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  “Could I be the sacrifice?” Kalona asked with no hesitation.

  “Child, I said that I need an incredible sacrifice. You are immortal, so it is not your life’s essence that I can take. You need to understand that means what I take from you—what must be done—will be long and difficult.”

  “He’s my brother. He’s worth it.”

  Mother Earth’s eyes softened with warmth. “Then your sacrifice will be enough. I will help you. I am proud of who you have become.”

  Kalona’s eyes filled with unexpected tears and his breath caught in his throat. He bowed his head. “Thank you, Mother. There was a time when I believed I would never hear those words from you.”

  When Mother Earth made no response, Kalona lifted his head and his gaze to see that she was standing before him, her arms open. And then for the first time in his very long life, Kalona stepped into his mother’s embrace, rested his head against her bosom, and wept with relief and joy.

  5

  Other Kalona

  “I do not understand why we couldn’t do this on the isle. This place does not hold good memories for me.” Kalona spoke as he looked around the area. Mother Earth had insisted he leave the grove and the island and meet her exactly where his last test had gone so very wrong and Nyx had had to create the first vampyre from a dead maiden.

  “This is a place of special power. It is why you were drawn here for your last test,” said Mother Earth as she walked to the eastern section of the space, with Kalona following closely. “Ah, this is exactly what I need.” She paused before a huge east-facing oak that grew straight and proud. Mother Earth sat in front of the tree and began rhythmically beating her hands against the thick bark so that a sonorous pulse vibrated from the center of the trunk and spread through the ground around them.

  “Is there anything I can do?” Kalona asked. “Maybe I should keep watch. The last time I was here a crazed Shaman did the unexpected. I wouldn’t want that to happen again.”

  Mother Earth’s smile bloomed. “That old Shaman did nothing unexpected. He was following my command exactly.”

  Kalona felt a lightning bolt of shock. “But he killed an innocent girl!”

  Mother Earth nodded, still beating rhythmically against the tree. “Then you and Nyx saved her, creating the first vampyre.”

  “I do not understand.”

  “Kalona, my firstborn, I knew from the first moment you gazed on Nyx that your nature was going to be a problem. Instead of letting that make me sad, or instead of waiting until worse happened and your anger allowed Darkness entrance to the realms of the Goddess, I acted. I knew that the making of the race of vampyres would be your salvation.”

  “But that doesn’t make sense. Erebus saved me.”

  One of Mother Earth’s graceful, verdant brows lifted sardonically. “And who will save you from your plan to save him?”

  “Vampyres?” Kalona said hesitantly.

  “Yes, vampyres,” Mother Earth said firmly. “Now, shush. I need to call the Wise Women.”

  Kalona wanted to ask his mother how vampyres were going to save him and from what—and also, he badly wanted to know what she was up to. Why she was drumming on the tree and singing in … He cocked his head, listening, and realized she is singing in Tsalagi! She is calling Tsalagi Wise Women. Kalona relaxed a little then. The Tsalagi revered him. Whatever the Wise Women were going to concoct with Mother Earth would be fantastical—of that the immortal was sure. He was also pretty sure that the Tsalagi wouldn’t require too terrible of a sacrifice from him. He was, after all, Kalona of the Silver Wings—their protector.

  The gloaming that heralded dusk had softened the day when the women began to appear. They arrived alone and in pairs. They each had a determined look that changed to adoration and welcome when they saw Kalona, and then awe as their gazes shifted to the incredible being who played the mighty oak like a bison-hide drum. Each Wise Woman nodded respectfully to Kalona before going to the Earth Mother and bowing low to her.

  “Osiyu, children!” Mother Earth welcomed them. “I have a task that I would ask you to witness. Are you willing to do that for me?”

  “Uh, E-`tsi!” they chorused. Yes, Mother!

  “Wa-do.” Mother Earth thanked the Wise Women, and her smile was so beatific that their eyes filled with tears.

  The oldest of the women stepped forward. Her long, thick hair was completely white and dressed in bluebird feathers—as was her fringed tunic and skirt. She bowed low. “Great Earth Mother, as long as we draw breath your Tsalagi Wise Women will answer your call. Ask what you will of us. We are in your service.”

  “Your fidelity moves me,” said Mother Earth. Long-stemmed wildflowers with bright red and yellow cuplike petals appeared about her feet. “Form a circle around this tree of power and sit until everyone joins us.”

  The women eagerly did as Earth asked, forming a growing circle around Kalona and Mother Earth in the midst of fragrant wildflowers. He wondered how she would know when everyone had arrived, and then understood when the last Wise Woman appeared from the growing shadows, taking the one remaining spot in their circle.

  Mother Earth finally stopped drumming against the skin of the oak. She stood and shook back the cascade of rowan leaves that was her hair. She moved languidly, as if she walked in her sleep, until she stood beside Kalona where he sat in front of the oak tree. She rested her hand on his shoulder and addressed the raptly listening Wise Women.

  “It is good to see you my children. Though I have slept long I have watched you in my dreams. A mother should not have favorites, but I admit that you are mine.”

  The women beamed smiles at their Earth Mother.

  “So, it is to you I come to ask for help for my eldest son, Kalona.”

  The ancient woman spoke again. “Great Earth Mother, we have long been friends of Kalona of the Silver Wings. Even were we not dedicated to serving you, we would gladly come to his aid.”

  Overwhelmed by their affection, Kalona bowed his head and pressed his hand over his heart.

  “It fills me with joy that the Tsalagi and my son are friends. There was a time when I was concerned for Kalona’s future. After hearing your affection for him I shall no longer be concerned.”

  “Command us, Great Earth Mother.” The old woman bowed again.

  “Wa-do, wa-do, my children.” The Earth Mother’s voice was filled with love. Her dark eyes gleamed with pleasure. “Then, if my son agrees, this is what we shall do. From my own bosom I will fashion a new being, one formed specifically to be the perfect immortal Consort for my youngest son, Erebus.”

  Kalona opened his mouth to agree, but his mother squeezed his shoulder and spoke for his ears alone, “Shh, do not agree until you have heard the cost.”

  Kalona closed his mouth and waited.

  “I would have you sing this being into existence and fill her with joy and beauty, wisdom and kindness.”

  “And a sense of youthful fun,” Kalona added.

  His mother nodded. Her lips tilted up. “Ah, you do know your brother. Yes, his Consort must also be a playmate for him and share his youthful exuberance and excellent sense of humor. Can you do that, my children?”

  “Uh, E-`tsi!” The women instantly responded as one.

  The Great Earth Mother turned her gaze to her son. “I will give Erebus’s mate a body fashioned from my bosom and breathe life into her, but in order for this new person to be more than an empty vessel she must be filled with spirit. She needs an immortal spirit to be an immortal’s Consort.”

  Kalona’s mouth went dry. He cleared his throat. “Do you mean I must give my life for the creation of Erebus’s Consort?”

  “No, but only because you are immortal and cannot be killed. What you must give is an essence of your immortal spirit. It will not kill you, but it will utterly drain you.”

  “I understand. So, I will
be tired. How long must I rest?”

  His mother stroked his hair gently and in a lovely sing-song voice she recited:

  “Ancient one sleeping, waiting to arise,

  When the dead joins with fire and water red

  Son who is not—his word is key; the raven will devise

  He shall hear the call from his sacrificial bed.

  By the blood of she who is neither foe nor friend he is free.

  Behold a terrible sacrifice to come—a beautiful sight,

  Ruled by love they shall be.

  The future will not kneel to her dark might.

  Kalona’s return is not bittersweet

  As he will be welcomed with love and heat.”

  There was no sound from the group after the Earth Mother finished the recitation. Into that pregnant silence Kalona spoke. “That sounds like I am going to be resting until the prophecy is fulfilled.” He paused. His gut turned upside down and for an instant he actually thought he was going to be sick. Kalona cleared his throat again and clung to his mother’s gaze, hoping she would tell him he was wrong.

  Instead she told him the truth. “You will be resting below, within the earth, cradled by me as you recover, though after you give away some of the essence of your divinity, you will be forever changed.”

  “You mean I will age and die?” he asked, feeling numb and thinking, Well, at least when I die Nyx will welcome me home to her realm and I will be by her side forever.

  “No. You still will not age. You will not sicken. But should you be wounded too badly—or away from me too long—you will weaken. You will not die. You will never die. You may fall into a weak, fugue state—much like a mortal suffering from dementia. To revitalize you must simply return to me—to Earth. My world will always succor you, strengthen you, and return you to yourself.”

  “I can live with that.” He smiled bravely at his mother. “Actually, I like knowing that my mother’s world is the source of my strength.”

  She touched his cheek. “Such a warrior. My darling eldest child, understand that your sacrifice must be great so that your brother’s Consort is a perfect creation. That means you will have to rest a very long time.”

  “You mean a decade or so?”

  “Much more, my precious son,” she said. “You will rest so long that your name will be forgotten by everyone except Nyx, Erebus, and the Tsalagi Wise Women who remain true to the old ways. Through the fidelity of the great-grandchildren of these women someday in the distant future there will be one Wise Woman who will remember your name and the prophecy that must be fulfilled, and she will set into motion the actions that will free you from your sacrifice.”

  Kalona felt cold. “But Nyx will worry. She will come looking for me.”

  “I know that, my son. And that is why I spoke the words I did. Should you agree, my spell will bind the prophecy and no one, not even your Goddess, can awaken you until it is fulfilled.”

  “Then I have to say goodbye to—” He broke off his words and shook his head. “No. I cannot see Nyx. If I do I will never leave her, and my brother will fade to a shadow of himself.” He met his mother’s gaze. “I agree. I will do it. Today. Now. My brother has already told Nyx that I am making right a wrong. My Goddess trusts me. She will know that I only left her because I had to. Go ahead. The sooner you do it—the sooner I can awaken and return to Nyx.”

  His mother held Kalona’s gaze. “You are showing a depth of compassion and maturity that I admit surprises me.”

  Kalona managed to make the corners of his numb lips tilt up. “Erebus has influenced me well these many years.”

  “But you had to be open to his influence, which is not an easy thing for a warrior.” She turned her focus from Kalona to the Wise Women circled around them. “My children! I task you with teaching the prophecy I recited to your daughters. Tell them that they alone are responsible for my immortal son returning to his life and his Goddess, so they must be fertile and faithful! They must repeat my words, passing from generation to generation. Can you promise to do that for me, Wise Women?”

  As one the group cried, “Yes, Mother!”

  “Excellent. I would like you to stand and begin to move around the circle to the rhythm of that beautiful morning song you so often greet the day with, but I ask that you change the lyrics. Sing these words instead, my children.”

  Then the Great Earth Mother began to sing in a voice that was so lovely Kalona’s eyes filled with tears. Her moss-covered feet beat out a rhythm that the Wise Women immediately took up as their circle began to move clockwise while she sang.

  “He is of our Great Earth Mother, it is so.

  He is of our Great Earth Mother, it is so.

  He is of our Earth Mother.

  He is of our Earth Mother.

  It is so, it is so, it is so, it is so,

  Earth Mother, it is so. Earth Mother, it is so

  Earth Mother, Earth Mother, Earth Mother!”

  As the Wise Women sang and danced, Kalona’s mother offered her son her hand. He took it and stood, walking with her to the base of the big oak. She motioned for him to sit again, this time with his back resting against the rough bark of the tree.

  “What do you want me to do?” Kalona asked.

  “Simply relax. I shall do the rest,” said his mother.

  “Will it be painful?” he blurted before he could stop himself.

  She stroked his cheek. “Not at all. You will feel tired and you will sleep—secure in my bosom—protected and cherished.”

  “I’ll just sleep for all those years?”

  “Yes, and while you sleep I will send you dreams of your beloved Goddess.”

  “Mother, might I ask a favor?”

  “Of course.”

  “Send Nyx dreams of me as well, so that she will not forget me.” His voice roughened, tripping over the end of the sentence.

  “My precious child, your Goddess could never forget you. You are her truest love—her only Consort. But I will honor your request and send your Goddess dreams of you.”

  Kalona felt the knot of tension in his chest begin to unravel. “Thank you. It makes me worry less.”

  “Are you ready, my son?”

  Kalona couldn’t find his voice, so he simply nodded.

  “Then I need your hands,” she said.

  The request confused Kalona, but he lifted his hands, offering them palms up to his mother, who stood in front of him. With a movement so swift that Kalona’s vision couldn’t follow it, Mother Earth reached down and drew the tips of her fingers across each of his wrists. He felt no pain—only a slight pull, and then the warmth of blood as her fingernails, which had suddenly hardened to diamond-tipped claws, sliced two narrow scarlet paths across his wrists.

  Oh-so gently, Mother Earth bent, guiding his wrists so that they rested on the ground beside him while Kalona’s immortal blood soaked into the ground.

  “Now, my precious son, I am going to call forth your brother’s mate from this fertile land around you. As I do that you will weaken. Do not fight it. You must share your spirit willingly or the creation will be flawed.”

  “I understand, Mother.”

  “Remember that you have nothing to fear. I will hold you close until the day you are awakened.”

  “I will remember.”

  Mother Earth bent and kissed him gently on his forehead. “You have made your mother very proud.”

  Her words gave Kalona a feeling of lightness and joy he’d never before experienced, and he realized that the final missing puzzle piece within his heart had been his mother’s love. Erebus had been close to Mother Earth all during the time she was testing them, and after she slept and they’d joined Nyx in the Otherworld, Erebus continued to return to Earth to leave small, special offerings to their mother. He even talked to her, which Kalona had found really stra
nge. But now he understood. Mother Earth’s love was warmth and softness and light, and he would miss it when he awoke.

  Never again. After I awaken I will leave our mother gifts and speak to her like Erebus does.

  “I won’t forget you when I awaken.” Kalona was surprised that his voice sounded so weak. “I will leave you offerings and pray to you—until next you rise.”

  “Thank you, my son. I do so love it when Erebus brings me gifts and tells me of his day.”

  “I will do the same. I love you, Mother,” Kalona said to his mother for the first time.

  “And I love you too, my Kalona of the Silver Wings.”

  Then Mother Earth spread her arms wide and commanded, “Spirit of immortality—essence divine—come forth to me!”

  Kalona felt a terrible tug begin at his wrists. He glanced down as dizziness washed over him to see a ruby light lifting like smoke from the bleeding wounds on his wrists and begin to drift up to his mother’s hands.

  Automatically, he fought the pull. The warrior in him surged, trying to protect him—to hold on to every bit of his immortality.

  No, I surrender. This is not a battle. Warrior, stand down!

  With that last thought, a suffocating weariness settled over Kalona. His eyelids felt as if they were weighted. He struggled to keep them open while his mother gathered the glowing smoke of his immortality between her hands and began to speak the creation spell.

  “I am She,

  Loved so well by

  The Divine.

  Creation is my gift.

  I am She,

  Who cherishes her sons

  So well.

  To their aid I come, strong and swift.

  I am She,

  Beloved of the Divine—Beloved of my sons.

  I call Essence

  of my immortal one,

  Given by Kalona to lift

  Form from my body one whose joy, beauty,

  wisdom, kindness, and humor

  is so great,