far too soon for Ukko.

  Heavens, she clung to him naturally, became pliant in his arms. This could all be some elaborate trap to capture him, to keep him imprisoned somewhere while the Mainyas worked some devious plan or another. It was about time for them to make another bid at world dominance. That was the excuse Ukko used to dematerialize them both, taking her to his compound by the fjord, not far from where he had been born.

  In the time before kingdoms, Ukko had known happiness here, as a boy. No other had ever breached the walls of the long, house-like structure he had built over five hundred years ago. It was a mansion, really, in the shape of the homes of the Vikings. Certainly not the first structures to exist in this land, but it was a period of which Ukko had been fond.

  “This is your birthplace,” the woman -- no, Nimah -- said with awe. “I’ve seen this place in my dreams. Your mother was honored by her people when she was pregnant with you. She led your tribe after you were born, but then they came and took you away.”

  He closed his eyes against those memories. After all the centuries he remembered the day when he left his people with vivid clarity. There wasn’t much he didn’t remember as if it had taken place yesterday
. One of his many curses. But how did this woman know?

  “What are you?” he ground out, refusing to open his eyes. If he did, he would be lost in the green pools that were surely his path to the lowest level of hell.

  Chapter Two

  Nimah was in awe of the blond giant of a man she had gone to San Diego to find. A normal woman might have been freaked out to open her eyes and find herself deep in the heart of Finland. But when had her life ever been normal? She wished like hell she could answer his question, but the problem was she had no idea what she was. She just knew she was different. Always had been. A woman with no family, no history, no idea where she came from or why she could do the things she could. Her entire life she had known only one thing for sure -- one day she would meet this man, and she was meant to be here, in his arms.

  Since puberty Nimah had dreamed of him. Ukko of Finland had been the number one constant in her life while all else had been transient. Abandoned at birth, she’d been raised in a series of foster and group homes until she’d turned eighteen. That was when she became aware of three very important things. The first was that she was very different from everyone around her. Her abilities were akin to something seen in a sci-fi movie. She’d had to hide all the things she could do from others all her life. Until now.

  The second thing she’d been aware of since puberty was that one day she would meet this man, Ukko, and the gaping hole in the center of her soul would be filled. It made no sense in the conventional way of thinking, but Nimah had always known him. She had seen bits and pieces of his entire existence, an existence that spanned longer than recorded time.

  The third thing that had been a constant in her life was the unseen threat always hovering in the shadows. Until tonight she’d never seen those who watched, constantly looking for her and others like her. She didn’t know how she knew there were others, but she was as certain of it as she was that Ukko belonged to her, that she belonged to him.