"Do you never feel jealous of what he and I share?"

"No, my bright, beautiful G.o.ddess. I am content with that destiny for which I was created. I would not make a very good warrior."

"I wasn't speaking of the warrior part," she said softly, meeting his sunlit eyes.

His smile was warm. "If you ever desire me to be your lover, I would most willingly and happily return that desire-as frequently or as infrequently as you might want me. But I have no wish to claim your body as mine and mine alone. My only wish is for your happiness, and I believe my brother at your side, being your warrior and your lover is what would make you happiest. It would also make him happiest, which is important to me, though I am sure it will take me eons to convince Kalona of that."

Nyx slid from her rock stool onto Erebus's lap, where she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "You do make me happy, so very happy!"

"Then I shall not interrupt that happiness."

From Erebus's embrace, Nyx looked up at the darkening sky to see Kalona hovering above them, his voice as flat and emotionless as his expression.

"Brother! Come, join us," Erebus said, standing and carefully helping Nyx back to her rocky seat. "We were just speaking of you."

"I heard only your G.o.ddess's voice," Kalona said, not looking at Nyx. "And she spoke of the great happiness you bring her. Nyx, with your permission, I will leave you to that."

"You have my permission," Nyx said, her voice sounding very young.

With a flash of silver wings, Kalona disappeared into the horizon.

Erebus sighed. "For a warrior he seems awfully sensitive."

"He loathes me," Nyx said.

"He loves you," Erebus corrected. "That is why he has flown away in a jealous fit. All you need do is to find him and explain why you said that I make you very happy. Later I will mention to him that if he is going to eavesdrop, he should learn to do a more thorough job of it."

"Erebus, you are a good friend," Nyx said, bending to kiss his cheek.

"And you are a kind and loving G.o.ddess," Erebus said. "Oh, and I am ready to complete the final test."

"Shall we summon Spirit to call Mother Earth?"

"There is time aplenty for that. I can wait a little while until you have made peace with my brother."

Nyx hugged him again and then she stood and, thinking of Kalona, called the magick of Divinity to her. It lifted her and, leaving a trail of glittering starlight in her wake, began to carry the G.o.ddess toward the sea of gra.s.s that covered the center of the wild continent.

10.

FOR MY DAUGHTER, THIS CREATION OF MINE, I GIVE THE GIFT OF NIGHT DIVINE ...

Nyx found his campsite easily, though Kalona was absent from it. She meant to leave quickly, to follow the connection she had with him and go directly to him, but the spot Kalona had made his own intrigued her.

It was at the edge of the gra.s.sy prairie where it curved into the cross-timber section of trees that lined a sandy creek, at the other end of which the Prairie People had a large settlement. Nyx thought it was a nice spot for a camp, and Kalona had certainly made it comfortable.

She looked through the piles of pelts, woven baskets, tools, and foodstuff, realizing that her lover had obviously made friends with the Prairie People-or she hoped he had. Nyx's hand lingered on a particularly thick fur, much like the one he had lined her boat with the day he had crafted it for her.

What was Kalona trading for such a rich array of gifts? Nyx knew the native mortals-knew them well. They could be kind and generous, but they also rarely gave without purpose.

A small sliver of apprehension lodged with the G.o.ddess as she remembered Kalona's first encounter with the Prairie People. They had named him a winged G.o.d and had been ready to worship him.

"No! I will not think ill of Kalona. He is not responsible for the superst.i.tions of the Prairie People," Nyx told herself firmly.

The G.o.ddess turned her face from the pile of gifts and left the cozy little campsite. She stood at the edge of the prairie and spread her arms wide, throwing back her head and drinking in the rising light of a full, silver moon. The night was clear, and the sky was filled with stars. The breeze was warm and gentle, and out into it Nyx sent her magick.

"Lead me to my love, so that I might make right what has become wrong between us," Nyx commanded the night.

Wisps of magick, like the sparkling tail of shooting stars, flowed from the G.o.ddess. Gently but surely they pulled her forward. Nyx followed. Confident that Kalona was nearby, she felt her heartbeat quicken in antic.i.p.ation. He had been created for her; he did love her. She need only to look into his amber eyes, to touch the smooth strength of his body, and he would know as surely as she that there was nothing and n.o.body standing between them, that there never would be.

Nyx saw the black birds before she saw Kalona. They pulled her gaze to a distant rolling rise in the prairie that held a few small trees and some lichen-covered sandstone ledges. She could see Kalona's silhouette. He was sitting on a large, flat slab of stone, head in his hands, shoulders bent. His wings glistened as if they were absorbing the light of the full moon. Nyx stopped and stood silently, watching him from a distance. He is so beautiful, so majestic, and so sad, she thought. I ache to ease his sadness.

Nyx had just begun to close the distance between herself and Kalona when a figure moved in the upper corner of the G.o.ddess's vision, drawing her gaze from the winged immortal. Above him, on an even larger outcropping of sandstone rock, a feather-bedecked old man had appeared. He stood, slowly straightening his age-crooked body. As he straightened, Nyx could see that he was not alone. A woman was with him-a girl, really. She was wearing an elaborately decorated dress of tanned hide, which Nyx thought was quite lovely. Actually, even from a distance the G.o.ddess could tell that the maiden was spectacularly beautiful.

Nyx's brow raised and she felt a stab of jealousy. Was the old man offering the maid to Kalona? What if he accepted her?

The G.o.ddess was torn. Part of her wanted to fade into the night and to allow her love to take his pleasure where he could find it.

Another part of her wanted to rush forward and demand Kalona choose none other but her.

Nyx bowed her head and surrendered the knowing of what it felt to be jealous and vulnerable and full of despair.

The old man began to chant a wordless, rhythmic melody. His voice was hypnotic, and Nyx felt her own bare feet begin to move in time with it when Kalona spoke.

"Shaman, enough! I have endured too many miseries today. I do not need your unending song added to them." He raised his head, and Nyx could see his body jerk in surprise. "Why have you brought a child here?"

"I do only as my dream commands."

"About that dream, you could have told me that-"

The old man's voice cut across Kalona's. As he sang his song, the timbre of his voice changed, magnified with a strange power that glowed from the center of his forehead in a pure, white light the shape of a crescent moon.

What I do, I do for two One for her And one for you Take this maid Her blood runs true Sacrifice for two One for her And one for you Mesmerized, Nyx watched and listened, but as the Shaman's song progressed, a terrible sense of foreboding filled the G.o.ddess and she began to move forward, slowly at first, and then more quickly, until she was running.

Balance hold New and old Scale of two One for her And one for you!

With the last line of his song, the Shaman lifted his hand. Nyx saw that in it he held a long, sharp obsidian blade.

"No!" the G.o.ddess cried.

The Shaman's blade did not waver. It slashed the maid's throat, releasing a torrent of blood. She fell to his feet, gasping her life's breath and flooding the sandstone with a crimson tide.

"Why have you done this?" Nyx rushed to the maid, pulling the dying girl into her arms.

"The sacrifice was for two. One for him. One for you. Forgive me, G.o.ddess. I did only what I could do." Then the old man's eyes rolled white. He clutched his chest and fell into the gra.s.ses, breathing no more.

Nyx looked up to see that Kalona's face was as pale as moonlight. "What madness is this?"

"I-I do not know. I thought the old man deluded, misguided even. I did not think him capable of this."

"Have he and his People been worshipping you?"

Nyx saw genuine surprise in Kalona's expression. "They left me gifts, and the old man often chanted and smudged around me. Is that worship?" Kalona shook his head, staring at the dying maiden. "I am a fool. I am to blame for these two deaths."

"No!" Nyx said sternly, not willing to allow Kalona to fall into despair and guilt. "He was an old man. His heart failed him. That could not be changed and is not your fault. But this girl, this child, he so mistakenly sacrificed to you, she still clings to life. We can save her, you and I. Give me your borrowed gift of creation, and invoke Spirit. What would please me most is that your final test save the life of this girl."

"But Mother Earth-"

"I am G.o.ddess! And I proclaim that I am willing to exchange my friendship with Earth for this child's life."

Kalona bowed his head to her. "Yes, my G.o.ddess."

I call you, Spirit, Power Divine, and creation magick as well.

I have one more test to pa.s.s, one more tale to tell.

As the G.o.ddess commands, so mote it be, However she wishes to use you, with her I agree.

Kalona bent and kissed Nyx gently on the lips, and as the G.o.ddess accepted his kiss, she drew within her body Spirit, the magick of creation, and the power of the Divine.

Nyx lifted the obsidian knife from where the old man had dropped it, quickly slashing the blade across her own wrist. Then she held the oozing line to the girl's pale lips, saying: Blood of my blood, you shall ever after be.

Take, drink. From this night forth your new life is my decree.

The girl's eyes remained closed, but her lips opened against the G.o.ddess's wound, and she drank as Nyx commanded.

The G.o.ddess bent and blew gently on the girl's bleeding throat. The torn flesh instantly began to mend.

For my daughter, this creation of mine, I give the gift of Night Divine.

Nyx kissed the girl's lips, breathing the last of Spirit within her, and then she kissed the middle of the girl's smooth forehead, touching the child with a G.o.ddess's Old Magick, whispering, With this Mark tattoo, your life begins anew.

In the middle of the girl's forehead a sapphire-colored crescent moon appeared. From it, spreading down either side of the girl's face, grew an intricate series of filigreed swirls and mysterious signs that held symbols of each of the five elements, magickally mirroring the tattoos with which Nyx so often chose to decorate her own body.

The girl opened her eyes. "Great G.o.ddess of Night, tell me your name so that I may worship you."

"You may call me Nyx."

Then the night around them exploded as Mother Earth materialized, followed by a crowd of trilling dryads who took one look at their G.o.ddess and fell unusually silent.

"Ah, so, it is as I thought," Mother Earth said. She shook her head sadly. "The test has been tainted. Kalona must fail."

Erebus dropped from the sky, holding a woven basket. His sunlit smile faded as he took in the somber scene.

"I felt the test begin. I hurried to join you," Erebus said.

"Daughter, sleep, and when you awaken you will forget the terror of your creation and remember only love, always love," Nyx commanded the maiden, and brushed a hand down her face, causing the girl's eyes to close. Then the G.o.ddess moved her gently off her lap, and stood to face Erebus and Mother Earth.

"What happened here is my responsibility. The old man was confused and mistaken. He sacrificed this maiden to Kalona in a fit of madness. I commanded Kalona give me his creation gift and invoke Spirit, so that I might mix our magick and save her life. His actions have pleased me. I decree that Kalona has pa.s.sed the third and final of his tests." Nyx turned to Erebus. "You may complete your test now, as well."

With none of the playfulness he usually exhibited, Erebus walked to Nyx and placed the basket on the ground between her and the sleeping maiden.

"I meant this as a gift for the Prairie People you love so well," he told her. "It seems right that they now belong to your most favored mortal daughter."

Erebus took the lid from the basket to reveal the five kittens Erebus had shown her earlier that evening. He spread his hands over the basket, and invoked: Ancient Magick, borrowed creation, and the power of Spirit I call to thee.

Know my will and do as I command from the very heart of me.

Create joy from this night of confusion, death, and tears.

Comfort this daughter of Nyx with companionship during long years.

Familiars and friends and playmates they shall be in name and in heart.

Once chosen, by the might of the sun they will never be apart.

Erebus's hands blazed with the orange glow of a setting sun, and when he lifted them from the top of the basket, Nyx saw that the wild tan and gray fur of the kittens had been changed to sunlight orange and cloudy cream. Erebus lifted one of the kittens from the basket, and instead of hissing and scratching, it began to purr, nuzzling him with its fluffy face. The winged immortal smiled. "Not me, sweet one. She has need of your friendship more than I." He tucked the kitten beside the sleeping maiden, and then carried the other four to the girl, as well, so that they formed a warm circle against her. Then he turned back to Nyx.

The G.o.ddess took his face in her hands and kissed him gently. "Your gift has pleased me greatly. You, too, have pa.s.sed the last of the tests." Then Nyx turned to face Mother Earth. "I did not plan what happened tonight."

"And I planned too rigidly. I tried to control too much. Tonight I realize that there are some things that not even your great capacity to love or my gift for creation can forestall."

"Are we still friends?"

"Always," Mother Earth said. "But I think it is time I stopped meddling in your personal affairs."

"I will never be able to thank you enough for that loving meddling. You ended my loneliness and now, with Kalona and Erebus, the Otherworld will be filled with life again."

"You are more than welcome," Mother Earth said. She walked to Erebus and embraced him warmly. "You will always be the memory of a perfect, sun-filled summer's day to me. I have enjoyed being your mother."

"And I enjoy being your son. Will we not continue our visits?"

"Perhaps, but I think you will find that you will be quite busy in the Otherworld, and I realize that I have become weary again. I need to sleep." Mother Earth accepted Erebus's kiss on her cheek, then she moved to stand before Kalona. "I have been hard on you, my moonlit son, but that is because of what I sense within you. Kalona, you are a different type of creation from your brother. You were born warrior and lover, and those two roles are not easy to bear side by side. I see within you a limitless capacity for good, as well as an equally limitless capacity for harm. Through the tests I meant for you to learn that with great power comes great responsibility. Only your future choices will show whether I succeeded in my lessons."

"I do not intend harm," Kalona said earnestly.

"Intent is a fickle friend," Mother Earth said. "You did not intend for any mortals to die this night, did you?"

"No. I did not."

"And yet one is dead, and one is altered forever. Kalona, hear me well as this I vow: Should your anger, Darkness allow, Earth's embrace shall not succor thee. So I have spoken, so mote it be." Sealing the oath, Mother Earth kissed him on his cold lips and then turned to Nyx wearily. The two women embraced.

Nyx's gaze went to the maiden. "When you are not sleeping, would you watch over my daughter with me? She is a new being, and the only one of her kind. She will need special care, and one cannot have too many mothers."