“Mitchel come here sweetheart. We need to do something very important.” Manon says with tears knowing this is the last day she is going to be with her son.
“Ready?” I ask and she nods. “I, Tenelle Andrews; the next goddess of night and the daughter of Hermes, hereby bind your gifts of magic, celestial magic and dream walking to protect the innocent and to give you peace. I place a binding around your souls to guide you true, to keep you safe and to bring you home when your light fades. Do you accept this binding Mitchel McGill and Manon McGill?” I ask.
“Yes, I accept the binding.” Past Mitchel says.
“Yes, I accept the binding of my magic and dream walking. I give it willingly and bind it to your first born Tenelle.” Manon says. There is a shift of strength and power all around us, with a quick flick of the dagger across our palms, blood starts to bead on the surface. With the fresh blood pooling in my hand, I grasp Manon’s hand and Mitchel’s. Manon grasps her son’s other hand, and everything seems to go dark for a moment.
“Tenelle, thank you for not giving up on my son and thank you for showing him the love you do. He is deserving of it and will protect you forever.” Manon says and I realize that it is just her and I in the darkness.
“Where are we? Did I do that wrong? Oh goddess, I changed what happens afterwards and it went differently. Shit!” I say starting to panic.
“No child, you did it right and everything is still the way it is supposed to be. I, on the other hand, am no longer trapped within Trin. I can return home now to rest with my kin, to watch over you and the boys for eternity. Just do me a favor please?” Manon asks.
“Yes of course Manon, what is it?” I ask looking at her scared that Mitchel didn’t get to say goodbye this time.
“Bring the little ones up to see me, just because I am resting amongst my kin in the stars does not mean I cannot have visitors. Make sure Mitchel and the others come to visit regularly too. So I know you are all doing well, ok?” Manon says with a smile that looks of peace, love, sadness, and hope.
“I will. We will be close by and it will be easier to do once we find the other five children.” I tell her giving her a hug as she starts to glow brightly like a new star.
“Thank you Tenelle, for everything!” Manon says shooting up into the air. I watch as she takes her place in a star filled night sky. As I turn to start heading back to the guys, I notice a star that keeps blinking from really bright to a dull almost non-existent spark. I have never seen a star do that and this one is in a part of the sky that is completely empty. I have a little time, I will go see who’s soul this is, they obviously want to talk. I let myself lift up to the star and come face to face with the ultimate soul of power, Chaos.
“Finally! I have only spent the last eight years trying to get you to come see me.” He says with a chuckle.
“Well honestly I wouldn’t have come even now if I had of know who it was blinking at me. What can I do for you Chaos? And no I am not going to plead for your release.” I reply sarcastically, which earns me a very hardy laugh.
“Oh no dear child, I am not looking to come back to earth. My time is almost up, and I will soon join the souls who have finally found peace.” Chaos says still with an amused sound to his voice.
“Then what can I do for you Chaos?” I ask getting impatient.
“I will tell you, just please listen.” He says and I nod for him to continue. “There is someone seeking my powers, but luckily for him, I have already passed them down to worthy souls and yours is one of them.” He says and I look at his star with furrowed eyebrows.
“How am I one of them?” I ask.
“With the council new blood is needed. I know that all the supernatural children can feel the imbalance that has occurred. There are gods currently in place that are not true gods, they are demi-gods that are slowly loosing there powers from overexerting themselves. We can not allow for gaps in the powers, so I found the newly born true gods and gave them my powers. I wanted you to be better than that of your parents and with new blood, there needs to be new gifts. How do you think you’re able to physically harm others through their dreams child?” Chaos says, causing my eyes to go wide.
“It’s the powers you gave me, that is what it turned into isn’t it?” I ask with huge eyes and the star laughs at my shock.
“Yes child it is, Nimara has yet to tap into hers, but I am sure she will when the time comes. After all she is my beautiful wife truly reborn. Anyways, now that you know, you will be able to make more informed choices about the children of the supernatural world. I best send you back before any damage is done to you or them. Keep safe my child!” Chaos says. I am sent back into my room and met with four very worried mates and two scared Shadow walkers. The guys all looked like they had seen a ghost, but I am sure that is the aftereffects of traveling through memories. Although my biggest concern is what changed from us blocking Manon’s powers to keep Trin from getting them.
“Ok why do all of you look like someone died? And I am not talking about Mitchel’s memory either.” I ask getting up from my spot on the floor.
“We thought you were gone. We all came back, but you were ice cold and no heartbeat. We were worried.” Enox says with tears threatening to fall. He grabs me, burying his head in the crook of my neck and I feel him bite down. I wait for him to release me to make sure I don’t have to remark the others too. None of my mate marks have left, so I think he did this just to make sure I was still here, and we all were still firmly bound to one another.
“Sorry about that, I was placing Manon in the stars. Didn’t realize it took so much energy. She says your four asses better go visit her now that she is resting with her kin. She is allowed visitor.” I say stepping away from Enox. Mitchel is about to say something when Tania, Nimara and mom come running into my living quarters.
“Holy fuck you scared the living daylights out of us!” Nimara say looking just as pale as the guys. She grabs me and pulls me tight to her for a hug.
“Now I know why Nyx, Morpheus and Hypnos were frantic. You took Manon home; they were wondering why they could now find her resting place in the stars. Her magic is still out there somewhere, it never came back and that could cause a whole new set of problems.” Tania says looking over the guys to make sure they are ok.
“Fuck, I thought I screwed something up. Manon said that I had done it right and that nothing was changed. Tania did her powers come back before we went and put the block in?” I ask and the look on Tania’s face tells me that they didn’t come back then either.
“Wait, Manon said that she gave it willingly and bound it to your first born Tenelle. Could that be why her powers never came back to you goddess?” Nazareth asks causing Tania’s face to light up.
“That would explain it. How are you feeling Tenelle? What about you Mitchel? Are you ok?” Tania asks looking at my mate, who is extremely quiet.
“I got to say goodbye this time. So yea, I am ok, and to know that we can go see her now that she is resting in the heavens makes it even more meaningful.” Mitchel says pulling me over and wrapping his arms around me.
“So your first fledgling is going to be a wizard or witch and they will be able to dream walk. Ok I will have to teach everyone how to keep the little shit from wondering. It was a major pain in the ass to get Tenelle back when she did it as a baby.” Mom says shaking her head. I remember her and dad telling me what they had to do to keep me in my own body when I was a baby. So this is going to be fun.
“She said first born, what if her first is more than one? Like me. What if she is going to have multiples every time she gets pregnant? That would mean the power, and ability may be divided, right?” Nimara asks looking to help relieve some of the stress.
“That could be, it would still be best for me to teach them, how to convince the fledgling or fledglings to come back to its body. With Tenelle, her daddy’s owl had to give her a ride in his satchel. If it was just me home when she did it, Glory had to give her a ride. Ther
e was a few times that Tenelle fell from our grasp and we had to dive to get her before she hit the ground. Persephone’s harpies came in handy too, they often brought her home also.” Mom said snickering as she remembered dad’s face the 6th or 7th time the harpies brought me home in one day.
“So depending on which one of us, the fledgling with the ability to dream walks takes after will depend on how we need to adapt bring the child back to their body. If it’s a Bird of Prey or a dragon, then Tenelle and Enox are on point, flying may be how they will come back willingly. If they are wolf that would be me and Levi. Games, hunting and going for runs would be best suited. If they are witches/wizards that would be all Mitchel, but we all would still help as best we can.” Nazareth says looking at each of us as he formulates strategies about how to keep our little ones safe.
“Hey while we are on the topic of fledglings, Sue you never got the chance to show us the nesting room.” Levi says, I think someone is a little more excited about having babies then he lets on. When mom and dad took over the care and upkeep of the Great Theater, they turn one of the god’s living quarters into a nesting room. It sits in between my living quarters and mom’s now. So we just need to go next door. It’s still a bit of a walk, each living quarter is roughly 1700 square feet in size.
About 5 minutes down the hall we get to the nesting room and fledgling bedrooms. This living quarter still has the kitchen and bathroom, but the servant quarters, study, dining room and master bedroom were all turned into bedrooms for the fledglings once they hit about 3 years old. The living room is actually where all the fledglings are born, then incubated to keep warm until we can start to dress them in clothes. We still give birth like humans do, but our cycle is much shorter.
We literally take after regular birds, so depending on the bird we are, depends on nesting tactics. For me it will be 32 to 40 days for fertilization, incubation, and birth. Because our reproduction takes after our animal side, our little ones come out at about 3 lbs., covered in fluffy light down that falls out after 2 weeks and their eyes are closed for the first 6 days. The size of clutch I will have depends on my mates, dragons are known to have 2 to 6 fledglings at a time. With wolfs it depends on family history, so with Levi and Nazareth I can expect twins with each of them, so there is 4 fledglings right off the bat. With Mitchel, it will probably be one at a time but could be multiples just due to chance.
“Wow this is pretty cool, so it’s one fledgling per nesting box right? What happens if there are twins? Or triplets? Do they get separated or in the same box?” Levi asks walking around looking at each box to see how it works.
“Honestly, I have only heard of twins once from one other Bird of Prey, she was a Harpy Eagle and she put both in the same nesting box. It helped keep the fledglings calmer, and she said once they hit 3 years old, they became more independent of one another. So I think we will need to build some bigger boxes for sure. Just in case there are multiples with the fledglings. I know that with you guys, its usually one father to the children, but with this situation I am not sure how it is going to work.” Mom says causing the guys to look worried.
“Will we each need to wait, for a breeding season then?” Nazareth asks.
“I know with dragons and naga, if we have multiple mates, the strongest male has the most fledglings in the brood, but the other males also have some too. Like if I was the strongest male in a group mating, then most of the eggs would be my bloodline. Then the other males would each have some as well. Like one or two in each clutch, but we would take care of all of them as a collective. So no matter what, the fledglings are all of ours. If we have to wait for each of us to have fledglings, then so be it. I will wait until you all have yours first, I will still help look after them, they are mine no matter whose bloodline they take after.” Enox says making the other guys feel better.
“Honestly, I could wait a couple of years too. I have been around Hayden way too much for the last 2 years. He has definitely made me want to wait for a bit, especially with the responsibility I have now. I know it’s not going to lessen, but right now with Trin causing problems, I would rather wait on bringing another Solar Celestial into the mix. Hell, even just another Solar is a big responsibility. So I can definitely wait on that front.” Mitchel says realizing he would be passing his gifts on too.
“I didn’t mean to cause problems guys and Tenelle. I am just asking because I noticed Tenelle’s scent has changed drastically. She no longer has the fresh winter air smell; she smells of fresh burning wood and sweet apple cinnamon pie. Is that her changing to us claiming her as our mate?” Levi says with a sad look, that they may have to wait to become fathers.
“No that is a totally different scent. Her scent changed before we went to get Hayden out of his block. It was fresh mountain forest with a hint of fruit to it. Tenelle are you feeling ok?” Enox says looking at me, realizing Levi is right.
“TANIA!” My four mates yell in unison, causing a slight shake in the earth.
“Holy Hades! The four of you are loud as hell! What is wrong?” Tania says shaking on wobbly legs. Nimara walks in beside her also trying to steady herself.
“Wow that was like an earthquake. Never yell again all together please, you could take down the Great Theater.” Nimara says finding her balance.
“Tenelle’s scent has changed drastically since we got back from dream realm. Is she pregnant possibly? We will need to be careful, and no more taking anyone up to the heavens if you are, it could hurt you and the pups.” Nazareth says placing his hand on my hip, Enox moves behind me and resting his chin on my shoulder. Levi comes in front of me on his knees and places his head on my stomach to hear a possible heartbeat. Mitchel intertwines his fingers with mine on my left side.
“Well Levi you tell me? What do you hear?” Tania says looking amused.
“She’s hungry, her stomach hasn’t quit rumbling, but I hear very light thumping sounds. Multiple thumping sounds.” Levi says looking up at me with his ear still firmly placed on my stomach.
“Levi, let Haze listen, his hearing is better than yours. He may be able to give us numbers too, because I think our little owl is carrying our pups.” Nazareth says looking hopeful they will become dads soon. I can see a change in Levi’s demeaner, and Haze has come forward. He pulls away looking at me with a huge smile, and then places his ear back to my stomach.
“So how many thumps do you hear Haze?” Mitchel asks. Even though he said he wanted to wait, I think he is excited about the possibility.
“8 in total, but I think one of those is Tenelle’s. Babe hold your breath for 10 seconds. That will speed up your heart enough I can get an accurate count.” Haze says giving my stomach a kiss. I hold my breath and cause my heart to race a bit like he asked. “Ok, there is seven little thumps. One of them was Tenelle. So we have seven little ones on the way, we will see who they take after once they get here.” He says pulling his ear away from my stomach again.
“Awesome!! Is there a way for us to know before hand?” Enox asks with excitement.
“Let me see.” Tania says walking over to me. This is the same thing she did to Nimara and shocked the hell out of that poor girl. I laughed so hard when she told me. Karama is coming back to get me now.
“I hope they have a little bit of each of us, and it’s just a blind pick when it comes to wolf, dragon, bird of prey or spell caster.” Nazareth says then thinks, “Hey may be they all will take after Mitchel and have magic, and then it will be like a draw on whether or not they are wolf, dragon or bird of prey. That would be awesome too, Mitchel you would have a full time job then!” Mitchel goes slightly white at the thought of seven little spell casters to deal with.
“No worries man, we would help you! Hey, Hayden could help too!” Levi says bring back some of Mitchel’s color.
“Well, you are right in that you have seven spell casters. Three sets of twins, a bird of prey set, a wolf set, and a dragon set. There is a single wolf pup too. The single wolf pup Mitchel has solar m
agic, and all the others have normal magic. So I would say, you passed your magic to only one of the babies, the rest is all Manon’s gift.” Tania says looking at the guys.
“Congrats Mitchel! Congrats Levi! Congrats Nazareth!” Enox says smiling and giving them a bro hug-handshake thing.
“You too man. Congrats Enox!” Mitchel says when he and Enox do their bro hug thing.
“So does the species tell us who the father is or is it exactly what Nazareth said, and each have a little of all four of the guys and their other side is just random?” I ask, I don’t want one of the guys to feel they aren’t all in this equally.
“That’s it exactly, I can feel a bit of each of the guys in each pup. So a dragon fledgling may come out with Mitchel’s height, but have Nazareth’s nose and cheeks. One of the birds of prey may come out with Enox height and Levi’s broad shoulders. I just can’t tell you if they are boys or girls.” Tania say smiling. As we sit and think of the possibilities, Nimara gets mind-linked, and her smile is replaced with rage. Someone is in for a world of pain and death.
Chapter 14
~ Tenelle ~
It’s been a couple of days, since Nimara went on the hunt for whoever injured the female gargoyle. She was taken to Limestone Cliff coven for immediate healing, and Hecate has since then gone to bring her back. She has been in and out of consciousness, so we haven’t been able to ask questions about what happened. She’s not as young as we first thought; she is 18 years old. She is on the smaller side for a gargoyle and her skin is a deep red in color, like crimson red. Hopefully she can remember what happened so that we can keep her safe.
Tenelle: Children of the Gods Book 2 Page 14