Rise of the Firebird

by Amy K Kuivalainen

  Eldon touched her arm. “How close are we to the farm?”

  “It’s about a kilometre from here. This forest is my forest though. My parents were killed not far from here.”

  “I am sorry.”

  “Don’t be. It was Baba Yaga, not you.”

  “What will you do with her? She’s a Power. Bars won’t hold her.”

  “I am going to do as I promised,” Anya said firmly, “I’m going to give her to Tuoni.”

  “If anyone can control her, he can,” Eldon nodded approvingly. “That is, if destroying the game doesn’t kill her.”

  Anya tensed and looked to where Yvan stood talking to a group of Russian hunters. Eldon followed her gaze, “You still haven’t told him.”

  “I’m not going to worry him about something that may not happen. Mychal knows and he agrees that we need to keep it quiet. I don’t want to spend what could be our last few days together fighting with each other, not when we could be fighting a real enemy.”

  “Fine, I won’t make you. This forest is strange,” he said changing the subject. He studied the dark leaves above them. “Maybe being on a crossroads is why magic is pulsating from it. No wonder your family has always had power. Did you hunt animals in here? Have you eaten its fruits?”

  “Yes, of course, we’ve always hunted and harvested berries and mushrooms. Eikki used to get his herbs and cuttings from in here. What didn’t grow naturally he would plant. He told me it was good for them because the pine needles kept them warm.”

  “He would’ve known about the magic in the soil. His natural remedies would have been astoundingly effective.”

  Anya smiled, the memory warming her. “They were. He helped many people. It didn’t stop them from shunning us though.”

  “They were afraid as people generally are. Can you link with the gates from here?”

  “I haven’t tried yet.”

  “Do it, Anya. This is your land. Your hands have worked and tended to it. It’ll remember you.”

  Anya looked down at her hands. The months of no hard labour had made them soft, even her callouses were gone. The scar, left from Konstantin’s exuberance for an apple, stood white against pink flesh. She missed him.

  “The memory of this place gets to me,” she admitted. “Things I have haven’t thought about in a long time are rising up and making me angry.”

  “Use it on the battlefield. That’s when you let it go. Not now. The gates are yours and Yanka is tampering with them. Do something about it,” Eldon said. They walked out of sight and Anya sat down on the ground.

  “Be careful. You haven’t done this since your encounter with the Stag or Tapio,” Eldon said as he sat down on a fallen log, his walking stick across his knees. “I’ll watch over you.”

  Anya cleared away the leaf litter until she found earth and dug her hand into it. Instantly, she was flooded with images and memories. The pure burning life of the land and every creature that resided in it swelled up in her. Then she felt it, the rotting darkness that was seeping through it.

  Anya could see her land and the forest in her mind. There was a black sludge on the forest floor and she followed it, trying to find its source. She wasn’t surprised to find herself on the borders of the farm. Yanka was standing proudly in a white dress. Its hem was trailing the toxic poison wherever she went.

  “Anyanka, I see you have made your way back home at last,” she said warmly. Anya hated that people thought they looked alike. Yanka had something distorted and damaged inside of her and her face, even when she was trying to be kind, had a twist of cruelty in it.

  “I’ve come to protect what’s mine,” Anya said in a voice that wasn’t as firm as she hoped.

  “You are doing a terrible job of it so far. Run away, little child, this does not concern you.”

  A cackle sounded as Baba Yaga stamped her way through the trees. The Bony Legged Witch was back in her true form and was snapping with power from her bird’s nest hair to her crooked feet.

  “The tide is bringing in all kinds of trash today,” Yanka sniffed. “I was wondering if you were going to turn up.”

  “Stop this now, you silly spoiled girl,” Baba Yaga said to Yanka. “What you are doing here could break the worlds apart.”

  “And why the hell would you care?” Anya interrupted. “You are as bad as she is. You have your own crimes that you will pay for.”

  “There goes your hope of getting her to be your ally,” laughed Yanka. “She betrayed you too didn’t she, Anya?”

  “She killed Eikki and was going to give me to Tuoni. She killed my parents.”

  “Looks like her crimes are out weighing mine.”

  “Hardly,” Anya felt her anger flare. “You killed Trajan after I set you free, you sent Vasilli to slay innocent Álfr and you let Veruschka try to kill Yvan. You’re both as petty and cruel as the other.”

  “And what about me?” Vasilli’s arms wrapped around her from behind, his face nestling against her hair.

  “Get off me,” she growled.

  Vasilli chuckled in her ear, causing the hair on her neck to rise. He released her, his fingers brushing along her breasts as he did so. He went to stand by Yanka, a smug smile on his face. He was as intimidating as Anya remembered, his long black hair spreading over his shoulders. She could feel his newly acquired power rolling off him.

  “I see you’re still Yanka’s lap dog,” she commented. “You have a place as one of the greatest Powers in all the worlds and yet you still follow her blindly. It’s taking mummy’s boy syndrome a little too far, don’t you think?”

  “At least I have a family,” he stung.

  “Luckily for me there is more to family than blood.”

  “But doesn’t it worry you that what’s inside of me is what’s inside of you, no matter how diluted? Well…after tomorrow what is mine will definitely be inside of you.” He looked her up slowly and obviously.

  “You are a sick bastard, Vasilli.”

  “Yes, I am, and I’m still going to fuck you until you scream.”

  “Not in the way your brother does,” Anya taunted. “You’ll always be a lesser man to Yvan, no matter how much power you acquire.”

  “Little brother finally got to fuck you? You must’ve saved him for last. From what I hear, you’re fucking that entire group you travel with. I can assure you that when I fuck you, you will not enjoy it half as much.”

  “Charming incestuous child you have raised, Yanka. You must be proud,” Baba Yaga snorted.

  “Vasilli, stop trying to scare the girl and make the offer,” Yanka insisted.

  “Give us the firebird and you will be allowed to live,” he grunted.

  “Anya, side with me and we can be equals. Together, we’ll have enough power to destroy the both of them and the Darkness,” Baba Yaga talked over him.

  Anya looked at the three of them so full of hate and pettiness, locked in a story that wouldn’t end. She started to laugh.

  “You are all so pathetic! I’ve no offer to make any of you because your fates are sealed. I wanted to try to end this peacefully, but there is no reasoning with children.”

  “You’re the child if you think you’ve enough power to seal your own fate, let alone any of ours,” Yanka hissed. “Tomorrow, I’ll bring the gates down and if you try to stop me…”

  “My army will ensure that you don’t,” Baba Yaga shouted.

  “Give up this scramble for power, you old bitch. You have lost! I’ll rule for a thousand years and you will be reduced to a character in a children’s fairy tale.”

  Anya watched something flicker over Vasilli’s face as he looked at Yanka. He was going to betray her. He saw Anya’s gaze and grinned. He knew that even if she tried to out his intentions, Yanka wouldn’t believe her. What Vasilli didn’t know was that Anya didn’t care. Only one outcome would satisfy her and that was if they were all dead. Seeing them filled her with a burning rage that strengthened her resolve.

  They were still fighting as Anya
walked back into the forest, Vasilli’s black eyes burning into her back. She found her way back to her body and came to with a start. She was still sitting in the same place but a blanket had been thrown around her. Eldon was sitting on the log singing quietly to himself. It was beautiful and old and Anya didn’t understand a word of it.

  “How long have I been out?” she asked once she had convinced her tongue to start working again.

  “About an hour. Yvan came with the blanket and scowled at me a few times. What did you see?”

  “I had a meeting with Vasilli, Yanka, and Baba Yaga. The battle is going to start at dawn.”

  “You had no luck trying to convince them of a peaceful option then.”

  “I didn’t even try, but you already knew that I wouldn’t.”

  “Sometimes there is no peaceful option no matter how much you hope for it. What else did you see?”

  “Yanka is trailing this black…I don’t know what… it’s like shadowy goo. I don’t even think she is aware of it. I followed it through the forest and it led me to her.”

  “That’s not a good sign,” Eldon frowned. “I remember only one other time I have seen something like that, but it was a long time ago.”

  Before Anya could question him further, Aramis came hurrying through the trees towards them. “Izrayl is back. He says the Illumination camp has appeared out of nowhere. There are at least a thousand of them. Why don’t you look surprised?”

  “I saw Baba Yaga. I knew the army couldn’t be very far behind.” Anya held out her hand to him and he helped her up.

  “You saw her?”

  “I saw all of them. We need to get these people together before dawn.”

  “Søren and Mychal have already gone to scout the Illumination camp.”

  “Good, those two are the last ones that would get caught.”

  “God help who even thinks to try to stop them.”

  ***

  Half a kilometre through the forest, Mychal and Søren stood hidden in the trees watching the flurry of activity. They had slipped easily past the perimeter guards who Søren could only assume were human and possibly deaf and blind.

  He was happy to be out doing something useful, not sitting about watching Anya to make sure nothing tried to attack her. They were all watching Anya. She remained blissfully clueless, her mind too preoccupied.

  Against his better judgement, Søren had messaged Ruthann to let him know of the enemy’s movements and about what they had planned. He was still furiously angry with Ruthann but if the battle changed for the worst, the Álfr needed to have preparations in place. His Sjau would ensure that.

  “That must be Baba Yaga’s tent,” Mychal whispered.

  “It’s certainly the biggest.”

  “Not only that, I saw them carrying deconstructed pieces of a loom.”

  “And yet they still think she is Vasya Melenko. Idiots.”

  “They might not care. Even with her false pretences, she’s preferable to Yanka.”

  They watched a Jeep pull up and men hurrying to lift a crate from it. Even from two hundred metres away, Søren felt its aura.

  “I do believe that’s the game I keep hearing so much about.”

  “So she did bring it. Good, let’s move about the other side. I want to see how far we are from the Darkness camp.”

  Mychal moved but made no sound as he did so. It was eerie even for one as sure-footed as a Álfr. If they survived the battle, Søren was going to sit down, have a long conversation with Mychal, and do his best not to beg the demon hunter to teach him everything he knew.

  They moved easily through the shadows, but Søren still made the effort to glamour himself to look like he was dressed in the plain black swat gear that the Illumination favoured.

  “What the…”Mychal stopped dead still. The forest that stood between the Illumination and the Darkness camp was completely gone. They could see the bonfires of the other camp in the distance.

  “They’ve cleared the field with magic. There’s nothing left,” muttered Mychal in disgust.

  “Anya is going to be so angry when she sees this,” Søren replied.

  Mychal didn’t answer as a look of pure fury had passed over his face.

  “What is it?” Søren looked about for the threat.

  “It’s nothing,” Mychal shook himself. “I thought I felt something, but it doesn’t matter. Let’s go.” Søren followed him but kept looking over his shoulder as they moved.

  Back at the camp, Aramis’s voice was talking in a quick Álfr. It took Søren a few seconds to identify it being out of place. “Sounds like Aramis found someone he can talk to.”

  “Two someones. They are Álfr,” Mychal said and pointed. Søren saw the unmistakable bulk of Esbjörn and the slender willow of Lif.

  “What are you doing here?” Søren demanded angrily as he closed in on them. “I ordered you to go back to Ruthann.”

  “And he ordered us to come here tonight, Commander,” Lif said, bowing.

  “Are you not pleased to see us Dauđi Dómr?” Esbjörn asked, his face serious.

  “There’s no need to get cheeky with me.” Søren grinned and held out his hand. Esbjörn put his war hammer down and took it.

  “You didn’t think we were going to let you have all the fun did you? The rest of the Sjau would be here, but they knew you’d be furious if we left the Álfr completely unprotected.”

  “They are out numbering us at least three to one,” Søren told them.

  “It wouldn’t be very sporting if they didn’t.” Lif grinned and clicked his fingers, sending sparks in the air. “Songs are going to be written about this battle and my magnificent battle prowess will be known through all the worlds.”

  “You can do battle magic?” Anya asked as she pushed her way through the group.

  “The best you have ever seen.”

  “Good, I have a plan and we are going to need you.”

  “I only follow the orders of the Dauđi Dómr,” Lif claimed. Anya smiled.

  “Even better because he follows mine.”

  Lif looked incredulous until Søren placed a hand on her shoulder.

  “Sorry, Lif, she is right, but I’ll be fighting beside you, because I don’t trust Anya with any plan that doesn’t involve me.”

  “I was going to tell you what I need and was going to let you figure out the logistics bróđr.”

  “Then you are smarter than you look,” Søren teased to the confusion of Lif and Esbjörn. “Mychal and I have some news that you are going to want to hear.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three - The Gratitude of the Dead

  Anya was awake before the dawn. She felt an eerie sense of Deja vu but this time when the gates started to scream she could control it. She wished Trajan was there and all the others that were in New Orleans. She watched Yvan sleeping and if nothing else, she was happy that he was there beside her. He’d been with her from the beginning and if today was going to be her end, there was no one in the world that she’d rather have by her side. She leaned down and woke him with a kiss.

  “Wake up, Vanya, it’s time,” she whispered. He opened his eyes and gave her a look of such love that she thought her heart would burst.

  “Did you sleep?”

  “A little. The gates woke me. It’s starting.”

  The words were barely out of her mouth when battle horns began to sound off in the distance. Instantly the camp was alive and rallying. Food was hastily shoved into mouths as weapons and armour were strapped on. Katya had on so many weapons Anya was surprised she could stand upright and Aleksandra had a pair of handguns sitting in holsters on her hips. Mychal stood shirtless with the Sword of Heaven strapped to his back and his spear in hand. He had guns and knives strapped in holsters to his legs but kept the upper half of his body free. Søren, Aramis, Lif and Esbjörn wore the leather Álfr armour.

  “I’m going to enjoy this, I haven’t had a good fight in years,” Kullervo said as he stretched. He was wearing his leather pants and
boots, his long hair tied back in tight braids. He’d managed to produce a sword and shield from thin air but with Kullervo, it was best not to ask. His scars were standing out on his skin making him look like a vicious Viking warrior of old.

  “I thought you’d stick to battle magic,” Anya said.

  Kullervo laughed, “Of course, I’ll use battle magic but I really feel like hacking at something to see how well I remember my lessons.”

  “Just don’t kill me in your enthusiasm,” Eldon said dryly. He was carrying a sword and was shirtless, in his feet bare and covered in earth.

  “Don’t Celts fight naked?” teased Anya.

  Eldon gave her a loaded look; “After narrowly escaping getting my manhood sliced off in a battle against the Romans, I decided that pants were a better option.” He held up a small clay bowl that held bright blue paint. “I have prepared some woad for the occasion. I’d like to place a few protections on you.”

  Anya took off her coat so she was standing in her jeans and a singlet. Magic tingled through her as Eldon spoke words in Ancient Welsh over her and drew spirals and symbols on her arms, face and chest. She felt herself stand a little taller, strength filling her.

  “You look amazing, cousin. Do me!” Kullervo said excitedly.

  “For all we know you can’t die, so you hardly need them,” Eldon pointed out.

  “Maybe today could be the day. Do you really want to take that risk?” Kullervo asked. Eldon hesitated long enough for Kullervo’s exuberance to dampen.

  “Fine, but you better put some good protections on me in return,” he said caving in to Kullervo’s blue puppy eyes.

  “Hey, maybe today we both die. Wouldn’t that be a riot? It seems like a good day for immortals to die. Who were the Romans that almost robbed you of your pride? Were they good fighters?”

  Anya left them drawing and spelling each other. Just when she thought she was growing used to immortals, they would surprise her.