Seducing Destiny(132)

                Ryder thankfully repeated Danu’s instructions to the crowd, and the entire group started reaching for the closest person’s hand until we all were together as one. I felt the hum of power as they began to send it to the Tree, and I hissed with the amount of it as I felt it touch the Tree.

                “It’s coming to me,” I whispered to Ryder. The intense feeling of power that the Tree fed to me was both scary and intoxicating.

                “Breathe,” Adam said softly.

                “Can you feel it through me?” I asked as the power continually entered my system. I was unsure of how much I could handle, or if, as a Goddess, I even had limits. Adam shouldn’t have been able to feel what I was feeling anymore. That bond severed with the death of my old body.

                “No, but if you don’t breathe and release the monster grip you have on my fingers, they’ll break.”

                “Oh,” I said and loosened my hold on his hand.

                I heard gasps from the crowd, and then whispered excitement as the Fae got their first look of Danu. It had to have been a choice on her end to allow them to see her. I smiled as whispered words about what she looked like started through the crowd. Every one of them was wrong, which caused a smile to flitter over my lips.

                She kneeled down and dug her fingers into the earth, pulling off a chunk of moss, which she used to cover Kahleena. Danu’s words were layered, her voice barely above a whispered thought, but it played in my mind because she wanted me to hear it.

                “My littlest warrior, you must be strong,” she said as she placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before bringing fingers covered in what looked like gold paint over Kahleena’s cheeks, and then her forehead. “Blood of my blood, heed me now, for I bless this little one,” she said in a hushed tone. “Blood of my blood, I call you now, I bless this child of Faery and beg you to heed my call!” she shouted, which scared Kahleena, and the small babe began to cry. “I bless thee, Kahleena Larissa, daughter of mine. I bless you for all time,” she said before she picked her up and held her beneath the Tree, then lifted the small babe in her hands up to the Tree as if in a supplication or benediction.

                As we watched, the Tree gave off a shimmering ray of light, which looked like the Fairy dust from Peter Pan. I felt it, and knew it was the land of Faery’s blessing, as well as the trees. The land had accepted her.

                “Oh, thank God,” I said breathlessly.

                “Strange choice,” Elijah said from right behind me. “Considering the facts and all,” he amended wryly as I turned and looked at him without releasing Adam or Ryder’s hands.

                “I believe in him,” I whispered. “I told you where I was raised,” I finished, turning back as Danu continued the ceremony with the boys. When it was finished, all three had been blessed. It didn’t mean they’d live, or that they were safe from death, but the Fae children that had made it to Transition over the last thirty or so years all had Danu’s blessing and the acceptance of the land.



                             I looked around as the Fae released the hands of the others as the ceremony ended, and Danu disappeared from their view. Ryder and I made our way to where she stood, once again invisible to the others. I kneeled on the ground and looked up at her and the ancient Tree behind her.

                “You created this Tree before you created any of the races before us, why?”

                “I needed a focal point, and people need something to believe in. The Tree is filled with my power, which is why, when I brought you over to this form, I was depleted in power. This world feeds me, and I in return, feed it. The Mages knew this because of my ex-husband. He told them where to strike us, and how best to remove me from the fight. Without his guidance, you should easily be able to strike against them. But I have to ask you to wait; you cannot rise against them yet, Synthia. You need time for the children to become stronger, and when that time comes, I’ll take them to the Hall of the Gods. They will be protected while you wage war among the Mages. Use this time to calm the disturbance with the Humans, and then bring war to the Mages. That is the only way that you can ensure that no other Gods intervene. Elijah knows that the other God is watching us, and he knows that we must wait. When he tells you this, believe him. No war can happen until the Humans are safe, for my children are killing them. If he wages war against us, we will lose.”