Chapter 5
"The- uh- '' Ammi stuttered slightly as she peered at the divine with squinted eyes. The divine didn’t seem to care as he sat in serene expectation, the corners of his mouth suppressed as if her were barely repressing a grin. Birdie thought that he almost looked goading, and she looked from him to her companions, a twisted feeling in her gut growing as she realized that something was off. Ammi’s hand tightened on her shoulder, and for a fleeting moment Birdie worried that the woman was going to shove her out of the clearing and back down the stairs. The strange spasm passed however, and Ammi straightened herself up to her full and considerable height as she forged on.
"The Mortal Champions Ammi, Shields, and Brooke come as your humble charges with a new elf to offer as your hand..."
"I will have you then! But be careful on your way over here, don't step on the flowers if you can help it."
"As you wish…"
Birdie followed Ammi in trepidation, glancing between her and Shields, who stood close on her other side. His drowsiness seemed to have abandoned him as he edged closer to Birdie, his face stony and alert.
"Yes, that's it! Come on! We don't have all night now."
Her eyes flicked back to the divine who smiled and beckoned as they approached. They stepped off the path and began tromping through the grass, careful not to stamp on the delicate flowers that sprouted up in tufts through the clearing.
Birdie trusted Ammi’s guidance, choosing to look instead at the being who sat before her. He didn’t seem to mind her quizical look, in fact, the air of mischief that possessed him seemed to grow as she drew closer. More and more questions sprung to her mind as she picked out more and more details. The freckles she saw across his nose spread over his whole form, down his arms and neck, across his legs and feet clad in wound silver reeds and shining cords.
Birdie glanced into his eyes and he caught her looking, a cool smile across his lips.
She swallowed hard and felt her cheeks flush, lowering her eyes and remembering Ammi’s cautionary words and wondering what was going on in his mind.
They reached a respectable distance from the divine and stopped, and Birdie felt her anxiety spike. She suddenly realized how clammy her hands felt, and had no idea what to do with them besides covertly wipe them on her robe and hope he didn't notice.
"Well now," the divine sighed, "I suppose I should let you rehearse your lines. Go ahead. I'm ready. Oh! And do you like my new hillock?"
He kicked his heels into the small steep lump of grassy earth upon which he sat, raising his eyebrows like a child expecting praise for a mud pie.
"It's very nice, divine." Brooke said kindly.
He beamed at her, pointing a silver ringed finger at her with his thumb extended.
"Thank you Brooke, I can always count on you to appreciate simple joys with me!"
Brooke smiled back, sheepish joy shining through her nervous exterior.
"Now, let's get started, Ammi. There are some pressing matters I need to cover with you all once we finish so I'd like to move this along."
He then turned to Birdie, his white irises expanding as he looked at her.
"And what do you want me to call you? Your name is Sulkah, but people call you Birdie right?"
"That's right."
She didn't bother wondering how he knew her name- whether he knew just by looking at her, or if Shields said something to him in advance didn’t matter. All she could think about was how strange the divine was. He wasn't anything like she expected. Sure he looked fantastical, almost as if he'd pulled himself from a crater after falling from the stars, but his demeanor, cadence of speaking, the cool confident arrogance in his face… none of it lined up.
Is this what all divines are like? What about this man caused Gabriel to falter?
His grin spread even wider across his face, exposing a set of stark white and even teeth that made Birdie uneasy.
"Looks like both you and I are the type to subvert expectations eh? I like that about me- about us! I will call you Birdie then. A sweet little name. Did you pick it?"
Birdie shook her head, wondering if the conversation had drifted that way, or if the divine had somehow understood what she was thinking.
"No, G- eh, my friend did.”
"Aaaaah yes, Gabriel. Well, I was wondering how long it would take for someone to bring him up. Shields?"
"Yes?" The man stepped forward, the crease in his brow deepening.
"Is there any particular reason the boy went wandering into my woods earlier? You didn't think to keep him in after our little incident yesterday?"
"He left without our permission, divine. I gave him strict instructions to stay within the city, but it seems he disregarded my orders."
"Mmm, yes well there's no undoing it now." The divine sniffed in mild distaste, inspecting his cuticles as Shields seemed to wilt slightly.
"He did strike me as the 'do what I want' type- a philosophy I can relate with- but unfortunately we will have to deal with the consequences of his wandering here in a short while. For now, Birdie! Tell me, do you feel prepared to face the sacrifice?"
She was still thinking about Gabriel when he asked, and was unprepared to answer right away. “uh, yes! I do."
"Then let us proceed! Take it away, Ammi."
Birdie’s stomach gave a nervous swoop and her knees trembled slightly as Ammi stepped back, giving her shoulder one last squeeze. Brook and shields stepped away as well, until she was boxed in by the four of them. The didine stood, striding forward lazily and eyeing Birdie once more.
“Take a knee for us, would you Birdie?”
She did so, hoping that nobody noticed her trembling as the tension spiked around her. Was it in her head, or was everything growing dimmer? Had Gabriel been this nervous?
She looked up at the divine, he was slightly taller than the rest, and his musculature more refined- intentional. Everything about him seemed staged. Too perfect, too styled, as if he were only dressing up like a person. Something about him made every corner of her mind hiss that this was an intruder, and she needed to exercise extreme caution, and maybe Gabriel had been right.
Divine... She wondered, What makes you this way?
He crouched down, elbows on his knees as he looked blankly into her eyes and whispered.
"Mmmmm a good question Birdie! Afraid I can't answer that right now. But soon."
He looked up through his white eyelashes at Ammi, who stood behind her. He nodded and Ammi cleared her throat and began to speak, and as she did the lights in the clearing began to fade into adim atmospheric glow.
"You have been selected to participate in the Trial of Sacrifice, offered to all who meet the merits to become a Champion of our divinity. Nominated by your brothers and sisters, you stand to give it all in the name of wisdom and power. From this time on, should you complete your great trade, you will live as a mortal."
Though the light around them was growing dark, the place where they stood began to gleam. Light seemed to emanate from every blade of grass, every fold of the divine's dazzling cloak. It filled her eyes with a brilliance so stunning, that it felt hard to breathe. Birdie squinted, trying to keep the divine being in her sights but it was all too much, his exquisite face slowly disappeared in the blinding light.
When Ammi next spoke her voice resonated within the color around her, echoing softly and layered with the tones below and above.
"Champions are expected to heed the call of their tribute divinity. You will be a light to others. A protector and shield to the people who live within divine domain. You will seek wisdom and increase in power as you obey your divinity's commands. As you make pilgrimage to the domains of others, you will not commune with other divine beings, but you will treat their Champions as your comrades in your oath of good. You will protect the innocent and serve the divine until the day you shall perish. After the sacrifice is made and you are accepted into the Championship, you will be expected to follow all other rules and oaths put forth by the divinity. Do you accept this oath Birdie?"
"Yes Ammi," she answered, still squinting and flinching from the glare.
"Divine, we your Champions, present Birdie to you as tribune for judgment."
"Thank you Ammi."
She could not see him, but she knew his voice was close, within her touch should she have chosen to reach out. But her hands shook too much to respond. She took a deep breath, attempting to overcome the surge of adrenaline but before she could adapt, an overwhelming feeling of power filled her. The air felt charged with it, as if it seeped in secretly through her lungs and was now spreading through her blood into every fiber of her being. The rush felt like the crash of ocean waves against her body, and she felt like if she were called upon to run to the sea and back at this moment she could do it. It was extraordinary.
Was it already happening?Was she already becoming human?
Then the divine spoke, his voice amused and gentle above her.
"You are certainly eager, Sulkah Birdie, daughter of Vihn and Tide. This power is indeed a taste of what you will know in the future. But you know as well as I that life often throws unexpected twists in your path. As in power, so in trial shall you face greatness. I hope you have what it takes to challenge them!"
She felt a touch at the center of her forehead, and with the sudden touch, everything went dark and quiet. The whispering of the wind through the branches above ceased. The twill of nighttime creatures muted as if she had water in her ears. The inescapable rush of power around her vanished as well as It all turned to silence and dark as if doused and smothered.
It left her feeling frightened and empty. Birdie found herself on her feet, though she didn't remember standing. She spun in the darkness, trying to orient herself on some familiar point, but found herself only alone.
And then light. Before she even had a chance to call out, a sliver of sunshine cut the horizon in the distance and began to grow from a central focal point. Not like the blinding scene from before, but gentle and softas it rose higher in the sky, bleeding upwards and down as if reflected.
With a jolt of realization that filled her with emotion, Birdie recognized it as its glow softly touched everything before her, rippling out in streaks of orange and shimmering blue.
It's the sea! I'm looking at the sea!
She wrenched her eyes from the sky and turned her head, hardly believing what she saw.
Sure enough, the beach spanned around her in miles of distant shoreline. Salt rode the wind as it tousled her short hair. Soft and gritty sand beneath her feet felt familiar and cool, and she gasped a tearful laugh as she spun, the shallow surf breaking over her ankles.
A flock of small sandpipers chased the waves as they rose and fell over the shore. Without another thought, abandoning every care, Birdie ran after them.
And then the scene shifted and she sat under the shade of a dune, a tiny fragile bird in her hands. She could feel its soft plumage and rapid heartbeat fluttering against her fingers as she blinked through teary eyes, a lump in her throat.
Wait, she thought in confusion, dragging herself from the scene as if stopping herself from falling asleep.
I've seen this before!
"Let it go Sulkah. You did a good job, I think he can go back to his mama now."
Confused, she looked up to see Gabriel smiling down at her, hands on his knees. He was missing his front teeth and the freckles on his little face were darker, his wavy red hair disheveled in the wind. His eyes were soft and kind. Care free.
Birdie relaxed her grip and the healed creature scurried from her allowing fingers, his spindly legs carrying him back to the flock by the shore. She sniffed, rubbing her eyes with her palms.
"Don't cry!” Gabriel laughed, grabbing her arm and pulling her to her feet.
“I bet you wish you could join them don't you, you silly little Birdie!"
These are my memories!
The scene changed. She was being held by gentle arms, listening to a soft lullaby about trees and the earth. Birdie recognized her mother’s voice and had to choke back a shout, her heart picking up its frantic beat.
But before she could focus on her mother’s substance, the moment changed, and they drifted through another memory, and then another, and Birdie allowed the scenes to pull her along. All thoughts of anxiety, mortality, and Gabriel washed away and replaced by glistening nostalgia. The moments were glorious, but tinged with sadness as she recognized lost faces, heard voices long since snuffed out, and saw again for the first time in ten years, the sea.
One memory seemed to crystalize sharper than the others, and Birdie felt a swooping sensation in her stomach as she recognized what she was looking at.
Once again, she was standing on the beach, but this time she was surrounded by a crowd of people. The skyline was still orange as the last rays of light disappeared. In the twilight, waves lapped around their feet, and in the ripples, swirls of glowing plankton lit up and made dazzling luminescent clouds in the water.
She smiled, realizing that this was real! She ran her fingers through the water, marveling at the shining water as it spilled through her hands. Often Birdie had lied awake wondering if she had dreamed the phenomenon, too afraid to ask Gabriel or Ammi to corroborate her story in case they confirmed that she was wrong. These swirling glowing plankton were part of the reason why she enjoyed the display at the gate so much, the shining blue was absolutely stunning.
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A shout from the crowd, and she tore her eyes away from the sight. In the distance, lanterns bobbed between the waves as rowboats drew closer and closer, carrying the Champions of Coastlund back to her people.
The memory dissolved, and then resumed in renewed scenes of sweeping joy. Sunshiny days spent chasing Gabriel among the dunes, and the fresh ocean wind that made the floorboards smooth and soft as she lay on the deck, reading to herself.
Without her even noticing or offering consent, the tone of the memories shifted. Instead of the pale coast line and watery sunlight, her memories turned distinctly more green. Moments in her wooden beach home were replaced with memories that took place in the pineneedle strewn City of Trees. The mood changed as well. The carefree elation that carried her switched to the raging fire of determination. Training in the fields with Brooke. Following Shields and Cedar through the woods on a morning run. She smiled as she witnessed her first time using magic to cast a flame as Gabriel whooped and punched the air in triumph as she held her hand aloft, the candle sized glow hardly flickering to life before it went out in a line of smoke. Ammi’s smiling face and Brooke braiding her hair while they taught each other the songs they sang in childhood. Shields drilling her with a practice sword and her first time finally tagging him. Hours spent by the fire in the library, pouring over spell books and planning with Gabriel which ones they wanted to learn first.
Mingled into these more recent victories, she saw countless mornings sitting on the rock by the river in the meadow with Gabriel.Those quiet moments spent reading and planning, training and practicing their meager magic. In fact, most of these memories involved Gabriel.
She sighed through them all, taking it in like a warm hug on a cold night, wishing she could stay this way forever.
She arrived in a memory clearer than the others as it lived close to the surface, and turned over like fresh soil after a rain to reveal the softness within. She stood on the bank of the river. Birdie could smell the damp earthy tones of the dirt and stone around them. Looking up, she saw golden sunshine as it fell in rivulets between fresh spring leaves, the light and darkness dancing in patterns across their eyes. Gabriel’s hands finally reached up, caressing her face. She felt his soft lips on hers…
“Aaah yes I thought this looked familiar. The boy had the same memory, except from his perspective it was very… different. Interesting!”
Birdie Jumped, whirling on the spot and feeling her ears burn as the shining memory faded away. She had totally forgotten what she was doing. Was she still kneeling in the clearing with the divine? Had he been here this whole time?
"Hello?" she called in embarassed accusation, somehow feeling the urge to chastise him for intruding on her personal business.
“I’m still here! And don’t be embarrassed Birdie, you’ve had quite a lovely little life full of joy and triumph. I like my Championship to be bound together by understanding and empathy. I find that sharing the highs in one’s life is a great way to bind us together in understanding.”
Birdie continued to search through the darkness, but she couldn't find the divine anywhere. As she looked, she began to process what he was saying, and her embarrassment only bloomed wider.
“Is, is everyone else watching this too?” She asked in chill horror. Birdie didn’t want to share these moments with everyone. Not even with Ammi, and especially not Cedar and Brooke. Those memories were hers, and there were some, like her recent kiss with Gabriel, that she really didn’t want to share.
“If it’s any consolation, the champions are forbidden from discussing what they see in the ritual, so they aren’t going to mock you for that cozy little scene by the river.”
Birdie cringed so hard that she felt like she might implode. She pressed her hands over her face and groaned, wishing that she could be anywhere other than here, but knowing better than to surrender. She had to remind herself that this was all part of the process, that if she wanted to be a Champion, she would have to just suck it up and accept it. But still, she couldn’t stop the writhing feeling in her stomach.
“Very good, pull yourself together.” the divine chortled piteously.
“Typically people save their regret and embarrassment for the second half of this little exercise.”
“Second half?” Birdie asked.
“Oh yes. There is much more to a person than their highs. I can learn just as much, if not more, about a person by strolling through their lows.”
And suddenly the darkness was gone. Birdie stood on the beach again, but this time she looked down to see the body of a sea bird at her feet. Her eyes stung, and the sad sight blurred through tears as she cried over the feathery remains.
Her mind flooded with feelings of confusion and helplessness. She did not yet understand death. She didn't know why the little bird needed to die, and nothing Gabriel said as he stood beside her seemed to justify the lifeless animal on the beach.
Then she sat huddled in fear in her mother’s arms. The panes of glass in the windows shook with wind and thunder as rain pelted in raucous sheets all around them. With a chill down her spine she remembered this night. She remembered her mom's heart beat as it raced against her cheek, she could feel it pounding through her skin as she held Birdie and cried. BIrdie remembered the thought that raced repeatedly through her head then and now.
“Papa is still out on his ship…”
The memory shifted and suddenly Birdie couldn't breathe. Harsh stinging ocean washed over her face and forced its way into her nose as she struggled desperately to get to the sand bar. Mouthfuls of salty water and an irresistible current tugging and choking her while desperate hands tried to help but only sank with her. Wave after powerful swirling wave pummeled them into the depths, further and further from hope. And all she could think about was that this was how papa must have died years ago… choking in the dark.
Horrified, Birdie came to her senses and realized what was bound to come next. Somehow the looming thought was worse than this memory of almost drowning.
She shook her head and closed her eyes, breathing deeply through the panic and mounting fear.
"No, I don’t want to see this!" She shouted, hoping in vain that the divine would hear her and somehow choose to skip what was about to transpire.
"No turning back now Birdie. We are almost finished."
Through her closed eyes the colors bled and she could see once more.
She and Gabriel stood in a room of stark white filled with the strong smells of medicine and decay. She held onto Gabriel’s sleeve and stared down at a face she was afraid to recognize. Gaunt and sick, Gabrie’s older brother Levi lay still beneath crisp white sheets, his face and neck almost matching the pale bedding. The only color in his sickly face was a purplish red on his lips and around his eyes. Eyes that were not supposed to look so terrifying. Eyes that used to look so kind and brave, but were now red and hazy as they stared in bulging unfocus into the distance beyond.
Our fault! She gasped, clutching Gabriel closer. The emotions of her younger self overtook her, and for a moment, Birdie struggled to remember that this wasn’t actually happening again. But as she tried to gain her mental footing, the sickbay room disappeared.
Now she stood on the beach with Gabriel, watching him scream and cry, throwing stones into the sea while she bawled beside him, confused and scared.
Birdie fought to keep from succumbing to the memories. Torn between irrational and legitimate fear as each scenario slammed her back into her younger mentality and filled her with the same feelings of helplessness. She knew where this was headed, and try as she might to stop the flow of memorized time, she couldn't help but be caught up in it.
This isn’t real! It is all in my past! It's already happened and cannot hurt me!
The scene changed one last time. The chaos and turmoil suddenly still and quiet except for the crashing of the ocean.
She felt the wind first, smelled the fire and burning grass, and knew what was about to happen.
Birdie looked down at her feet and saw only red. The flesh on her arms crawled.
The divine spoke from within her mind, his voice suddenly curious and analyzing.
“Here we are… this is what I was looking for. Let’s dwell in this memory a little longer, shall we?”
“No.” Birdie shook her head, turning to find the divine but seeing only the crystallization of the day she fought hardest to forget.
“No please let’s not stay here!”
“This is arguably the most important one!” he whined.
“You’re the girl who’s always saying ‘freedom, power, justice for my people!’ right? Let us not forget why you are here!”
Birdie stood on the beach in tears, her nose running down her face as she blinked against the wind.
The heavens above were red. Like strawberries. Like blood. Like fire. Like the sky the morning after her father drowned.
Swirling storm clouds caught the rays of evening light, throwing them in violent streaks across the sky and sea as they mixed from south to east to north, twisting around the sky.
Someone was calling her name, crying her name. Screaming. But she couldn’t leave. Gabriel was still out there in the water! She had to find him!
“Birdie! Come now!” The tearing scream from up the shore did nothing to pull her attention away from the towering erratic wall of waves before her.
She pressed her hands over her ears, crying above the noise as her knees knocked. She took slow tentative steps forward, determined to find him, but scared. Scared of drowning. Scared of becoming like Levi, like her father.
And then hands scooped her from the beach and threw her over their shoulder, it was Ammi, carrying her away from the sea forever. Birdie screamed, but stopped when she spotted Levi. He was here! He looked frail and thin, still dressed in his sterile white hospital pajamas.
Birdie watched as Levi stooped into the surf and pulled his brother from the scarlet waves, staggering and dragging his little brother’s limp form from the grips of the tide.
He faltered up the beach, and when he reached Ammi, he shoved Gabriel’s unconscious form towards Ammi.
“Take them!” He shouted, his voice a terrible rasp.
“I cannot carry them both and you cannot fight!”
“I cannot run either. But I can slow them down! Take them and get out of here!”
Birdie was dropped on the sandy path as Ammi took the sleeping Gabriel, and Levi crouched down to grip her shoulders. She looked into his hollow eyes, but for the first time since that horrible day, she noticed a detail she had forgotten.
His eyes were crystal clear. Not yellowing and bloodshot from infection. In fact, there was color in his face she hadn’t seen for weeks. Was this a trick of the light? A fault in the memory? Why would she remember it like this, if it wasn’t true? Had he really been dying before?
Levi looked into her eyes with clarity and determination, tears spilling down his cheeks and skating along his jaw as he took her arms and whispered.
“Take care of each other Birdie! And run! Don’t stop!”
Ammi gripped her arm tightly, pulling her along the dune path. Craning her neck over her shoulder, Birdie watched as Levi lifted his alabaster sword one last time, the weapon flashing white with his final blaze of dying magic as tall and imposing figures came running from around buildings and dunes, each with drawn weapons and eyes focused on Levi.
Birdie fell to her knees, and gasped, clutching her chest and squeezing her eyes shut.
“No! I can't watch him die again!"
“I’ve seen enough.”
The overwhelming crush of grief and fear was gone in an instant and she was yanked back into her body. The change felt like an impact, and the stillness of the shrine was so drastically different from the chaos of the last memory that it made her head spin.
“Good job Birdie. You can open your eyes now.”
She blinked through tears, staring down at her hands as they gripped the soft grassy earth below her. Small trenches and her filthy fingernails told of her desperate struggle to hold on.
It’s over. It’s done.
"I'm afraid we’re not finished quite yet.” The divine said with a sympathetic sigh. “Something's come up while we were away, and we need to take a brief intermission. Feel free to collect yourself while us adults talk."
Birdie took a deep shuddering breath and focused on her immediate senses, employing the meditation methods Cedar taught her during training. She wasn’t sure what was worse, the lingering childhood fear from being so immersed in her younger memories, or the realization that everyone else in the circle must have seen the events as well. A crippling shame filled her chest and she did her best to dispel it, but it sunk its teeth deeper into her.
Let it go, She thought bitterly, get it together. They know you’re not weak. Just let it go.
“You don’t have to let go if you don’t want to, you know.”
She looked up at the divine who stooped over her, looking down in unreadable neutrality.
“See, burying the bad stuff- grief, loss, anger, shame- burying that stuff does not make it better. It might even make it worse. Like when you leave wine under your bed for a couple hundred years- It doesn’t disappear.”
“I’m not avoiding it,” She grumbled, finally pulling herself to her knees.
“Mmmm, see, that is where you are wrong. Both you and our dear little Gabriel have some serious repressed emotion.”
Birdie tensed at the mention of Gabriel. Had he gone through this too? He must have. Is that what happened then? They went through his bad memories and he lashed out- wasn’t able to withstand watching Levi get sick and die.
But he didn’t see Levi die. Gabriel was unconscious for days after we fled.
And that was another thing that bothered Birdie. Why had they stopped after that particular memory? They hadn’t even made it to their journey through the wilds. Birdie knew without a shadow of a doubt that there were horrible things that happened on that trip that deserved to stand beside losing Levi and almost drowning. Not to mention all of the crummy luck she and Gabriel both faced over the past ten years in the City of Trees. Were they all simply dwarfed by the horrors of the fall of their home?
“That doesn’t matter Birdie.”
She shook her head, snapping out of it and looking up at the divine who seemed to be reading her mind.
“I saw what I needed to see. For now there are more important matters that I need to attend to.”
He stood up, and Birdie turned to see her three companions. They each looked as terrible as she felt, and none of them met her gaze. Brooke’s eyes were red, and Shields's usual scowl seemed about ten shades darker as he studied the top of the enclosure nearby, staring resolutely away from everyone else.
But Ammi…
The woman appeared to be carved in stone. Stoic and still, her hands balled into fists as she looked to the divine without a shadow of emotion across her face. The cold expression sent a chill down Birdie’s neck.
The divine cleared his throat.
“I know we are all very sad right now, but unfortunately we do not have time to talk about our feelings- at least us grown ups don’t. Shields?”
“Yes?”
“When we were standing on the beach, you felt that strange thump right?- oh wait,”
The divine held his hand out as if to silence Shields and pressed his other finger to his temple.
“No, no, no, it wasn’t a ping,” he murmured, shaking his head and talking to himself.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. Listen to yourself, you’re arguing about grammar while I'm trying to save their lives… No, I don’t care. You’ve only been able to feel magic for a day, you don’t know what you’re talking about. No wonder you don’t have any friends. Sorry!”
He snapped back to Shields, his eyes wide in innocence. The thought struck Birdie that maybe the reason the others seemed so tense was because the divine was mad.
“Call it what you want, but during that memory something big happened out in the woods around us. Did you feel it?”
“Yes I did." Shields nodded. "Something big.”
“Right, good, that was a test. Can’t have someone with the instincts of an elvish rock going to protect my village- oh no offense.”
He winked at Birdie, who was sitting on her knees in utter confusion, feeling emotionally raw from the trip and mounting trepidation as the divine seemed to be unraveling before her.
“Anyways, I need you, Shields, to run back to the city wall for me. Hold the fort there and wait until I send these other two down for further instructions.”
“Wait- you want me to leave? What about the rest of the-”
The divine cut him off.
“The Ritual? Oh, we won’t be completing that tonight. No time.”
“Wait!” Birdie sat up in distress, icy shock spreading through her heart.
“Did I fail?”
“Oh not at all my dear!” He waved dismissively, “You passed with flying colors! But I had a better idea while wandering around that little brain of yours. If you will just wait a moment I will get to that. Shields, come here for a moment.”
Shields shot Birdie a hard look before he stepped forward obediently. The divine pressed his palm to the man’s shoulder and a flare of bright light traveled from the point of contact to below Shield’s sleeve and up the veins of his neck, making his eyes glow faintly as if the light was inside him, trying to escape.
What is happening?
“I am giving our brave leader some extra allowance Birdie. He’s got a trial ahead of him, and I trust him to spend it wisely.”
He released Shields, and the man breathed deeply, flexing his fingers as the glowing in his veins faded from white, to blue, to nothing.
“You will find our compatriot Cedar waiting for you in the meadow, along with four individuals who bear the Hunter’s mark.” The divine eyed Shields with a dangerously inquisitive charm, speaking his next words in a casual manner better suited to discussing the weather with a passerby.
“He will try to attack you. They all will.”
“Wait what? Why?” Shields sputtered, moving his hand to his hip where Birdie knew a sword hid beneath his uniform. The divine raised a reassuring hand.
“They are not acting of their own accord- neither is their captor- I believe. Just do your best to keep them at bay until I send the other two to help fend them off. They shouldn’t give you too much trouble”
“I do not wish to kill them,” Shields said, genuine fear in his voice that Birdie had never heard before.
“If they are being manipulated, teach me how to free them!”
“I am afraid that is not a power you can learn dear Shields. Just do as you are told and incapacitate them if you can. Send up a flare if you require help.”
Shield’s typically tan face looked pale as he nodded.
"Yes divine. I won't fail."
“Appreciate it! But be careful, two more Hunters are lurking along the path. I don’t think you will run into them, but just in case, be swift.”
Shields bowed quickly, giving Ammi and Brooke a fearful look before he left, sprinting to the stairs and out of sight.
Birdie looked back to the divine, who had his eyes closed, nodding and speaking softly to himself. The shift in pace and tone of the night almost gave her whiplash. Against her will, the fear that the divine wasn’t some powerful being but actually a mad man caused her to pause. She looked again to Ammi who was still silently glowering at the divine. She wouldn’t lead Birdie astray…
But he was still talking to himself…
“No, I don’t think so. No, I said to protect the wall and hold them off. I did not order him to kill them, my instructions were very clear. I said incapacitate, ughn-”
He sighed in exasperation.
“Birdie, tell my hillock that he needn’t worry about the Hunters. Shields can handle it!”
"Oh. Um."
Birdie looked past the fitful divine at the large lump behind him. She studied the mound of grass, but it remained a mound. Not a magical mound just a mound.
She remembered Ammi's warning.
"Er, yes mound… Shields is a very skilled fighter. In my years of training with him he never killed me so… I don't think the hunters are in any danger."
"There you see? She believes in him. I wish you would too, annoying little-"
"Enough."
Birdie swung her head up to look in fearful admiration at Ammi, who stepped forward and glowered down at the divine. The being looked up at her with a simple expectant smile, twirling a flower stem in his long fingers.
"Something has ensnared one of your Champions, and threatens to attack the city. You just sent Shields to fight against five foes and their leader who was strong enough to subdue Cedar. Either allow Brooke and I to aid him or give us our orders. I do not appreciate the way you toy with those you swear to protect."
"Oooohooohoo," the divine rolled his shoulders and grinned like he'd just taken a bite of particularly good food.
"I LOVE it when my champions speak their mind- amazing! That's what I love about you Ammi! No fear! But I suppose you're right. I was the one who said we were on a tight schedule, wasn't I? Or was it you?"
He turned over his shoulder and stared at the hillock expectantly.
It remained a mound.
After a beat of silence Brooke also spoke, her hands clasped at her chest in humble admonition, stepping in front of Ammi who was turning red with repressed rage, her angry cheeks matching the burn scars along her brow and chin.
"Please, divine. If you have orders for us then give them, and we will accomplish them after we escort Birdie home. If the woods are not safe we need to go back to protect our people."
"I will give you your orders, but you will leave our little Birdie here with me temporarily. We have a lot to talk about."
"But-"
"You needn't worry dear Ammi. I will make sure she is safe. In the meantime, here."
He waved his hand, and a sprinkling of flecked light rushed over the two women like a wind. When their clothing settled, it looked different- Birdie realized with a start that it was identical to her own. From the sleeveless cloak, to her ashen brown boots.
"Are you two fast runners?" The divine asked.
"Yes, but-"
"Ap ap! No time! Look."
He pointed to the sky beyond, where a burst of light like a comet from the ground rose up over the trees.
"That would be Shields. I'm afraid something has gotten in the way of my plans, he shouldn't have met opposition yet… but, it's funny…"
His voice dropped, a look of lovely trouble in his eyes.
"I can only feel darkness… something, someone, is creating a blind spot in my domain! My own domain! How incredibly disrespectful and interesting!"
"Your orders, please!" Brooke begged.
"Right. Orders. You two pull up your hoods and run back to the meadow. Make sure not to let your faces show plainly, I have a feeling that our foe is looking for something specific and if he remains confused you should be safe- well, reasonably safe. Here."
He stepped over Birdie, who still knelt in confusion in the grass as she tried to wrap her brain around what was going on.
The divine placed a hand on each of his champion's shoulders, filling them with light and power the same as he had done for Shields.
"Run as fast as you comfortably can without burning up too much magic. Keep your hoods up and don't stop for anything until you get to Shields, and then the three of you run for the wall and go inside. Do you understand?"
"Yes!" Brooke nodded diligently, but Ammi only glowered at the divine, her eyes still glowing faintly from the flood of power. In a show of incredible nerve, she raised her hand and clasped it over the divine’s, who looked at her with giddy surprise, completely impervious in the face of Ammi’s threatening glare as she growled.
"You may be divine, and this may be your wood, but that is my girl. If you lay a finger-"
"Don't worry, don't worry! I just have a different assignment for her that requires some explaining! Besides we are not alone,” he gestured once again to the mound of grass,
“my hill is chaperoning."
"I am serious. I told her all about your kind, so don't try to manipulate her. It will not work."
"Ammi," Birdie reached back and took her hand, her heart beating fast.
Brooke looked anxiously between the woman and the divine being, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet, “Ammi!”
"You have my word. Now go! Before Shields does something drastic and breaks my hillock's heart."
Ammi gave Birdie's hand one last squeeze, communicating in it every cautionary tale she'd ever told her in their ten years as Champion and Cadet.
"I'll be alright." Birdie whispered.
And with one final look of distrust, the two women turned and ran from the clearing. Birdie watched them go, taking with them the feeling of security fading with them as they left ehr behind.
"Exceptional champions, all of them." The divine stood with his hands on his hips in observant admiration, watching their hooded figures disappear down the steps.
"I’ve been doing this for hundreds of years, you know.”
He turned around and looked down at her. It was only then she realized what made him so unnerving. Though he bore the shape and insufferable mannerisms of a man, there was a deep and dangerous knowing in his eyes. Eyes like the night sky, vast, mysterious, cold, and shining.
“Shileds might have told you, but I have always been very choosy about who I allow into my Championship- a practice that, from what I hear, sets me apart from other divines. But I think my methods lead to a tighter knit group, don’t you think? Each of them have their quirks but they balance eachother out, and I was never one to place my confidence in legions of soldiers. Too many independant motives. I like our cozy gang. Now Birdie."
She couldn't guess what he was thinking as he rambled himself out and turned to her. She couldn’t even come to the conclusion of whether he was insane or brilliant. All she knew was that in the grand scope of whatever was going on, he had a bird’s eye view, and power to do something about it, so she had no other choice than to sit there and let him talk.
“We’ve really gotten ourselves into a spot of trouble haven’t we?”
As if hit over the head with a training sword, the thought crashed into her mind that Gabriel was in the woods. How could she have forgotten? Whatever ensnared Cedar and the hunters was lurking out there as well. Birdie felt her blood run cold as the horrible memory of the beasts she met in the wilds ten years ago flashed before her eyes.
“Is Gabriel alright?” she asked, getting to her feet.
"Gabriel has not been alright in years my dear. But before we get into that, I've got a very special assignment for you. Come, have a seat on my hillock, let's have a talk about eternal life."