I stood in unfamiliar foothills observing the range of unfamiliar snow-capped peaks. I could hear the chatter of the wind but didn’t feel it caress my face nor cold of any kind. A foggy awareness informed me that I was dreaming and the lucidity of it told me I was to learn something, of what and why I did not know.
It was then that the Traveler from East to West appeared before me as a great falcon that dwarfed me in all respects. I could hear the snapping of His feathers as he beat his wings but felt nothing against my cheeks, he flew in and hovered briefly before landing upon a rocky perch that jutted from the misty earth.
“Why do you trespass in my dreams Great Traveler? I have made no plea for your interference in my affairs,” I called.
Golden eyes peered through blackest feathers, feathers that preened at my words making no guessing game of irritation. A deep and resonating voice unbefitting a bird but well adjusted for a God came from the direction of the rock though its golden beak did not mimic the movements of speech.
“You speak without respect to a God. You would be wise to learn some manners,” the tiercel boomed.
“I speak with courtesy to a visitor who has entered my home without announcement. The dreaming lands are not your territory, wind god.”
“I GO WHERE I PLEASE MORTAL,” waves of agitation washed over me as the giant bird beats its wings in tune with its demeanor. A moment passed and he settled down, then continued, “I came to demand that you release your prisoner, return my subject to her home.”
“No,” I replied.
The Traveller seemed to triple in size and take on the purple hue of the setting sun, “YOU DARE REFUSE!”
“I am not your subject nor your charge Great Traveler, you hold no power here nor over me. I am earthen born even if my father was a lesser of your kind, though certainly not your lesser in demands and arrogance.
The Traveler’s feathers splayed out and his eyes narrowed at me, “That may be, mortal, but I am bonded by friendship to many earthen lords. Though I cannot touch you directly, indirectly, I can make living worse than dying and even when you die, I will see the torment of your soul everlasting.”
“That you could, Great One. But you will not.”
“You have your father’s arrogance to think so.”
“Whatever bad blood exists between you and The North-West is an affair of the Gods and is best dealt with by the same. I absolve myself of it. It is in fact my mother’s guiding eyes I possess that see the truth of things. It is why you came to make demands of me. Your subject will not hear you anymore.”
“She is young, blind and foolish,” The Traveler retorted.
“The Princess is mine now, we share each other’s fate and even separated we will follow each other. The western lands boast of your infinite intelligence. You would have been wiser to approach me with manners and courtesy.”
The falcon’s eyes narrowed, “Would you have heeded my request. Mortal?”
“No, but I would have been better mannered and more receptive to your presence. Begone Western God, do not trespass on the covenant of the Dreamer again.”
“It is your mother’s stubbornness you possess, little princeling.”
“The wisdom bestowed upon the Northern Queen grants her the privilege of stubbornness.”
“And how will that stubbornness serve you in the future, or will you repeat the mistakes of your past?”
There was no guessing in his reference, “I lack the patience of immortality Western Lord, and you are scraping the barrel. Speak plainly of what you mean that would compel you to trace the lines of old scars.”
“Your little mortal tryst has cast the web of fate anew and the web-weaver is beside herself tracing the lines. The outcomes are dark indeed, for everyone.”
“How is that possible? Even if we are royals, I am the youngest of seven, she of fourteen. She exists only to offset bad luck.”
The hawk’s feathers ruffled as it threw back its head and made a bobbing motion, the motion did not seem to align with the booming laughter that echoed all around me. After a moment It peered at me again with its head cocked to the right slightly, a vague notion dawned upon me that though it was incapable of the expression physically with its beak, it was still grinning at me piteously.
“Arrogant and foolish, the worst traits of your parentage. That is exactly the point, mortal. The royal families established in ages past are in places of power and blessed accordingly. Because you were the seventh son and the son of a divine wind you have the power to alter fate. She was born to offset curses upon the royal family of the Golden Valley, but a fate changer took her prisoner and absconded with her to make her his bedroom toy.”
This irked me and I lost all pretense of reverence of the wind god, “Refer to her in that way again and I will lead every warrior in the north to stamp the Golden Valley flat. I will turn your shrines into breeding grounds for the Tunri.”
The tiercel laughed again, “We are under unspoken agreement, mortal, not to boast about powers we do not possess. However paltry your mortal feelings may be, you would not lift one finger to harm the valley nor bend one blade of grass therein lest it displease her.”
Knowing he had the upper hand of reason the Traveler leaned in to accentuate dominance of the situation with his size, “I am not fond of any mortals but the royals of the Golden Valley have earned a modicum of my concern. Return The Princess of The Golden Valley, take The Princess of the Southern Clouds and restore the order of fate.”
I was many things, even a fool at times though I believed I had left the worst part of that in my past. Gods did not violate the division between them and mortals lightly and the laws that bind them from trespassing the territory of the Dreamer were strict as they were harsh. The East to West Traveler did not come to me with falsehoods, and his concern for the future was genuine, even if they were self-gratifying.
“No,” I said, “I will not give her up.”
“You would doom us all then?” The tiercel’s question seemed as incredulous as it did irritated.
“Neither that either,” I replied.
The golden eyes narrowed into barely visible slits and the falcon’s body seemed to stretched considerably as it leaned in close enough for the blackened tip of its golden beak to hover a hair’s breadth from me. I would not lie and say I was not intimidated.
“What are your intentions, mortal?”
“I will gather my forces and conquer The Golden Valley. I shall become its king and Thuy will become its queen. The balance will be restored.”
The falcon’s eyes widened, a brief moment of disbelief then his head tilted one way then the other. I had the vague impression he was considering my words. “If you fail, the repercussions would be unimaginable and echo far into the time of your descendants. Your greed belies your size.”
“To be royalty is to desire everything to be yours, to be a man is to defend everything that is.”
The Traveler’s eyes narrowed once more, “Do I have your word you will succeed?”
“For her sake, you have my word.”
“Then we have an accord. Take this.” The tiercel tucked his head under his wing for a moment then brought forth a remige and dropped it in my hand. I lifted the giant feather by its quill and twirled it around impressed by its size and the inky blackness.
“What does it do?” I asked.
“Absolutely nothing,” The Traveler grinned without grinning, “Directly interfering is forbidden, but that is the anchor of our accord and those who recognize it for what it is will be drawn to your cause and they will know the righteousness of your actions.”
“I will not be your servant, even when I am your king, but I will preserve the rites of the pantheon in the valley.”
“I am more concerned with preserving fate and you need to muster every wit of yours to preserve the royal family. They will ardently defend the land even at the cost of their own lives. Greed is not a gentle master, mortal. You may have to rely on the legacy of your father.”
“I will not, the son of a lesser god I may be but the son of the Northern Queen holds more pride in my heart.”
“I will not besmirch one of my charges and ilk but I do confess, I have no fond relations with that man. Should your greed inspire you, please consider taking his mantle.”
I felt a laugh forming in my throat but it was cut short as the skies darkened and turned a nasty shade of violet. Silent lightning flashed in the sky but refused to disappear and the heavens above took on the visage of a broken mirror. The Traveler observed this in a panic as his head rapidly swiveled one way and another observing what transpired.
“Damn,” the falcon’s voice boomed.
“What nonsense is transpiring Great Lord?” I pleaded for answer.
“The Weaver, she noticed our pact. She is seeking to trap us here. We must leave, now. Climb on my back, I will carry your mind back. Hurry mortal, if she catches us, she will fish the maw with your soul as bait.”
He spun around on his perch and stretched his massive wings outward splaying his wing feathers like giant fans. As per any nightmare my movements felt bogged down, but with great effort I managed to hop and climb the back of the western wind god. I took no caution towards his discomfort.
The cracks of light spread further across the sky and I felt like any moment the shards would come tumbling down and skewer us. With a small hop The Traveler took to the air over the steep slope flapping his wings earnestly to climb higher only to dive suddenly and sail the air with great speed. The lack of wind against my face or in my ears allowed the rapid beating of my heart to take its place and enhance my panic.
“Can you make it?” I yelled though there was little need in the silent flight, but fear had gripped my body and soul.
“She will not capture me mortal, but if her actions continue, she will wake The Dreamer and if that happens, we will all beg for the loving embrace of death.”
Unlike the other gods of the pantheon, the Dreamer was a presence more akin to a demon. Stalking the byways between the dreams of mortals and gods alike. As children we are told if you encounter The Dreamer to sing a song, tell a story or a joke, whatever you do, to entertain the dreamer and he will show you something, then leave you be, fail to do so and it will take your soul and you will never wake.
What I feared became reality as the cracks spanned the sky. Over trees and mountains The Traveler flew at a speed I could not discern leaving me to focus on the fragments of the sky that began falling all around us. Giant purple shards of reflective glass fell and crashed into the snowy ground below as The God of the Western Path weaved to and fro, avoiding them with ease. I did my best to calm my mind and prayed for luck and his skill. I didn’t dare stare into the void left behind by the falling sky.
An enormous shard fell in front and blocked the way ahead. Such things are hard to scale in your dreams but I’ve seen smaller mountains than this mirrored wall that fell before us. The Traveler tucked his wings back accelerating through non-existent wind with only the short command to hold on tight. There was no avoiding the purple wall as it expanded beyond my peripherals. I closed my eyes and held on tight.
What happened next, I am unsure of, but I was sitting up in my bed with a slick sheen of sweat covering my body. Moonlight filtered through the iron diamonds and curtains of my window casting a purple light within. Remembering my dream, I vowed to have those curtains exchanged no matter what protestations Thuy may have.
Absent-mindedly, as I breathed heavily, I twirled the feather in my hands. Realization of its existence outside of my dream came suddenly and I brought it up to my face. Roughly three feet in length from quill to tip it was an impressive plume of jet black. The glossy shine reminded me of the volcanic glass I had seen from the South East.
“Are you alright, my love?” Despite the soft tone the question startled me and I turned to see Thuy propped up on an elbow staring at me. Genuine concern crossed her face that made her small mouth look like she was pouting.
“It is nothing kitten, please go back to sleep.” The night was hardly the time to explain that I would conquer her homeland at the behest of her god in a bid to placate The Weaver of Fate.
She seemed all too eager to do as I suggested and no sooner had her head touched her pillow did the soft sounds of night breathing begin to emanate from her body. I stared at her a moment in her thick sleep attire. I could not blame her. The people of The Golden Valley and western lands were not built for the northern cold of the ranges.
Unlike the creature on my right side that slept in the nude with blankets chaotically tossed aside and emitting sounds unbefitting a woman, let alone a princess, barely befitting a human. Even the wolf mounts made no such noises as they slept. Her indifference to my opinion was encapsulated by a sharp snort and her hand idly scratching the curve of her hip as she slept.
The burdens of the task that lay before me weighed heavily and after placing the plume on the headboard I fell back onto my own pillow. I casually threw a thin blanket over Kaea lest her appearance distract me to other activities when all I truly desired was dreamless sleep. I did not look forward to the sun creeping across the tips of the northern mountaintops and demanding an explanation of my future actions.