Hammer and Feather Ch. 52-57

Syreilla dodged, putting on a vicious grin. "You wanted to spread the pain. You wanted children to be the cause of their parents' suffering. I'm the goddess of righteous vengeance, Isca. All you do and all your soldiers do will come back to haunt you, I promise you. You can rely on a Rook."

"I'm going to make you suffer, Rook."

"All you have to offer is suffering, Isca, and I'm going to make every soldier in your army see it. Uncle Hevtos called me off when I was taking my vengeance on Imos, who will do that for you?"

"Ahevhethrah will-"

His mocking laughter echoed over the city and the sun brightened. "You defy me by continuing this war, Isca, you defy me by harming those who worship you and by defiling the temples of the other gods, putting your own priests in place of theirs. I will not command my Golden Rook to cease her vengeance upon you or those loyal to you until you come before me as a supplicant."

"You can't even protect your precious Garden of Twilight why should I-"

"Because I don't fail." Syr had slipped her talons out of their sheaths as Ahevhethrah's voice had thundered over the rooftops and she ignited them as she slashed, making the goddess stumble and fall through the door to the black oubliette that had opened behind her. To those surreptitiously watching it looked as if Syreilla had bloodied the goddess and cast her out of her own city. She sheathed her talons.

Ahevhethrah stepped through a flame-lined door with a vicious grin, his hand extended, "My Golden Rook."

"I hope you won't spoil my fun too soon, Grandfather, I have so much planned for her and her soldiers." Placing her hand in his, she let him pull her through, forgoing the threshold entirely and entering the underworld.

He laughed again and pressed a kiss onto her head. "Syvezar has been scolded for letting you out of his sight yet again."

"I love my dragons but Vedhethrah is trying to nail me to the floor. He catches the eye too much for me to do my sneaking when he's with me and I needed Syv to stay to look after the elves. I carry the sigil Hevtos made for Vezar, broadly speaking, I did have one of my dragons with me-"

"The memory of Vezar Edra does not count as one of your dragons." He spoke firmly but with a smile. "I promised them that I would keep a close eye on you. Both have agreed that it would be acceptable."

With a loud exhale she wrapped her arms around her grandfather for a moment.

Something Isca said nagged at the back of her mind. "What did she mean when she said you couldn't protect your Garden?"

"I have only one true priest and my worshippers are still divided and worshipping Hevtos or Atos. Most worship Atos. My Garden of Twilight is protected as best I could but... as I could not prevent her from sealing the door to the underworld, I cannot keep her out of my Garden."

"Putting the stones close together makes a hum of power. If she can go into your Garden and get near enough to your stone... Can you take that power from her or-"

"The act of trespassing in my Garden keeps me from doing so. She holds that power firmly."

"Where is your Garden? If I can go there, I can draw from the stones no matter how firm her hold is."

"You would be drawing from those who have little enough at the moment. It would be rude, my Golden Rook."

"They should know by now that I'm rude, and I'm not going to empty them like I did to Rielle's."

He gave her a wide grin that made her think of Vezar. "I should have allowed you to punish her."

"Bone White said it was his place to do so, you should have left it to him. I could have made her so miserable she would have begged to have the matter brought to you." Syr gave him a sour look. "And all without a war."

"I will allow you to deal with the huntress as you see fit, but you must keep yourself safe. Your husbands and your family would be wounded if you should be harmed."

"I've never been good at being safe, but I can promise to be hard to kill." She gave him a wide smile and he sighed.

"If you die I will demand the others allow you to come to me. You are strong but you stand on a knife's edge. Tell me how I may offer my help." He embraced her again.

"There are a few things she might do, it would have been better if she'd kept them in her temple but... if she leaves the stones in your garden this could still be easy. If they get moved again I might need to call on you and on anyone you can bring with you to help me. That includes the elven gods and the dwarves.

"Easy is the gentle way to do it, the hard way is dangerous. I ask you not to tie my hands the way the others are trying to."

His eyes widened slightly as he looked down into hers. She could feel the same peculiar warmth as she had when Hevtos stared into her eyes. "Give Syvezar a sigil."

"If I do, Vedhethrah will demand it from him and everything will go wrong. I can give it to you to hold for him."

"You trust me to hold it?" Ahevhethrah smiled warmly.

"I trusted Uncle Hevtos with every fiber of my being, and I know that my grandfather loved me. If he wanted to harm me he could have, easily, when he held my eye. The two merged back together as one, I love and trust, even if looking at you still makes me feel cross-eyed."

He cupped her face and kissed her on the forehead before pressing his face to hers. "I will not break your trust."

Pulling away with a smile, she withdrew the blue feather that Braigon had given her. Running her fingers up it, instead of a pure golden feather, this one shimmered with hints of blue like dragon's fire.

"Please hold this for Syvezar. But while you're holding it, if you should need me-"

Ahevhethrah broke into laughter and embraced her, "You are my Golden Rook. If I should need you, you will serve."

"Always."

"And if I should become Atos and Hevtos again?"

"Then you can work that out amongst yourselves. I hope you'll get along better this time and I do like to be busy."

"Two husbands is not a hardship?"

"I miss Vezar but as long as I have both of my husbands it's enough." The words were true enough and she tried to keep the thought firmly in mind that she still had all of Vezar just in two bodies.

"If they choose not to become one again and we become two, Atos will take Syvezar and Hevtos will keep Vedhethrah. You will have two homes and two husbands to share them with."

"I'll have more than two homes." She gave him a grin. "Bone White is giving me one and Vedhethrah is seeing to it I have a place he can join me in with the conspiracy of ravens they keep at Bhiraldur."

He smiled ruefully and shook his head. "You will be busy, my Golden Rook, and I will not keep you from coming and going as you please, but I will hope you spend more time with us than with the others. Inattention cost Atos his wife."

"I'll try to heed your warning." Syr put on an imitation of innocence, "But it might also have gotten Grandmother a second husband."

The expression on his face as if half of him wanted to laugh and half of him wanted to shake her made her dissolve into laughter herself.

"You enjoy provoking others."

"Father says it's a family trait." She gave him a bright smile and his face softened into amusement.

"My dear one..." His gaze lifted and he frowned. "Your grandmother requires me."

"Go. If you happen to see any of the younger gods, tell them I'm offering lessons at a very reasonable price."

Ahevhethrah laughed quietly and gave her another kiss on the head. "You will come with me, dear one. Offer them yourself." He tucked the feather into a pocket that appeared and vanished.

Syreilla broke into a wide mirthless grin as she stepped through the doorway with her grandfather into an open courtyard where a handful of the other gods stood. Their expressions suggested they wished they were anywhere else.

"-la, you will summon that wretch-"

"Who are you calling a wretch?" Ahevhethrah's voice was a smooth, draconic growl.

"The Rook." Isca glared at her. "I was civil."

"You took the first swing and made the first threat. I should remind you, you asked the question and I answered it. I was being nice." She widened her grin until it hurt and held it. "No one ever appreciates it when I'm nice. It's hurtful."

The murky air around the huntress was seething as if filled by partly visible snakes.

"The next time I see you, Rook, be ready. I'm going to make you suffer."

"You put me in the circle that couldn't be erased without an item created by a god that held no power. I was ready. You broke your word and tried to slaughter elvish children in front of their parents. I was ready. The only one who's been unprepared at every turn has been you."

Syr laughed as the door opened beneath her feet and she was dropped into darkness, it lightened immediately with the aid of her good eye. Chains rattled near her and she turned to face the sound. A filthy creature was chained to the wall. It looked ragged but strong and long limp hair hung over its face.

"What's your name?" She smiled and tilted her head. "We haven't met but if you're who I think you are I suspect we'll be friends. I'm Syreilla the Rook. You whispered in the dark your desire for vengeance and I've come to grant it to you."

"You're late," the creature rasped, its voice sounded as if it didn't speak often.

"I had to make her send me here, and I had to prepare. Let's get you out of those chains to start with."

"You can't do magic here, she saw to that, and my work is..."

Syreilla crouched with a grin and made her way closer. "I'm good with locks and I haven't met steel that can hold up against dragon's fire. Let's see what I can do before you try to tell me I need magic."

*Fifty-four*

Kwes was singing one of the songs he'd learned from Odos about a traveling band of singers who charmed an entire village out of their mead and taught the birds to sing a new song. It had a chorus that was easy to clap to and the lyrics were both ridiculous and catchy. Evecia was laughing as they approached the farmhouse.

The door opened and an old man stepped out.

"Da! I brought a guest for dinner, he should brighten the house up a bit. He sings and tells stories!"

Another man stepped into the door frame. She stopped and dropped her basket before running like a madwoman to embrace him, breaking into tears and laughter.

Picking up her basket and dropping it into his, Kwes approached with a curious smile. "I don't mean to impose if you already have a guest, but I'd be grateful for even a place to sleep in the barn for the night."

"Who are you?" The old man looked him over with a frown.

"I'm Edun, Edun Rocan."

The man pushed past Evecia and tilted Kwes' face forcibly with a frown, he leapt back as if he'd been burned as he noticed Itia.

"You belong to the Rook."

"He's not in the army-"

"Not the dead one, the real one." The man eyed Kwes with something bordering on horror.

"I don't know what you mean." He put on his best baffled frown. "I don't-"

"You have a bird." The man pointed at Itia.

"It was poisoned, Valim!" Evecia shook her head and then scooped the little brown bird off of his shoulder. "He saved the tiny thing. It sings very prettily but it isn't quite strong enough to fly away. Why are they poisoning birds in the city?"

"Come in." He eyed Kwes with less horror but still without trust. "Where are you from?"

"I grew up on a small farm outside of Withia, but-"

"You're a long way from home."

"I know. My brother inherited the farm and threw me out. I've been looking for work and after a while, I fell in with some people who made their way here. I was going to join the Iscan army but... I-"

Valim snorted. "You could join the whores, boy, but not the army. You're too slight."

"My uncle was a traveling storyteller and I've been falling back on the stories he taught me to keep myself fed."

"Evey has always had a soft heart." The old man beckoned him in. "You can tell a few stories to help us celebrate my son coming home and it's off you go in the morning, Edun."

"Thank you. I'm grateful."

He was worried that he would need to tell Itia to pretend illness but the bird barely moved when Evecia put it in a rag nest on a small table. She did drink the offered water and picked at the crumbs of dark bread that were placed in front of her, however.

Evecia's brother watched the bird carefully and then pulled Kwes outside to help him fetch water.

"You look like her."

"Like who?" Kwes cursed internally. This must be one of the soldiers Syreilla had encountered. The family resemblance was clear enough that he'd need to disguise his face.

"Like Lady Rook, the real one." Valim leaned against the well-house. "I know some of the men, mostly the ones who wanted to serve the other Lady Rook, the dark one, they did terrible things, but not all of us did. The moment I laid eyes on that woman I knew. It was vengeance made flesh coming for us."

"There are old stories, my uncle told them. Syreilla the Rook, the Golden Rook, is a daughter of Odos. She's the goddess of righteous vengeance and the protector of gentle souls. The cursed god of death resurrected her to serve him. In life she was a thief without equal, she used magic like a mage, walked through wards like a wraith... There were rumors she breathed dragon's fire."

The man shuddered. "All true."

"There was a story that she stole something from the god of death, perhaps she was locked away for a time."

Valim breathed a laugh. "He let her back out because what we've done is so wrong. She talks to birds. She has hundreds and hundreds of black ones. We all jump at shadows when anything flies over us."

"You said you laid eyes on her?"

The man straightened and gave him a rueful look, "I'm not home on leave. She flew across the field as a giant flaming bird and slew the dark Rook. She told us to go home and by the gods, some of us listened." He took a deep breath. "Lady Rook, the-the Golden one, she said to release the captives and bring them to her, then go home and we'd be unharmed. Some of us tried. My brother was killed trying to do it. The priests wouldn't allow it.

"I watched as she knelt next to him and asked her grandfather to take their attempt to do as she asked into consideration when he judged..." Valim licked his lips. "The god of death is her grandfather?"

"My uncle had all kinds of stories. Some were probably blasphemous and he only told them when he'd been drinking, he said they were the oldest stories he'd ever heard told. The world started with one god and he split into two, Atos and the other one, he sometimes merges back into one. I know that Odos was a son of Atos..."

"Did he say anything about goddesses turning into flaming birds?" Valim began hauling up a bucket of water.

"He said that Atos could turn into a bird as he wished and that the other one could turn into a dragon."

The bucket fell as the man spun to look at him.

"He said that when they're one god, they can turn into either one depending on their mood. He said it ran down the lines. Their sons can do the same. The god of death had sons who are dragons and Atos, his son Imos had an eagle holding scales and a sword didn't he?"

"Her birds..."

"She'd have to have Atos' blessing, or if he's rejoined his brother as one god they've both given it to her."

"I heard rumors of a dragon on the field from some of the others who left later that day. Gods..."

"Valim," Kwes frowned slightly, "I have another question. If you left because Lady Rook sent you home-"

"The generals and priests are calling it desertion. I can't stay here. I told my father that. Tomorrow early I'll be leaving but... I don't know where I can go."

He nodded slowly, wondering if this was something his father had arranged.

"You're not going to ask to travel with me?" Valim snorted and started hauling the water up again.

"They might think I was a deserter too even though I left before I joined. I heard a man at the inn talking about cutting the ears off of a little elf girl and I just couldn't."

"He must be one of the dark Rook's. Those sons of bitches..." Valim spat on the ground. "The rest of the army isn't as bad, some of us came to serve under our King, but if the gods are turning against the goddess of war you don't want to be anywhere near the field. I understand your thinking, but you're not exactly a man capable of taking care of himself and I don't want you singing your way into being my sister's husband."

Kwes laughed and nodded, "She's a beautiful girl and sweet-natured, any man would be lucky. She laughed at me though, when I told her my mother always called me delicate. My brother threw me out because he was jealous of how much our mother always coddled me."

Valim chuckled, sloshing the water as he pulled the bucket all the way up.

"I think I'm not what she has in mind for a husband."

"Thank the gods for that." The man grinned. "As pretty as you are you can probably find a nice girl, though. Look for a rich one."

"Which god do you pray to for that?" He grinned back and Valim paled.

"I swear to all the gods you look like her."

"If Lady Rook was born half-mortal, maybe we had some relative in common?"

"You should wear a hood or darken your hair. Any of the men who've seen her will know that face. You're coming with me when I leave tomorrow whether you want to or not. I can't leave you here with my family. I'll have nightmares. They'd burn this farm to the ground if my father didn't hand you over."

"I'll see what I can find. My mother used certain crushed nut shells to darken her hair as she got older..." Kwes frowned. He'd watched Odos change his appearance with powders but he'd rarely done it himself. His ears were too distinctive. It was best not to be seen at all. Getting the supplies to use shouldn't be any trouble if they passed through a decent village, though.

That got a smile out of Valim, "Your mother was as vain as mine. If my father hasn't thrown it out or used it to stain something, her powdered nutshells may still be here. Otherwise, we can get something tomorrow on our way through."

Kwes carried the first bucket in and found Itia singing as the old man sat in the chair nearby and smiled.

You're all very nice and I worry that something bad might happen to you if we stay. We should really go now and let you live in peace.

"You should stay and make a little cage for this bird. It's not the prettiest but it sings so sweetly." Evecia took the bucket from him with a smile.

"He did a good deed in saving it. Caging it would be cruel."

"My uncle said it was good luck to carry a feather, maybe a whole bird will give me a little extra." Kwes laughed as the old man grinned and wagged a finger. "I won't cage it though. It's not mine to keep, but it can stay with me as long as it chooses to. I'll try to look after it."

"That's a good man." The old man nodded and reached out to stroke the bird as it sang out again.

We should leave them, Kwes. Something bad might happen to them.

"I'll go back and help Valim with the other buckets."

Stepping back out, he caught sight of a handful of riders coming toward the house. Kwes leaned back in, "You're about to have more company, and they don't look friendly. Take Evecia and hide in the cellar if you have one."

Itia launched herself out of the door and he closed it firmly, putting on a baffled smile as he approached the riders.

Lifting his voice so that he could be heard, hopefully by Valim, he asked, "What can I do for you this evening, good masters? I don't think I-"

One of them kicked him off to the side before dismounting.

"Speak your name, boy."

"Edun Rocan, wh-"

"This is the Penna farm, what are you doing on it?"

"He's staying to help us since my sons are away," the old man lifted his voice from the doorway. "Let the boy help with your horses and come inside to talk."