Rise of the Firebird (49 page)

Eldon waved his hands about in defeat, “Fine, have it your way.”

“You should know by now that I’ve a habit of collecting broken and powerful wizards,” Anya poked him in the chest meaningfully.

“I prefer Byronic Welsh Bard,” he defended. “Congratulations, Anya, you’ve permanently made an enemy of the Mistress of Northland.”

“I’ll add her to my list.”

“Getting Louhi to hate you is an initiation rite, one that all new people with magic must go through. My advice is that we get the sword and get out of Karelia.”

“That has always been the plan…what is he doing?”

Kullervo was using magic as he washed his face, when he rinsed the soapy bubbles away, his long ratty beard came off as well.

“Easier than a shaver, I suppose,” Anya said.

“Anya! Anya! I am clean!” Kullervo shouted at the top of his voice.

“That’s great. Do you want to hurry up and get dressed so we can leave?” Anya said with her back turned to him.

There was a great splashing of water and a few exclamations regarding the zipper on the jeans. Kullervo tapped her gently on her shoulder.

“I am ready to go now, Anya,” he said, his voice filled with childish excitement. Yvan was more strongly built than Kullervo, but the jeans fit him well enough even if they slung down low on his hips. Anya gave her brush to him so he could detangle the long hair that hung half way down his back. He looked younger than Anya had expected under the dirt and blood.

“Where to now, Anya?” Katya asked through a mouthful of trail mix.

“Kullervo?”

“Where are we now?” he stopped brushing, licked his finger, and held it up thoughtfully. “We go west.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I am. I know where home is, wherever I am.”

“How?” Katya grilled impatiently.

“I have a locating spell that tells me.”

“Good enough,” Mychal said before Katya could argue.

“Here,” Yvan said and handed Kullervo a light grey Henley.

“Thank you, but I would rather not wear a shirt right now. After being in a dark cage for so long, I want to feel the wind on my skin. I hope this doesn’t offend you?”

“Not at all. I was the same after I hatched. Anya made me wear clothes though,” Yvan whispered. “She is embarrassed by nudity.”

“I am not,” Anya snapped. “Just your nudity.”

“Then how do you have sex?” Kullervo asked, eyes wide. Anya looked at her feet and Yvan cleared his through awkwardly. Izrayl was shaking with the effort to hold in his laughter.

“Can we go now?” Aleksandra said impatiently. Anya quickly hurried after, her face burning hotter than the firebird.

It took four days before Anya stopped looking over her shoulder for Louhi and another three to reach what was left of Kullervo’s village. Anya refused to let anyone make demands of Kullervo for the first few days. He tired quickly but he was regaining his strength at an impressive speed. He drilled her with questions about her adventures, her family, her feud, and the message that had sent her looking for him.

“How much of the stories about you are true?” Aramis asked him one day.

“That depends on what stories you heard.”

“Ask Anya, she knows them all.”

Aramis had been restored to his old self since Anya healed him and had resumed walking with Eldon where they would argue and discuss magic, history, music, art, and everything else in between. They’d usually pull Anya in and tried telling her they were teaching her important things.

“Little cousin, tell me a story about myself,” Kullervo demanded insistently until she took out her copy of the Kalevala and read to him as they walked.

“Wrong!” Kullervo would shout passionately at odd moments and then would become very quiet and depressed during others.

“Was that true…about your sister?” Izrayl had asked later that night as they sat around the fire. He hadn’t been crude, but the question made both Aleksandra and Katya glare at him.

“Unfortunately it is. It is also true that we had no idea we were related. I don’t have your animal sense that could’ve warned me about such things. She was beautiful and carefree, the first girl I had met that wasn’t from Untamo’s tribe. They all were afraid of me and scorned me, so I was dazzled by this wonderful girl. I regret it, but I regret more that it drove her to kill herself.”

Kullervo turned in on himself after that, lost in painful memories and he didn’t resurface until lunch time the next day. No one mentioned his sister again until one day they stopped on a cliff next to a waterfall.

“This is it,” Kullervo said stopping dead in his tracks. He looked up at the large aspen tree for a few moments.

“This is what?”

“This is where I buried my sister. I am going to need a shovel.” Izrayl unhooked the small collapsible camping shovel from his pack and passed it to him.

“Kullervo, I could move the earth,” Anya gently put a hand on his shoulder.

“Some things should be done without magic.”

It took hours and he would let no one help him, but Kullervo dug until he hit something that resonated with a metallic clang. “There she is. I buried her in a lead coffin so Louhi or anyone else with power couldn’t find her,” he said before his magic spiked and the lid to the coffin opened.

Kullervo reached in and took a long parcel from the coffin, and sealed it again before any of them could have a chance to look on her decaying body. Yvan and Mychal reached down to help him out of the hole.

“Here, take the infernal thing,” Kullervo said and tossed the package to Mychal. “From what Anya tells me, it belongs to you. Take my advice and don’t take the wrappings off until you need to. It never shuts up once it starts. I had to use some of my strongest magic on those bindings.”

Mychal turned the long blade over in his hand. “We still need to check to make sure you are not trying to trick Anya.”

“Suit yourself,” snorted Kullervo. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Mychal hesitated only a moment before he started to untie the leather bindings that protected the scabbard.

Instantly, Anya felt a pulse of power emanating from the sword stronger than she’d ever felt before. It was older than the
Groenn Skaer,
Tapio, and Tuoni combined. When the wrappings fell away, Mychal pulled the sword from its scabbard.

It was a long, plain broadsword of flawless steel. Its hilt was wrapped in woven red, purple, and blue leather. It was far simpler than Anya expected. It was a blade for killing, not decoration. Runic glyphs were carved into the hilt but as Mychal held it, they moved and shifted into Hebrew characters.

“It likes you,” Kullervo said wryly.

“How does it speak?” Anya asked curiously.

“Telepathically. Give it time.”

Mychal glazed over as her looked at it, the light in his eyes flickering.

“Looks like it’s talking to Mychal already. He really does have some angel in him somewhere,” Kullervo said as they watched. Mychal came to, blinked a few times and quickly slid the sword into its scabbard.

“That is that then,” he said gruffly. “What now?”

“Now Kullervo is free to go,” Anya said with a pang of disappointment.

“If it pleases you, I’d very much like your help to cross into the real world,” he replied. “It has been a long time since I ventured there and I’m excited to see how much of it has changed.”

“We can worry about the real world tomorrow,” Eldon said as he looked at the sun. “Tonight, we should stay here. While we are in the Otherworld and it’s easier to work magic, I thought you three should try linking power. There’s no settlements for miles about us so there isn’t anything you could damage, Anya.”

Anya and Aramis shared a long questioning look. “I’m keen if you are,” she said to him. “How does the firebird feel about it?”

Yvan’s eyes changed to red and gold before settling back to blue. “He thinks that it would be easiest to link if we were in our hybrid form.”

“Go practice somewhere else,” Izrayl suggested, “and we’ll make camp. I saw what happened when Aramis pashed Anya and I don’t want to be in the line of fire.”

Kullervo waved his arms over the grave and the earth folded in over it. “I want to come and watch. I might be able to anchor them if there is an instability. You wouldn’t be able to handle them on your own, Bard,” he teased.

“I’ll let you think that, young pup,” came Eldon’s reply. “The good news is that neither of us appears to know how to die so we aren’t in any danger. Come, Anya, let’s see if we can make some sparks fly.”

He took her arm in a gentlemanly fashion and together they followed Kullervo through the remains of the village. Only the foundations of where the houses had stood were left.

“This place was destroyed by Untamo’s warriors. It will be a good place to practice. There is residual magic here so it will make it easier,” Kullervo claimed as he sat down to watch.

“Yvan, if you would like to change,” Eldon instructed. Yvan’s hair was already sparking with flame as he pulled his shirt off and wings exploded from his back. Anya’s heart was hammering with fear and anxiety as she watched them meld into one shared body.

“Holy shit berries,” Kullervo started clapping, “you’re terrifying.”

“Are you ready?” Anya asked Aramis as she took his hand. She instantly felt how nervous he was but he still smiled encouragingly.

“I’m with you,
hjarta systir
. Try to breathe.”

Yvan stepped closer and Anya felt the firebird’s power rise in the air and lick along her skin. Her mouth went dry and sweat broke out at the back of her neck.

“Anya, I want you to focus on linking with Aramis first,” Eldon said. “I know you’ve done it before quite easily so let’s try that first. If it becomes too much we’ll stop.”

“Other magical beings are going to feel this and come looking,” Kullervo jumped to his feet. “Wait! I have an idea.” He picked up a stick and ran about them, scratching a perimeter into the dirt. When he was done, he spat three times on the line. The dirt furrows shimmered in the grass before the silver light rose up and over them, sealing them in like a bubble. “No magic should be able to escape or warn anyone,” Kullervo claimed.

“Thank you,” Eldon gave him a nod. “Anya, clear your mind and connect with Aramis.”

Anya exhaled and let down her shields. The ties that were usually invisible between them flared with a red pulsating light. The moment Aramis removed the blocks, Anya’s senses were flooded with the intoxicated touch of his magic, his emotions, and his essence. She had the mad urge to laugh like the way they’d done in Silvian’s garden.

“Easy, Anya, not too much,” warned Eldon as she and Aramis erupted into giggles.

“Álfr power looks fun,” Kullervo said forlornly. When Eldon was satisfied they could hold the flow between them, he gestured Yvan over. Anya stopped smiling as the hybrid, Yvan, took her hand.

“Be careful, Yvan. She’s going to be a conduit and you don’t want to swamp her,” warned Eldon.

I will not hurt Anyanka
, the firebird promised through Yvan’s mouth.

Anya was trembling as the firebird brushed gently at her power. She could feel Yvan in it, the core of him calm and strong. Other emotions of his were flying at her: his complete unyielding faith in her abilities and how much he loved her. It was an all consuming, complete combination of joy, devotion and desire. Tears were running down her face and there was nothing she could do to stop them. She didn’t know that such a love existed, especially for her.

“She is drifting, Blaise,” Kullervo’s voice reached her as if he was in another room, muffled and faded.

“Anya, I need you to come back to me. Follow my voice, Anya.” The authority in Eldon’s voice made her snap back to attention immediately. She felt the connection to Yvan slipping but the firebird caught it and manage to stabilise it.

“They are doing it!” Kullervo exclaimed. “Can you
feel
it, Blaise? Can you…” He started rubbing his arms and chest like a strung out junkie.

“That’s enough, Anya. Now, Aramis, you disconnect first.” Eldon was turning grey, drenched in sweat. Aramis shuddered and he gently disengaged his power from Anya’s letting her hand go.

“Good, that is good,” Eldon nodded. “Yvan, your turn.”

The firebird started to pull back but Yvan wanted to stay connected to her.

“Let it go, Yvan,” commanded Eldon. “You’re going to start hurting her if you do not.” His reluctance vanished and he let the firebird withdraw. His wings vanished and the flames melted into skin until only Yvan and the shining tattoo remained. Anya settled her own power, bringing her protections up and fastening them into place.

“Well done,” Eldon said and sat on the ground exhausted.

“It worked,” murmured Aramis. “I didn’t think it was possible.”

“It was sloppy, but with time, it will work,” replied Eldon.

“I haven’t felt anything like that before,” Kullervo hugged himself tightly. “It was like you were a big magnet and it wanted to rip the magic out of my skin.”

“Do you think that has something to do with the way I can absorb power, like I did with Søren?” Anya asked.

“I don’t know. It may have worked with Søren because he’s Aramis’s brother and you have your
elvianth
bond. How do you feel, Anya?”

“Hungry,” she replied, “and I want vodka.”

“Sounds like you are perfectly fine.”

“Yes,” she lied. She was still feeling the aftershock of three different types of power and emotions riding her. The look on Eldon’s face told her that he didn’t believe her.

“Let’s go back and see if the rest of the troops have any food cooking.”

Anya grabbed Yvan and stopped him. The others kept walking, leaving them be.

“What’s wrong?” Yvan asked as he put his hands on her shoulders. She shuddered as they slipped down her arms.

“Nothing, nothing is wrong,” she managed before she was on tiptoes kissing him.

“Are you sure?” he asked when she gave up kissing him and hung onto him.

“I feel like I’ve been shattered and remade again,” she admitted to his shoulder.

His arms tightened around her, “Don’t be afraid, Anya, I will always be here to hold you together.”