Rise of the Firebird (41 page)

“You think I’m going to jeopardise that by seducing an Elemental? I’m not that stupid, Aramis. It isn’t like it was with the
Groenn Skaer.
Tapio genuinely wants to help. I would feel it if there were other intentions. He’ll help me to understand parts of myself that were damaged and changed from the
Groenn Skaer.
I have questions that only someone like him can answer. I trust him Aramis, and if you can’t, then at least trust me.”

“I do trust you, but these creatures don’t feel the same way. Their power and appeal is unprecedented. You could spend a hundred years in this perfect place and you’d barely notice. I’ve lived with the Álfr and it’s the same. Immortal beings exist in a time line without end. I don’t want you getting hurt like you did last time. I don’t want Tapiola to try to take your mind.”

“Stop worrying. We will be safe for one night, so just enjoy it,” Anya hugged him tightly and he relented. “If Yvan isn’t suspicious, then you shouldn’t be either. Honestly, I’m more worried about the firebird wanting to stay here than myself.”

“Poor Yvan,” Aramis said and Anya heard the smile in his voice.

“Try not to enjoy it too much,” she said and jabbed him in the ribs.

“No promises. Go, find them and rescue Yvan. Get your answers.” Aramis kissed her forehead and she hurried back towards the house.

Anya followed the sound of singing when she entered the house and found Eldon and Tapio in a library. Anya was more than a little surprised to see that a Forest God would be concerned with something like books. However, books were few, for in their place was hundreds of scrolls, each of them tied with a different coloured scrap of cloth indicating some kind of order. Maps of star charts were pinned on the walls and another was spread out on a large wooden table. Eldon was leaning over it and pointing to Wales.

“This is my homeland,” he was saying, “and this is Caledonia or Celyddon Forest in Scotland. This is where I met the last one like you.”

“How many years did you let the forest inhabit you?” Tapio asked curiously. He was now wearing a dark green silky robe over the leather pants, his crown of leaves gone. He looked up and smiled at Anya, “Join us, please.”

“I honestly don’t know how many years it was. I went into the forest because I suffered great losses and I could no long bear the weight of people and the expectations they felt necessary to place on me. Quite simply, I went mad and when I met Cerunnos, he offered to show me the forest with his eyes and I agreed. It would’ve been years before I found my way back to my own mind and relinquished the power.”

“You still have much of it inside of you,” said Tapio. He picked up Eldon’s hand, turning it over to examine it. “I see. You are tied to your land. I haven’t seen that in a human, even one that is immortal.”

“I’ve used the power given to me to replenish my land many times over. I have tried to give it back.”

“Perhaps you are not meant to. This power was given, not stolen. If this Cerunnos you speak of felt that you’d use the power to protect the land and rejuvenate it, then that is why you were allowed to take so much of it away with you,” Tapio explained. “Anyanka on the other hand is different.”

“I’ve heard that before,” she sighed.

“Dear one, this
Groenn Skaer
was young and impulsive. There are rites that must occur to bring the spring, but to bring it with you in such a way was careless. From what I can discern from your memories, he wanted to try to ensure a bond with you to help in the protection of his realm. I don’t think he would’ve been aware of the eventual outcomes. There haven’t been seeds since the beginnings of the world.”

“But what am I meant to do with them?” Anya asked. Even now, she felt the warmth of them in her pocket.

“I advise you not to provoke Tuoni with them again, though I would’ve liked to see his reaction.” Tapio’s face turned mischievous. “He would’ve had quite the shock. Tapiola has grown on his borders to act as a balance to his darkness and death. I believe he worries that my lands will grow and his will shrink. Ridiculous, but he has always been vain and paranoid.”

“Not paranoid enough to trust Baba Yaga so easily. I don’t like that they thought I could be traded like a piece of meat,” Anya said, folding her arms.

“Tuoni is lonely. It’s the way of our kind. Sometimes, we find a suitable mate, other times we do not. Tuoni has always been impatient in that regard, but let us not dwell on Tuoni. I want to know how Kokko became to be sharing a body with a human.”

“Where is Yvan?” Anya asked.

“Resting. I told Kokko to let him change back. There’s time for us to talk.” Tapio clapped his hands three times and a jug and three cups appeared on the table. Something had put them there but it was so fast Anya only saw a blur.

“What was that?”

“I have many
kotihaltija
that live in Tapiola. They are shy,” Tapio said and he filled the cups and passed them to Eldon and Anya. Eldon sipped his drink and smiled appreciatively, “I haven’t had honey mead in far too long, especially with heather and lavender in it.”

“You’re most welcome.”

Anya sniffed hers before having an experimental sip. It was sweet but she could feel the burn of alcohol as well as lingering smoky floral flavours in the aftertaste. She wasn’t sure if she liked it or not but she kept drinking it, quite unable to stop. “It is different and there’s something…I don’t know,” she murmured looking into the cup.

“Best not to try to analyse it. Take it easy, because it will knock on your backside if you are not careful,” Eldon said with a pat on her shoulder.

They all sat down on wooden chairs cushioned with furs and Anya began to tell Tapio about her adventures. The mead kept being poured and Anya found that all the words that had been stuck on her tongue or in the dark places of her mind seemed to come out. Eldon took over the storytelling from Anya when they got to their first vision of each other.

“You two are connected by a greater force. It’s a good thing that you have found one another. There’s much Eldon can teach you, Anya, and not all of it is about magic,” Tapio nodded his head in approval, “but for now, you should go and rest. I wish to show you things in the forest tonight.”

Anya stood up on wobbly legs without argument and tried to find the way back to her room. The combination of mead and deep conversation had left her feeling empty and exhausted. Yvan was sprawled out across the bed, a blanket thrown over him. The firebird hadn’t even let him get undressed before it had changed in order to see Tapio. Anya crawled in beside him, rested her cheek against his shoulder, her arm across his back and before she could hold another thought, all went dark.

Anya woke hours later to the smell of pine and clean skin. She opened a sleepy eye and saw Yvan trying to find a clean shirt in his bag.

“You smell nice,” she said sleepily.

“Good evening, sleepy head. Tapio’s sauna is pretty amazing. Sorry if I woke you,” he said. “He tells me you drank all of his mead. I told him to hide his vodka.”

“I see how it is! You’re already ganging up on me with someone you just met. I know where I stand.” Anya rolled over. He grabbed her bare ankle and the heat of his hand shot goose bumps up her leg.

“You’re lying not standing,” he pointed out, dragging her towards him.

“Don’t think you can suck up by being all warm and half naked,” she huffed although her voice hitched. His hair was still wet and dripped down on her as he leant down over her.

“You’re still so cranky when you wake up,
shalosť.”

“That’s because you’re dripping on me.”

He grinned and Anya started to squirm but was too slow. He held her down and rubbed his wet hair over her face.

“You great big Russian…jerk!” she squealed. “I should’ve left you in that damn egg.”

“You don’t mean that,” he whispered in her ear, laying a hot kiss behind it. It was a small gesture but Anya felt her blush run from head to toe. He got up and put his shirt on, “Go on, go have a sauna. You’ll feel better. The girls should be finished by now. What’s the matter?”

“Argh, nothing,” she mumbled and sat up. “Hung over from the mead.” It wasn’t the mead that was bothering her. It was the way he kissed her, but she wasn’t about to tell him that.

Outside, the sun was almost gone and there was a cool chill in the night air. Anya stood out on the deck and breathed in all the clean, delicious scents of the forest. Everything seemed so fresh and alive. Aramis had been right. She could have easily stayed there for a hundred years and let the real world hang.

“Look at that dreamy face, Aleki,” Katya said to her sister as they walked up the path from the washhouse, their hair clean and wet. “Did Yvan wake you up in the nice way?”

“Actually, he dripped water all over me. You know Russians aren’t known for their romance,” Anya replied flippantly.

“You two are both like blushing virgins. Ridiculous.”

“They’re being respectful, Katya, courtship takes time. I think it’s lovely,” Aleksandra replied.

“You would,” Katya rolled her eyes. “Who uses the word courtship these days anyway?”

“Those of us who are still ladies and who know better than to talk about such things.”

“Ouch,” Anya winked at Aleksandra. “How was the sauna?”

“Hot and wonderful. Tapio has some serious helpers around the place.”

“He does.”

“Drop your towel a few times and see what happens, just for laughs.”

“I hope you haven’t been teasing them, Katya,” Anya scolded.

“Do it and find out.”

Steam rose from the doors of the sauna as Anya stepped into the changing and bathing area. Wooden benches ran along the walls and brass hooks were fixed above them. Woven rag rugs had been thrown over the floors to prevent slipping and a large copper bathtub was filled with cold water that had been pumped from the stream. Anya pulled off her dirty clothes and stepped out of her jeans. She turned to pick up her dirty clothes from the floor and found they were no longer there. Slowly, she picked up a folded towel from the pine rack and dropped it on the ground. In a streaking red blur, the towel lifted in the air and hung itself up on the brass hook.

“Thank you,” Anya said politely. She wrapped the towel around her and pulled on the thick wooden handle of the sauna door. Steam and heat poured over her and her face broke into a grin. She hadn’t had a sauna in a long time, not since Eikki had died. The fire in the sauna box was glowing red and a small lamp was burning low so it wasn’t completely dark.

She climbed up on the top bench and sat down next to the large wooden bucket filled with cold water. Using a copper ladle, Anya scooped out water and tossed it onto the hot sauna rocks. They sizzled and spat and heat flooded the close space. Anya sighed and relaxed against the hot wall. She started to smile. It was no wonder her ancestors had used saunas to help them with their magic. She was so relaxed at that moment she felt she could take on the world.

An hour later, Anya stepped out of the washhouse feeling warm, fresh, and alive. She looked up at the endless blanket of stars above her and she was overwhelmed by intense joy. It was unexpected but it filled her completely. For one perfect moment, she was so small, her problems insignificant in the vastness of forever. Laughter and raised voices were coming from the house, shattering the moment.

The table in the hall was covered with platters of food, her friends sitting all around it with Tapio at the head. Izrayl was telling them a story of some previous adventure and had them in stitches of hysterical laugh. Yvan moved down the bench seat and made a place for her.

“Better?” he asked as he passed her a wooden plate.

“Better,” she replied. The table was covered in fresh bread, mounds of vegetables and summer salads, bowls of fruit and fresh honeycomb. Mead was in every cup, the rosy signs of it in all of their cheeks. Anya broke a roll of black bread and slathered it in honey. Tapio and she shared a smile, merriment dancing in his eyes. He was giving them a night of good food, song, and council to heal their minds and Anya couldn’t thank him enough. Everyone had relaxed and felt safe. She wished she could keep them like this forever. This memory would make her fight Yanka and Baba Yaga all the harder. Tapio was still watching her as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. He gave her the slightest of nods before turning back to Izrayl’s story.

Late that night, when everyone had drifted off to their beds, Tapio wrapped a wolf skin cloak around Anya and they left the hall of Tapiola. As they crossed through the carved bears on the sides of the gate, Anya felt something lift off her. The warm, safe feeling was gone.

“It’s the wards,” Tapio explained. “You have nothing to fear, not while you are with me.”

“Why have you brought me out here? Are you going to show me some forest god tricks?”

“Firstly, you must stop referring to my kind as
metsien jumalat
, we are not. There is only one God and that is Ukko Ylijumala. The ones like me, we are guardians like you.”

“The Guardians of the Gates are humans though,” Anya pointed out. “You are many things, but human isn’t one of them.”

“The human Guardians have true Guardian blood in them somewhere. Otherwise, they couldn’t perform their functions. You tell me that your family has lived next to a forest that shares its lands between Mir and Skazki. I believe that at some point, either one of your ancestors mated with its Guardian, or they were passed some of its power. Yanka would’ve been drawn to that power even if she did not know of its origin.”

“Is that why the
Groenn Skaer
singled me out the way he did? The Álfr told me he hadn’t reacted that way to a human before.”

“It’s how I found you, though you have the gifting of that Guardians power as well. We can feel it moving in your blood. We are Guardians though, not gods, sent by Ukko to protect lands and sacred places. Some of us have forgotten our true origins, or chose to. When humans came to know of us, they worshipped us as gods. Some of the Guardians allowed it to shape them. Ridiculous, but at least worshippers would keep the loneliness of immortality at bay.”