Gaia

Chapter Two The Death Sparrow

Shay landed hard on the floor next to the chair she had been sitting in, sucking in air, she rolled into a ball and rocked back and forth. How had she just seen this? What is happening to her? Then Shay realized something even more terrible: Gaia had come back for the children. She went back to make sure that Shay and the rest of the women of the village saw their children die! How could she do this?! She suddenly felt sick. Her stomach was overcome by horror and grief, she stumbled over to the pot she had boiled some water in the night before and dipped a cup into it. Slowly she drank from it, trying to take deep breaths to calm herself and breathed in the scent of lavender that hung upside down from one of the rafters of her home. She looked up at it, remembering she had picked it a week ago and was going to make some lavender oil to help Cayden sleep. Cayden was so wound up from his hunting journeys with the men that when he got home at night, he often lay awake with his mind racing. After their parents died from the fever that swept through the village when she and her brothers were young, Cayden vowed to be the man of the house and take care of them. He would hunt during the early hours of the day and provide food, safety and always had time to listen to her stories of the day and of course Shiloh's antics. Shiloh, her heart pained again, oh how she was going to miss her little brother Shiloh! Tears streaked her face and as she wiped them away with the back of her hand, she walked across the wooden floor towards the closet where she kept her cloak. She opened the door and heard the floorboard creak beneath her feet; she grabbed her cloak off the hook and swung it around her shoulders. It felt warm and heavy, comforting and safe; she breathed in the essence of fresh wild mint on it and closed her eyes. She sensed movement in the back of the closet and quickly opened her eyes to see what was in the back of the dark closet as she jumped backwards. A small boy sat on the floor, peering over his knees at Shay, his eyes were as big as saucers and it was apparent that he hadn’t slept since the men had left the night before. She kneeled close to him and scooped him up in her arms; she gently brushed his dirty blonde hair from his big brown weary eyes. He gazed up at her and said “Shay, when is Cayden coming home?” She sucked in a pained breath and thought about this question and how she would tell her little brother of only 10 years old that their older Brother had been killed by the Goddess she had told them to summon to save their village? She pulled him in tighter and squeezed him and said “They died, so we could live”. Tears streamed down her face as she held him, her heart was broken, so much loss had happened tonight so quickly. As Shiloh cried in her arms, she wiped her tears from her cheeks and stood. She grabbed him by the shoulders and looked into his eyes and said "we need to leave here as soon as possible, I dont know if we are...safe here".

Shay noticed an ebony colored bird with iridescent white orchids on its back was hovering just outside the window. Shay went over to the window and opened it and the bird flew in and gracefully landed on the top of the basket's handle. Shay approached the bird carefully. She had only heard rumors of these sacred birds called Death Sparrows and had never seen one except in the book her parents used to read to her as a child. The bird looked at her and then over at Shiloh who was still standing where she had left him in the closet. It scanned the room carefully for any danger and then looked back at Shiloh. Shiloh jumped up excitedly and said "Maybe he's hungry". He ran over to the counter and picked up the loaf of bread that lay there and shook off some crumbs into his palm. He returned to the bird who was still perched on the basket handle and extended his hand. The bird c****d its head sideways and then flew onto the floor in front of them and transformed into a man. Shay gasped and quickly grabbed Shiloh and backed against the wall.

The man was tall and handsome, his skin was smooth and tan, long blonde locks of golden blonde hair fell onto his masculine chiseled jaw line. His blue eyes sparkled with a passionate desire and he wore a gold circlet around his forehead that was engraved with ancient pagan symbols around it.

"My name is Sir Damian of the Pagan Knights" he bowed as he said this and it was then Shay realized she had been staring. She let go of Shiloh'’s shoulders and cleared her throat and replied “My name is ..." he held up his hand and stopped her in mid sentence "I know who you are, I am here to escort you and Shiloh back to our realm". Shiloh turned around and looked at her, it was apparent he was overwhelmed with wonder and awe. The Pagan Knights were something they had only heard about in stories, no one had ever met one. Shay smiled and looked at him and put her hands on her hips, "I suppose you expect us to just walk out of our village and into the dark forest with you. You know the dangers of the forest! We will never survive!" He smiled back at her and then turned and opened the door and motioned her and Shiloh outside and as they stepped out the door and looked down the long dirt road in the center of the village, there stood two beautiful white horses with white flowing manes. Their coats were pure white and sparkled in the sunlight, they were both beautiful and majestic and stood there as still as death itself awaiting the orders from Sir Damian. Shiloh’s eyes were as big as saucers, he looked at Damian and said "would it be alright if I pet one?" Damian looked up at Shay, who was still standing on the doorstep of her house and replied "I think that would be alright, Shay, why don't you gather your things while Shiloh gets acquainted with our ride".

Shay went inside and grabbed the basket and threw some things in a bag for Shiloh. She ran her hand along the table that her and her family had eaten so many meals at and remembered that her and Shiloh were the only surviving relatives of her family now. A tear ran down her cheek and she breathed in a deep pained breath and turned to the door. Damian was on the other side and held it open for her as she exited, he saw the look of devastation and sadness on her face and knew that she must have been thinking of her family. He turned her towards him and put his hands gently on her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes for a moment and said "Shay, I want you and Shiloh to know I am here to escort you safely out of the village, we will be traveling deep into the Dark Forest, but I assure you, no harm will come to you while you are with me, however there is something you should know...". He paused at this and his eyes shifted away from hers and toward the great white horses that stood patiently awaiting his order. Shay was curious now as to what would make a brave knight such as him pause and hesitate in this way, she shifted her weight a little under his grasp and he could see in her eyes the growing uncertainty as she gazed back at him with a furrowed brow.

He drew in a breath and said to her "there is a curse on the Pagan Knights and all the creatures of our realm, when we enter the forest things are going to change and not appear as they are. Please just remember you are safe with me." His eyes now were desperate and heavy with worry, Shay relaxed and smiled to show him she wasn't afraid and said "Sir Damian, I trust you will see Shiloh and I to safety, will you not?" Surprised by her response, he looked at her a minute and said "yes, on my honor as a knight you shall reach the realm unharmed." Shay smiled and laughed to ease the tension that had formed between them "then I have nothing to fear" turning Sir Damian then looked over to Shiloh and said "We need to go now; I want you to ride with your sister and hold on tight". Shay mounted her horse with ease and then extended a hand down to help Shiloh up behind her, once she had his arms wrapped tightly around her, she grabbed onto the horse's mane and then looked over to Sir Damian, who was already on his horse. "I have a confession to make" she said looking a little embarrassed. Damian looked at her and for a moment and then said "there is no need for riding skills, just hold on tight and don't let go". He then leaned forward a little on his horse and patted it on the neck like it was an old friend and said "OK, take us home."

The horse took off like a flash, wind whipped underneath its hooves, Shay leaned over slightly and couldn't see that its hooves were touching the ground; she grasped its long silky mane tighter and leaned forward towards its neck. The cool air whipped through her long brown hair and the sensation was wonderful, she drew in a deep breath and then took her left hand and reached down to make sure Shiloh was still holding on tightly to her waist. He had both hands clasped in front of her tightly and seemed secure. The village had gone by in a blur, she had been worried about seeing the bodies of their loved ones on the ground as they left the village but they had gone so quickly that they didn't even see the ground where the bodies were. This was a relief to Shay, she didn't want to see them like that again and she certainly didn't want her baby brother to see their older brother and the villagers, not like that.

She noticed that the air was cooler now on her arms and the smell of the forest was fresh in her nose, she looked up and saw they were approaching the forest and started to grow uneasy. The Dark Forest was a place no one in the village had ever dared to enter in the day or especially the night, anyone who ever had, never came back and the villagers had heard terrifying screams coming from the forest at all hours of the night and day.

She swallowed hard and tried to put her trust in this knight she had only just met a few minutes ago in her house after the most horrific event of her life had taken place.

Darkness fell upon them as they entered the forest and the eerie shrieks and screams only grew louder as they went deeper into the forest. Shay was nervous, she looked over to Sir Damian for reassurance that she and Shiloh would be safe until they reached their destination and saw Sir Damians' golden blonde locks were turning to ebony, his smooth tan skin faded and changed to a bluish purple, his face looked aged and his eyes were deep blood red. She gasped in horror and almost fell off her horse, as she grabbed for it's silky white mane she realized that the horses had also turned into scary evil looking creatures. She looked over to Damian's horse and saw its white majestic beauty had faded to black, the creature was black as night its beautiful white coat had turned to dragon like scales that were iridescently glowing in the moonlight. She glanced down at her creature’s scales and noticed they looked like battle armor; she touched the back of the creature and realized it wasn't armor at all; it was part of the beast! She looked back over at Damian who was now watching her, he opened his mouth to say something to her and she saw long vampiric teeth protruding out of his mouth.

She screamed and felt Shiloh's grip tighten around her waist, she was trying to force herself to remember what Sir Damian had told her before they left the village, this must be the curse he was referring to and why he had hesitated and paused the way he did when he was trying to tell her what she was about to see. Her breathing had slowed and her heartbeat was now only slightly thumping against her chest. She tried to focus on the surroundings of the forest that was now all around them, she had never stepped foot near the forest and this was surely a once in a lifetime opportunity, even though she was frightened she had to be brave for Shiloh. The huge oak trees grew denser and denser as they went deeper into the forest, as they were passing by a rather large oak that must have been a few hundred years old at best, she noticed movement on the bark of the tree itself. She focused her eyes in closer to the hundreds of little moving objects, they looked like pearl colored spiders, as they grew closer to one of the trees she realized they weren't spiders at all they were Imps and they were watching her and Shiloh as they passed with their big black circular eyes.

She noticed they were jumping from tree to tree following them along the path and seemed to be talking amongst themselves, she leaned over a little to try and hear what they were saying but as she did this the horse turned a sharp turn and she almost fell off the horse! Shiloh pulled her in the other direction and between the two of them she managed to right herself once again on the horse. Just then they heard a loud noise to the right of them, she glanced over into a clearing in the woods and saw an enormous man hunched over with his back to them, as she watched he raised his big club that was filled with long pointed silver spikes up over his head and slammed it back into the ground on top of what looked like the remains of a deer. Blood spattered the ground and trees and she could hear the bones breaking under the c***k of the club and Shiloh let out a shriek, the man turned around and Shay realized he wasn't a man at all, he was half Ogre and half Troll! His enormous size coupled with the fact that he was green with huge ears and a nose that looked like an overgrown zucchini was enough proof, but then he opened his mouth and she saw his rotten and missing teeth with disgust she gagged. His clothes were torn and dirty and his feet were bare but covered with warts, his toenails were long, thick and yellowed.

She could see more of them in the distance and as they caught sight of Sir Damian they all started falling to their knees and dropping their enormous spiked clubs to the ground, the sound was like bombs going off and the ground shook under their weight, as they kept their heads bowed in respect and didn't look up until they passed. This surprised Shay she didn't understand why or how something so big and powerful would fear a Pagan knight that was passing through the forest but she was coming to realize there was a lot she didn't understand and her world was drastically changing all around her.