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Chapter 4

The spirit clacked its beak angrily. "Good. You aren't so simpleminded as not to recognize one of your betters."

Kneeling on all fours, Azrian remained still and kept her eyes on the grass. She could see the spirit's taloned feet slap the mud as it paced a circle around her. Red feathers clung smooth to those talons, bright as flame.

"You dare," hissed the spirit, "take one of mine? The audacity. I was content to allow my brother's brat to live in my lands. But now you have gone too far. You have defiled my own with your fondling. You shall leave."

Azrian swallowed miserably. "Where shall I go?" she said to the grass.

"Go?" Ayni laughed dryly. "Go to Hell. Just don't come back here."

Azrian felt the tear rise in her left eye, watched as it hit the grass. Ayni was waiting for her to respond, and she whispered, "Yes, Great Ayni Bird."

"Hmm. Obedience? Smarter than you look. You shall go far from here. At once."

"What about Nhlahla and . . ."

"They will think you are dead."

Azrian closed her eyes. "And Irmai?"

"You have defiled him. He must be cleansed with the rituals of his tribe."

Azrian set her fangs. Somehow, she knew "cleansing" Irmai would mean Ayni having sex with him. She didn't know why, but the very thought sent a thrill of quiet rage through her. ". . . as you will, Great Ayni," she answered with difficulty.

Ayni laughed lightly. "Don't like that, do you? But oh yes. I will fuck Irmai. I'll fuck him with something so hot and nasty, he won't even remember the travesty that happened with you. Now get up, slut. And get out."

Azrian could smell smoke and there was no doubt in her mind: Ayni would set her tail on her fire if she didn't move. Heart thundering, she was about to scramble up and run when she felt fingers touch her head. She went still when she noticed them: a second pair of taloned feet had appeared in the muddy grass near her paw. These feet were larger than Ayni's, with sharper talons and rougher scales. The feathers cloaking the talons were a bright and brilliant blue. Azrian stared at those blue feathers, eyes blinking slowly as she admired them. It took her a moment to realize the second spirit was touching her head. Its great wing draped from its arm like a glossy sleeve as it stood over her.

"Ti'uu," Ayni said, voice dripping derision, "so kind of you to drop by. What has it been? Two hundred years?"

"Three," returned the new comer. The deep voice of a male.

Azrian's ears pricked forward: Great Ti'uu Bird!

"You realize she is mine," Ti'uu said, a slight admonition in his voice.

Ayni snorted. "I don't care if she belongs to Hildrith'el, she's getting out of my lands. And before you say it, I don't care for your fool plans. There is no restoring the First Children. They are lost. They are lost because you betrayed them!"

"I did no such thing."

"Wasn't it you who supported Hildrith'el when she gave the world to the Second Children? I didn't hear you complaining then. In fact, you dropped to your knees and ate her pussy every time she opened her beak about it."

"Hildrith'el was wrong. . . . I was wrong. I didn't understand it then, and yes, I allowed my devotion to her to cloud my judgment. But I understand now. And her mistake - our mistake - can be undone."

"Ha. Better not let _her_hear you say that. Is it really wise to rebel against her? When she finds out what you are doing, she will kill you. And the child."

"No, she won't."

Ayni laughed. "You always were so wonderfully naïve."

Hildrith'el? First Children? Azrian listened, her heart thudding hard. Here she was, kneeling in the mud at the feet of two gods, as they argued about things she couldn't possibly understand. She suddenly wanted to get up and run. If Nhlahla's stories of warring gods were true, they were incredibly powerful - more powerful than her - while Ayni was known as a goddess of fire and rage. If Ti'uu angered her, Azrian did not want to be around.

"I will see Azrian out of your lands," Ti'uu said calmly.

Ayni clacked her beak threateningly. "Raaa! See that you do."

Azrian slumped with relief when Ayni's small talons stamped away. The goddess only took a few steps, however, before she kicked off from the ground. Dust rose to smack Azrian in the face as the rustle of Ayni's great wings shook the earth and stirred the trees, sending leaves and tattered moss to the mud in flurries. Azrian staggered on her knees, her red mane beat about her, and the trembling ground made her belly clench and shudder. When the world was still again, she realized she was still shaking, and she knew the goddess - who had snuck upon her so silently before - had made such an exit to display her power, a silent warning that Azrian should leave immediately.

Ti'uu's careful fingers stroked Azrian's mane. "Do you know who I am, child?"

"You are Great Ti'uu Bird," Azrian said to the mud. "You are a god."

"Is that all you know?"

Azrian blinked at the grass: he sounded amused. "I . . . only know a little, Great Ti'uu," she whispered.

"So it seems."

She watched his talons move away from her, slapping the mud as they went. His back was to her and she risked glancing up for the first time. She went still in wonder. He was incredibly tall. Tight-bodied and fit, broad-shouldered, and covered in silky blue feathers. She had never expected him to be so muscular, but there he stood, rippling and strong. Blue feathers cloaked his head like a mane, tumbling down his back in a beautiful cascade. His tail was a long, flat fan and was folded low behind him, as were his arms, the wings of which swept from his wrists to his shoulders. Looking at those immense wings, Azrian's own wings felt feeble and small. She tightened them to her back and wanted to disappear.

According to Nhlahla, Ayni was a goddess of rage, but Ti'uu was a god of stillness, preparation, and thought. Just being in his presence . . . quieted something in Azrian. And she knew if he hadn't shown up, perhaps Ayni would have harmed her far worse than a kick in her back.

Ti'uu paced thoughtfully, and when he turned his head to the side, his face was silhouetted by the moon and his sharp beak glinted in the light. He turned toward her and she quickly dropped her face again.

"I have watched over you, child," he said softly and touched her mane again. "All your young life. You have grown so fine and beautiful. Just like your mother."

Azrian's heart leapt. "My m-mother?" she whispered. The sob in her voice surprised her. But she had waited so long to know the truth - this truth Nhlahla and Sampson had kept from her. "You knew my mother, Great Spirit?"

"Oh yes," he said softly. "I knew her."

Azrian stiffened to hear the delicate emphasis on the word "knew." A chill swept through her fur as she realized: Ti'uu was her father. With the sudden realization, everything made sense: her wings, her powers, the Ayni tribe's fear of her. And Ti'uu had been watching over her all this time. Perhaps keeping her safe. Perhaps keeping Nhlahla and Sampson safe too. It hit her again - he was her father. She trembled. She wanted to call him Father. She had always wanted to call someone that. Sampson she always called Sampson. And when she was a child . . . Sampsy.

"And . . ." Azrian swallowed hard. "Is Nhlahla my mother?"

She was surprised when Ti'uu chuckled. "The Lucky One? No. That one has escaped death one time more than she should have, that is all. Her luck brought her to you, when you were a little cub, when you were helpless. I couldn't have planned it better myself."

Azrian stared at the grass and let the disappointment settle over her. For a god of preparation, Ti'uu hadn't planned her care very thoroughly. That he had allowed her to be helpless and that Nhlahla had only stumbled upon her! She gritted her fangs, and startling the spirit, she leapt to her feet. Tears were in her eyes as she turned dramatically away. Fuck him. And all the gods.

"Azrian," Ti'uu coaxed. His sharp claw closed on her shoulder. She twisted to get away and choked out a sob when he jerked her around and hugged her to his chest. His chest was hard and warm, but his feathers incredibly soft. Her red mane tumbled in her face as she melted against him and let the tears fall. She was surprised by the tenderness of his touch, the way he held her, whispered that he was sorry. His claws smoothed down her mane, gentle in their caress.

"It was better," he said soothingly, "that I watched you from the waters of E'cru. You are half mortal, and therefore, even you are too precious, too frail to withstand my presence. Just being near me drains your life force. It would have killed you had I stayed near."

Azrian sobbed harder and didn't know why. As much as she loved Nhlahla and Sampson, her very existence had been so lonely. And to hear this now, that her own father couldn't be near her just because it would kill her . . . She clung to him and wished it wasn't true, wished that he could have been a part of her life. Something in her had always been aching for what wasn't there. Now she knew what had been missing. Him. So tall, strong, and kind. He was like Sampson, only she could call him Father. She closed her eyes and felt the tears squeeze hot through her lashes as she smoothed her fingers through his feathers. They were so soft, like silk.

"I love you," he said, deep voice rumbling up from his chest to hit her ear, "and I brought you into this word to do what I can not."

Azrian sniffed and glanced up at him in amazement: what was there a god could not do? She was going to ask but the words choked in her mouth: she was seeing his face for the first time. He smiled at her awe, his beak curling softly at the corners. His eyes. His eyes were so . . . true. Honest. Pure. Like sunlight. They were golden.

"You have my eyes," he said, gazing at her as absently as if he was just noticing her face as well. And indeed, she had spent the last twenty or so minutes with her head down. "If you weren't my child, you could not look into my eyes and live."

Azrian blinked out a tear, startled to hear his words. "Father . . . what is it you can't do?"

Ti'uu touched her face. He was still staring at her, still amazed by her soft beauty. Perhaps he was seeing her mother when he looked at her. "I can not walk among mortals. The draining works both ways. You will be the one. You will be the one to reconcile dog with fox."

Azrian frowned miserably. "I will?"

"Take the shape of a female dog. Go to the castle of Wychowl in Varimore."

Azrian shook her head. "But I don't know how to do that."

"Try. You are perfectly capable. You need only touch another's soul and you can render it. Touch a tree and become a tree. Touch a bird . . . and become a bird." He smiled.

"You want me to masquerade as a dog and enter this . . . castle. Why?"

"You will seduce the prince there. Become his lover and take the throne of Varimore."

Azrian's mouth slipped open in amazement. "No," she whispered.

"Under your rule, foxes will rise from the ashes of their once great kingdom. Dog and fox alike will worship you. And the world will know peace in your light."

Azrian shook her head. "Is that all you care about? Don't you care about me?"

"More deeply than words can express. But this, the world is bigger than you. Even bigger than I."

"But what if I don't want to?" Azrian said unhappily. She felt like a child when her lip trembled.

Ti'uu smiled. "It doesn't matter. You will wind up in Wychowl. You will love Prince Etienne. And you will conquer the world. We seldom have a say in our destinies."

Azrian scowled. "Fuck destiny."

Ti'uu laughed. "Yes. So like your mother. Now go, child." He extended his arm, unfolding the great feathers of his wing. Azrian looked where he indicated and saw Meba step lazily from the shadows.

The moa bird padded to its mistress and clacked its beak, its incredibly thick lashes cloaking indifferent brown eyes.

Azrian sadly stroked Meba's head. "But . . ." she looked at Ti'uu, and her red mane tumbled back from her cheek. She frowned. "Will I see you again?"

The spirit smiled. "I will see you. But you won't see me."

Azrian's lashes lowered miserably and she realized she wanted to see him. There were so many things she wanted to know! A question about her mother was on the tip of her tongue when she lifted her eyes again . . . but Ti'uu was gone.