"We give greetings to the King of Birds, may your song ring clear and true for all eternity!" Raissa greeted as the earth cage fell away. Both she and Yaotel knelt before the human form of the two birds. This was her only hope… if he wouldn't save her… Yaotel would beg for death… while she was sacrificed.
Ashton tilted his head as the clearing came to a stop. Not that most wanted to stop, but that Ashton had pried control from all now in his territory. Without a word he leapt down with his Beloved still in his arms.
Beloved circled around the pair, Nix doing the same in the opposite direction. The female was covered in the big snake's mana, it had saturated down to the bone. After they had looked over the couple, they leaned on the nest looking down at them.
The female was young, not even twenty he'd guess, her head was bowed but she had long black hair in a braid so thick it was larger than Ashton's thigh. She wore a traditional headband of woven beads, colorful feathers throughout her dress, woven into her armbands, sandals, necklace, even her hair.
The male also had feathers peeking out of hair, woven throughout all his clothes and accessories, though they were all brown with black spots. He had to be at least five years older, maybe closer to ten. Or Ashton may be adding additional years because the male was so large in comparison. Heavily muscled, dark brown hair, rugged stern features.
"You've come a long way, dangerous no doubt, so what do you seek, at the end of your route?" Ashton asked with mild curiosity, while the air had stilled withing the campgrounds, the wind outside was picking up with each moment.
Raissa swallowed down her trepidation since the beast didn't return her greeting, "I want to be free of the covenant, I… don't want to be forced to be their sacrifice. I love Yaotel." She declared puffing out her chest with her determination. To Raissa's surprise, the female pouted as she answered.
"Promised to another, oaths you did swear, what are you hoping for, with the lover of affair?" Beloved asked looking over the male with great scrutiny, he was big, but bigger than a giant snake? He was… relatively strong… but an ant compared to a god. What was so appealing about this male that the ingrate cast the snake aside?
Raissa didn't rise to provocation, "The… high priest has been raising me as a sacrifice, as a bride, he may be our god, but he let my parents die, he wasn't the one who helped me through the grief, he wasn't by my side as I was isolated, locked away… I don't want to liv as a bird in his cage, away from any humans." High priest Tlilpotonqui was the only other living human allowed in the Snake God's domain, and only one day a year. She already hated Tlilpotonqui for banishing all her maids to help her get used to how she would eventually liv.
Ashton tapped his heel on the ground as he tilted his head from side to side, "I will not speak on what you perceive, but, you want the bonds broken, you want to be free. What in return, will you offer me?"
Beloved saw the Ophion priests struggle against Nix's control, she blew them a kiss. The priests fell forward from their sudden release. Beloved blinked when they raised their masks in her direction. Beloved winked, then held a finger over her mouth.
Raissa tensed as High priest Tlilpotonqui and his two strongest followers started walking over. "Anything I possess, I have rare treasures! Scrolls of ancient enchantments!" Raissa exclaimed pulling her satchel out in front of her to show off the many items.
Ashton shrugged, "Believe it or not, I am rather ancient, rare I have seen, material treasures mean little to me." He nodded to a guitar, "A new instrument is more tempting than any spell no matter how odd, what can you offer that's worth the wrath of god?"
Raissa hesitated, "I have prophetic dreams… after receiving a note, I dreamed you would break the covenant, set me free." She explained, "There must be something I have or can give that will be of use to you Great Beast."
Ashton frowned, "You come to me, dreams and hopes, for protection from your proposed. You struck the deal, accepted seal, yet now renege, I am to steal?" Ashton asked narrowing his eyes, "You could have refused, this was your choice, instead of owning, you ignore the invoice?"
Raissa flushed, "I was an eleven-year-old orphan, hungry, struggling to survive! I didn't understand!"
Ashton let his voice cool, "What would I gain, what can you give, I'm to battle a god, yet your all you retain?"
Beloved clapped her hands together as she smiled mysteriously, "If you want Nix's protection, safe under his wings, you must ask it our way, you must sing."
Ashton let the warmth return to his gaze as he leaned over to kiss his Beloved's forehead, "Sing me a song, let it plead your hope, if I am pleased, your dept I'll accept."
The High priest gritted his teeth behind his mask, their entire civilization depended… on her failing to please him with a song. How had they snuck into the area without setting off their alarms? Even underground, anything with their mana signatures should have triggered dozens of traps in all directions.
Aaron pulled his robe over his sleepwear, "Head priest!" He called as soon as he could move. Now that the priestess was moving, they had all been unceremoniously released.
Tlilpotonqui turned on the empire man, "How did they get in without trigging our alarms or your traps?" He demanded harshly.
Aaron was taken aback for only a moment, then he sighed, "They made a pact with the Fox beast of Lust, Caius, they used his mana signature to get past our alarms. Only the Naga, Kaveri sensed anything amiss." Aaron then explained what they had woken to.
Tlilpotonqui clenched his spear as he eyed the large fox, it turned to them with a wide smile as it settled to watch the remaining show. Tlilpotonqui turned his gaze on the birds, their faces were surprisingly stoic. Perhaps… Perhaps there was time. He glanced at the horizon, there was still time. So long as the birds didn't offer her shelter, all would be well.
Ashton listened, considering there was no instrumental, the lyrics were hastily put together, and she was so painfully desperate… well. "I was not pleased, I'm not impressed, that song was not worth, such dangerous debts."
"What were you given, what was the bribe, that you accepted, when you agreed to be his bride?" Beloved asked circling around the couple before the priests could come any closer. She agreed the song was subpar at best, even the emotions were all over the place.
Raissa stared up at them, she'd been bribed with a soft bed, warm food, clothes… she'd been forced to learn ancient texts, languages, enchantments that would please their god… but…
"The oath of you, and your proposed, the sacred gift, proof of the promise, to bind more than the rift." Ashton prompted as he searched for the separation between the ingrate's mana core, and the infusion of the snake's mana. Something she accepted was holding the bridge.
Raissa hesitated, "I can dream of possible futures… and heal wounds…" Could that really be taken? The idea of… normal dreams… not being hounded every morning for even the smallest details. Demands of her going over the endless possibilities, the interpretations, the symbolisms, how to strive for the best outcome. A… normal dream…
Beloved clapped her hands with a delighted chirp, "That, give us the dreams, his power to heal, we'll break the covenant, escape is your own ordeal."
Yaotel hesitated before speaking up for the first time, "The Serpent God will arrive at dawn, you have the ability to move anywhere in an instant. Please allow us to pick a destination."
Ashton narrowed his eyes, then used the tip of his toe to raise the male's head. "You whine and you plead, take then you flee, I consider you both a disgrace, to your people, their compassion memory erased. You need not flee from your god, his attention I'll draw. How you leave here, is no consideration of mine, weather you liv, or you die."
Beloved pouted, "You should be grateful we listened, grateful I want. What you are giving, is the barest considering. You've had a decade of splendor, a decade to decide. Tis half a week, when he comes for his bride." Before either could react, she reached into the ingrate's chest.
Raissa screamed, trying to pull away. It took a moment for her to realize she couldn't feel the pain of her chest being punched through, or of her chest being on fire.
Yaotel couldn't move once again, he watched as the female bird rummaged around Raissa's chest cavity, then pulled out a glowing azure gem. It was no larger than a fingernail…
Raissa didn't feel pain as the female's hands were in her body, nor when they tugged on something. Raissa felt a peculiar sensation, like something was tangled in her hair, being unraveled, but in her chest. It was strange, the closest feeling she could like it to, was when she'd sat on yarn, then slowly tugged it free rather than standing to remove it. Strange, but not… unpleasant.
But after the hands left her chest, she curled up and started screaming. It hurt. It hurt so much. Like someone had ripped all the veins out of her body.
There was a wave of power that knocked almost everyone over, foxes, people, tents sent tumbling. It only lasted a second, maybe two before a sudden calm settled over the clearing.
Sebastian pushed himself up, glad he was already so close to the ground. Unfortunately, as his gazed passed over the trees at the edge of the campgrounds… they looked as if they would be ripped from the earth.
Yaotel quickly gathered Raissa up, without hesitation he used a precast item to start sinking into the ground like an earth badger. The covenant was broken, he could already feel the blessings leaving. For now, he would just escape underground… that would hopefully be enough.
Tlilpotonqui's heart felt as if someone had thrust their fist into his chest to clutch his heart. He could feel their God examining the world through his eyes… then retreating. Not only did he remove their link allowing Tlilpotonqui to call upon their God in times of need… but all the blessings he'd worked decades to earn. "No! My God! Mercy!" If they were abandoned… why… why did the birds take the covenant?
Calix was trying to help his grandfather up when he was suddenly pulled back to the ground, "Grandfather?!" He cried out as his knee landed on a protruding stone.
"Head down! It's not over!" Sebastian roared for all to hear. The others slowly took notice as they appeared to be in the eye of a hurricane. Just past the campgrounds, trees were being uprooted, all sorts of items flying around like Armageddon. "Beast Gods above…" Sebastian whispered in horror. A man had flown by, only to be ripped into a dozen pieces as the air currents caught him. Trees turned to kindling, boulders into pebbles.
A rumble echoed over the land, it was some kind of roar mixed with… a hiss? It was so low it was hard to hear, but everyone felt it down to their bones.
Calix saw the Inago gathering together, dozens of fortification spells being cast as they prepared for an angry god to descend upon them.
Sebastian jolted as Ashton's Beloved dropped beside them, placed her hands on their shoulders, then they fell among the rest of Sebastian's family. She placed a finger over her mouth, then… hid among his grandchildren.
"Don't be alarmed, they won't come to blows, just a bit of posturing for daring to oppose. Let me mingle, let me hide, a favor to you, for your tribe." Beloved whispered as they all stood around her.
Sebastian steeled his nerves, "Gather her in the middle, Cynthia, your robe." Sebastian ordered just loud enough to be heard. When Joseph's eyes were so wide Sebastian thought they would pop out of his head, he slowly turned around. "Ha… ha…"