The Freedom of Slavery Ch. 08

This has been my favorite chapter so far, and not just because of the mating scenes, but because it is the most real the characters have been so far. Yes, this chapter has a cliffhanger as well, but again I am writing the next chapter as quickly as I can. Thank you all for the encouraging comments, they make my muse do the happy dance! Enjoy.

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While the tsarzan had his work cut out trying to keep the whole den-site from panicking, Lockhoy ran to get the walzan, and the brothers got packed for an extra three days at the compound; Alza and Kali started working on their bond, or at least Alza was.

"Kali, we have shown we can be one, why are you still fighting the connection to become one?"

"You have to promise on your life that you will let the walzan tell them, which he will by the end of the day. Promise, and I will tell you."

"I know I probably shouldn't, but yes I promise. Are you sure that no one will be able to pick up on our conversation right now?"

"Since you promised, I will tell you from the beginning, and it will answer your question. We aren't just god-touched, we are gods-touched, as in multiple gods, as in almost in the same league as a walzan when it comes to the gods.

It is because we are unique, we are a bishop in the chess game of the gods. Our powers, and those of our cubs and mates, will be determined upon what is needed to keep the balance in this area against the Canids and Ursids. Zathena herself is shielding this conversation, and Xixi has been helping me stop the heat from coming.

While the walzan has been told to wait for us, he didn't know that we were what he was waiting for, so he will be getting in on things soon."

"We had a flashback on the way here and our memories altered for a reason, and while the altering was necessary, it will be reversed eventually, but the gods will help us deal with it by letting the memories come back only as quickly as we can handle them.

You could not handle them on your own, your personality by itself was not strong enough to not be damaged from them. With me to help you, we will conquer them. As to why I am fighting the connection, it is because we have two mates instead of one.

Don't worry, we will connect, we just can't until we let the walzan handle the reaction to that issue, as having two mates is not only rare, it is not seen in a hundred years rare.

You think the reaction by the tsarzan was bad now, it would be MUCH worse from our Masters if they didn't know before we started our heat. I am ordered by the gods not to tell anyone, not even you who they are, but know that we have met them."

"Can you at least tell me about the whole 'mates' thing and what the bad reaction would be? I am guessing that is what got the tsarzan so damn pissed."

"He had good reason to be pissed, as we are going into heat, our mate would sense it in his soul that it was time to find us and fight off other males, if he wasn't close enough to smell us. Our mate, in his mind and as it is most of the time, would have to be our equals or stronger than us, which he will find out is going to be really damn difficult to find.

Our full strength will match a walzan's, though we will only be that strong in battle. If our Masters weren't our mate, they would fight to the death to keep us and breed us, upon instinct, as our scent would cause them to not think rationally.

He knows this, and is praying to the whole damn pantheon that one of our Masters is our mate. Poor bastard is going to have a heart attack when he finds out we have two mates! He will think our Masters signed their death warrants when they signed our contract."

"While it sounds like he has good reason to be upset, at least tell me it will be resolved peacefully?"

"It will, but I can't say any more than that, as I have already said too much."

"Ok, so can you tell me about the gods' connection and how it will affect our mates and cubs?"

"Our cubs will be god-touched as well, and our family will go down in history as the Warriors of the Gods, though when it is known to everyone in the den-site, we will be known as the Equalizers.

Basically, Set and Loki have been hiding some mischief they have been working on. The gods call it mischief, I call it a cluster-fuck that will bring Ragnorak, the Apocalypse, and make the threat of the Cold War seem like a tea party.

When the gods left and made these planets, they swore they would never allow for prehistoric Earth species to be made or allowed to live if they appeared. Set and Loki brought back the short-faced bear in the Ursids, and the dire wolf in the Canids. They already have a small family of each, though they have few abilities, thank Zorcon.

Our gods will keep to the oath, but Odin kept a card up his sleeve for years, knowing that Loki was up to no good. We are Odin's spare ace in the hole."

"I think this news will get some very interesting reactions from the tsarzan when he hears this. I already think what he said earlier fits this scenario better than my 'mates' issue."

"Trust me, the gods are waiting just as eagerly as you for the entertainment, though they are more patient."

"Alza, it is time to listen to your Masters because I have been calling you for the last five minutes and gotten no response, and it had better be a damn good one with all of us already on edge," Lezar said, barely keeping his anxiety and temper from his voice.

"Master Lezar, please forgive me, Kali has been telling me about what the gods have been telling her, and I am even more sorry Masters, but the gods have ordered that the walzan be their voice in this matter, not me."

"Okay, if the gods, as in plural are involved, I can wait," Jahar said, looking skyward fearfully.

"Luckily, we will be able to get some answers soon as the walzan is on his way," Lezar said, slightly relieved.

Alza now noticed that she must have been on auto-pilot for awhile. They were in the shield room that had been readied for her heat, and all the toys and clothes were here.

Just then, Lockhoy came in to announce that the walzan was here and wanted to speak with Alza. The walzan came in, and in a gravelly, yet whispy voice said; "I have been ordered by the gods to talk to the cat known as Kali in private, and afterward announce their message to you all, the tsarzan, and the sarzan. Please wait in the judgment hall for us."

With that said, the brothers left the room, wondering what new cluster-fuck Alza had up her sleeve now.

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"Alright, ignore all the titles and protocol for now, we both know that we will be equals at one point, so let's cut to the chase. You are the mother of the Warriors of the Gods that I have been told to watch for, which I suspected as soon as you arrived on this planet.

I was hoping you wouldn't cause this much of a ruckus this quickly, because that upsets not only this den-site, but it starts to worry the other walzans. But, the gods' will is the gods' will, and apparently shit is bad enough that we have to really move things along.

I will be helping you and Kali blend together and learn to take the gifts the gods give you without going crazy, I know that much. But the tsarzan tells me you have a 'mate issue'. Really, really, come on, as if you weren't already going to cause the biggest ruckus since the planet was created, as far as we know, you have to add this to the mix?"

Though that last remark was obvious meant for the gods, Alza answered anyway; "I can't help being complicated, but I think the idea is that two is better than one when trying to speed up the creation of a kick-ass army."

"Good one, I like your spirit, no wonder the gods like you. Ok, now Kali and I need to have that conversation about this 'mate issue' though I am afraid to hear the answer."

So the walzan proceeded to the jungle glen that was Kali's mental home for the moment and got the shock of his life when Kali told him how she was able to get so much of the gods' plans for her and her family.

"Kali my dear, I don't think you will have any problems with whatever the gods throw your way, if you could get Zorcon to spill the beans."

"Threatening him with reversing my destiny or becoming the harbinger of doom for his own people if he didn't tell me why the fuck I had to fight Mother Nature herself for more time, then have a longer than normal heat cycle, then find out that I can't connect with Alza because it would cause a wrinkle in his plan, that is how.

It didn't hurt that Zathena and Xixi were just as pissed and were threatening to kick his pompous ass of his high horse. Their words, not mine, I am not that crazy."

The walzan laughed at the balls this cat had, and that she was still in one piece after pulling that stunt, on Zorcon no less. With a sigh, he left the glen and returned to tell Alza;

"Time to grab the 'oh holy shit' bar and pray. There are some days were I don't know if I love or hate being the voice of the gods."

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Alza and the walzan walked into the judgment hall, and the tension in the room was so thick it was bullet-proof, but the walzan's next words would change all that.

"I know who their mates are, and I need everyone but their Masters, the tsarzan, and the sarzan to leave. And if the gods catch you eavesdropping, woe be tide you, as they will not be happy and are in the mood to smite somebody."

This caused all but the requested to leave the room like their tails were on fire, and did they have a rumor to spread that was killing them to keep quiet about. When the gods were in the mood to smite someone, you would sew your own mouth shut if you had to.

The tension in the room had also been shattered; it may have seemed bullet-proof but it wasn't shock proof.

After warding the hall from eavesdroppers, just in case, the tsarzan asked the million dollar question.

"Did you say 'they have mates' as in plural?!?"

"Yes, you heard me right, as the voice of the gods, I said they have mates."

This brought on the excepted shouting and cursing, though it was censored enough that the gods wouldn't be tempted to smite anyone.

"The gods are waiting for your true feelings, tell them how you REALLY feel, they won't smite you. It is the only entertainment they are going to get for awhile after all."

That opened the flood gates, and the whole pantheon was doing impossible and highly improbable things to each other to the point that even Zorcon felt his ears burning. When the ruckus calmed down, the walzan continued; "Her mates are in this room, so that should make you feel better, and they are even brothers."

"Will you just spill the beans already before I die of heart failure? Do the gods actually want me dead?"

"Jahar is mated to Alza and Gobin is mated to Kali. Zorcon himself promises that it will not be a problem, and that the rest of the brothers will be able to raise their mates from birth. The most important thing that the gods wish known has yet to be said, so please bear with me."

After a few moments of silence to let this all sink in he continued: "I was told a year ago to watch for a female who would be the mother of the Warriors of the Gods. These warriors were the only protection that Zorcon could come up with when the gods Set and Loki decided to start the Epic Fight.

Your ama is the instrument of the gods, brought by the will of the gods to save us all and restore the eternal balance. Set and Loki started out as trouble when they refused to give up their identities and merge with other gods to form a new pantheon.

Odin elected to keep part of his identity, while also merging with Ra and Osiris to form the god we know as Zorcon. And we are now glad he did, for he was able to keep his one eye on Loki full time and see that he was up to his old tricks again.

Loki and Set have managed to secretly create prehistoric hybrids, and that army is growing up and training to become the Scourge of the Gods. Alza and her cubs, as well as her Masters, are to be our answer to such monstrosities. Alza's life span will now equal our own, but the gods have yet to decide if she will die at around 500 or 1000."

"Ok, so what do I do about giving her a title, is she an ama-walzan, must she be trained for combat and healing, please tell me you have some answers about how to handle this mess?"

"She is no longer an ama, for one, and she will have the title of Palzan in time. It is up to you how you handle the people of the den-site when you tell them this, but I would think that having a savior who could give a short-faced bear a run for his money should help."

While she knew all about what was being told, Alza still had to sympathize with everyone else, what with the barrage of bomb shells that the walzan kept dropping. But she was still a bit shocked at hearing how long she would live, and how long her species as a whole lived.

"Did you say short-faced bear, as in Set and Loki broke one of the creation oaths to bring about the Epic Battle, or did I hear you wrong?" Lezar managed to ask, still heavily in shock.

"Short-faced bears and dire wolves, and Loki has been sleeping with some of his subjects in an attempt to bring Feneris back, but Odin saw that coming and has been aborting the fetuses."

"Thank you Odin, I am happy to hear a little comforting news."

"Lezar, you need to order a full warrior's kit for a stealth fighter; including armor, bow, and survival kit, Gobin you will need to start empath training and get a battle-ready healer's kit, Kalba you need to forge a full knife set, two women's swords, the training weights for an adult dual swordsman, the training weights for 5 cubs in training, and training swords for 5 trainees.

Jahar, you will have Alza help you furnish her battle healer's kit, and show her how to find the needed plants for when she has to pick them in the wild, Helius, you get to work with me to help Alza and Kali blend, and to accept the memories that the tsarzan altered. The gods know that she will need to use them to get stronger, and as shock treatment during the war we will be forced to fight.

Ilan, you get the best and worst job of all, raising cubs. You will have the help of Alza and your brothers, but it will be your job to make sure they have all their needs met while preparations are made.

We only have a year before the first small invasions start, but we are going to work with what we got."

"I presume the gods have planned what the best use of the time we have is, but what do the gods require of me?"

"You and the sarzan have the most flexibility, as you have to get the people of not only this den-site, but of Moonblade and Sunswallow to accept this and take action. The other walzans are in the arenas throughout our half of the planet telling their people that the gods need them to follow our lead, and what is going on.

The good news is, with a few people being blinded or cooked by lightning, we should be hearing from emissaries soon. So, the gods have simply told you to prepare our people, they will handle their saviors."

"I can live with that, but you can tell our people what the gods have spoken in the arena tomorrow, not me, I don't have the gods' authority like you do.

Jahar and Gobin will be with Alza during her heat and the rest of you can get the supplies gathered to keep you busy."

And with that settled, the tsarzan started getting the ball rolling while the brothers took the instrument of the gods with them to have a good stiff drink!

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"Ok, if I understand this correctly, we are the saviors who will turn the tide in the Epic Battle, which until now had been only legend, and Gobin AND I are mates to the same female, who will possibly give my brothers their mates, which sounds like incest, and oh yeah, she is no longer an ama, but will become as powerful as a walzan and have the title of Palzan eventually. What the Fuck!" Jahar shouted, still in shock but starting to have the information sink in.

"Jahar, these are the gods we are talking about. If they don't fuck up some mortal's mind every once in a while, they get bored and smite someone for the hell of it. For the last year they haven't been doing that, so what do you expect? It was obvious they had something up their sleeves," Kalba said sensibly.

"I am just a little disturbed about my mate possibly being my niece, but then, that is just me," Helius commented dryly.

"I just can't get past the fact that the gods decided to pick on us. What did we ever do to deserve having our world flip upside-down and sideways?" Lezar added with a slight whine.

"We were born awesome, our mother told us that. She told us that we were too perfect not to be god-touched some day, and boy was she right in spades!" Ilan said.

"Well, it looks to me like the gods had it out for us since conception, and our lives have been pretty damn good for the most part, so the gods must know how to give us what we need, though I am still confused as to why I am Kali's mate, when her personality is stronger than mine, and Alza is Jahar's mate, and they are equals?" Gobin stated.

"Because the gods always seek to balance the soul energies of mates, you Gobin are more gentle and tame when it comes to your cat and your nature, and Kali is aggressive and wild. Jahar is more cat than human, and Alza is more human than cat.

I came by to let you all know that Alza has been chosen to bear a walzan when the time comes, and that you will probably not be visited for some time, but I figured if the gods told me now, that it was safe to tell you now as well. While you are otherwise occupied, I will start with the business of being the emissary for the gods when the other den-sites start sending messengers," the walzan said, bemused.

"What should we do for the next three days?" Gobin asked.

"You can start with the empath training, while the others start working on getting Alza's 'war-kit' started. Do you really want to deal with Alza's lust causing all the males to go crazy? Get her influence radius to a smaller area and less concentrated, or there are going to be problems.

The cubs will need to have the fundamentals of their kits finished as well, but the gods said that the number of cubs for this litter is still up in the air, though five is what seems to be the likely number."

"Looks like we have a busy few days ahead of us, let's turn in early so we can get an early start." Lezar said.

The walzan left the still shocked family to their meal, hoping the gods knew what they were doing in causing all this ruckus.

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The next day, Alza woke up feeling ready for anything. What she didn't expect was that anything meant a lot of sitting and mediating, and that she would have to learn to control a power that she had thought weak before her transformation.

Her empathic ability had only gotten stronger when Kali came into the picture. On Earth, she had had to struggle to influence other people's auras. Now, she was surprised she hadn't caused someone harm from the strength of her aura's influence on her environment.

"Alza, the only reason you have been safe to be around is because Kalba and I were shielding you. Right now, the shield is off and I am happy to note that you aren't feeling any strong emotion right now, for your radius is quite large, the whole den-site could be affected.