Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
While waiting for Ashera’s call, Ember asked me to help her figure out what she might want in a temple.
We took over one of the conference rooms so we wouldn’t bother the others.
Talia was planning out what we could tell the families of the victims, and the medical examiner’s report was more of the same, mirroring everything he had said about the other victims.
When we were alone, I finally asked the question I had been wanting to for a long time.
“Seriously, are you happy? Do you think you made the right decision? Though, I guess it’s too late, if you feel you made a mistake.”
“That’s not a fair question,” Ember said.
“But nothing really is fair, is it?” She sighed.
“I’m not unhappy, and I will get used to it.
But…there are days when I ask myself why I did this.
It’s not because of Herne, or the girls—though I was right.
I’m not a motherly type. I do my best and we love them to pieces, but I just don’t have that nurturing gene, I guess. ”
“And…?”
“And…there are more restrictions to being a goddess than I ever expected. Codes of behavior to live up to. The knowledge that you could end someone’s life all too easily.
No one, and I do mean no one, is omnipotent.
There’s no conscious superpower that knows all and is all-powerful.
But, and here’s the difficult part, I could order someone’s life to be ended and—with few exceptions—that order would be carried out.
The responsibility is a lot to shoulder.
Even the knowledge that I have that much power is difficult to live with.
I have to watch what I say. And now that I’m going to build a temple, I have a responsibility to my followers as well. ”
“In other words, your life is no longer your own?” I suddenly heard what she was saying.
“Right. I don’t own my own life now. I live it for others. And that is hard to adjust to.” She shrugged. “I shouldn’t complain. I have a lovely life. I’m living a dream, for some people.”
“We all have our problems. And yours, well…I hope you’re able to work through it,” I said.
“I’d better,” Ember said. “I don’t have a choice, do I?”
“I guess not.”
She headed for the espresso machine. “Coffee?”
I nodded.
Ember pulled double-shot mochas for both of us and carried them over to the table. As she sat down, she asked, “So how about you? How was your last stint in Kalevala?”
“Good,” I said. “It’s going to take some time for me to process what I learned from V?in?moinen.
He warned me to use the magic he taught me on a sparing basis to start, given he won’t be around to clean up any messes I make.
” I paused, then added, “Ember, is there any way you can help my ferrets? You know their story.”
I told her what happened to Templeton. “I’m so worried about Elise.”
She stared at her mocha. “Let me ask Cernunnos. If anyone would know, he would.” After another pause, she said, “Raven, I’m worried about the appearance of these Aqcarians.
I didn’t say anything, but I’ll have to soon.
You see, I’ve been having dreams again, and they’ve been filled with floods and hurricanes and cities falling beneath the water. ”
I knew enough about Ember to know that she had precognitive dreams that were very real and very foretelling. “You think that they’re up to more than leeching salt off a few humans?”
“The six deaths in each city. That’s not random. That has to be planned.”
At that moment, Yutani peeked through the door. “Can I talk to you? I found something, and it’s not good.”
Ember nodded. “Call the others.”
Once we were all gathered around the massive table, Yutani set his laptop down and turned it around. “I found a site which…it’s like LOCK, but it’s a private organization run by a group that follows end-of-the-world cults. Real apocalyptic stuff, you know. They call themselves the Doom Watchers.”
“Keep track of them,” Herne said. “We might need to contact them at some point.”
“Oh, we will. They list the Aqcarians among their to-watch groups. Apparently, Doom Watchers is run by one of the magic-born, and she works with water energy. She stumbled over some ancient book of prophecies that predicts the end of the current age ‘by water and wind’ and she thinks the Aqcarians are gearing up to bring storm magic to devastate the coast lines.” He shrugged.
“I don’t know what they could do about the landlocked areas. ”
“Who wrote the prophecy?” I asked. “What’s the name of the book?”
“That’s just it…I don’t know. It didn’t say.
It might be the drunken ramblings of some LARPing group, for all we know.
” Yutani turned the computer back around.
“I’ve tried several searches on Jorgununda, but they keep coming back to Jormungandr. Both are serpents, and the names are similar and both live in the ocean, so I wonder if the Aqcarians aren’t actually a distant relative to the Norse pantheon. ”
“Well, there’s a thought,” Ember said. “We could contact Freya and ask.”
“Mielikki might know,” Kipa said, “but I’m not the person to ask her, given our past.”
“Wait,” Talia said. “Jormungandr is the creature who will supposedly start Ragnarok. You don’t think that…”
“That we’re facing a cult designed to bring about the apocalypse?” Herne said. “I wouldn’t be surprised. But instead of humans, it’s started by a group of Elemental Fae?”
“If so, we’re in trouble. Do I really think they could end the world?” Ember said. “Not really, but the damage they could cause would be tremendous, given they can control hurricanes and rainstorms. We have to look into this,” she added.
“I’m waiting on a call from Ashera. She’s exploring the sound for me, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Of course, it’s a big body of water, so I don’t know if she’ll run across anything,” I said.
Talia let out a sigh. “I’m nervous in a way I haven’t been since we first learned about the dragons,” she said.
“We can’t just sit around and fidget. We’ll drive ourselves nuts doing that,” Viktor said. “I’m going to take inventory of all the gear and equipment. Wager, want to help me?”
Wager nodded. “Come on, let’s get busy.”
“I’ll continue researching,” Yutani said.
“And I’ll get back to my desk,” Talia said.
As they headed out of the room, Kipa and I turned to Herne and Ember.
“Do you really think we have something to worry about?” Kipa asked, when we four were alone.
“I think we have more to worry about than we expect,” Ember said. “I talked to Morgana this morning. She said that—” She stopped as Talia came rushing back in.
“Erica just called,” she said. “Two small sail boats over in the marina were out on the water when they capsized. They didn’t just keel over and sink, they were dragged down into the water by something. All parties on board were drowned.”
I had a momentary fear that Ashera had gone rogue, but shook it off. She wouldn’t do that—not even accidentally. “Did anybody see what happened?”
“A mayday from one of the boats said something came out of the water and had hold of their boat—a monster of some sorts. Now, unless we’ve got a giant Humboldt squid who somehow made its way into Puget Sound, we have to be dealing with some sort of Crypto,” Talia said.
“Are they sending over information?” Herne asked.
“Yeah, she sent over the reports. I’ll email them to everybody.” She glanced at the clock. “I took the liberty of ordering an early lunch,” she said. “It should be here soon. Oh, and Ashera is here. She wants to talk to you.”
“Right,” Ember said. “Tell the others to drop what they’re doing. Send Ashera back.”
It felt like the day was suddenly spinning into chaos.
“I feel like I’ve been in this room all day,” I said. At least the breakroom was bigger than the old one had been. I turned around as Ashera joined us. “I’m so glad you’re back, and unhurt.”
“I almost didn’t make it,” she said. For the first time since I had met her, she looked like she’d been in a scuffle. And for a dragon to look mussed, even in their human form, it meant something had gone down.
“What happened to you?” I asked. “You look like you’ve been in a barroom brawl.”
“I was attacked. I was in my dragon form, taking a look around, and these two massive octopuses grabbed me and tried to drag me down. I’m talking massive.
They easily had arm spans of twenty-five feet, and they had to weigh several hundred pounds each.
” She shook her head. “I’ve never seen anything quite like them. ”
“That would be the giant Pacific octopus, I’m guessing,” Yutani said.
Ashera shook her head. “They looked like them, yes, but they weren’t. Well, if they were, then they were on steroids. Anyway, I managed to break away and come to the surface. They followed me, but I was able to fly out of the water.” She shuddered. “I’m queasy just thinking about it.”
“That had to be the same thing that capsized the boats,” I said.
“I agree,” Ember said.
“Boats? What boats?” Ashera asked.
We told her what we had just learned, and she settled back in her chair. “It can’t be a coincidence.”
The reports didn’t give us much more information. The authorities were trying to raise the boats so they could figure out what happened. Viktor called Erica to see what was happening, and to warn them about the octopuses.
“All right,” Ember said. “Let’s eat lunch, and then…well…I think I’ll go visit Morgana. Herne, talk to Cernunnos?”
He nodded. “Meanwhile, Raven—you can go for now. Kipa, come with me to talk to my father, please.”
Kipa told me to take the car. He’d catch a ride home. “I’ll let you know if I’m going to be late,” he said.
As I left, feeling both relieved and yet, uneasy, I decided to take a drive down to the water.
I avoided the docks, instead heading north until I came to Discovery Park, a waterfront park in the Magnolia District. I drove down along Discovery Park Boulevard, parking at a turnout near the West Point Treatment Plant.
From there, I hiked down the trail to Fort Lawton Beach, where I stood on the gravelly shore, staring out over the open water.
In the distance, I could see a ferry crossing the sound, while all around me the windswept beach grass rustled in the breeze.
Broken driftwood lay scattered along the shore, worn into branch-sized matchsticks by the restless water.
As I stared at the water, I wondered what the hell was going on.
There’s a challenge coming, Arawn—the god of Death, to whom I was pledged, whispered in my ear. You’ll be needed, you and your friends. That’s why you were sent home from Kalevala.
Startled—I hadn’t expected to be communing with one of my gods out here on the open shore—I glanced around, but I was alone, just me and the shore and the water.
“What do I have to do, my lord?” I asked.
But there was no answer. Just the splashing of waves as they crested against the shore, and the gentle susurration of the wind in the grass.