Little Fish topped the path’s rise and suddenly had to put an arm up to shield his eyes from the bright golden glow. There was no doubt in his mind the two men had awakened a long dormant power with their careless actions. With eyes shielded, the young man saw a shadow stretch from within the golden light in his direction.
Though he could feel no ill intent, Little Fish had too many experiences among gods and demons to lower his guard. His eyes instantaneously flashed white as did the Fishscale Necklace. Beside him came the familiar presence of the young witch Mjarga.
“Do you know what is coming ‘Fire-Hair’?”
Uncharacteristically, Mjarga stood close to Little Fish and held his arm. With less than her usual confidence Mjarga replied, “No, but I know she is coming for me.”
Little Fish grunted and the impulse to look forward in time to see what would transpire came to mind, but he thought it unwise. The light grew brilliant as its source cleared the tree-line. His eyes now protected from the blinding light, Little Fish watched as a man shambled towards him. He recognized him as one of the Aesir.
With eyes covered by her arm Mjarga remarked, “That is Handrisson. I think he is dead!”
His eyes aflame with the Fishscale’s power, Little Fish took a hard look at the man coming forward with dull lifeless eyes. Seeing beyond the mortal flesh, the young man saw the disturbing truth. Much of the energy which had given the man life was gone.
“No Mjarga. He is not dead. But only the barest spark of life keeps him moving.”
Twice the distance outside of arm’s reach from the pair, the living-dead Handrisson stopped his body unsteadily swaying from side to side. The brilliant golden glow behind him diminished to a tolerable radiance and the being emanating it stepped into view.
Little Fish felt the Fishscale’s energy rising within him as he gazed upon a golden-haired, golden-skinned being. Dark iridescent eyes like black opals trained upon him and then Mjarga.
With a croaking groan Handrisson said, “This... is... Mmmjar... gaaah....”
With some effort, he pointed a dislocated finger at the young woman who suddenly jumped behind Little Fish for protection.
Those dark opal-like eyes darted from Mjarga back to Little Fish. The golden head cocked quizzically as the being queried, “Such...terrible...power. You...under...stand me?”
Taking a half step forward, Little Fish did as his God-Mother the Priestess taught him and spoke with his mind. ‘Yes I do. This should be much easier than speaking. Who are you and what do you want here?’
The being seemed pleased as her demeanor changed. Suddenly, Little Fish’s mind was bombarded by an incomprehensible stream of thoughts, memories and feelings! The Fishscale flashed brightly like a small sun as the young man put both hands at the side of his aching head!
Mjarga grabbed him around the waist to keep him from falling backward. The light of the Fishscale Necklace slowly dimmed and Little Fish’s pain diminished as his mind began to compensate for the massive influx of information.
In moments, much of what had been passed to him became clear. In a time too distant to count, the Golden Being lived in this land. Little Fish marveled at the strange trees and animals none of which he’d ever seen before. Many looked like crocodiles and lizards only far more massive and dangerous! Yet, the Golden Being and her people lived among these creatures and the land which looked so different. Above, streaks of light began to grow in the night sky. Then as day came, the streaks grew brighter and more numerous.
The Golden Being and her people knew a great danger loomed above and would soon devastate the world. To save themselves most of her kind fled to the largest trees to wait out the danger. The Golden Being was last to reach the trees and she watched the skies of dawn fill with the brightness of a sun approaching from the retreating night sky.
Larger and larger the sun like object grew until it disappeared beneath the horizon. Moments later, a flash of light turned the dawn sky into the brightest day and the earth beneath her began to tremble! Unable to wait any longer, the Golden Being sealed her tree and went to sleep. Upon awakening, she stepped out into a world that had changed so even the stars in the sky were different!
Little Fish knew exactly what had happened. His God-Mother showed him how many worlds ended due to flaming bodies falling upon them from the heavens wiping out all that lives in the destruction. She also showed him how given enough time, the stars themselves move across the sky as the world moves through the firmament of the void. For the being to not be able to recognize the stars in the sky, uncounted ages must have passed while she slept!
The young man stepped forward while gently pulling away from Mjarga. 'What do you want? I will not allow you to harm these simple people. They have done you no wrong.'
Golden light flared from the being as she saw Little Fish’s intent to defend these ‘small’ beings with so little life energy should she become threatening. Once more she cocked her head quizzically due to such unfamiliar behavior.
Using thought alone the being queried, ‘What do you mean?’
Little Fish gestured to the broken and minimally animated Handrisson. Dark brown thickening fluid slowly oozed from tears in his skin caused by protruding bone while his labored breathing threw out flecks and bubbles.
'Do you plan on doing to these people what you did to him? If so, I will stop you.'
The Being had sudden understanding of the one before her intentions. White light from him flared brightly and she could feel him drawing energy from the world itself! She could tell he was so very young, but the power with in him was spawned from the primordial fires of existence!
The Being realized it was unlikely so young an entity could be in full command of such vast might. Somehow she had given the young one reason to feel she was a danger, but that had not been her intent.
Using her thoughts once more to communicate the Being emphatically attested, ‘I bear you and these lesser beings no ill intent! This one I use to commune with you was damaged by the Life Tree. It only sought to protect me. I restored him, but there was too little life left....’
Little Fish saw all that transpired as the Being’s thoughts flashed through his mind. The two men managed to split open the Stone Tree and what little remaining life it had left was used to defend the being as she slept inside. The two unfortunate men sought to remove the long dead tree from their field not knowing what lay inside for uncountable ages.
There was another fleeting thought Little Fish saw amidst the Being’s thoughts. The semi-living Handrisson had pointed out Mjarga. Somehow, there was some kind of connection between her and this strange being. Much as he did not want to admit it, the young man wished his God-Mother was here to help sort this out! Little Fish could not feel the ill intent caused by lying from the golden being. More than anything else, instead he felt overwhelming ‘loss’ and ‘regret’ not far below the warmth of golden light.
Gently waiving for Mjarga to come forward, Little Fish was willing to take a chance. Mjarga stood beside him and then grasped his arm with both hands. Normally, he would have objected to her touching him. But, this time it seemed appropriate.
His eyes still burning bright with the Fishscale’s power Little Fish announced, “Here is she whom you seek. Know I will not allow you to bring her harm.”
Looking at the terribly young being burning with power too immense for so short a life to understand, the Golden Being gave a slight bow of her head acknowledging the terms. Standing close beside the powerful one was an equally young being. Unlike the others of their kind, this one feared not the one who could render this world dead should he wish it.
Yet, there was concern within the young one called ‘Mjarga’. Looking directly into this one, the Golden Being was pleasantly surprised to find the young ‘female’ had been waiting for this encounter!
Communicating directly mind to mind the Golden Being queried, 'You already know who I am and what I seek do you not?'
The young one nodded, ‘yes.’
'You know where my kind has gone do you not?'
Again there was another nod, ‘yes.’
'Do not fear. I do not wish to reclaim this place as home. Far too much time has passed since my people flourished in this world. It now belongs to your kind. Show me where they went and I will go to them. You have my word.'
To be continued....
© 2014 H. Wolfgang Porter. All Rights Reserved.
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