Chapter 9 Chapter Four - Azadou
With a deep and unyielding sense of solicitude coursing through me, I race over to the mirror, tearing the vestiges of human modesty from my torso and stare at my reflection in the mirror. My brows furrow, the complete maelstrom of my thoughts clear on my face as with a faltering hand I touch my chest – searching – but there’s nothing.
How did she do it?
Outside of the Gods, no being has ever willingly touched me. No being ever dared. Is she that vacuous or just ruled by a sense of self-abandonment, lacking in any notions of self-preservation? More importantly…nothing came of her touch. She showed no fear or hesitation as she placed her hand upon my chest. I saw no hatred or disgust in those prism eyes. She looked upon me, pleading, beseeching; her voice soft, confident and firm, yet the very sound of it seemed to cast a spell of calmness upon my being.
For the first time since I was torn into this world, I felt frozen. I watched and waited for the malice to take her over…but it never did. I pondered for only a second if the fabric upon my body acted as a barrier, but I knew that was not plausible. Nothing can shield a mortal from my influence.
When she touched me I did something I have never done. I dug. I dug through her mind and essram, further than I have ever dug before. For most – if not all beings – their malice is as obvious to me as the air I breathe. Even that she-wolf. Although her malice was buried deeper than I’d ever encountered before, I could smell it all the same, but from that raitruum, there was not a shred of malice. I smelt nothing…
Well, I suppose that’s not true.
She smelled like a rainbow as it breaks through a thunderstorm in the middle of a warm, sunny day. Warm and crisp, yet sweet with a sour tang to tantalise my tongue. Her skin was a warm burnt sienna, glowing luminously against vibrant cedar hair with threads of mocha mixed within the strands. I did everything I could not to look at her or smell her, even though her presence screamed at me when I entered.
That day on the field when I was finally freed from my prison and she stupidly attempted to shield me from our maker’s wrath, her hair was ablaze with sparks of rainbow static, yet this time they were nowhere to be seen.
Twice now this little avifauna has been put in my path. I feel her beginning to peck her way into my brain. For what purpose I don’t know, but it ends here. She survived me once; I doubt she can survive me twice.
۩ORENDA۩
For more years than I am capable of counting, I have patrolled the Earth in search of eyti moving too close to human civilisation, so that I may uphold my celestial duties and save humankind from their influence. I’ve never done this for any other reason. I’ve never done this for any other reason other than it being my sole purpose for existing. Until now, that is.
Ever since the Autumnal Ball I find myself flying on frequent patrols just to distract myself from reliving the events of that evening over and over again in my mind. I feel like I’m experiencing Groundhog Day. I wake up and set off on patrol only to come home and find my mind plagued by the memory of what it felt like to be in the presence of my animai. To be close enough to touch him and yet still unable to feel that touch. To experience the penetrating stare of his piercing, purple eyes and breathe in his intoxicating scent only for him to just disappear from my life without a word once again. He has neither rejected me nor left me with any inkling that I will ever see him again. This is my hell. Condemned there by my own soulmate.
Ayawamat does his best to lift my spirits, but what can he do? How do you mend a broken heart that was broken by being denied true love? Even to me, it sounds unhinged. Every day I try over and over to call upon Merlos for answers, yet day after day she denies me. She may be a Goddess, but it’s not like she’s busy. The one time I need her and she’s nowhere to be found. Thankfully I haven’t reached a level of desperation that would have me call on Jartre for help. I would have to be desperate and certifiably insane to ever make that move.
I understand Azadou’s hatred for Jartre. In all fairness, I understand everyone’s issues with him. For as long as I can remember he’s been cold, curt and grouchy as hell, but he’s never once shown me cruelty or unkindness. I accepted my maker as he was a long time ago and I suppose I came to see him as that grumpy father figure who just humphs and flares his nostrils a lot, or when he's in a particular foul mood he summons a thunderstorm that could wipe out entire cities. There was comfort in his predictable nature, even if that predictability was volatile. Now he’s found true love, and I can finally see why the other Gods fought so hard to save him. Why they fought for him. He’s warmer and kinder now, but I think on some level I always knew he was like that and maybe that’s why his attitude never made me see him in a negative light.
I’m thrilled for him finding happiness and love, but unfortunately, his past actions are negatively impacting my present. Azadou loathes Jartre and by default, I’m pretty sure he loathes me because he views me as an extension of Jartre. Which is valid, but also exceedingly frustrating. I am not just a raitruum or a being made by a God. My name is Orenda, and I am a real person with my own thoughts and feelings, but Azadou wants nothing to do with that person. How am I supposed to break through to someone who won’t even acknowledge me?
I shake off my tumultuous thoughts as I begin to fly over Nepal, the wind in my feathers and the sun beating down as I soar through the clouds. Suddenly, I feel that unmistakable surge of frigid, cold vacantness that sends a shiver down to the tips of my tail feathers. I feel the static electricity that lingers in every calamus on my body, begin to flare, ready to ignite my wings into an electric powder keg. I home in on the location of the surge and dive in its direction. As I allow gravity to propel me closer to the ground, unease engulfs me when I realise a surge of this magnitude is highly irregular. The last time I felt this much negative energy was when the eyti were converging on Oregon. While this isn’t at that level, it’s still enough to indicate a large number of eyti and that’s neither normal nor good.
I fan my wings out, slowing down my descent as I let my power surge forward through my gold and blue feathers allowing them to burn with an electric charge. I land at the epicentre of what appears to be the ruins of a lost city. Either I’ve just landed on Machu Picchu, or I’ve just potentially discovered another ruined city. You’d be shocked at how many of those exist in the world. I look around, my eyes scanning as I search for my prey but as I continue to search I realise that cold surge has completely disappeared.
I take slow steps, my talons digging into the soil beneath me as I look in every direction, keeping my eyes and ears alert for the slightest abnormality, but nothing catches my attention, and that in itself gives me cause for alarm.
I continue to assess the ruins in utter confusion and trepidation. I know I felt the presence of eyti here. A lot of them. Yet now I can’t even detect any remnants of them. It’s almost as though I imagined the entire thing. Eyti can’t just disappear. They can be destroyed by lightning or can be forced to dematerialise when in contact with opal, but even under those circumstances you can feel their presence linger. They taint all that they touch, making the very Earth feel baron and menacing for sometimes days after they have gone. That’s how my brother and I can so easily track them, but this…this is different. What can cause the eyti to surge like that and then disappear without a trace?
I chill runs down my spine when only one probable answer comes to mind. Azadou. He had to have something to do with this, but why? And why erase any traces of them? Is it so I couldn’t track them? I can’t sense his presence, but it’s very possible he’s cloaked himself from me. That thought alone is enough to make me want to curl into a ball and wallow.
“You really are a magnificent sight to behold,” suddenly announces a somewhat familiar and enchanting voice. The coldness around me lifts, replaced by warmth as I turn my head, locking on a set of bright silver eyes smiling up at me as long strands of dark, forest green hair with streaks of white swirl around her radiant face in the breeze.
I channel the electricity through my body as I transform back into my human form and face the Goddess before me, bowing my head with respect.
“Goddess of Light,” I greet her honourably.
“Nope, still not used to that one. Man, does that sound weird,” she chuckles. “Please call me Gabriella,” she says warmly.
“I’m Orenda…but I’m pretty sure you already knew that,” I respond with a playful smile, reaching out and shaking her hand, my body immediately feeling light and airy from the contact.
“Due to all the craziness we haven’t had a chance to get to know each other, or for me to tell you just how in awe I am of you and your brother,” she says reverently.
I can’t help but blush at her high praise. I can’t remember the last time a God spoke of me and my brother in such high regard. It’s so nice to feel appreciated.
“That’s so kind of you to say,” I mutter bashfully.
“It’s true. Up until a few months ago, I couldn’t have imagined such beautiful creatures existed. I certainly never imagined I would be speaking to one while standing on Machu Picchu as a Goddess,” she says, shaking her head in bewilderment.
I knew it was Machu Picchu!
“I can only imagine how much that would make your mind spin, but since you mentioned it. Why are you here?” I inquire curiously.
She shrugs, “I thought you could use a little assistance.”
“Do you know what’s going on?” I ask, earning a nod from her. “And if my history with Zarseti is enough to teach me anything, then I take it you can’t tell me anything either.”
“Afraid not,” she says apologetically.
I sigh, a little frustrated but overall understanding. Those with the gift to see into the future can only tell you that which you need to know, that which will ensure a specific outcome, or if it’s something that is inconsequential. It doesn’t really bother me. If I always turned to Zarseti or even Gabriella now, it would be like constantly using a cheat sheet to get through life. Quickly you stop living life and just become a slave to the choices of others. It’s no way to live. As infuriating and even alarming as the unknown can be it has brought meaning to my life that I otherwise wouldn’t have. I don’t mind following the rules. Even if it results in my brother calling me a ‘Goody-Two-Shoes’.
“I respect that,” I inform her. “My next step would be to fly to Azadou and grill his ass about what is going on, but I have no way of tracking him even if I wanted to. I wouldn’t even know where to start,” I state glumly. “I can track his creations all over the globe, yet he is as elusive and impossible to find as a needle in a stack of needles.”
“Well…I know how to find him,” she announces mischievously.
My eyes widen with hope, and I feel butterflies begin to flutter around in my stomach at the mere thought of seeing him again. Though I'm unsure if that's a good or bad thing
“Could you tell me how to find him?” I eagerly ask.
“I can do you one better. I can send you right to him,” she proudly announces. “From there you should easily be able to get around.”
“I would be eternally grateful to you if you did that,” I exclaim.
She waves her hand dismissively, “Trust me, this is the very least I can do.”
“Thank you, Gabriella. I’ve felt hopeless for months. Merlos won’t answer my calls. Zarseti I know won’t get involved and I’m avoiding turning to Jartre for obvious reasons.”
Gabriella nods, “Yeah, that’s definitely for the best. He’s just concerned for you. I know he’s never been good at showing his feelings up until now, but I know that he cares about you and your brother. He just doesn’t want you to get hurt. Especially not when he feels like it would be his fault.”
I smile appreciatively, “I know. I know he means well and it’s nice to know he cares.”
“I promise to keep him on a tight leash,” she winks. “In the meantime, let’s get you to your man. Best of luck,” she declares, snapping her fingers.
In a single blink, I go from looking around the ruins of Machu Picchu to looking around at the most exquisite gothic foyer I have ever seen. Before me is a grand staircase bathed in a navy blue velvet carpet that leads up to a double staircase with another staircase and balcony higher up beyond it. Grand, navy pillars flank the stairs, standing at least twenty-four-feet-high, the walls lined with rows and rows of books like something out of a dark parable as ornamental walls make way to gold ornamental cornices that encompass a breathtaking glass, barrel vault ceiling overgrown with angry looking vines on the outside.
I glance to my left and right but all I see are black double doors flanking me, enticing me with curiosity as to what lies beyond each door. I glance around, taking in every gorgeous piece of gothic architecture in the dimly lit entrance hall. It’s dark and even the sunlight struggles to penetrate through the vines, leaving various candles lit around the room with the task of creating a somewhat cosy ambience. At least in my opinion.
Most people don’t think that there is any beauty in darkness. They think darkness only means sadness, anger or evil, but I couldn’t disagree more. If it weren’t for the night we couldn’t see the beauty of the stars as they twinkle in the sky or admire the glow of the moon as it radiates the sun’s rays, lighting up the sky in the middle of the night. We can only appreciate light because we know what darkness is. They’re two halves of the one coin, neither being able to exist without the other. Yes, there’s coldness in darkness, but sometimes there’s beauty if you care enough to see it.
If this is Azadou’s home then already I can tell there is more than just coldness inside him. To create something so exquisite is enough to tell me that there is more to him than just malice. If only he would let me see it for myself.
I turn to explore my surroundings only to collide with a solid wall of muscle, so solid it leaves a burning ache through my body as I connect with it. My eyes stare at a muscular, bronzed chest, smooth as silk yet firmer than granite, rising and falling steadily before my eyes. I feel my essram come alive like a live wire connecting with water, threatening its surroundings with dangerous sparks. I slowly tilt my head up, a lump forming in my throat as I once again feel that sensation of being sucked into a black hole, my senses running on overload as I yearn to dive right into it and allowing it to consume me. I look upon a thick, black goatee surrounding the most perfect lips I have ever seen; full and firm, set into a hard line. A perfect nose hovers above me, nostrils flaring as I tilt my head back further until my eyes connect with two, bright purple eyes glowing and staring me down. My heart pounds furiously and my hands begin to sweat but the fear never comes. All I feel is the incomparable feeling of peace and joy to be staring into the eyes of my animai. Eyes that don’t look happy to see me.