The Delta's Daughter Chapter 249

ASENA

When the human race became extinct – leaving less of their species than there were shifters – the high councils on each continent came together to decide what we could still save and what we couldn’t. There weren’t enough shifters realm-wide to keep up productivity and maintain most industries. So, things like flying contraptions became antiques. Mobile phone companies shut down in the east whereas they adopted and adapted the technology in the west. Things like movies and television shows stopped producing. Yet you could still buy TVs and movies that were hundreds of years old and were redistributed through the internet they maintained. While one continent’s fashion reverted backward the other kept their textile industries going and progressing to invent items like Lamia’s suit. The west rebuilt cities, the east let them crumble long ago, going back to more basic ways of life yet still maintaining a grip on modern sciences. 

There had not been a war for the realm for a thousand years. The last major war came about a little over 250 years ago - the Lycan wars -  the last time I had died and been immortalized.

Inanna had once been my mother’s wolf, mated to a king whose wolf held the spirit of his father, he had died at the hands of his so-called brother - The son of my mother’s most regarded Knight and protector.

When the spirits of Inanna and Conri (King Conrad) had been reborn this time around, it was Ashe who had awoken them from their deep peaceful sleep. First Conri then she convinces him to awaken his true love Inanna.

The Moon Goddess, mother to all shifters had disappeared, only to find out later that Aodh or some may know him as Ahura - the god of the underworld had taken her hostage. Angry that she had not given him Inanna as promised by Anu her father many, many cycles ago.

This time around, when the chosen one was born and given the spirit of Inanna, Ashe fixed the mate bonds as best as she could. There was still a bond between the goddess and the king, but somehow Ashe had managed to forge new bonds and mate them to different shifters this time round.

The gods were rising and taking sides. Some are ready to reclaim the realm as their own and others want it to remain as is, sympathizing with their ancestors.

Yet one thing remained constant.

The fight for the realm was indeed coming and each god who had a stake in this realm was already putting in place their pawns. This is why Lamia had been fated to Mathias and not to Kellen. Only the demigods could fight against the gods and stand a chance. And Ashe was determined for her champions to win the war once and for all.

Many gods did not care, this was but one realm amongst hundreds of thousands. But there were still those who once ruled these lands that craved to be in control once again.

This is what Ashe was trying to stop. Without the Moon Goddess, this realm was open for conquering.

My eyes cleared and came back to normal; Ashe was standing by my side as we stood in front of the stone egg. The cracked and peeled outer layer had turned from a grey to a heated pink and the once fractured shell had grown to form a scale-like covering.

“What did you see?” Ashe asks me once she was fully convinced, I had come out of my vision. “I saw the destruction our little witch saw. She is not wrong; the realm will burn.”

"Do we know when?" Hesitantly she asks, her cosmic violet eyes staying locked on the egg. 

"No, but we have time. That I am certain of. In my vision, the chosen one was older." I tell her what I saw. 

"We can not let the gods take over this realm. Shifters will be enslaved and humans will be slaughtered." I bob my head knowing this. It would be disastrous - a blood bath. “And what of Hunji?” She asks with a melancholy look.

“He and the witch are still separated.” I sigh. I had favored Hunji above all others and only wished for him to find happiness. Ashe, on the hand, was adamant that his place was by our descendant’s side and remaining alone would be beneficial to the chosen one. 

“And the child?” I pull my lips into a tight line and look at my grandmother. Her dark skin almost glowing, her white hair contrasting against the darkness of her face.

I look at the stone egg “The child will grow and live. The question is who will raise him? I fear if we do not find a suitable family for him then he will be the cause of the chaos and destruction I have seen.”

A child of the sky gods was not to be taken lightly. There hadn’t been a sky god in this realm for centuries, not since the death of Apsu and Tiamat. This child would hold the power to create and subsequently the power to destroy.

Ashe lifts a hand and scratches at her temple, a slight scowl forming on her ethereal face. “That is a good question, one that we will have to think very carefully about.”

“Would the three sisters be willing to raise him?” I question thinking of the little hellions in Avalon. Ashe’s little nymph oracles, daughters of the three fates - they were more than happy to help with Ashe's devious plans.

I say devious because they are. Truly though, Ashe wants this realm to succeed. She was born to this realm as was her daughter – my mother and I. She felt protective of it and therefore since the Moon Goddess had been MIA she felt it her duty to prepare the people for the war that was coming. Whether they knew it or not. Choosing champions to fight against the Gods.

“Goddess no!” She scoffs “I would never trust those three with the life of a child.”

“Then who?”

“Maybe you Asena? After all, you were always a good mother to your children, the ones you were able to be with.”

“I am too old; I could not take that responsibility. Besides I don’t know the first thing about sky gods.”

“Neither do I to be honest.” She huffs out, neither of us moving from our positions as we converse in front of the stone egg. “We have time before the child hatches to find a suitable home. In the meantime, what of the other witch?”

“He grows in numbers and strength I predict he will show himself soon. Our witch, Morgan, found the gatekeeper.” I tell her knowing he is one of the last pieces of the puzzle before the war begins.

Ashe turns to me, eyes flying wide “when?”

“I’m not sure, but I sensed it when looked at her through my mind’s eye.” I tell her watching as her facial features shift in thought.

“This is good,” she ponders, chewing on her lip “Now we just need to wait and see. Hopefully, everything falls into place. We can set the wheels in motion, but we can’t direct them. Now it’s up to them."

“But what of Hunji and Morgan?” I dare to ask her.

“What about them?” She snaps her eyes to mine unhappy that I am pushing this. “There is nothing more to be said about them, and nothing more we can do.”

“Yes Ashe,” I bow with humbleness.

“The chosen one’s children?”

“All three are healthy but it appears they all have a spirit animal,” I purse my lips as we had anticipated one of them to be born without a counterpart “It seems she may bare another child yet,”

“That will be the one that needs protecting. I am confident that Hunji will return home and disclose everything he knows to the chosen one, I just don’t think any of them have realized what it is they will need to protect.”

“How can they?” I scowl at her confused. She had not told them anything. A few cryptic words here and there and obscured versions of their spirit animal’s true natures. But that was all. “We don’t even know for sure if the vision and prophecy are true and we could be waiting for years to find out if the prophecy comes to light or not.”

“True, but I hope I have given them enough that it will click when it does happen. As for the visions, our witch will make sure the Queen knows what’s coming.”

When Ashe finally leaves me, returning to the mountains of Avalon, I make haste down to the pool beneath the sanctuary.

The pool of water acts as a gateway to speak to the gods, but it serves another purpose. The water holds ancient magical particles within its depths and the stones around it. I take the small vile from my robe and fill it with the sacred water, then nick my finger with my teeth and let a few drops of blood drip and mix with the contents. Reciting an old enchantment, I once heard used by Ashe.

The mixture turned a sparkling blue. I cork the small vile and hurry back upstairs. “Chakor!” I call out walking hastily through the great hall. “Chakor!” I yell louder to the man who had been by my side since I can remember.

“Yes, priestess?” I turn to see him emerge from a doorway.

“Take this to Riocht. Make sure Hunji drinks this before the next third full moon.” He looks at me with a smile.

“Is this what I hope it is?” His voice does not hide his zest.

“It is. Now, not another word. Be quick, be swift, and do not be seen. If Ashe finds out…”

“Do not worry, Asena. I will be most careful. They will not even know I was there.”

I look at Chakor with a little wariness. I know his skill for blending in and not being seen is uncontested, but I am sending him to the chosen one’s doorstep. She and her mate would smell an intruder a mile away, no matter how well Chakor could disguise himself. The perks of being a Skinwalker. The last of his kind and probably as old as Ashe.

“I hope so because what I am doing goes beyond meddling and defiance.”

He gives me a strained look “Yes, but… I think you are doing the right thing. Everything he needs is already there. He just needs a little push.”

“My thoughts exactly.” I tell him with a smile “Now go, there is no time to waste. It will take you a while to travel there as it is.”

Chakor bows to me before turning and rushing away. I heave a sigh of relief knowing he will leave immediately. A few minutes later I hear the call of a large bird and run to the window to look out just in time to see a beautiful eagle flying above the sanctuary. The bird calls out again, wings spread wide as it rides the mountain air currents.

“Fly swiftly and quickly, Chakor” I whisper to the soaring eagle, the animal Chakor decided to shift into. He had been living here for hundreds of years disguised as an old man, a were-cat. When really, in his natural form, he still didn’t look a day over eighteen and could transform into any animal he had seen. He was the last of his kind as far as we knew. A product of an ancient witch and a Grimalkin mating. A rare and unheard-of pairing - resulting in a child that can change his shape into any animal.

Ashe had her three daughters of fates, I had Chakor. Not even she knew what he was or where he came from. I had kept him hidden all these years from the day I found him as a small child crying in the forest. Not understanding what was wrong with him and having no memory of where he had come from.

I had seen bits and pieces of a future that had not yet been determined. Morgan, along with Lamia and her four Knights share a major role in how that future would turn out and I hoped with her being mated to Mathias, we would be on the winning side again.

Each Knight of the chosen one was to be given a gift - Strength, light, speed, and immunity. Each gift complimenting the other three. 

The four Knights: King Kellen, his Beta Mike Pike, Hunji, and lastly the Hunter Rhett. - The King, the commander, the savior, and the councilor. Each one is a protector of the chosen and what she will carry when the time comes. Each one fated to a mate that will strengthen them.

I guess that’s why I sent Chakor to slip Hunji the potion. Just because Ashe didn’t agree with him finding his own happiness, it didn’t mean I didn’t. He could only become stronger than he already is. 

I walked back to the great hall and knelt before the statue of the moon goddess. Closing my eyes, I began to mutter a prayer to her, hoping no matter where she was, she would hear me and grant me what I asked.

Chakor would be gone for weeks at least, probably months and I would patiently wait for his return. In the meantime, I would search for a family to raise the child of the sky gods. A family who is kind and just. One that will love him and guide him in the ways of humanity. A family where he could be hidden from the eyes of the gods. Because only the gods know that if the child turned evil, he could destroy the realm. That made the child an asset and he would be sought after. Just as the child of the chosen would be hunted.

The prophecy states that ‘The child of the chosen will grow and harness the power to give and take life through her blood.’ It would take the strength of the chosen and her mate along with the four Knights to protect this child, but it would also take their strength to destroy the child if she fell into darkness.

When the time came, I would fight alongside them. It would be my last battle before I ascended to the heavens. I had foreseen my own future, something rare amongst the seers. We can see everyone else’s future or a version of it. Yet our own has always been blinded to us. But the night Morgan touched the stone egg, I saw mine.

I saw what she saw, and then I saw my own death, even felt it. I did not fear death as I had died many times. I did not fear pain as I had experienced it too many times. I was content in knowing that I would die one last time and welcomed that finality. I had lived far too long as an immortal. Watched many loved ones die before their time. Watched numerous offspring die in the quest for peace. It would be my time soon enough.

Not today, not tomorrow but a few years in the future. I would die by the side of the chosen one. My descendant. 

I found myself back in the artifact room standing in front of the stone egg, again. I lifted my hands and reached out. Touching the now pink stone and feeling it pulse, like a heartbeat beneath my fingers. Warm and alive. “Be kind, be gentle and love” I whispered to it. Soon it would hatch, and the child would be placed in a loving home where he could be nourished and loved and grow to become a leader of justice. I hoped.

There was no way I could take care of him. I thought. I was too old, and he would feel trapped here. Plus, there were too many eyes. He must remain hidden.