Chapter 21
HEKLA
I wasn’t sure what had attacked us. Belenus had snapped pretty aggressively at me, so I trusted him and kept my eyes on the horizon. He was leaning into me now and breathing a little heavier than normal.
“Belenus?” I asked, trying to speak above the wind. “Are you ok?” My ears popped as Lion climbed higher, and I grimaced in pain, wishing I could do something about the pressure in my head.
“I used a lot of my magic…” he murmured tiredly, and I had to strain to hear him, “to fend off that nuckelavee…”
My fae man sounded awful, and I chose to focus all my attention on him. I had multiple reasons for that. Caring about him was one. Critically needing a distraction was two. Clutching to a flying creature was considerably worse than riding a deer. If I thought about how far off the ground we were, I’d start screaming and never stop. Just talk to Belenus, just talk to Belenus, just talk to Belenus. Oh gods, wolves don’t belong on birds!
Or on deer! Eventide lamented. Please don’t look down!
Not planning on it !
“Can I do anything?” I asked Belenus over my shoulder and placed one of my hands over his. He sighed ever so slightly in relief. Maybe the mate bond would help?
“I… don’t think so. My magic will take a long while to regenerate outside of the Summer Court,” he explained. “I’m just drained.”
“Lean on me, mate,” I ordered, sitting straighter. “I’m strong.” I sensed his hesitation, but he put more of his weight against my back, and I patted his hand. “Good. Trust your female,” I said in approval. I was not as powerful as Belenus, but I was still a she-wolf and a strong one at that.
I spent the morning’s flight on Lion simply watching the horizon. I was wondering how obvious the border of the Night Court would appear. The thought of going from daytime to nighttime in a single step was impossible for me to imagine. Most everything I’d seen since arriving in this realm was just as mind-boggling. How strange it would be to think of this all as normal. I wondered how the fae would fare in my old realm, experiencing the seasons as they approach instead.
Finally, we saw it, the hazy unseelie sky ending in a sharp line, pressed tight against the black of night and brilliant, glittering stars. The divide rose as high as the eye could see, blurring together in the embrace of the Sky Gods. As we drew near, Lion descended, and she landed—albeit a little roughly—at the threshold of the Night Court. A stygian woodland waited before us; the spindly unseelie wilds watched our backs.
We’re here… Eventide whispered. We both couldn’t believe it—the impossible manifestation of luck.
I wondered if we could give that fear gorta a medal for its service to the Sky Gods. Perhaps he’d rather have an endless supply of food. I snorted a laugh at the mental pictures and Eventide’s cackles joined my mirth.
Make him a court advisor, she added, and I nearly erupted into laughter as Belenus helped me off Lion. Oh, great Sky Gods, dealing with this realm was making us lose our minds.
I removed my bag from my shoulders and pulled out the map. There had to be something to orient us, and I twisted my lips in thought. Landmarks? Tracks maybe? If the fae knew about this door, then it should be heavily trafficked, right? Well, maybe not heavily.
“I’ll leave you here,” Lion said, frowning westward. “I’m worried about the ranch. That nuckelavee could have destroyed, sickened, and wilted everything by now.”
“Go,” Belenus encouraged with a grim look on his face. “I’m sorry if we drew it there, though I’m not sure how.”
Lion nodded, crouched, and transformed midleap into the giant… seabird thing. I watched her depart with a guilty heart, hoping we hadn’t been the cause of luring the nuckelavee.
Belenus heaved a sigh and glanced around him. “I feel the door nearby,” he said and beckoned me with several fingers toward him. Perking up, I grabbed his offered hand and followed his prowl. I sniffed the air, wondering if maybe the door gave away any scents to its whereabouts, though, I doubted it.
Belenus finally froze and reached out with his other hand. “It’s here,” he announced, nodding as his eyes searched the ground.
I sniffed once more, positioned myself next to him, and frowned. “I don’t scent anything. You were the only one who could find it,” I said, feeling a little disappointed. I paused then, wondering if perhaps Belenus had been destined to come with me as well. That was…
He sighed, “I figured. I just feel its magic. Are you ready to go through, Hekla?” He turned to look back at me with the smallest amount of worry in his amber eyes.
He’s tired, Eventide noted. Escort says Belenus is worried he won’t be able to protect us as well as he could.
I gave my mate a little smile while I chatted with my wolf. Tell Escort that he needs to be Belenus’s support right now. He’ll need him more than ever.
On it…
“I’m ready, my mate,” I said and lengthened my canines to give him a feral grin. I would protect the both of us.
His gaze softened, and he leaned over to press his lips to mine in a gentle, loving kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck and returned his sweet gesture. His hands found my waist, and his fingers dug in. Soft lips massaged mine for several minutes, then released so Belenus could lean his forehead against my own.
We stood in comfortable silence for a minute before he asked, “If anything goes wrong, Hekla, you need to leave me behind, ok?”
“No,” I said calmly. “If anything goes wrong, I will make it go right.”
He laughed weakly and tilted his face to press our noses together. “I have no doubt you would. There’s no arguing this one, is there?”
“Nope.”
“Alright… let’s go find the Sky Gods’ children,” he said without letting me go.
In a heartbeat, we appeared on the other side of the threshold, standing under starlight and shade. Indeed, though I could look behind us and spy the daylit unseelie court, the night here took none of its illumination.
Drawing a steadying breath, I stepped ahead of Belenus, and we marched onward with held hands. I decided to continue following the Eventide star until I found any signs of the ones the Sky Gods wanted us to bring home. At least, I followed it when I could find it through the trees.
The nature here was lusher, but I had no idea how the plants and short trees grew without a sun to nourish them. The starlight itself couldn’t possibly be enough. I did notice that their roots spread farther, as if the soil gave them all their sustenance. Vines fought them for space, and the underbrush spread as aggressively. Strange ferns glowed from beneath their fronds, their sori creating a dim mint glow. Rodents darted from us, and the briefest glimpse showed a dusting of glowing spore clinging to their fur. They’d better beware of predators noticing that… Or perhaps it tasted bad. I had so many questions.
We discovered a trail that meandered deeper into the woods, and my eyes had to readjust upon encountering small fruit and plants that glowed a touch brighter. Small gourds, radiating a creamy orange light, hung loosely from trees, making me wonder if they were edible. I certainly wasn’t going to risk it, but I continued to be curious.
I slashed away the obnoxious vines blocking our path to save Belenus some trouble. I didn’t want him swinging his sword about unnecessarily. Eventide giggled, which made me snort with amusement.
Speaking of mates. Escort isn’t sure he can come out if Belenus’s magic is so low. He still has to use some to shape-shift, Eventide informed me, sobering. I think that kind of verifies that they use magic to mind-link too... so that mystery is solved. Maybe.
Ok, good to know. We will protect them, I said firmly.
We will! Any finger that touches Belenus is a dead finger!
I paused when I scented approaching strangers. “Belenus, I smell people,” I whispered and put a hand behind me to make him stop. I elongated my canines again and used all my senses to try to figure out how they’d approach. “They’re circling.” I lowered my voice more and moved closer to Belenus. Which body was closest? They were so quiet!
I decided I didn’t want them making the first move. “Reveal yourselves!” I shouted. “I’ve come to help the children of the Sky Gods! You’d be smart not to bite the hand that feeds!”
A brunet male with skin almost as white as bleached bone jumped down from a tree twenty feet ahead and was followed by nine other individuals. The figure replied quietly, “What if we were born to bite those hands?” He didn’t move an inch. His dark red eyes held a combined gleam of wariness and curiosity.
“The first thing I’ll teach you is that wolf-shifters care not for indirectness. My name is Hekla Himinn, and I’ve been sent by the Sky Gods to bring Their children home,” I announced. “ The male behind me is my mate. To harm him is to die, just so we’re clear.”
The male simply looked to his right, at a cluster of his comrades, and nodded. “Bind them and bring them back.”
I growled loudly and yelled, “Do not do this! You’re making a mistake! I don’t want to hurt anyone!”
The male simply stared at me while his people converged on us.
“Stop!” I growled louder, feeling my rib cage vibrate from the force. Their defiance infuriated me. How dare they try to ignore the will of their very own gods? These had to be Their children!
Tell them! Eventide snapped.
“Stop!” I snarled, backing up with Belenus who’d just drawn his sword. My nostrils flared, and my claws and canines extended as far as they’d go. The rumbling in my chest grew louder, as though my body told me we were capable of so much more.
SHOW THEM WHO WE ARE!
Feeling a swell of conviction that couldn’t have been from my feral mind, I howled, stamped a foot down, and leaned toward the stalking attackers. “HOW DARE YOU IGNORE THE VESSEL OF THE SKY GODS! SUBMIT! SUMBIT! SUBMIT!” Certainty, power, and sovereignty rolled within my lungs and throat.
To my disbelief, they fell like omegas to the ground, pressing their faces into the dirt and shuddering. Some were crying, and others groaned from pain or frustration. I stared while I tried to catch my breath, fighting shock to regain my wits. The muscles on my face pulled into a surprised scowl when I realized what I’d just done.
That was an alpha command. I’d just commanded complete strangers into submission. Was this the Moon Goddess’s blessing? Had it finally shown itself? Eventide was in such a daze that she didn’t seem capable of speaking. I felt an urge to take a frightened step back but held firm, not wanting to show any weakness to these people. I looked ahead to find their representative submitting as well. They had all fallen to the authority of an alpha’ s voice.
“Shit,” Belenus whispered from behind in a hoarse voice. I didn’t want to take a step back, but I wanted Belenus. I floundered blindly for his hand, and he took it immediately, squeezing it tightly to show his support.
I took a deep breath and pointed my finger. “You, the one who spoke for these people. What is your name?”
The submitting male, hidden behind dark locks, answered, “Nofre Alcon.”
“Are there more of you in this court?” I asked, trying to be calm and not come across as too interrogative. If I was in power here, there was no need to scare or abuse.
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“Four hundred and twenty-four.” He sounded more beaten down upon every answer.
“And there are no other kinds of people here? That must make you the ones the Sky Gods sent me to collect?”
“We are the only ones,” he answered truthfully… but tiredly. He stopped fighting my commands and seemed to just give up, body and soul, kneeling with his face in his arms.
I looked around and tried to steady myself for my next command. Inside of both Eventide and me was something like a gift that had opened, releasing an alpha-like power that settled in my chest with the unwavering permanence of a star in the sky. Once I’d found it… once Eventide and I had found it, it was so easy to wield.
Congratulations, Alpha Eventide, I whispered to her, feeling like I was in a dream. In her shock, she continued her silence. Just like wolf males, female alphas were born, not made.
“Please return to your feet,” I said, stepping back to give everyone more space. The children of the Sky Gods stood, and the mood had completely changed. Everyone had a different expression on their face; some looked worried while others appeared excited or even furious. “Take me to the rest of your people. I have a message from your gods that must be announced,” I requested, only using the smallest amount of command in my voice. Belenus’s safety was still my priority.
I followed Nofre and his comrades through the woods to a village that glowed in the dark. Stopping in awe for a moment, I soaked in how they used nature for their light sources. I could tell that these people have been in the same spot for a very, very long time. The homes had been rebuilt time and time again, renovated with materials old and new, and made from all the resources the forest had to offer. Many of the plants I’d seen glowing in the forest were planted here to light up the area. For higher trafficked areas, torches were used to brighten and heat up the space. They didn’t seem as advanced as the other fae courts, but I had to assume their isolation had made growth a little bit of a challenge.
I was also concerned to see that every single face, though a bit fair like the fae, was hungry. Looking at thin limbs and gaunt faces, I realized these people were starving. No offspring were to be found either. I was starting to collect a lot of questions.
Nofre led us to a large tent and ducked in first, expecting us to follow. I entered cautiously, flexing my claws and hoping we’d be met with peacefully. A large, round table took up most of the space, but no one was in the tent.
“I will return with our…” Nofre began, then frowned. It was like he didn’t have a word for what he wanted to say. “I… will return with our more important… people…” He sighed and left.
Belenus adopted a thoughtful expression as he meandered around the room. “They don’t have a name for their representatives. They must have zero outside interaction. This must be the most tight-knit community I’ve ever seen. Isolated.”
“And the hungriest…” I added worriedly. “They don’t look so good, Belenus. Will they be able to travel?”
“Let’s get all the facts first, my female,” he said softly, wrapping an arm around me. I leaned my head on his arm while we waited and went through everything I wanted to say. Nofre returned with six other individuals who bowed to Belenus and me.
We returned the greeting, and I added, “Starlight preserve you,” before joining them at the table.
Nofre then introduced us to the six individuals, and I knew I’d have a hard time remembering the names, just like the fae delicacies. Nofre, Ferrer, Luzia… Ah, I couldn’t keep up.
It was my turn to make introductions. “It is good to see you’ve taken the time to meet with me. My name is Hekla Himinn, and I’m the vessel of the Sky Gods. This male with me is the crown prince of the fae’s Summer Court, Prince Belenus.”
There was a great deal of murmuring at the table, and a fae of indeterminable age brushed his dusty brown hair from his black eyes and said, “Prove it.”
Sounds of both disapproval and approval erupted at the table, and Nofre sighed. “I told you what I saw, Ettor. Why are you risking her wrath?” he chided, blinking slowly from his lethargy.
I licked my lips and said, “As a wolf-shifter, I speak plainly, Ettor. I really don’t want to humiliate you in front of your peers.”
Ettor looked uncertain, but he set his jaw and stared at me. I took that as a challenge and said, “SUBMIT, ETTOR.” I didn’t put a lot of strength into it, just enough to show him that I could overpower him at any moment. Ettor leaned forward and, as ordered, unwillingly showed the back of his neck in submission. “I’ve been blessed by the Moon Goddess. I am an alpha. I hope this is sufficient evidence?” I asked, looking around the table while releasing Ettor from his humiliation. I had not enjoyed that, but apparently it was necessary.
There were nods at the table, and I moved on to the only item on my agenda. “My reason for coming is very simple. As I am the vessel of the Sky Gods, They have spoken to me and tasked me with returning you back to your original realm. I am here to offer my services as your escort back to where your people originated, the Realm of the Humans. I have connections with royalty over there who I’d work with to aid you in your rehabilitation and relocation. Since it seems like you have a potential famine here, I’m sure we can provide you with food until you’re self-reliant. ”
The table burst into laughter at my last sentence, and I waited until the chuckling died down before another person spoke. It was a female of… indeterminable age as well. Actually, I couldn’t tell how old any of them were. It didn’t help with how sickly they appeared.
“You can provide fresh blood for over four hundred of us?” she asked bitterly, pressing her lips into a thin, grim line.
“Interesting,” Belenus said from next to me. “Hematophagy. What kind of blood are we talking about? Cattle?”
The table fell quiet at his question, and no one would make eye contact with us. “People?” I hazarded from their reaction. I must have guessed right because the mood at the table plummeted.
“We would… accept cattle,” the female said darkly. “It is not as nourishing, but… I can’t imagine us being welcome if we started feeding on our neighbors. There are little of us left as is. Prey animals hardly cross into this court these days.” She looked away. “We’re starving to death. The strongest of us have been donating their own blood to keep the dying alive.”
Belenus set his elbows on the table and scrubbed his hands over his face several times. He left a hand on his chin in contemplation. “I have several ideas, but let me think on it before we discuss them,” he finally said.
I was incredibly surprised with how open-minded Belenus was being with these cannibals. No, perhaps cannibals wasn’t the right word. They certainly didn’t act proud of their nature. If anything, they seemed ashamed of it. That was something I didn’t quite understand.
“I don’t know why we’re even continuing this conversation. We can’t leave the Night Court anyway,” another female said.
“Why’s that?” I asked.
“Only the pure fae can come and go. We’ve been trapped here,” she replied, scratching the back of her head. “Trapped here forever…”
Right… I looked at Belenus for the answer to this one, and he wasn’t deterred in the least. He said, “I can take people wi th me. It’d take a while, but once we get a good group on the other side, you can use the time to hunt and feed yourselves. Get some of your strength back for the journey home.”
The people at the table began to look at each other, seeming to take our idea seriously. “We’re dying here,” one of them said adamantly. “We could return to where we were born, where there’s food. We could have fated mates again.”
“Again?” I asked curiously, tilting my head as I regarded him.
He raised his hands. “We’re almost all related now,” he explained. “We stopped getting fated mates long, long ago. We’re only still alive because of our long lifespan. We don’t mate anymore. We have no pups here.”
These people were on the verge of extinction.These people… what were they, though?I pressed for an answer. “I’m a wolf-shifter, and my mate is fae. You are not human, I am assuming. Are you shifters?”
Nofre picked at one of his nails and heaved a deep sigh. “We are. I suppose I should summarize our history, but it’s not simple,” he said. Belenus and I leaned forward a little, giving him our full attention. “Our history was passed down through stories, so we have nothing written from that time. We’ve been told that our gods birthed us as sky-shifters. We came in all different kinds of forms, all capable of flight to celebrate the sky as our gods desired. Birds, hardy insects, and other odd things.
“Some time later, the gods became displeased with some people in this realm. These people, so-called witches of rot, migrated over and were trying to corrupt the unseelie into their way of life, or use them to take over more fae territory because the magic was stronger here. That part of our history is a little unclear. What we do know is that the witches were sent back to their original realm—our original realm—by the Sky Gods, who’d volunteered for the task. Needless to say, the witches were outraged at being banished from the fae’s realm.
He heaved a sigh and continued, “All they could do was get revenge, so they hunted down the Sky God’s first children, cursed us, and performed something called a counter spell to whatever method the Sky Gods used to banish them. That spell locked us in the Night Court, where they’d been living before their banishment. They took away our original… shifter forms and replaced them with another creature that gave us bloodthirst in hopes we’d drink each other into extinction. The curse was a slow, cruel torture for our people. I… suppose you’d call us bat-shifters now.
“Over time, we began to run out of food and couldn’t reach out for help. We’d done the best we could to not give in to our instincts and tried to survive on wildlife, but it wasn’t nourishing enough. We couldn’t follow the game that migrated from the court, and some of us fell to the cravings, preying upon their own people to survive. Our numbers dwindled from hundreds of thousands to… this…” Nofre gestured around him grimly. The other shifters at the table didn’t look mentally present. Instead, something haunted their faces—memories. It had them all.
I didn’t think I’d ever heard a more depressing story. That was all I could think about for a moment, but I couldn’t utter the words. They didn’t need to feel any weaker or more pathetic than they already did. It infuriated me too. These people had never received justice. They’d been caught in the middle of an impossible conflict. My heart clenched with hot pain.
A thought occurred to me, and I turned to Belenus. “I recall that the witches had blocked the Earth Gods’ ability to communicate during Eisteinn’s attempts to take Ragna. I suspect that’s why the Sky Gods have not been able to see Their children this entire time.” I turned to the bat-shifters at the table and said, “Your parents, the Sky Gods, haven’t been able to see you. They didn’t even know if you were still alive, which was why I was sent.”
“I suppose that explains these then,” a male with white streaks in his brown hair said, sliding a rock the size of my fist across the table to me. “We’ve been receiving these over the last month. We’ve collected a dozen of them after they fell from the sky.”
I picked up the rock and brushed my fingers over the pockmarks that reminded me of Ragna’s lunaite. I turned it over in my hands and found an inlaid silhouette of a black wolf. My pulse jumped upon a realization; the Sky Gods had sent a message down in hopes Their children would be prepared for my arrival.
“This is Eventide,” I said softly, tracing the shape. “She’s my wolf. As black as this image.” Rather than waiting to be challenged, I removed my clothes and shifted into Eventide before their eyes. She jumped into my seat and glanced around the table. She felt an urge to scratch behind her ear but tried to keep her stoic pose, suffering greatly for it. I found that mildly amusing and supposed it was a good call to keep up appearances.
They stared and slowly woke from their hopeless demeanors. “I vote we leave,” Nofre said after taking in Eventide’s presence. “We’re starving here. At this rate, we will go extinct. Our people deserve a chance to go home. They deserve a chance to thrive.”
The table murmured an agreement, and Belenus said, “Take your time deliberating. Talk to your people, and if this is what you want, we can leave. Is tomorrow morning enough time to get things in order here? You obviously need to eat, so we have to get you into the Unseelie Court to find game before we start traveling. It won’t be safe; you’ll need to help protect each other. We two can only do so much.”
“I think that’s acceptable,” Nofre responded, and the rest of the table made their agreements known. Ettor was still sullen, but I had to assume he was just as hungry as everyone else. Starvation did nothing for the mood.
I shifted back and clothed myself to address the group. “Do you have a place we could rest until then?” I asked. One of the females nodded and gestured for us to follow. Before leaving the tent, I turned one last time and said, “Please don’t be afraid to come to me for more questions. Your survival is paramount.” They didn’t seem to know that word, so I hastily added, “Critical. Your survival is very important. We are like kin.” I tapped my fist on my chest and left the tent with Belenus’s supportive hand in mine.