Rise of the Firebird

by Amy K Kuivalainen

  “This is my homeland,” he was saying, “and this is Caledonia or Celyddon Forest in Scotland. This is where I met the last one like you.”

  “How many years did you let the forest inhabit you?” Tapio asked curiously. He was now wearing a dark green silky robe over the leather pants, his crown of leaves gone. He looked up and smiled at Anya, “Join us, please.”

  “I honestly don’t know how many years it was. I went into the forest because I suffered great losses and I could no long bear the weight of people and the expectations they felt necessary to place on me. Quite simply, I went mad and when I met Cerunnos, he offered to show me the forest with his eyes and I agreed. It would’ve been years before I found my way back to my own mind and relinquished the power.”

  “You still have much of it inside of you,” said Tapio. He picked up Eldon’s hand, turning it over to examine it. “I see. You are tied to your land. I haven’t seen that in a human, even one that is immortal.”

  “I’ve used the power given to me to replenish my land many times over. I have tried to give it back.”

  “Perhaps you are not meant to. This power was given, not stolen. If this Cerunnos you speak of felt that you’d use the power to protect the land and rejuvenate it, then that is why you were allowed to take so much of it away with you,” Tapio explained. “Anyanka on the other hand is different.”

  “I’ve heard that before,” she sighed.

  “Dear one, this Groenn Skaer was young and impulsive. There are rites that must occur to bring the spring, but to bring it with you in such a way was careless. From what I can discern from your memories, he wanted to try to ensure a bond with you to help in the protection of his realm. I don’t think he would’ve been aware of the eventual outcomes. There haven’t been seeds since the beginnings of the world.”

  “But what am I meant to do with them?” Anya asked. Even now, she felt the warmth of them in her pocket.

  “I advise you not to provoke Tuoni with them again, though I would’ve liked to see his reaction.” Tapio’s face turned mischievous. “He would’ve had quite the shock. Tapiola has grown on his borders to act as a balance to his darkness and death. I believe he worries that my lands will grow and his will shrink. Ridiculous, but he has always been vain and paranoid.”

  “Not paranoid enough to trust Baba Yaga so easily. I don’t like that they thought I could be traded like a piece of meat,” Anya said, folding her arms.

  “Tuoni is lonely. It’s the way of our kind. Sometimes, we find a suitable mate, other times we do not. Tuoni has always been impatient in that regard, but let us not dwell on Tuoni. I want to know how Kokko became to be sharing a body with a human.”

  “Where is Yvan?” Anya asked.

  “Resting. I told Kokko to let him change back. There’s time for us to talk.” Tapio clapped his hands three times and a jug and three cups appeared on the table. Something had put them there but it was so fast Anya only saw a blur.

  “What was that?”

  “I have many kotihaltija that live in Tapiola. They are shy,” Tapio said and he filled the cups and passed them to Eldon and Anya. Eldon sipped his drink and smiled appreciatively, “I haven’t had honey mead in far too long, especially with heather and lavender in it.”

  “You’re most welcome.”

  Anya sniffed hers before having an experimental sip. It was sweet but she could feel the burn of alcohol as well as lingering smoky floral flavours in the aftertaste. She wasn’t sure if she liked it or not but she kept drinking it, quite unable to stop. “It is different and there’s something…I don’t know,” she murmured looking into the cup.

  “Best not to try to analyse it. Take it easy, because it will knock on your backside if you are not careful,” Eldon said with a pat on her shoulder.

  They all sat down on wooden chairs cushioned with furs and Anya began to tell Tapio about her adventures. The mead kept being poured and Anya found that all the words that had been stuck on her tongue or in the dark places of her mind seemed to come out. Eldon took over the storytelling from Anya when they got to their first vision of each other.

  “You two are connected by a greater force. It’s a good thing that you have found one another. There’s much Eldon can teach you, Anya, and not all of it is about magic,” Tapio nodded his head in approval, “but for now, you should go and rest. I wish to show you things in the forest tonight.”

  Anya stood up on wobbly legs without argument and tried to find the way back to her room. The combination of mead and deep conversation had left her feeling empty and exhausted. Yvan was sprawled out across the bed, a blanket thrown over him. The firebird hadn’t even let him get undressed before it had changed in order to see Tapio. Anya crawled in beside him, rested her cheek against his shoulder, her arm across his back and before she could hold another thought, all went dark.

  Anya woke hours later to the smell of pine and clean skin. She opened a sleepy eye and saw Yvan trying to find a clean shirt in his bag.

  “You smell nice,” she said sleepily.

  “Good evening, sleepy head. Tapio’s sauna is pretty amazing. Sorry if I woke you,” he said. “He tells me you drank all of his mead. I told him to hide his vodka.”

  “I see how it is! You’re already ganging up on me with someone you just met. I know where I stand.” Anya rolled over. He grabbed her bare ankle and the heat of his hand shot goose bumps up her leg.

  “You’re lying not standing,” he pointed out, dragging her towards him.

  “Don’t think you can suck up by being all warm and half naked,” she huffed although her voice hitched. His hair was still wet and dripped down on her as he leant down over her.

  “You’re still so cranky when you wake up, shalosť.”

  “That’s because you’re dripping on me.”

  He grinned and Anya started to squirm but was too slow. He held her down and rubbed his wet hair over her face.

  “You great big Russian…jerk!” she squealed. “I should’ve left you in that damn egg.”

  “You don’t mean that,” he whispered in her ear, laying a hot kiss behind it. It was a small gesture but Anya felt her blush run from head to toe. He got up and put his shirt on, “Go on, go have a sauna. You’ll feel better. The girls should be finished by now. What’s the matter?”

  “Argh, nothing,” she mumbled and sat up. “Hung over from the mead.” It wasn’t the mead that was bothering her. It was the way he kissed her, but she wasn’t about to tell him that.

  Outside, the sun was almost gone and there was a cool chill in the night air. Anya stood out on the deck and breathed in all the clean, delicious scents of the forest. Everything seemed so fresh and alive. Aramis had been right. She could have easily stayed there for a hundred years and let the real world hang.

  “Look at that dreamy face, Aleki,” Katya said to her sister as they walked up the path from the washhouse, their hair clean and wet. “Did Yvan wake you up in the nice way?”

  “Actually, he dripped water all over me. You know Russians aren’t known for their romance,” Anya replied flippantly.

  “You two are both like blushing virgins. Ridiculous.”

  “They’re being respectful, Katya, courtship takes time. I think it’s lovely,” Aleksandra replied.

  “You would,” Katya rolled her eyes. “Who uses the word courtship these days anyway?”

  “Those of us who are still ladies and who know better than to talk about such things.”

  “Ouch,” Anya winked at Aleksandra. “How was the sauna?”

  “Hot and wonderful. Tapio has some serious helpers around the place.”

  “He does.”

  “Drop your towel a few times and see what happens, just for laughs.”

  “I hope you haven’t been teasing them, Katya,” Anya scolded.

  “Do it and find out.”

  Steam rose from the doors of the sauna as Anya stepped into the changing and bathing area. Wooden benches ran along the walls and brass hooks were fi
xed above them. Woven rag rugs had been thrown over the floors to prevent slipping and a large copper bathtub was filled with cold water that had been pumped from the stream. Anya pulled off her dirty clothes and stepped out of her jeans. She turned to pick up her dirty clothes from the floor and found they were no longer there. Slowly, she picked up a folded towel from the pine rack and dropped it on the ground. In a streaking red blur, the towel lifted in the air and hung itself up on the brass hook.

  “Thank you,” Anya said politely. She wrapped the towel around her and pulled on the thick wooden handle of the sauna door. Steam and heat poured over her and her face broke into a grin. She hadn’t had a sauna in a long time, not since Eikki had died. The fire in the sauna box was glowing red and a small lamp was burning low so it wasn’t completely dark.

  She climbed up on the top bench and sat down next to the large wooden bucket filled with cold water. Using a copper ladle, Anya scooped out water and tossed it onto the hot sauna rocks. They sizzled and spat and heat flooded the close space. Anya sighed and relaxed against the hot wall. She started to smile. It was no wonder her ancestors had used saunas to help them with their magic. She was so relaxed at that moment she felt she could take on the world.

  An hour later, Anya stepped out of the washhouse feeling warm, fresh, and alive. She looked up at the endless blanket of stars above her and she was overwhelmed by intense joy. It was unexpected but it filled her completely. For one perfect moment, she was so small, her problems insignificant in the vastness of forever. Laughter and raised voices were coming from the house, shattering the moment.

  The table in the hall was covered with platters of food, her friends sitting all around it with Tapio at the head. Izrayl was telling them a story of some previous adventure and had them in stitches of hysterical laugh. Yvan moved down the bench seat and made a place for her.

  “Better?” he asked as he passed her a wooden plate.

  “Better,” she replied. The table was covered in fresh bread, mounds of vegetables and summer salads, bowls of fruit and fresh honeycomb. Mead was in every cup, the rosy signs of it in all of their cheeks. Anya broke a roll of black bread and slathered it in honey. Tapio and she shared a smile, merriment dancing in his eyes. He was giving them a night of good food, song, and council to heal their minds and Anya couldn’t thank him enough. Everyone had relaxed and felt safe. She wished she could keep them like this forever. This memory would make her fight Yanka and Baba Yaga all the harder. Tapio was still watching her as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. He gave her the slightest of nods before turning back to Izrayl’s story.

  Late that night, when everyone had drifted off to their beds, Tapio wrapped a wolf skin cloak around Anya and they left the hall of Tapiola. As they crossed through the carved bears on the sides of the gate, Anya felt something lift off her. The warm, safe feeling was gone.

  “It’s the wards,” Tapio explained. “You have nothing to fear, not while you are with me.”

  “Why have you brought me out here? Are you going to show me some forest god tricks?”

  “Firstly, you must stop referring to my kind as metsien jumalat, we are not. There is only one God and that is Ukko Ylijumala. The ones like me, we are guardians like you.”

  “The Guardians of the Gates are humans though,” Anya pointed out. “You are many things, but human isn’t one of them.”

  “The human Guardians have true Guardian blood in them somewhere. Otherwise, they couldn’t perform their functions. You tell me that your family has lived next to a forest that shares its lands between Mir and Skazki. I believe that at some point, either one of your ancestors mated with its Guardian, or they were passed some of its power. Yanka would’ve been drawn to that power even if she did not know of its origin.”

  “Is that why the Groenn Skaer singled me out the way he did? The Álfr told me he hadn’t reacted that way to a human before.”

  “It’s how I found you, though you have the gifting of that Guardians power as well. We can feel it moving in your blood. We are Guardians though, not gods, sent by Ukko to protect lands and sacred places. Some of us have forgotten our true origins, or chose to. When humans came to know of us, they worshipped us as gods. Some of the Guardians allowed it to shape them. Ridiculous, but at least worshippers would keep the loneliness of immortality at bay.”

  Tapio stopped next to a large sculpture made of rocks. Above them, the trees thinned enough to give them a clear view of the night sky. “I want to show you how to use your power to hear the trees, communicate with the animals. The gift is already there, but you wouldn’t have recognised the voices when you heard them.”

  They sat down on a flat rock and Tapio took her hand. “I want you to close your eyes, know that you are safe and nothing will harm you.”

  “I need to know something first,” Anya said firmly. “Please don’t take offence to what I’m about to say, but I need to know why are you doing this? Why are you being so kind and helping me? Everyone I’ve met that has power like you has shown me a hand of kindness while the other goes for a knife to gut me with. What’s the catch? What am I agreeing to in accepting your help?”

  “You’ve been treated poorly, Anyanka, by nearly everyone you have ever met. I wouldn’t expect you to trust that I don’t want anything in return. The only thing I want is for you to stop the wars. I want you to stop the destruction. Any war in the Otherworlds will spread. They’ll destroy this world and the real world too. I’ve seen the destruction by iron machines and bloody minded men destroy life and land in the real world. Our land in the real world now belongs to Yanka and her followers. We lost it in the last war and might never get it back. I don’t want to lose any more of it. By helping you, there could be much pain prevented. We want the same things. Kokko trusts you. He’s a creature that brings destruction but fire can cleanse, rejuvenate, and bring life. The seeds you carry will help bring new life to places destroyed. You and the firebird are hope, Anya. That is why I help you.”

  “I believe you,” she admitted finally. “I’ll do my best to honour your hope and trust in me.”

  “I know you will. Now, shut your eyes. I want you to listen to the night around you. It is not only connecting with the forest through an earth level, but an air level as well.”

  Anya closed her eyes and tried to calm her nerves. She listened to the wind and the animals scuffling about nearby. She let down her shields and the night flooded in.

  Chapter Twenty-Four - Night Raid

  Baba Yaga stood in the study of her penthouse apartment. She sipped on whiskey as she watched the fire and ambulance workers try to salvage what was left of the Illumination building. It was crawling with staff to make sure the human teams didn’t uncover anything that they shouldn’t be exposed to.

  Baba Yaga hated the politics of the real world, hated their lack of belief. Yanka was right in that regard. The real world had lost its magic and forgotten the truth behind the stories. Yanka sought to bring magic back. Baba Yaga thought it was a stupid idea. She wanted to control how much magic there was in their real world. Supernatural beings need to be monitored. Too much exposure of their kind would not be a good thing for the real worlders. They were greedy and had no knowledge of true belief or true power. Expose them to the real this, and they would either exploit it or declare war on it.

  “I have a message for you, madam.” a young man in a neat tweed suit entered, an envelope in his hand. It bore the seal of Ruthann. No one could break it but her. At least she could count on Ruthann’s discretion. She broke the seal on the heavy paper and scanned the contents. Her hands turned to old bony claws as she crumpled the letter in fury. He had reneged on their alliance because of information shared by Anya. She had talked to Tuoni.

  “That fucking interfering, girl!” she spat.

  “Orders?” he asked, saying nothing about her hands and she quickly shook the glamour back over them. She picked up her fountain pen and scratched a message on a pile of notepaper.

  “
I want a squad sent to these co-ordinates. Pull all of our freelancers in the area. I want this off books, understand? I want it done to tonight.”

  “As you command,” he replied before hurrying out the door. Baba Yaga momentarily wondered if she had been too hasty. She lit a cigarette and decided she didn’t care.

  ***

  A heavy knock on Søren’s door pulled him out of sleep. He was up instantly, tense as a bowstring. An Álfr woman jumped as he yanked his door open, “Lord Ruthann asks for you, Dauđi Dómr.”

  Søren pulled on a shirt and hurried to Ruthann’s chambers. When he got there, he noticed tables were knocked over and there was the sound of sobbing coming from the bedroom.

  “Ruthann?” he tapped politely on the door before letting himself in. Their mighty leader was lying on the floor crying. “What has happened?”

  “The death, Søren! The death! I saw it. I saw three armies stretch out on a field…” Ruthann choked. Søren took the water from the bedside table and gave it to him.

  “You had a dream?”

  “It was much, much more than that. It’s going to happen,” he said and took the glass.

  “Let me help you,” Søren said and lifted him back onto his bed.

  “There was so much blood and screaming. Aramis was there.”

  Søren’s hand stilled on the bed covers. “What do mean Aramis was there?”

  “He was in the battle covered in blood. Anyanka was there standing with Yvan. He had changed into this strange firebird man, a terrifying hybrid. There was so much magic. Their power was linked. There was white light and screams, Mychal was laughing in the slaughter. Baba Yaga and Yanka were there, Vasilli had an army. It is going to happen, Søren.”

  “Do you see when?” he asked. He never should have let Aramis and Anya leave without him.