Copyright © 2009 by Jonathan E. Feinstein
I had very little idea what this story was going to be about when I came up with the title. That happens sometimes. In fact, this is nothing like what I would have expected at the time.
When I first thought of the mini-trilogy made up of Tempting The Fates, Teasing the Furies, and Inspiring the Muses my idea was to feature either previously supporting characters such as Inanna in the first book, or entirely new characters. I did both in the second, featuring Jael/Rona and the new character, Evrona. But until nearly the end of Teasing the Furies I still wasn’t sure how I would cap this series within a series. And then Enki got an idea about owning and running a school and I knew I had something.
Well, then what? The rest came fairly easily. I already had some young characters who were roughly of college age and once again, I decided to follow Evrona, the teen-aged fury, although this time she has Eddy Salem’s granddaughter, Amelia Terrula along as well, so perhaps I did continue to feature previously minor characters.
Is this the end of this series within a series? Well maybe not. I suppose I could have Grooming the Graces (or should that be Chastising the Charetes?), Howling with the Keres, Swimming with the Graia, Praying with the Litae and A Season with the Horae (The list goes on: Gorgons, Titanides, Harpies) and maybe I will or won’t. That may all depend on how the muses feel toward me now that I’ve featured them in a story. However, in the meantime I have a related series on tap, Dancing with the Sphinx and while I’ll say no more about it now, there are hints about it in this book and the last.
Enjoy!
Jonathan E. Feinstein
Westport, MA
October 22, 2009
“You want me to what?” Jael asked in utter astonishment and disbelief. She whipped her head around and her long, shiny black hair spun around wildly with the motion and yet even in the mild breeze, not a single strand got in her face. She stood an inch taller than the older male with whom she had been walking across the small college campus. Towering over the ivy-covered buildings were some of the mountains that comprised Killington Basin in Vermont. From their vantage, she knew it would have been possible to spot Pico Peak as well, had the air been clear that afternoon, but the summer haze blocked that view.
The campus itself was a well-groomed collection of buildings and lawns, liberally speckled with tall sugar maples that might have been there before the establishment of the campus itself. Looking at the bark, Jael spotted more than a few tell-tale scars, indicating they had been tapped for their sap and she realized that activity was still going on here each spring.
“I was hoping you would handle comparative religions,” Enki told her, meeting her fiery violet eyes with his own cool, clear blue ones. He too had black hair, but his was in tight curls. His beard, once kept quite long, had been cropped years ago to conform with modern styles. In contrast to Jael’s light blouse and short blue skirt, Enki was wearing a business suit, leading Jael to wonder how uncomfortable he was in the steaming summer air. Even here in the mountains there were hot, humid days.
“Are you trying to be funny?” Jael demanded. For just an instant she lost control and for the briefest moment small horns protruded from her temples, exposing her for the demoness she was. A split second later she embarrassedly got her mortal guise back in order and continued to glare at the ancient Sumerian god of water, wisdom and invention. “And how the heck did you manage to start a college so quickly? I would have thought you would need more than a few months to round up a faculty and then the students. How did you find students for the fall semester so quickly? And you say the school is accredited? That takes years. Enki, did you cheat?”
“I cheated,” Enki admitted easily and with a broad grin. “I bought Sherburne College. Well, sort of. Actually I looked around for a small school that had been losing money and students and needed a large influx of funding, and established a grant from the Springtime Seed Company.”
“You get more mileage out of that business front that you deserve to, you know,” Jael told him. “Last year you were hosting that awful reality program and this year you’re buying a college. Wait a minute! You can’t just buy a college even with lots of money.”
“I did say, ‘sort of,’” Enki reminded her. “Sherburne College was nearly broke, but had somehow managed to hold on to its accreditation although that was in danger too until I came along. When I offered a large donation, the Board of Trustees not only accepted it gleefully, they offered me a seat on the Board. After a few more meetings, they elected me the chairman as well, Not bad, eh?”
“Sounds a bit fishy to me, wet one,” Jael told him in her usual contralto.
“I want to know what else you threw their way,” a soprano voice spoke from Jael’s mouth. “As I recall, you also claim to have invented magic.”
“Rona,” Enki spoke to the other woman, whose personality shared Jael’s body, “I did not cheat that way. Casting a glamour on them would have ruined the game for me.”
“Enki,” Rona told him seriously, “getting an education is a serious matter to the students. You can’t go playing games with their lives that way.”
“It’s never stopped the ancient gods before,” Jael remarked, taking control of her own mouth once more.
“Ladies,” Enki assured them, “I used no form of persuasion other than my own ability to talk.”
“And large sums of money,” Jael added. “Those dead presidents you threw their way must have been downright eloquent and, face it, in the modern world money is magical. Just look at the economy.”
“The donations were generous,” Enki admitted, “but you’ll be glad to know we’re not going to be plastering the corporate logo all over this campus.”
“That’s good,” Jael agreed. “I find that crass beyond belief. Besides, Rona and I used to punish that sort of waste before we started working directly for Queen Persephone. Speaking of which…”
“I have already arranged for that,” Enki assured them. “I had Dee explain that we would need you here for a while.”
“You brought Mother Nature in on this too?” Jael asked, starting to relax. If Ms. Delores Meter was involved, she would be able to keep Enki well in line. She had been doing so for thousands of years.
“Dee, yes,” Enki agreed. “She has agreed to be the new Dean of Students and Isis will be her assistant.”
“Interesting combination,” Rona remarked.
“They’ve been getting along well since last spring,” Enki explained. “They make almost as good a team as the two of you do. Anyway, I’ve been calling all the shots this past month, but I need to assemble a faculty in a hurry. Classes begin in just a few weeks, you know.”
“I know,” Jael agreed. “Have you ever considered advertizing? It’s all the rage these days and you can do it on the Web.”
“I haven’t the time to conduct all those interviews,” Enki responded. “Besides, the word is out on Sherburne and over half the previous faculty has already left. I need to fill the gaps in a hurry. Naturally I’d like to use the same team members who have worked so well in the past.”
“Laying it on a little thick, aren’t you?” Jael countered. “Well, you can forget about me teaching comparative religions. I’m far more qualified to teach philosophy. That’s what my doctorate is in you know. Wanna see my diploma?”
“Another time,” Enki held her off. “You know we’re going to have to manufacture credentials for you.”
“Why?” Jael demanded. “Salerno is a highly respected university.”
“And your sheepskin is over one thousand years old,” Enki pointed out.
“It’s written in Latin,” Jael argued. “Who reads that these days, really reads it, that is. A few classics teachers, the occasional priest, but that’s about it.”
“Well,” Enki considered, “I suppose we could just change the dates.”
“Not on my scroll, you don’t,” Jael told him defensively.
“No, just on your transcript,” Enki assured her.
“I really don’t like lying about that, you know,” Jael told him.
“Jael, you’re a demoness,” Enki laughed. “How did you ever get so high up on the Abyssal hierarchy without lying?”
“By being very, very good at what I do,” Jael told him evenly. “By being able to guard my back while seeing that I got the credit for what I did, rather than allowing anyone else to grab it for themselves. Lying was never required and, even in Hell, the best jobs go to the most competent.”
“I see,” Enki nodded, “which is why I want you in this with me. Philosophy, you say?”
“As I said, that’s what I have my degree in,” Jael nodded.
“How about you, Rona?” Enki went on, “I was hoping to tap you for anthropology.”
“My major was political science,” Rona replied. “That was before Jael shanghaied me into Hell’s own Environmental Protection Agency when I was pre-law.”
“Really?” Enki asked. “I thought you wanted to be an archaeologist.”
“No, that’s Marcus,” Rona corrected him. “I just took a few elective hours in anthro because Marcus was interested in it.”
“We don’t have a Poli Sci Department here,” Enki noted.
“And it’s not like Jael and I can be in two places at once,” Rona pointed out.
“There is that,” Enki nodded. “Do you think Marcus might be able to teach here?”
“You’ll have to ask him,” Rona replied. “He’s still in Israel until the end of the month, but I don’t know if Case Western Reserve will give him the year off. He’s up for tenure this year.”
“I’ll talk to him and see if we can make an arrangement,” Enki decided. “I’m sure you two would like to have more than the occasional evening with your husband and I was also hoping you could live in one of the dormitories as resident faculty.”
“Setting an example?” Jael smirked. “Well we are married, so maybe we would be, and it has been a while since we had more than two weeks at a time alone with him. Okay, let’s see what you can manage, but no comparative religions. Ethics, sure. Classics, maybe.”
“I have Mike Fuldon lined up for the Classics Department,” Enki informed them, mentioning the man who had been Inanna’s partner for the last two years. “Technically, I guess he’s head of department, most of us are, but only a few departments have more than one teacher and we’ll all be wearing multiple hats. Even Dee will be teaching.”
“Sounds like a class I’d want to sit in on,” Jael remarked.
“Perhaps,” Enki allowed, “but I suspect you’ll be too busy to attend regularly. We haven’t even worked up the class schedules yet.
“Sounds like you still have a lot of gaps in the faculty,” Jael noted.
“A few, but Dee is calling in a few favors on my behalf,” Enki told her. “We’ll be ready.”
“What about students?” Jael asked. “I know this is the off-season, but this place is like an academic desert.”
“Well, the student population is a bit low,” Enki admitted.
“Enki, the old saying about a school being a log with a teacher at one end and a student at the other is charming enough, but I imagine that just like ‘Living Legend’ you want this to be a financial success, right?”
“We’ll need to reestablish Sherburne College as a fine academic institution,” Enki agreed, “but in the meantime you know we do have a few special students who would benefit from a formal education here and I am informed there are several dozen others who are interested.”
“Oh, I love the smell of mountain air!” Amelia Terulla gushed as she drove down Vermont Route 4 in the sporty red Mustang convertible she had received as a graduation present two years earlier. Her medium brown hair, only partially bound by a ribbon, flew behind her in the wind.
“It’s nice,” Evrona replied from the passenger’s seat. In contrast to Amy, she had a thick mane of smoky black hair that seemed to resist tugging by anything as insubstantial as mere wind. She also wore sunglasses much darker than Amy’s to hide her unusual blood red eyes. “Although I really came to enjoy the smell of the sea in Hattamesett.” Another thought flickered across her mind. “I hope the pizza up here is as good as it is there, and the cheese rolls!”
“You acclimated to South Coast Massachusetts quickly enough,” Amy laughed. “I don’t think you’ll find that sort of cheese roll up here. I never saw them in Alaska in any case, but I’m sure the pizza here will be fine. This is a big skiing resort, so there will be plenty of restaurants of all types. We’ll probably have to eat in the cafeteria most of the time, though. I mean that’s been paid for already, but maybe some evenings…” she let the thought trail off. “You know, you’re lucky to be ready for university so soon.”
“Well, Enki arranged for some fruit from the Tree of Knowledge to be brought in,” Evrona replied, “and both Ash and Lizzie have been tutoring me for months. They think I’m ready.”
“And yet you’ve still been following Jael all over creation as well,” Amy remarked. “Oh I wish Jael and Rona could have come up with us. Jael finds the most wonderful shortcuts!”
“I’m just thrilled she thinks I’m up to travelling without a chaperon,” Evrona replied.
“Huh?” Amy asked. “Evie, I thought you liked all those missions with Jael and Rona.”
“I do,” Evrona insisted. “I love it, in fact, but I’ve been under constant guidance since they found me on the Plain of Dis. This is the first time they’ve admitted I can take care of myself without having to revert to my true nature.”
Evrona was a typical teenager, but she was also one of the Erinyes, a fury from the depths of Hell, created to punish the souls of sinners. Her name meant, “Overflowing Anger,” although she rarely lived up to it. The life of an erinys had not been an existence she enjoyed and when Jael had found her, she had been particularly miserable. After serving as Jael’s protégée, Evrona had learned to smile and even to enjoy life especially after she finally found a home she could love. Her mortal guise, carefully maintained and presented to the world, did not look all that different from her true form save that her huge feathered wings were gone as were the snakes that normally resided in her hair. Her hands were also well manicured when in mortal guise as well, instead of terminating in long, sharp black claws and her fangs were nowhere in sight. A fury’s eyes, however, had tears mixed with blood and while she could normally keep the red streaks from dripping down her face and ruining her tops, Evrona could never completely hide that part of her nature. Her eyes were always blood red with black irises, so she habitually wore dark glasses when she left the house and that seemed to hide her nature perfectly well.
“I see you still wear those blouses with the holes for your wings though,” Amy pointed out. “You’ll have to wear normal tops around campus and the mortal students, I should think.”
“Why?” Evrona countered. “Jael says it just looks like a strange fashion quirk. She wears blouses like these all the time lately.”
“What about this winter?” Amy asked. “You don’t have any sweaters or coats with holes back there.”
“Then I’ll just have to behave myself,” Evrona replied. “I don’t have to fly you know, although it is fun. You should try it. I think this is our turn.”
“I don’t have wings,” Amy pointed out, turning left on to a narrow road that headed directly toward one of the tree-covered mountains.
“You could have,” Evrona suggested.
“I don’t think so,” Amy shook her head emphatically.
“Have you ever tried?” Evrona pressed.
Amy was also a typical teenager, having grown up in Anchorage, Alaska with her parents until their divorce. She followed her mother, quite reluctantly, to live with her grandfather in Hattamessett on the South Coast of Massachusetts, but in time, not only became resigned to living there but, after a series of adventures, grew to love the small town. That her association with a shiny new universe that extended from the backdoor of her grandfather’s home had granted her the gift of divinity had, so far, affected her not at all. A goddess Amelia Terulla might be, but even she did not know what else might be involved with that status.
“No, Evie, I confess I haven’t, but to tell the truth, if I want to fly, I’d prefer to buy a ticket,” Amy told her.
“But flying is such fun!” Evrona enthused.
“Falling isn’t,” Amy countered, “and I imagine there’s be a bit of that involved too.”
“I’ve never fallen,” Evrona told her.
“Well, you come by those wings naturally,” Amy argued stubbornly. “I’m a born groundhog. There is bound to be a steep learning curve if I try it. Besides this is probably not the year I should try that. We’re supposed to act normal among our fellow students, getting caught experimenting with wings at the top of our dorm is probably not normal by anyone’s standards. Hey, we’re here!”
Amy turned right and drove the car under a wide arch that marked the entrance to the Sherburne College campus. “Nice,” she noted. “It looks like every college movie Hollywood ever produced.”
“Does it?” Evrona asked. “Rona said something similar, but Jael pointed out that was because so many college campuses really did look like this. Now where’s our dormitory?” she picked up a map of the campus and tried to figure out where they were.
“There’s Wheeler House,” Amy pointed toward where several students were unloading various sorts of luggage.
“We’re supposed to be in Proctor Hall,” Evrona pointed out. “I can’t see it on the map, half of it is illegible.”
“Why?” Amy asked.
“I think it was where you spilled your soda back in New Hampshire,” Evrona speculated.
“Oh, heck,” Amy shrugged. “Well, we’re not guys. We can ask for directions.”
“What do you mean?” Evrona asked curiously.
“Oh nothing,” Amy shrugged. She slowed down and shouted at a pair of young men nearby. “Hey! Where’s Proctor?”
“Proctor?” one of them countered.
“The small dorm,” the other informed his friend. “Just keep following the drive around to the other side of the hill. You can’t miss it.”
“Thanks!” Amy replied with a wave and drove on. “See? We can’t miss it.”
“Let’s try to anyway,” Evrona suggested. “The parking lot will be close enough.”
“Hey!” Amy protested, but then suddenly asked, “Did you just make a joke?”
“I’ve been practicing,” Evrona replied.
“Jael is rubbing off on you,” Amy laughed. ”Pretty soon you’ll be flirting with all the cute guys too.”
“I don’t think Tomislaw would like that,” Evrona replied. “He’s supposed to be here too, you know.”
“I know, but a girl can look around, you know,” Amy chuckled.
“I don’t think so,” Evrona replied primly.
“Suit yourself,” Amy laughed. “More for me. Ah, here we go. Home, sweet home for the next few months. You know it’s too bad I’ll only be here the next two semesters,” she added as she found a place to park. Unlike the lot outside Wheeler house, there were very few vehicles in the Proctor lot, “but I really do want to finish up at Brown for my senior year.” She closed the roof of the car and together they rolled up the windows.
“I’m just glad you were able to arrange to have your junior year here,” Evrona admitted. “It will be nice to have one familiar face to talk to.”
“Ha!” Amy laughed, turning off the car and opening her door. “Inside of a week you’ll have a dozen friends or more here.”
“Will I?” Evrona asked, displaying just a touch of nervousness. She too, exited the car and walked around to the trunk as Amy opened it.”
“Sure!” Amy nodded, reaching into the trunk and pulling out a large suitcase. She handed it to Evrona and then turned back to get her own things. “Happens all the time. You get to a new school and know no one; nearly everyone will be the same. Soon you’ll have more friends than you’ve ever had.”
“That won’t take much,” Evrona sighed, thinking back to her life in Hell.
“Wait and see,” Amy promised her.
They continued to chat all the way to the front door of Proctor Hall, a small wood and brick building, similar in style to the rest of the campus and stepped in to find a scene unlike any they had imagined.
“I thought we were going to school with mortals?” Evrona commented, looking around the entrance into the common room.
“Maybe they’re all in Wheeler House?” Amy guessed.
Everywhere they looked, they saw fantastic creatures of one sort or another. There were two young demons in one corner. They had black, bat-like wings, similar to the ones Jael sometimes displayed and horns coming out of their temples. They were chatting with a young man who stood about nine feet tall and whose blond head was near the ceiling. Elsewhere a pair of angels, both with light brown hair and large wings with pure white feathers, stood talking to a pair of nymphs, while nearby an uncharacteristically shy-seeming satyr looked on longingly. Evrona caught sight of her boyfriend, Tomislaw, another demon, playing chess with a tall young lady who looked like the male giant’s sister.
“Hey, we know those nymphs,” Amy remarked. “It’s Mina and Nina. I didn’t know they would be here.”
“Neither did I,” Evrona admitted. “Let’s go say hello.”
“Evie!” a deep contralto female voice called from a stairway. Looking up, Evrona saw a young woman with scaly reptilian skin waving at them as she slid down the banister. “It’s me, Nerys. We met in Florida, remember? I’m still working on my mortal guise, but at least this was good enough to let me fit in through the door.”
“Nerys!” Evrona greeted her with a hug. “It’s great to see you again. Amy, Nerys is the granddaughter of Cadoc, Y Draig Goch in Wales. I’ve mentioned her, haven’t I?”
“Yes, of course,” Amy agreed. “Weren’t you at my grandfather’s barbecue this summer?”
“Only briefly,” Nerys admitted, “and not in guise. I just learned how to do this yesterday. Jael’s been coaching me. Sure hope I can get it right by tomorrow. We’re supposed to start mixing with the mortal students, you know.”
“Oh good,” Evrona nodded. “I can’t wait.”
“That’s the spirit, Sparrow!” Jael commended her from a nearby doorway. “Did you two get lost? I expected you here two hours ago.”
“No,” Amy laughed. “We stopped for lunch in Boston and then to take pictures in New Hampshire. I didn’t realize we were supposed to be here at any particular time.”
“Well, I suppose I was just being nervous without good cause,” Jael admitted. “I just thought you would shoot straight up here. Still, it’s nice to know you can stop to smell the flowers once in a while. I doubt either of you will have time for that once classes start.”
“When do classes start?” Evrona asked anxiously.
“In a few days after freshman orientation, Sparrow,” Jael told her.
“Enjoy these first few days,” Rona advised, suddenly appearing in Jael’s place. Rona was taller than Jael with a longer face and medium length blond hair and blue eyes. Usually when they changed places an observer could watch the rapid transition, but this time Jael had been there one moment and replaced by Rona the next. “This is the only time you’ll have when there’s no homework to do and you can just relax and get to know your classmates.”
“Sounds good to me, but shouldn’t we find our rooms and unpack?” Amy asked.
“You can do that in a few minutes,” Jael told her. “You’ve arrived just in time for our first orientation talk.” She was about to say more but the sound from across the room suddenly died out as another woman entered the dormitory.
Amy and Evrona turned to see another familiar person approaching. She was of medium height with light brown hair that flowed just beyond shoulder length. She was wearing a white blouse that was almost open too much and a knee-length dark green skirt that was slashed open provocatively on the sides. “Jael!” the woman called, “hope I’m not late.”
As she approached, Amy, Evrona, and Nerys noticed that all the men in the room had stopped what they had been doing to watch the new woman, and the women were either glaring at the men or at the newcomer. “Boys!” Amy sighed.
“Ina,” Jael smiled and offered a hug. “It’s been a couple months.”
“I know,” Ina nodded. “We keep missing each other. Well, we have all year to catch up now, don’t we? Evie, Amy!” she continued. “Good to see you got here safely. Did you have a good trip?”
“I’d have loved to come by way of Yggdrasil,” Amy remarked even as Ina hugged the two girls.
“You would have had to leave you car behind,” Ina pointed out. “I didn’t go that way either you know.”
“No, you took another shortcut from Tennessee,” Amy laughed. “We had to go the long way.”
“If I had only been driving a few hours, so would I, dear,” Ina smiled. She turned toward Nerys and noted, “You look familiar, but I’m afraid…”
“Nerys,” the young dragon reintroduced herself. “We met…”
“On the set of Living Legend!” Ina nodded happily, dragging Nerys into a hug all her own. “I remember, but you look different. Working out a new guise can be tricky, can’t it?”
“I keep trying,” Nerys nodded.
“I’ll work with you tonight,” Ina promised. “You’re really mostly there. I’m sure you’ll have it right before I have to go into Rutland.”
“You’re going into Rutland tonight?” Jael asked.
“Mike is flying here,” Ina nodded. “But I have a few hours before his flight gets in.”
“I wasn’t aware there were commercial flights into Rutland,” Jael remarked, but before Ina could reply Jael caught sight of the students. “Um, Ina your divinity is showing.”
“Huh?” Ina asked and then turned to see what Jael was looking at. “Oh. Sorry. For a change I thought I could relax and just be me for a few minutes.”
“Keep that up and you’ll be the most popular teacher on campus,” Jael remarked dryly, “but none of the boys in your classes will remember to take notes. Better tone yourself down, dear.”
“You’re right,” Ina agreed and watched as the males in the room slowly recovered.
“Okay, kids,” Jael called out. “I guess we managed to get your attention. Everyone have a seat and we’ll get through this soon enough.” She paused while everyone found places to sit. With a scarcity of couches and chairs Amy, Nerys and Evrona found places on the floor. “For those of you who haven’t met me yet, I’m Doctor Jael Steele and my alter ego,” she switched places with Rona who continued, “is Mrs. Rona Steele. Nice to meet you all. I’m sure we’ll all get to know each other.”
“My colleague here has dozens of names,” Jael reappeared and continued. “She is Inanna, Ishtar, Astarte, Tanit, Aphrodite and Venus to name just a few, but here at Sherburne College you will know her as Ms. Ina Loveall. Why am I telling you this? Because everyone in Proctor Hall is divine to one extent or another.”
“They aren’t,” the male angel commented, indicating Tomislaw and the other two demons.
“Let’s see,” Jael checked her notes, “You would be Ephrael Ethera, right?”
“Just Ephrael,” he grumbled back.
“Good angelic attitude,” Jael murmured. “Okay, bub, get this straight, for the duration you and your ‘sister’ are using the surname Ethera. It’s called fitting in. All the mortals at this school have surnames so each of you will as well. If any of you others aren’t aware of your cover names this year, see me when I finish. Now, Ephrael, you don’t like demons?” Ephrael allowed a sneer to show. In response, Jael suddenly transformed into her true semblance. Her skin darkened several shades, horns sprouted from her temples and large bat-style wings sprouted from her back. She did not have claws exactly, but her fingernails grew a bit and seemed to get sharper, She had small fangs too, although they were not long enough to protrude from her mouth. Instead, they merely accented her smile. The greatest change was in her eyes. They were still violet, but they seemed to glow as if on fire. “Well,” she continued sweetly, “I seriously recommend you keep your prejudices firmly in check.
“Keep in mind that Angels and Demons are of the same basic stock, bunky,” she continued. “This isn’t about having fallen from grace. Most of us down there were born there, just like you came into being in heaven. We just are and that’s that. Let’s move on, shall we?
“Now as I said, we all originated on the divine plane of existence,” Jael went on.
“Not me,” Amy cut in, earning herself a glare.
“All right,” Jael grumbled. Behind her, Inanna smirked. “We all either originated on the divine plain or later ascended to the divine. Happy now?” Amy shrugged and opened her mouth to say something, but shut it again to allow Jael to go on. “We’ve all been grouped together for a couple of reasons. First, this is a place where you can be yourselves. I’m glad to see some of you have already mastered the art of mortal guise. Ina and I will be working with you this evening to make sure it’s safe to send you out in public. Needless to say it might turn a few heads to see a troll and a satyr walking to class, although, Georgi, thank you for, uh, covering up.” Nearby the dryads, Nina and Mina, giggled as did two or three other nymphs in the room. Georgi the satyr blushed with embarrassment. He wore glasses that made him look bookish and to cover his embarrassment, he took them off to fiddle with the lenses as though cleaning them.
“Don’t worry about that. Assuming mortal guise is one of the simplest things we can do,” Jael continued. “You may assume your natural forms in private, of course, but it is not unreasonable to assume that your mortal classmates will be visiting from time to time. Barring them from the dorm would be unnatural and only cause problems, so after today, I want to see mortal guises only in the common room. For that matter, if you can maintain them in your sleep it would not only be good practice, but safer all around. It does not hurt to live in mortal guise. You will not lose your divinity by doing so. It will only change your outward appearance. Nothing can change who you truly are.
“The other reason, of course, is that none of us are perfect,” Jael continued and quickly added, “Can it, Ephrael! The fact you were about to disagree just proves my point. We will make mistakes and if stressed we might accidentally reveal ourselves. There’s less chance of that if we all stick together. If one of us slips, someone else might be able to convince a witness that his or her eyes were playing tricks. For now, however, don’t worry about it and keep to your mortal guises as soon as you can. By the way, sleeping in guise will certainly make the beds feel more comfortable. Trust me on that.
“Now, as I said,” Jael went on, “we expect mortal students will visit Proctor Hall from time to time, so no matter what, after today, no one will be in the common room out of guise. Also visitors must sign in at the dorm’s reception desk where I’ll want one or preferably two of you on duty at all times from Eight in the morning until Eleven at night. Let me know your class schedules and I’ll work out a duty roster.
“Now many members of the faculty are divine as well,” Jael told them. “I seem to be the entire Philosophy Department this year, Inanna is teaching… Ina, what are you teaching?”
“Religion,” Inanna replied.
“You’re kidding?” Jael asked. “Enki, that’s Mister Waters to you kids, by the way, tried to get me to teach that. Heck, you have an active cult these days. Having you teach religion is nearly as inappropriate as having me do it.”
“Not inappropriate, dear,” Inanna corrected her, “just ironic.”
“Darned ironic,” Jael commented. “Well there you are. To tell the truth I don’t know who all the other faculty members are, apart from having met them yesterday afternoon at the Dean’s tea. About half of us are mortal and frankly it shouldn’t matter to any of you which of us are which. I will warn you that the Dean may be Doctor Delores Meter, but most of you have heard of her as Mother Nature and Isis is her assistant, but for this year you’ll be calling her Doctor Philae. In any case they are two very powerful goddesses so the last thing you want is to find them looking for ways to discipline you.”
“This whole notion of bringing a bunch of divine students together with their mortal counterparts,” Inanna told them, “belongs to Enki, the Mesopotamian god of water, wisdom, invention, and just about everything else he thinks he can claim.”
Jael laughed. “Ask him and he’ll tell you he invented everything. One thing he did not invent, however, is the computer. And that is something a lot of you have no experience with either. I have in the storage closet a stack of boxes, one for each of you. Personal notebook computers. You will need them to do your homework. Some of your teachers will be posting assignments on the college website, others will expect you to turn in your papers neatly printed from your computers and so forth. You’ll want to keep them with you when you go to the library. You may become so comfortable with them you’ll want to take notes with them. Me, I’m old fashioned and prefer to take my notes by hand, but there you are.
“Now how many of you have used a personal computer before?” Jael asked. Tomislaw’s, Amy’s and Evrona’s hands shot up immediately. So, to Jael’s surprise, did that of Georgi, the satyr. Two others also raised their hands. They were centaurs who appeared to be half human and half horse. “Let’s see, you would be Xandros and Silvija Wood, correct?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Xandros nodded.
“Well, when it comes to learning, it’s never a surprise when you find a centaur at the fore,” Jael remarked, to Xandros’ and Silvija’s obvious pride. “I expect I’ll be seeing you both in class?”
“Actually, ma’am, I’m hoping to study astrophysics,” Xandros replied.
“We don’t have much of a department for that here,” Jael remarked, “but we should get you prepared for graduate school where you’ll really be able to dive into that. Okay, well, we’ll need to get you all going on the computers, but we have a few days. Those of you who already know how to use them will be helping your classmates. I assure you, your mortal counterparts already know how to use these things and do so without really thinking about it.
“Registration for classes is tomorrow,” Jael told them. “This is a small school so I imagine we should be done with that by lunch time. You’ll find you already have e-mail from your faculty advisors waiting for you, so I seriously recommend you get your computers set up and going. Ina and I will come around to your rooms and make sure you get at least that much at the same time we check you out on guises. So why don’t you all line up and I’ll start handing out boxes.”
“I have my own notebook,” Amy told Jael when it was her turn to pick up a computer.
“Take this one anyway, kiddo,” Jael suggested. “Yours might be better or you may just be more comfortable with it, but this one is preconfigured to work on the campus network and print to the dorm copier. Later if you want to configure yours to do the same, that’s fine, but this will get you going, okay?”
“No problem,” Amy shrugged. “It’s not every day I get a free PC. And mine is two years old.”
“Practically a dinosaur, huh?” Jael laughed.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Amy chuckled. “As I recall, you picked this one out yourself.”
“Yeah, it was the top of the market back then,” Jael remembered. “Now I doubt you can find one that slow except in the used computer stores. Well, I’m fairly sure the old one has more storage. I made sure you had a machine capable of getting you through four years at Brown, after all. These are good machines, but they’re off-the-shelf models. I had yours customized.”
“Well, I may find uses for both,” Amy shrugged and accepted the box. “This is a bit clumsy,” she remarked to Amy and Nerys as she tried to grab her luggage. The large bag and the case holding her other computer were as much as she could manage. The additional box was completely unmanageable.
“Here,” Nerys offered, grabbing the large suitcase. “I’m already unpacked so I can help you carry your stuff. “They put us together on the third floor.”
“Three in one room?” Amy asked.
“No, it’s a suite,” Nerys explained. She looked at the line at the elevator and then shrugged and led them up the stairs. “We each have our own bedrooms. They’re small but each has a bed, a desk and a closet. There’s also a common room and our own bathroom. Only two sinks, though. I’m not sure what the designers were thinking. Three people, two wash basins?”
“We’ll manage,” Amy shrugged as they reached the second floor. She looked up the next flight and stairs, sighed and moved on. “I know Ina offered to help you with your mortal guise, but maybe Evie can do that before she gets around to our rooms.”
“Sure,” Evrona offered. “I’ve been using guises since teaming up with Jael. You nearly have it anyway, Nerys. I love your long red hair. Did you plan it that way?”
“Uh uh,” Nerys shook her head as they reached their floor. The dorm was actually four stories high, but they were just as glad not to have a room on the top floor. “It just came naturally. Some dragons have a natural humanoid form and I guess this is mine. I should be able to lose the scales, though.”
“I had a bit of trouble with my skin tone at first,” Evrona told her. “And my eyes are still blood red. Jael thinks that might be a part of me in any guise.”
They got settled in quickly enough and then Evrona started coaching Nerys so by the time Inanna and Jael made it to their suite, Nerys already appeared as a tall redhead with blue-green eyes, although those eyes had a tendency to flash golden when she got excited. “Eyes are the toughest,” Inanna told her, “and people will just think that’s a trick of the light anyway. I think you’ll pass. Evie, you’ll have to keep wearing your glasses. I think we can pass it on to the rest of the faculty that you have sensitive eyes although this is not high school. The teachers here are not likely to demand you take off your sunglasses in class, although we need not make them think you’re trying to defy them either.”
Jael had breakfast brought into the first floor common room the next morning. “Starting with lunch I expect you all to eat in the cafeteria with your classmates,” she told them, “but for now I want to make sure you can keep your guises intact.” She wandered through the room, alternating with Rona, both women keeping their eyes on the students. Finally when breakfast was over, she decided they would do and she sent them on their way.
“I was surprised to see Jael was not our advisor,” Evrona commented to Amy and Nerys as they walked across the campus toward the English Department offices.
“She’s our faculty res, Evie,” Amy replied. “She’s there to advise us on all sorts of things, but we can’t expect her to advise us as to our academic careers too. Besides, you’re her protégée. I’m sure once classes start and we settle into a routine, she’ll be glad to talk to us, and especially you, about all sorts of things.”
“And an additional perspective,” Nerys added cheerfully,” is always a good thing.”
They soon found themselves outside the office of Doctor Aoide Calliope. “Come in ladies,” Doctor Calliope told them. I’ve been expecting you.” Doctor Calliope was dressed in jeans and a loose striped shirt. Her dark brown hair was pulled back severely and she wore small glasses with round-lenses. “I will be your freshman advisor until you declare a major and find an advisor in your own departments.
“I’m not a freshman,” Amy commented, “and I’m only here for this year.”
“Hmm?” Calliope almost hummed. “Ah yes, I see, Miss Terulla. You’re actually here on a special exchange with Brown University. You have an impressive transcript, I see.”
“Thank you,” Amy replied modestly. “I think that’s why I was allowed to spend my junior year here in Vermont.”
“Not what we usually refer to as a junior year abroad, is it?” Doctor Calliope asked. “Yes, well, in spite of your class status, you are a new student at Sherburne College, so for now we shall treat you as a freshman for the purposes of orientation. Well, since you spoke up, let’s start in with you first, shall we?”
“All right,” Amy nodded with just a bit of hesitation. Doctor Calliope, in spite of holding a name that suggested merry-go-rounds and other amusements, was obviously a no-nonsense sort of woman who preferred to cut right to business without the usual polite preambles.
“As I said you have an impressive transcript, but there are some obvious holes in your education,” Calliope told her. “I think this year will be a good time to rectify that. Accordingly, I think you should take Miss Loveall’s class in comparative religions, Astronomy 203, Music History 201, Geology 334, Creative Writing and gym.”
“Gym?” Amy asked.
“All students are required to take gym class,” Calliope replied sternly. “Mens sana in corpore sano, don’t you know.”
“What?” Nerys asked.
“A healthy mind in a healthy body,” Evrona translated unconsciously.
“Very good, Miss Dis,” Doctor Calliope nodded. “You speak Latin?”
“Apparently,” Evrona nodded, although from the expression on her face it was obvious the ability had come as much of a surprise to her as it had to the others.
“Very good,” Calliope repeated. “Doctor Steele tells me you are an artist?”
“I would like to be,” Evrona replied, “but I’d like to learn everything.”
“As would I,” Calliope nodded. “However, I don’t believe we have the time for all that this semester. I think you should start with Life Studies I. That’s in the catalog as Art 201.”
“Shouldn’t she be taking a 100 level class first?” Amy asked.
“Our 100 level classes at Sherburne are remedial in nature,” Calliope replied, “and we have no remedial art classes in any case. Now along with Life Studies, I seriously recommend World History 203, Biology 201, Math 101, I understand you need a bit of work there, don’t you?”
“Yes ma’am,” Evrona agreed. She was not stupid, but furies rarely had to be more adept in mathematics in their work than being able to count on their fingers.
“Ah, yes,” Calliope nodded, “and creative writing for you too. If you can get into the same section as Miss Terulla, I have no objections, and, of course, gym.”
“Same section there too?” Evrona asked.
“I should think so, yes,” Doctor Calliope nodded, “Now you, Miss Emrysdaughter. No transcript?”
“I was home schooled,” Nerys replied.
“We should still have the results of your standardized tests,” Calliope told her.
“I never had any,” Nerys admitted.
“Hmm,” Doctor Calliope considered. “Well, you’re here. Where shall we put you?”
“The same gym section?” Nerys suggested.
“Without a doubt,” Calliope nodded, “but I meant for the rest of your classes. Where are your interests?”
“Well,” Nerys swallowed hard and Evrona caught a flash of gold in her eyes, “I am interested in anthropology.”
“Are you?” Calliope asked. “That will do. You should start with Anthropology 201, that’s Cultural Anthropology, by the way, and see how you still like it. And since this is your first semester, spreading out your electives is a good idea. Try the same World History class Miss Dis will be in, I should think. Have you had much in the way of math?”
“I’ve never studied calculus, but algebra and geometry were a breeze, I thought,” Nerys replied confidently.
“Then Differential Calculus 1 is my recommendation,” Doctor Calliope replied, “and one of the hard sciences, Intro Chemistry or Biology 201, and you’re required to take one of the Freshman English classes. You could take the same creative writing class as your friends here, but the section on technical writing might be of more use to you.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Nerys replied, adding, “and gym, of course.”
“Of course,” Calliope dismissed them.
“Where is registration?” Nerys wondered aloud as they left the building.
“In the gymnasium,” Amy laughed. “You should have read the pamphlet last night. Having class registrations in a gym is fairly common I understand. You have a big, wide open area that is all inside and protected from the weather. Nearly every school has at least one and usually it’s the only place with enough room available on a campus to get most of the student body in at once.”
“This is a small school though,” Evrona commented.
“It’s probably a small gym,” Nerys replied.
“It’s got to be at least large enough for a basketball court,” Amy told them. “I’ve never seen a school gymnasium that wasn’t. And remember there used to be more students and teachers here, so my guess is there’s enough space for the entire school and still have us rattle around in there.”
Amy’s predictions proved correct. Taylor Gymnasium was large enough with room to spare and looked even larger with all the departmental tables clustered together in the center. “This doesn’t look so bad,” Amy remarked as they entered the relatively empty building. There were, she supposed, maybe fifty students there ahead of them and still the place looked empty.
“Hi, girls!” a young man hailed them. It took Evrona a moment to realize it was Georgi, the shy satyr from their dorm. He now looked entirely human but his thin frame, scraggly hair and thick-rimmed glasses gave him a distinctly nerdish appearance.
“Hi, Georgi!” Evrona and Amy chorused. “All signed up for classes?”
“Nah, I just got here too,” Georgi admitted. “What are you all taking?”
“Not sure until we’re registered,” Evrona replied, but they compared notes and saw he would be sharing the creative writing class with Amy and Evrona and Differential Calculus with Nerys along with the same gym section.
“We have co-ed gym?” Amy asked as they got to that table.
“It’s a special experiment for some of you lucky freshmen,” the upper classman at the gym table told her. “Wish they’d try with my class. It sounds like fun.”
“Maybe next semester,” Evrona suggested.
“I doubt it,” the young man shook his head. “If they make that change it will be next year and I’ll be in grad school somewhere by then. Hey, kids, enjoy the experiment.”
“What if we don’t want to be in that section?” Nerys asked curiously.
“I suppose you could try requesting a transfer,” he told her, “though I don’t know why you would. Gym sections are all pre-assigned this year anyway.”
“How did they know this wouldn’t interfere with the rest of our schedules?” Amy wondered.
“Did it?” the young man countered.
“Well, no, but how could they have known?”
“That was great!” Amy enthused as they returned to Proctor Hall. “I have never gotten all my first choice classes before. Back in my freshman year I spent all day after I missed out on my choice of Biology 101 section to finally get stuck with Intro Philosophy instead. I didn’t get Bio until the next semester and then it was with the most boring lecturer on campus.” She spotted Ephrael and Astra, the two angels, approaching from their left. “Hey, guys. Did you get that music class you wanted?”
“Music Theory with Ms Euterpe,” Astra confirmed. “You?”
“Music History with Doctor Carryn,” Amy replied.
“Are any of us in Jael’s philosophy classes?” Evrona asked.
“I am,” Ephrael admitted.
“Me too,” Georgi replied. “I’ll see you there.”
“What gym section are you two in?” Evrona asked.
The students inside the hall were busily comparing schedules with each other and the new arrivals were quickly drawn into the conversation. It turned out that everyone in Proctor Hall was in the same gym class although they only shared a few other classes as might be expected in such a varied group.
“I think all having the same gym section is suspicious,” Amy opined a while later after Jael had returned to the dorm. The matter had been bothering her since it came up.
“We seem to have a lot of the same teachers even if we’re not in the same classes,” Silvija commented as well.
“There’s no mystery there, kids,” Jael told them. “It’s a small school and a small faculty. None of our departments have more than two teachers. I’ve told you I’m the entire Philosophy Department. Ina, who you all met last night is teaching religion. Her, well I guess he’s still a boyfriend is filling all the needs of the Classics Department. Some of us are even wearing two hats, so yeah, don’t be surprised if you all have the same teachers.”
“And the gym class?” Amy asked.
“There’s no mystery there,” Jael laughed. “Did you think we were going to mix you up with the mortal students?”
“I thought that was part of the point,” Evrona countered.
“Academically, sure,” Jael agreed, “but not on the athletic field.”
“But we are in mortal guise,” Xandros pointed out. “Who would know?”
“You may look human,” Rona cut in, taking Jael’s place, “but you still have the stamina of a horse even if you cannot run like one. Johann and Inga may no longer look like frost giants, but they are still stronger than any of your mortal classmates. It would hardly be fair to expect the mortal students to compete with you.”
“And holding a guise is new to you kids,” Jael added. “We know from experience that some of you might slip up while trying to run around the track or lifting weights. So, by keeping in your own section, it won’t matter as much.”
“So this Miss Terpsichore knows who and what we are?” Astra asked.
“Let’s just say she’ll take it all in stride,” Jael shot back.”Now I want to discuss your weekends.”
“Aren’t the weekends ours to have time off or work on projects?” Amy asked.
“Some of them,” Jael nodded, “but we’re also going to be having a series of weekend seminars and other events, some of which you all will be required to attend.” At least half the students groaned. “Oh, don’t give me that,” Jael told them. “This is all part of what you signed up for and frankly, I’d have been thrilled to have this opportunity when I was your age. Anyway those special seminars are open to all, and only some of them are required for you guys.
“It also appears we have a rival school nearby,” Jael went on. “Stephen A. Douglas College in Brandon. Neither school has a football team but we do compete with them in track and field and swimming events. I’ll admit that Sherburne hasn’t won against Douglas in over a decade.”
“Well, I’m sure we can give them some competition this year?” the lilting voice of Lars, a troll from Norway, commented.
“Maybe not,” Jael shook her head. “It’s like I said before. It wouldn’t be fair to the mortals and one or more of you might slip up in the heat of the moment. However, we also have something called an Scholastithon with them - two, in fact. One in the fall and the other in the spring. Sherburne has done even worse in that, not having won in sixteen years and I expect you lot to help change that for sure.”
“Wouldn’t that be unfair as well?” Ephael asked from the back of the room. He did not really sound interested, just the opposite, in fact.
“In what way, Mister Ethera?” Jael challenged him.
“Well, it seems to me that if our divine attributes make it unfair to compete against the mortals in sport, it should be equally unfair to do so in an academic contest,” he explained.
“Does anyone here claim to be omniscient?” Jael countered. “I sure as heck don’t. How about you, Ephrael? No? Didn’t think so. If you know something a mortal doesn’t it just means you have a better education along those lines. You all are clear to enter the Scholastithon, if you want.”
“Is that required too?” Astra asked. She did not seem as argumentative as the other angel, but there was a note in her voice Jael thought might be a challenge.
“No, you can sleep all weekend for all I care when that’s going on,” Jael told her.
“We don’t sleep,” Astra replied almost as if the concept mystified her.
“Most of us don’t,” Jael replied, “or we don’t have to, although you may find it helps to relax in times of stress. Okay, look kids, we have a school picnic this afternoon. You’ll notice the cafeterias are closed for lunch and normally I’d say you should stop by the bookstore to buy your class books, but I know most of you don’t have any money. So if you’ll let me know what you’re taking I’ll have your required texts delivered here tomorrow courtesy of Springtime Seed Company.”
“Who?” Georgi asked.
“You’re all here on scholarship,” Jael explained, “Courtesy of the company that Enki uses as a front in the modern world. All your expenses are being picked up. I thought you knew that.”
“I did, but no one ever mentioned Springtime Seed,” Georgi told her.
“Someone slipped up then,” Jael remarked. “Well, that’s not a problem. Now you know. Actually this whole school is being bolstered by a grant from Enki’s company and Enki is the chairman of the Board of Trustees. He claims there was no magic involved, just his silver tongue, but you can’t prove it by me. Over half the faculty quit in protest over the fact that some corporate outsider could throw a bunch of money at the school and suddenly be in charge. Well, that’s nothing new in academia, I fear, but Enki suddenly found himself in need of a faculty, so he started packing the roster with his friends. That’s why Rona and I are here, in fact. It’s why Mother Nature is the Dean and Inanna, the goddess of love and war, is heading up the Religion Department, to name just a few. We still have a fair number of mortal teachers, however, and from what I can see they’re very good at what they do, too.”
“So just who is who?” Tomislaw asked. He and Johann, the frost giant, had formed a bond of friendship within hours of arrival the day before and were currently sitting near each other in one corner of the room.
“It doesn’t matter, does it, Tommy?” Jael shot back. “You will be showing the same respect and attention to all of them regardless of who and what they are.”
“So you aren’t going to tell us?” Ephrael asked.
“Nope,” Jael retorted. “Frankly, you ought to be able to figure it out. We aren’t all that well disguised after all, but I think you’ll be less distracted from the real reason you are here if you don’t try.”
“And what reason is that?” Ephrael demanded softly.
“To get an education,” Jael replied firmly.
“So, Georgi,” Amy asked as several of the Proctor Hall students sat down in the shade of a maple tree in the middle of Sherburne Quad, “Where are you from?”
The Quad was the park-like center of the college campus. It looked, to Amy’s practiced eye, like any number of other campuses she had visited in her search for a college. Privately she referred to it as College Campus Type One, being the most common sort she had experienced. Some of the schools she had seen were truly unique. One state school not too far from where her grandfather lived looked like it had once been used as the set for a science fiction film. But Sherburne looked like a dozen other schools even though its mix of building styles was as unique as any she had seen. She did not know it, but with a bit of practice one could tell the age of each of the buildings merely by the stylistic differences. They had all been built one at a time and reflected the styles and materials that were in vogue at the time. And yet while each building was different in a dozen minor ways they had all been designed to fit in with the others. White cedar shakes and red bricks were the basis of the walls. Some had flat roofs, but others were classic Vermont tin roofs painted dark red, navy blue or dark green.
“I live in the hills outside Kemelpaşa,” the satyr replied.
“Where’s that?” Amy asked, never having heard of the place.
Georgi grinned. “Western Turkey.”
“Turkey? Not Greece?” Amy asked.
“Satyrs used to be all over Europe and the Middle East,” Georgi replied. “Now we only live in small family units scattered here and there.”
“Families?” Nerys asked. “So there are female satyrs too?” Evrona laughed. It was almost a giggle so she tried to stifle her reaction as Georgi blushed
“No, of course not,” he told Nerys hastily. “We… ah… breed with…” he trailed off as he caught sight of the dryads, Mina and Nina, flirting with some of the boys from Wheeler House.
“Ah, so the old stories are true,” Amy concluded. “Dryads and satyrs are male and female of the same species.”
“In a way,” Georgi admitted. “Not just Dryads, any nymph willing to live on land, really. We’re not great swimmers. Anyway, nymphs are created through a sort of parthenogenesis.”
“What’s parthenogenesis?” Nerys asked.
“Birth from two or more mothers,” Georgi replied. “Nymphs get together to create more nymphs. In the case of dryads it involves several of them and a tree that does not already have a protecting dryad. But satyrs are born from a mix of satyr and nymph.”
“That doesn’t exactly make sense from what I’ve learned of biology,” Amy remarked. “I mean I know about nymphs, Evie and I are best friends with Tanise, she’s the dryad of the New World Tree, you know.”
“I’ve heard of her,” Georgi replied. “You really know her?”
“They’re practically related,” Evrona laughed.
“We are not,” Amy denied.
“No?” Evrona chuckled. Amy noticed it was uncannily similar to Jael’s characteristic laugh. “Eddy’s your grandfather and Tanise thinks of him as a father. In a way she is your aunt.”
“Closer to a sister,” Amy admitted.
“Wait a minute,” Silvija stopped them. The disguised centaur had been sitting quietly, letting the others talk. She tended to listen more than speak, which had the effect of getting others to listen to her when she finally did join in a conversation.“This Eddy; is he the supreme deity of the New World?”
“Well, yeah,” Amy nodded. “Why?”
“Oh!” the centaur gasped. “That explains so much. I mean, I wondered how you had been born mortal, but were now divine.”
“Oh, yeah,” Amy shrugged. “Being a goddess is something that just sort of happened along the way. After Tanise’s Tree matured and formed its own world it took Granddad, Mom and me along with it. It chose others as well, both then and since, but then it’s still growing up, or so Dee, I mean Doctor Meter, tells us. But I don’t feel any different and so far I don’t have any special powers that I know of besides a lot more stamina and less need for sleep. Jael tells me I only sleep now out of force of habit. Maybe that’s so, but I still feel tired.”
“I’ve heard about the New World,” Silvija nodded. “What’s it like?”
“It’s more primitive than this one. No people so far,” Amy replied, “but it is advancing quickly and has already progressed to the Age of Dinosaurs. No T-Rexes or Apatosaurs, it’s not that far along, It’s more like the early Jurassic Epoch. The critters are big enough, just not the complete monsters they became in the Cretaceous.”
“So is the New World progressing just like this one supposedly did?” Georgi asked.
“So far,” Amy admitted. “Last spring we were in the Permian, then there was a week where the only place we could go was the immediate vicinity of the Tree. Outside the immediate area everything went foggy gray for a while and when it cleared, the Paleocene world was gone and a new Mezocene had begun. We’re still trying to figure out what happened, what caused the change. It would explain so much of what happened in this world.”
“I think the Tree wanted to hurry past the near destruction of life there,” Evrona suggested, “so it just blocked everything out and picked up after life started coming back.”
“Could be,” Amy nodded. “I never thought of it like that. If that’s the case it will probably do the same thing at the end of the Cretaceous period, whenever that happens. It seems to be slowing down a bit now and Dee says we can expect bigger differences as it goes along, especially after people start evolving.”
“Hey, Tommy,” Lars the troll called just then. “We’re picking up a game of Frisbee football.” He indicated a round plastic disc in his hand. “You want in?”
“Sure,” Tomislaw nodded, getting to his feet. “How about you, Georgi?”
“Oh, no thanks,” the satyr shook his head. “I’ll watch.”
“It’s more fun if you actually play,” Tomislaw pointed out, but Georgi shook him off. “Have it your way,” he concluded and ran off to join Lars, Johann and some of the other young men.
“We seem to have a fair number of demons in our class,” Nerys noted.
“Jael’s outreach program,” Evrona told her. “I guess Tomislaw and I turned out so well, she wanted to see if she could do the same for some others. I don’t know though. Tomislaw and I were misfits in our own ways. Me, because I didn’t want to be an erinys and Tomislaw because he fell in love with me, though I must say he had some odd ways of showing it back then. I don’t know these other boys. If they are normal demons, they’ll be more self-involved and might not get much out of going to school, or not. I really don’t know how Jael chose them, or maybe they were chosen for her. I suppose we could ask, but I doubt she would tell. More like Jael would tell us it was none of our business. Rona would be more tactful about it, but she would advise us not to be so nosey.”
“We’re all here as an experiment or two,” Nerys pointed out. “First of all, this whole college thing is one of Enki’s projects and he’s always trying something new. And I think most of us are here either to see it for ourselves or else because our people want to see if there’s anything to mixing with the mortal world. I know dragons have always been shy of mortals. Things don’t generally go well for us when we aren’t.”
“That’s because dragons are generally trying to eat mortals when they meet them,” Amy laughed.”
“Not really,” Nerys shook her head. “Not for a long time. For instance, I think I like this burger better than the notion of eating a person.”
“So, you’ve never killed a human?” Amy asked.
“Good heavens, no!” Nerys laughed. “Nor have I wanted to. Things don’t go well for us dragons when we attack humans. Oh some of us have done well for a time, but humans are clever and they don’t have much trouble finding ways to kill us in return. I might not even be here, but my grandfather insisted.”
“Well, I’m glad you came,” Evrona told her. “I don’t know many people here, so one more familiar face is always welcome.”
“This face,” Nerys laughed, pointed at the one she wore in guise, “is not the one you got familiar with last time we met.”
“Maybe not,” Evrona replied, “but it’s still the same Nerys inside. It’s the person an erinys responds to, you know, not what they look like.”
“Hi!” one of the women from Wheeler House greeted them. She approached with several others. “I’m Kara. This is Patty, Jim, Levin and Lacey.” After Amy completed introductions, Kara went on, “We’re trying to pick up a softball game. Would you be interested?”
“Sounds like fun,” Amy replied. “Anyone else?”
“I don’t know,” Georgi demurred. “I’m not very good at sports.”
“Silly!” Kara told him, brushing a hand over his arm briefly. “It’s not about being good at it, just having fun. It’s only softball, after all, and slow pitch at that.”
“Yeah, Georgi,” Amy agreed. “At least give it a try.” Eventually, they all agreed and spent the rest of the afternoon, on the school’s baseball diamond.
“Good morning, class,” the teacher began and wrote her name on a nearby whiteboard. “I am Professor Clio Mousa and in this class we will be learning about the history of the world.”
Professor Mousa was a serious-faced woman in her late thirties or early forties with short dark brown hair and gray eyes. She wore a light gray skirt with a matching jacket, her only concession to color being a jeweled brooch pinned to her light cotton blouse.
“We will start today by going over the class syllabus,” Professor Mousa continued as she started handing out sheets of paper. “There will be no fixed textbook for this class. Yes, I know that might seem unusual to you, but history is an ever-changing subject. There is a saying that ‘History is written by the winners,’ but that is not precisely true. History, I have found, is written by the survivors and that is a very different thing indeed. More to the point, history is written by those who are alive, obviously, at the time at which it is written.
“Consequently their view of the past is highly colored by their view of the present, especially if the writers did not experience the events they are describing first hand. So you will find history is not only a matter of the facts which are presented, but how they are seen and interpreted later on. The consequence is that history is constantly being reinterpreted.”
“But isn’t the past set?” Nerys asked. “Aren’t the events fact? I mean, what happened, happened, right? You cannot go back and make it not to have happened.”
“There are no time machines to go back and kill your own grandfather as a child, if that’s what you mean, Miss Emrysdaughter,” Mousa replied. “History does, indeed, deal in factual events, but the meanings of those events, what historians think caused them to happen and what the direct and indirect consequences were change over time. In this class we shall not only study the facts of history but will begin to study the nature of history itself.
“For example,” she continued, now completely ignoring the syllabus she had passed out, “let us consider the histories written during and shortly after the time of the early Caesars. Read through Suetonius or Tacitus. Consider the writings of Livy and his contemporaries for that matter. They go into detail on matters that concerned them and the people of their times, but aside from the knowledge we glean from those writings much of it is not relevant to us now. Does it matter how many orations Cicero delivered denouncing the Cataline Conspiracy, for example? Does it even matter to you that the Cataline Conspiracy took place?”
“Uh,” Evrona raised her hand.
“Yes, Miss Dis?” Mousa asked.
“Well, wouldn’t the world have been very different today had either of the Catalinian Conspiracies been successful?” Evrona asked.
“Ah, you know there were two of them?” Mousa countered. “Very good, Miss Dis. Would the world have been different? That’s hard to say. First of all there’s some real doubt Cataline had anything to do with the first so-called Cataline Conspiracy which just as likely involved Julius Caesar. Had that been successful the empire might have been established some decades earlier than it was, but there is no way to know how much of a difference that might have made. The second was quite different. As in the first it was an attempt to overthrow the Senate of Rome and, if we believe the orations of Cicero and some of the historians, the man was alternatively honorable and to be respected, while also capable of the most heinous crimes, including torture, religious blasphemy and cannibalism. Some modern scholars see him as a failed reformer whose revolution might have prevented the eventual slide into empire, while others just see him as an ambitious man trying to grab power from the legitimate government.
“However,” Mousa went on, “history does not deal in what-ifs. We do not try to conjecture how the world might be different if something did not happen. Such an argument is like the famous hurricane-causing butterflies of the Amazon…”
“What?” one of the other students interrupted. Evrona turned to see a young man from Wheeler House trying to hold his hand up for attention, but laughing too hard to do so effectively. Professor Mousa noticed him too, however.
“It is a modern legend, Mister Palmer,” Mousa explained, “used by some to explain why we cannot accurately predict the weather for more than a few days, if that. As I understand it, the only way we could have truly accurate weather predictions would be if we could know and calculate in every possible variable of wind, humidity, temperature and so forth. The thing is we cannot, the earth is too big and there are too many factors, so the popular image used is that of a butterfly somewhere in South America. We cannot know when it will flap its wings and therefore cannot predict what stray flap might stir up a few molecules of air that in turn might affect a few more and then more and more and eventually turn into a storm that might not have existed had the bug not been there in the first place.”
“But doesn’t chaos theory explain the apparent unpredictability of weather better?” the student asked.
“Does it?” Mousa countered. “Possibly. I am an historian, not a physicist. But my point is from an historical standpoint what might have been is irrelevant. Here we shall deal with what was and how it happened. What might have been is for comic books.”
“So, does it matter how many orations Cicero delivered?” Evrona asked.
“You tell me,” Professor Mousa challenged her.
“I should think so,” Evrona replied thoughtfully.
“Really?” Mousa asked, leaning forward.
“Well, perhaps the actual number of orations is really a matter of trivia,” Evrona replied evenly, refusing to be intimidated. She privately reminded herself she had been able to stand up to gods. Backing down from a history teacher was unthinkable. “But the content of those orations and the success he had at denouncing Cataline is pertinent.”
“Why?” Mousa asked.
“The Cataline Conspiracies were a pivotal event in the late Roman Republic,” Evrona pointed out. “Had Cataline been successful… no, you don’t want what ifs. His failure to overthrow the Senate established that body as the ultimate power in Rome and retained its prestige even into the Principate and the Empire, because even with all the power that was ceded to the Caesars, they had to work through the Senate. They had to ask the Senate to pass laws the way the Caesars wanted.”
“By the end of Augustus’ reign, wasn’t the Senate in the habit of granting Caesar whatever he wanted?” Mousa countered.
“It seems that way from two thousand years later,” Evrona replied. “But the fact that Caesar had to ask shows the Senate still had the vestige of power even if they did not always wield it.”
“And how do we know that?” Mousa continued to press.
“From the histories that were written at the time and afterwards,” Evrona replied.
“Exactly,” Professor Mousa agreed. “Can we trust those histories? Anyone? Mister Wood?” she called on Xandros.
“Yes and no,” Xandros replied.
“You don’t get credit for tossing out both possible answers, Mister Wood,” Mousa admonished him. “Try again.”
“I meant,” Xandros attempted to clarify, “that the histories of men like Livy, Suetonius and the rest give us information about such events that we might not otherwise know, but we cannot necessarily accept them uncritically, because they were written by men who had to publish in a world where there was no guaranteed freedom of speech. No one could come out and say that Cataline was a true patriot who gave his life in an attempt to free Rome from the domination of the Senate.”
“Was Rome dominated by the Senate?” Mousa asked interestedly.
“I believe one could make the case that it was,” Xandros replied.
“Would you like to make just that case, Mister Wood?” Mousa asked pointedly.
“Is that an assignment?” Xandros asked nervously.
“I think so, yes,” Mousa nodded. “In fact I would like a brief paper from each of you next class on that subject, proving either the people of Republican Rome were dominated by their Senate or not.”
“A paper in two days?” Someone asked from the back of the room.
“It need not be more than a page or two, Miss Dallins,” Mousa told her. “This class is not Roman history so I do not want to spend all that much time even on what Miss Dis calls a pivotal event.”
“Well, I guess the semester has officially started now, Evie,” Nerys told her.
“You mean, because we’ve had our first class?” Evrona asked.
“No, because we have our first homework assignment,” Nerys laughed.
“You sound happy about it,” Evrona observed.
“Well, yeah,” Nerys nodded. “This is just the sort of experience I was hoping for. Weren’t you?”
“I guess,” Evrona admitted, “but Amy wanted to go walking tonight. Now it looks like I’ll be busy putting this paper together instead.”
“Welcome to Academia,” Nerys laughed. “Well I’m off to Differential Calculus. How about you?”
Evrona checked her schedule. Jael had helped her program it into her smartphone the evening before, but even the tech-savvy demoness had trouble getting it to synchronize reliably with Evrona’s laptop. That had taken three calls to Technical support, all of which ended up in India, but on their third attempt they were finally transferred to level two support in Australia from which the man on the other end talked them through first a reinstallation of the Mobile Synch program and then a cold reset of the phone itself after which the problem turned out to be in a bad mini-SD memory card. As that card was optional, Jael removed it and ordered a replacement.
“I have Creative Writing,” Evrona replied.
“Doesn’t sound too bad,” Nerys chuckled deeply.
“With Doctor Calliope,” Evrona continued.
“Ooh, could be tough?” Nerys wondered.
“We’ll see,” Evrona sighed. “At least this class has a textbook.”
“I know. You were up late reading it,” Nerys teased.
“I enjoyed the stories,” Evrona admitted. “I doubt I could write anything as good, though.”
“You won’t know until you try,” Nerys told her. “See you at lunch.”
“I don’t want any of you to worry about grades in this class,” Doctor Calliope told them after introducing herself. Suddenly, she seemed nothing like the severe and serious woman Evrona and her friends had met a few days earlier. “We are here to write and so long as you truly try your best, everyone will pass. Back in the Sixties I would have told you, ‘Be cool. There are no grades.’ In the Seventies I’d have had you grade yourselves. These days I’ll have to grade you myself, but I assure you no one who at least hands in their assignments will get less than a B.
“Now, this is Creative Writing I, so we will be using it to explore three major forms of creative writing. For the first month we will be studying and composing poems of various sorts, in the second month I expect each of you to write a short story and in the third month we will explore the art of writing a play during which you will write a five to ten minute scene and produce it using your classmates. We will be reading our poems and stories aloud in class and we will review and critique each other’s work. You also have a text book that I expect you to read over the course of the semester. It will hopefully inspire or at least give you a bit of guidance as you write.
“Now we’re going to start in with free verse,” Calliope told them. “Does anyone know what that is? Anyone?”
“That would be a poem divided into lines of varying length with no specific meter and no rhyme scheme,” Amy piped up.
“Very good, Amelia,” Calliope told her. “Free verse has no specific shape, metric or rhyme scheme.”
“I saw that in the book,” Evrona commented, “but a lot of the examples seemed like normal sentences that had been broken up into different lengths. Each seemed like a statement, but many did not seem very poetic. What makes them poems?”
“Literary convention in some cases,” Doctor Calliope replied. “Content too. Each one is a statement, of course. Most poems are statements of one sort or another. That’s really the whole point of writing a poem. It’s the point of any sort of writing when you get right down to it. It’s just more obvious in free verse form. I’ll admit that I personally feel there should be some poetic substance involved as well, but that can be hard to define. In fact I’m going to leave it up to you and your classmates.
“We’re going to read the poems in the first section and discuss them today. Between now and the next class, read through the rest of that section and also write a poem in free verse. Please turn your books to page five. Who would like to read the second poem down?”
Evrona’s only class after lunch was Math 101. While the course was supposed to be remedial, however, she immediately realized that even basic algebra was beyond her. “Jael, Rona, what will I do?” she asked worriedly in the dorm late that afternoon. “I don’t even know enough to understand the basis of the subject. I’m going to fail,” she finished with a sob as bright red tears dripped over her cheeks.
“Hey, none of that,” Rona told her, instantly handing her a tissue before any of the blood could drip on her blouse, “or we’ll have to go back to dressing you like a Goth girl.”
“I understand the problem though,” Jael nodded sympathetically. “All the math you got in Hell involved counting on your fingers. They may have taught you your sums, but not multiplication or division.”
“That’s about it,” Evrona agreed. “I looked through the text book but it may as well be in another language. No cancel that, another language wouldn’t be an issue, would it?”
“No, we’re blessed with the gift of tongues,” Jael nodded. “There aren’t a lot of demonic privileges, but that’s one of them. So, aside from math, how was the rest of your day?”
“My first two classes were okay,” Evrona replied, “although I have a paper to write for one and a poem for the other. Are college classes always like that?”
“Pretty much,” Jael admitted, “Although it’s just as common for the first class to just involve going over the syllabus and discussing the textbook. Did you get any math homework?”
“Just to read the first chapter and try the exercises,” Evrona reported. “We’re to go over those in class day after tomorrow. That probably means I had better do all that tonight. If I put it off for tomorrow, I’ll have still more work, won’t I?”
“Pretty much,” Jael replied. “The teachers tend to pile it on. There’s only so much we can say during class and a lot of it will only sink in when you study it in the evenings. The run-up to midterm and final exams can be intense too, but if you start in right now an hour or two between each class will make it easier come crunch time.”
“Crunch time?” Evrona asked.
“Except for assigned term papers, most of your grades will be based on your exams, Evie,” Rona explained.
“Then I need to get started right away!” Evrona stood immediately. “Maybe I can get that poem done before dinner. But what about the math.”
“Let me handle that, Sparrow,” Jael told her. “Just go easy at dinner and leave a little room for dessert.”
“What?” Evrona asked.
“Come back here after dinner,” Jael explained. “I’ll have something for you that should help.”
Evrona was still worried about math class when she, Amy and Nerys returned from the cafeteria. “Don’t worry so much,” Amy advised. “Nerys and I can tutor you. If you’d had a normal education this would hardly be a problem now.”
“I did have a normal education,” Evrona replied. “A normal education for an erinys.”
“I don’t imagine that involved writing classes or history, did it?” Amy asked pointedly as they returned to Proctor Hall.
“No, but those classes don’t presuppose I know stuff,” Evrona told her, opening the door. “Well, Jael says she has something that will help me with the math.”
“What is it?” Amy asked. “A computer program?”
“Maybe,” Evrona nodded. “I’ll find out right now, I hope.”
“Okay,” Amy waved her off while heading to the elevator with Nerys. “We’ll see you back in the suite.”
Evrona knocked on the door to the Resident Faculty’s suite and heard a few muffled words before Jael opened the door slightly.
“Oh good, timing, Sparrow,” she told her young protégée, “Come in quickly.”
“Is something wrong?” Evrona asked worriedly.
“Hiya, cutie!” a high squeaky voice greeted her. It sounded like the owner of the voice should have been singing backup to an Alvin and the Chipmunks cover band. Evrona turned to see a giant squirrel the size of a large dog standing up on his hind legs and immediately recognized Ratatosk, the squirrel whose job it was to carry strife up and down the Norse aspect of the World Tree.
“Ratty!” Evrona greeted him happily, rushing over to give the large rodent a hug. “I haven’t seen you in weeks. Where have you been?”
“Huh!” Ratatosk snorted. “Where haven’t I been is more like it. That water god of yours has been running me all over creation and you know that’s not an exaggeration.”
“Why?” Evrona asked curiously.
“Mostly he was busy rounding up faculty and students for this school of yours,” Ratatosk admitted. “Lately he’s been sending me around to get lecturers for your weekend seminars, not to mention using me as a courier between here and South Carolina. You’d think I was in his pantheon. And I’m doing this out of the goodness of my heart, I will have you know. He hasn’t even paid me off in steak dinners.”
“They aren’t good for you,” Evrona reminded him.
“I’ll decide what’s good for me,” Ratatosk told her. “Anyway this latest trip was for you.”
“Really?” Evrona asked.
“Yeah, he told me to bring you a fruit basket,” Ratatosk replied. “What am I? A green grocer?”
“Well, that was nice of him, I suppose,” Evrona considered, “but how much fruit can I eat?”
“Ratty thinks he’s being funny,” Jael interposed, “and he didn’t need to bring as much as he did. Also Enki didn’t put that order in, I did. Here, kid, have an apple.” She picked up one of the shiny red fruits and tossed it at Evrona. It was a good-looking apple, perfect in fact, and seemed to have golden highlights in its skin. Then she recognized it for what it was.
“I’ve had these before, haven’t I?” Evrona asked. “This is from the Tree of Knowledge.”
“You got it,” Jael agreed. “I figure this should give you a step up in the math department. Actually it should only take one or two, but Ratty here got a little enthusiastic. Well, I’m sure we’ll find other uses for it.”
“Isn’t this cheating?” Evrona asked, still looking at the amazing fruit.
“Technically it might be seen that way, Sparrow,” Jael admitted, “but all I intend to do is give you the prerequisites for your math class. A couple of these won’t teach you everything you need to know about algebra or trigonometry, so you’re still responsible for learning the subject matter Professor Cohl is teaching. And to tell the truth, I’ve been meaning to use this some of this fruit to catch you up on a number of subjects. Well, maybe over the holidays.”
“What holidays?” Evrona asked.
Evrona’s first class the next day was in the Art Department where Miss Marion See taught Life Studies. “The school cannot afford to hire models,” Miss See admitted to her class. When she entered, Evrona was startled to find the teacher dressed only in a bath robe and sitting on a high stool on top of a low platform, but now she began to understand. “So we’ll have to take turns.” She removed the robe and instructed them, “Everyone, pick up your pads and start sketching.” She struck a pose expertly that looked interesting but was not difficult to maintain for an extended period. What’s wrong?” she asked Evrona, when she realized her student was just staring open-mouthed.
“But,” Evrona choked out, “You’re naked.”
“Nude,” Miss See corrected her over the chuckles of Evrona’s classmates.
“We have to draw naked people?” Evrona asked nervously.
“This class is dedicated to the study of the human form, dear,” Miss See explained. “There is no need for modesty here. As I said we will all take turns acting as models for each other.”
“We will?” Evrona asked, raising an arm across her chest as though that would protect her from such a fate.
“Oh dear,” Miss See sighed. “There’s always one. Please come up here.”
“There?” Evrona asked, flustered.
“Of course,” Miss See nodded. “I know this is a bit embarrassing the first time, but from experience I know the best way to help you get over it is to just throw you in at the deep end.”
“Deep end of what?” Evrona asked.
“The pool, dear,” Miss See replied. “Like in swimming.”
“I can’t swim either,” Evrona admitted, “I grew up in Hell” she began to explain and then suddenly shifted mental gears, “I mean a desert. There was nowhere to swim, you see.”
“I can see why you might call that hell,” Miss See smiled. “Look, you may step behind the curtain to change. There are a few robes back there. Okay?”
“Do I have to?” Evrona asked hesitantly.
“By the end of this semester you and your classmates will know every pore and blemish on each other’s bodies as intimately as a lover,” Miss See smiled. “Not only that, but you won’t even think anything of it. It will just be another thing to draw. Go ahead, dear,” she urged.
Evrona sighed and stepped behind the curtain to re-emerge a short time later in a dark blue robe. While she had been changing Miss See had been lecturing the rest of the class against any form of laughter at Evrona’s predicament. “It will be your turns soon enough, my dears,” she reminded them. “Laugh now and your classmates will laugh at you when you’re the one up here.
“Very good,” Miss See commended Evrona a moment later, although she wasn’t sure her teacher was congratulating her bravery or just thanking her for not putting up too much fuss. “So now remove the robe and strike a pose for your mates here to draw.”
Evrona shyly removed the robe and then something unexpected happened and in a moment of pure instinct she snapped into an attack pose. Her arms were raised and stretched parting forward with her fingers curled like claws and her mouth was open in what might have been a snarl. She had thrust her entire body forward as though in the act of springing on her prey and held the position.
The entire class gasped at the display, several of the students were blinking or rubbing their eyes as though trying to convince themselves they had not seen something impossible, but Miss See’s reaction was more in concern for Evrona. “Dear, that’s an interesting pose, but that might be hard to hold for the next fifteen minutes.”
“Oh, I can do this for hours if I have to,” Evrona replied confidently.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you, dear,” came the response. “Alright, class, snap out of it and start drawing.”
As they hurriedly began to sketch Evrona, Miss See walked through the classroom observing what they were doing. She occasionally stopped and made comments like, “Watch your perspective there,” or “Keep her proportionately correct, surely her arms are not twice as long as her legs, are they?” Finally, she reached one young man who was studiously working on his drawing at an almost feverish pace. “Why are you doing that?” the teacher asked.
“What?” the young man countered.
“You’re drawing her with wings, fangs and claws, and what’s that coming out of her hair?” Miss See asked.
“Um, snakes,” he replied. “Two of them.”
“Why?” Miss See asked curiously.
“It just seemed right,” he replied with a shrug.
“Well, the important part is the accuracy with which you draw her body,” Miss See remarked, “and that’s very well done, but really, Mister Gannis. You make her look like she’s about to attack Orestes.”
“Who?” Evrona asked from the low stage.
“Orestes, dear,” Miss See explained, “From Greek mythology. He was the son of Agamemnon and, well it’s a rather long and involved story, but he eventually killed his own mother and was punished by the three Furies, Magaera, Alecto and, uh…”
“Tisiphone,” Evrona supplied, recalling the names of the three senior members of her order. “They’re the three best known erinyes.”
“Yes,” Miss See agreed. “Our imaginative Mister Gannis seem to think you look more complete when drawn as one of them.”
“Really?” Evrona asked, and made just the slightest movement out of her pose.
“No, stay up there,” the teacher told her. “You still have another five minutes before break, and then perhaps your friend will share his artistic genius with you.”
Evrona held her pose, but once she was allowed on break, she rushed to see Gannis’ drawing. “I like it,” she told the young man when she finally persuaded him to show it to her. “May I have it when you’re through?”
“Seriously?” he asked astonished. “I think most girls would have been insulted.”
“I’m not most girls,” she told him. “Please?”
“Well, okay, but I think we’re supposed to hand them in at the end of class,” Gannis replied.
“Oh, I didn’t think of that,” Evrona admitted.
“Well, I was thinking of using this as the basis for a project I have using oils,” he told her. “If you like it I’ll let you have the painting if you’ll let me put it in the student show at the end of the semester.”
“Okay,” she agreed, secretly pleased he had somehow caught her true self without being repulsed.
Art class was directly followed by Evrona’s Introductory Biology class. This class was rather brief as the teacher, Doctor Maxwell, quickly handed out the class syllabus and assigned the first two chapters with a warning there would be a quiz each week starting with the next class. Evrona used the time to return to the dorm and start reading those chapters while waiting for lunchtime.
7
“Did any of you think it strange in class yesterday?” Nerys asked as she walked to the gymnasium with Evrona, Amy and several other classmates.
“What?” Evrona asked. “In creative writing?”
“I don’t have creative writing,” Nerys reminded her. “No, I meant in World History.”
“I don’t remember anything strange in that class,” Evrona replied. “What do you mean?”
“Well I was thinking about it, and don’t you think it odd that Professor Mousa knew everyone’s names?” Nerys asked.
“She must have a class roster,” Evrona speculated.
“What?” Nerys laughed. “With our pictures on it? I didn’t even look like this a few days ago.”
“That’s true,” Amy put in. “You nearly still had scales when we went to get our photo ID cards.”
“Funny,” Nerys told her flatly.
“Don’t let it bother you, Nerys,” Inga the frost giant told her. “Every time I get surprised I come within a hair of revealing my true form. I’d hate to see what that would do to my clothes.”
“Nothing good,” Evrona assured her. “I went through several blouses before Ninti adapted mine with slits for my wings to poke through.”
“Who’s Ninti?” Inga asked.
“Enki’s administrative assistant these days,” Amy replied. “She used to be a goddess in Sumeria, but I guess a girl’s got to make a living.”
“I’m more concerned about Professor Mousa,” Nerys told them again. “How did she know who we all were?”
“Is she a new teacher here or one of the ones from last year?” Evrona asked. “Enki hired a lot of new teachers and I’m fairly certain most of them were not mortal.”
“You mean maybe she is omniscient?” Inga asked.
“Only the Infinites are omniscient,” Evrona told her. “But she might have gifts that allow her to know who we are. Or else she’s just very good at reading a roster,”
“For all we know, Jael told her who we all are,” Amy shrugged, “or Dee did.”
“Who?” Georgi asked.
“Mother Nature,” Evrona told him. “She uses the name Delores Meter here as the dean. Isn’t she teaching Biology?”
“Senior level,” Amy replied, “Well, this semester, I should probably drop in to visit her next week after we’ve managed to get a routine going.”
“You know her?” Inga asked.
“She’s all but married to my grandfather,” Amy admitted. “I understand they met before the New World Tree sprouted. Actually, that’s how I know Inanna and Ash and Jael. They were all involved in that.”
“She is that Jael?” Inga asked, turning pale. “Jael the Destroyer?”
“What?” Evrona asked. “I’ve never heard her called that. Jael is nice.”
“Under normal circumstances, Evie, Jael is nice,” Amy agreed, “but Inga, yes she is that Jael.”
“She killed over eighty percent of my people, the frost giants,” Inga explained with a nervous shudder.
“That’s hard to believe,” Evrona retorted.
“It wasn’t due to any particular hatred of giants,” Amy replied to Inga. “Jael told me about it. It was during the first war for the New World Tree. The frost giants had allied with Loki and Iblis and Jael was one of the new Tree’s protectors.”
“We didn’t all join Loki,” Inga replied somberly.
“And Jael didn’t invade Jotunheim to exterminate you all either, did she?” Amy asked. “Jael did what she had to in her effort to save the Tree. Loki tried to destroy it.”
“He what?” Inga asked. “He promised us a new and better world to live in.”
“Loki wasn’t exactly known for keeping his word, was he?” Silvija put in.
“We don’t really know what Loki would have done had he managed to steal away the Tree successfully,” Amy remarked. “He was allied with Iblis and no matter what they had in mind it wouldn’t have been good for the rest of us.”
“Were you there at the time?” Inga challenged her.
“No,” Amy admitted easily. “I was just a typical teen-aged Alaskan girl whose parents were in the middle of a messy divorce. I didn’t know anything about the Tree until a few months later when Mom dragged me back to Massachusetts. By then it was Lilith and her gang who were after the Tree. Although, to tell the truth, it took me a while to learn that as well. But I know Jael did not kill your people out of malice, only necessity.”
“My family was not involved with Loki,” Inga admitted. “Most of the adult survivors were not, but a lot of my friends in Jotunheim are orphans now.”
“What choice did Jael and the others have?” Amy asked pointedly.
“I don’t know,” Inga admitted, “but Jotunheim was a lively place before the war. It feels empty now and mothers scare their children into obedience with stories of Jael the Destroyer.”
“Sounds like you got that treatment,” Nerys observed. “My experience with Jael has been just the opposite. I find she is fiercely loyal and amazingly good-hearted considering…”
“Considering she’s a demoness from Hell?” Evrona asked. “Well, yes. I’ve met a lot of demons naturally, but Jael is different. A lot of that is Rona’s influence, but Jael admits she was always a little different. Look, maybe you should talk directly to her. I can tell you about all the wonderful things she has done for me, but if her part in protecting the Tree bothers you, it’s probably best if you confront her about it.”
“Confront?” Inga asked worriedly. “I am not sure I can do that. Not with her.”
“You sure don’t sound like a frost giant,” Silvija observed, “or like any of the giants from your part of the divine plain.”
“It’s like I said,” Inga replied. “Jotunheim is different now. All the really aggressive giants are gone. The Rock Giants wanted nothing to do with Loki, of course and I hear there were a lot of giants from Utgard and elsewhere that joined him too, but Jotunheim suffered the most, or so I am told.”
“You don’t know?” Georgi asked.
“This is the only other world I have been to,” Inga admitted.
“So the survivors were those who were less greedy and possibly too intelligent to be fooled by Loki’s promises?” Silvija asked.
“I guess,” Inga shrugged. “The adults anyway, but there are a lot of kids our age who want to avenge their parents.”
“What about Johann?” Georgi asked.
“Johann and I are cousins,” Inga replied. “We grew up together, pretty much. I don’t think many of our parentless friends would have come here. They don’t really want much to do with the other worlds. Johann and I weren’t all that keen on coming here either, but our parents made us. Trust me, when your folks are giants, rebellion is not an option! But you’re right, I think I should talk to Jael. Maybe.”
“Well that will have to wait until after gym class,” Amy remarked. “Who’s our teacher here?”
“Miss Terpsichore,” Evrona answered. “Funny name.”
“Sounds familiar to me,” Georgi admitted.
“Terpisichore is the muse of choral song and dance,” Silvija remarked. “Not exactly a common family name as far as I know.”
“Wait a minute,” Amy stopped walking all of a sudden, causing the others to bump into each other. “Miss Terpsichore, Doctor Calliope, Professor Clio Mousa? I think Enki’s been playing games again.”
“Not even particularly subtle ones either,” Silvija agreed.
“Well, Jael did say he had to pull in a lot of others to help staff the school or lose accreditation,” Evrona pointed out, “and we already know Mother Nature is the Dean and the Goddess Isis is her assistant. Why shouldn’t he have hired the Nine to teach here?”
“Professor Mousa doesn’t look much like a muse to me,” Georgi remarked.
“What does a muse look like?” Silvija countered.
“Unless this is a coincidence, they’re all in guise anyway,” Amy pointed out. “And we’re here. I suppose we can always ask our gym teacher who she really is.”
There was no need to do so, however. Miss Terpsichore met them at the door to the gymnasium and instructed them. “Go on down to the changing rooms and remove your guises. You will find gym clothes in your various sizes. Once you are changed in both ways, meet me out on the athletic field.”
“But we aren’t supposed to be seen out of our guises,” Evrona replied.
“No one is going to see you,” Miss Terpsichore told her. “The field will be warded and no mortal will see anything unusual about you.”
“So you are the Muse Terpsichore!” Amy exclaimed.
“Am I, Miss Terulla?” Miss Terpsichore countered evenly.
“But why are you teaching gym?” Amy persisted even as more classmates, mostly men with Tomislaw in the lead, entered the gym behind her.
“I believe I am qualified,” Miss Terpsichore replied, “and so did the people who hired me. Yes, my normal specialty is dance, but…”
“Is that what we’ll be doing?” Lars asked, he had entered as part of Tomislaw’s pack. “Dancing?” His distaste was apparent.
“For a couple of weeks this winter, yes,” Miss Terpischore admitted, “but today I want you all on the field. Men’s changing room is downstairs to the left, women’s to the right. I want you all out on the field in ten minutes or less.”
When they had assembled on the field, Coach Terpsichore began her lecture, “I expect you here in your natural forms for exercises and sports that will truly benefit you. No one will appear in guise in this class, whether we are out here on the field on inside the gym in bad weather, but I will warn you that given your supernatural natures and divine abilities, the weather will have to be very bad indeed to keep you inside.”
“I don’t have any particular divine abilities,” Amy pointed out.
“Wrong!” Coach Terpischore snapped at her. “You have none you are aware of, Miss Terulla, but I assure you there has never been a goddess who did not have abilities the mortals would refer to as supernatural. That is part of what this class is for as well, to get you to fully realize your potential. It is for all of you to realize your full potentials, in fact. Alright. Line up two arms or wing lengths apart.” She gave them a moment to comply with her order. Then she snapped out more commands. “Jumping jacks, now! One, two, one two, shout out the numbers! One, two, one, two…”
For the next hour she drilled them relentlessly through an exhausting series of calisthenics, forcing the weaker members of the class to pause every so often to catch their breaths. Georgi and Amy took more breaks than anyone, but Terpsichore seemed to know when they were really in need of rest and when they were just feeling sorry for themselves.
When she gave them a break in their workout, Miss Terpsichore discussed her plans for the rest of the school year. “We will be engaging in a variety of activities over the school year. These exercises today are just to get an idea of what each of you are capable of, although I will expect you all to work out like this at the start of every class and finish up with ten laps, running or flying, each to your abilities, around the track.” Ephrael muttered something under his breath. Evrona was not able to understand it, but evidently Terpsichore did. “I do not believe it is appropriate for an angel to take Her name in vain either, Mister Ethera.”
Everyone turned to look at the angels who were sitting beside each other. Ephrael was scowling at Miss Terpsichore, but Astra had a strange look on her face, half amusement and half satisfaction that Evrona could not quite figure out.
But Miss Terpsichore had moved on. “We shall be playing Soccer for the next month. That’s Football for those of you who did not grow up in North America. We shall spend some time in various drills next class, but after that you will pick up teams after opening exercises each class and play the game until it is time to do laps at the end. Next month, we will engage in various track and field events such as the long jump, pole vault, discus and so forth.”
“Will we be allowed to come work out in the evenings or during the weekends?” Johann asked interestedly.
“That will be problematic, Mister Sigurdsson,” Miss Terpsichore replied. “The mortal students use the gym and field too, you know and with the competition with Douglas College coming up…”
“What competition?” on of the demons in the back of the class asked.
“We have an annual track and field competition each autumn with Stephen A. Douglas College in Brandon,” Miss Terpsichore explained. “I shall be busy training our team.”
“Jael mentioned that and other contests,” Tomislaw told his fellow demon, and then turned back to ask, “Why can’t we compete as well.”
“That would hardly be fair, Mister Neth,” Miss Terpsichore replied.
“Neth?” Tomislaw laughed.
“That is the mortal surname you have assumed, I believe,” Miss Terpsichore observed. “Short for Netherworld? Regardless, even in guise most of you retain some abilities above and beyond those of your mortal classmates. In short it would be cheating to allow you to compete athletically.”
“But we could use the gym and field in guise outside of class, couldn’t we?” Johann asked insistently.
“If you can stay in guise,” Miss Terpsichore nodded, “that will be acceptable, although you do know you won’t fully benefit from such activity?”
“Holding a guise while under stress is not a bad exercise in itself.” Nerys commented.
“Have it your way,” Miss Terpsichore told them with a sigh. “Later in the year we’ll be engaged in other sports as are appropriate to the season.”
“Baseball?” Amy asked interestedly.
“In the spring,” Miss Terpsichore replied. “All right. Everyone up. I want ten laps before you hit the showers.”
Evrona and her classmates were just getting into a comfortable routine by the end of that first week. With the prospect of the chance to sleep in the next morning, most of the students wanted to have a party in the common room that evening. “No alcohol,” Jael told them firmly.
“That’s ridiculous!” Johann complained. “I have been drinking mead since I was a child.” Beside him, Inga nodded.
“And my parents always let me have a cup of wine,” Georgi put in. Several others made similar noises, although Astra had grown nervous at the suggestion that an alcoholic beverage might be served. Ephrael was not there, but Evrona imagined he would turn his nose up at the rest of them, just as he did in general anyway.
“Okay, folks,” Jael talked over the noise. She did not seem to be shouting, but everyone could hear her clearly. “Settle down. It doesn’t matter what your parents allow you to do at home, or what the laws and customs may be where you come from. Here in Vermont you are not allowed to drink any alcoholic beverage below the age of twenty-one. Oh there’s a bill in the state legislature to lower it to eighteen, but I know for a fact that several of you are still seventeen and won’t cross that particular line until nearly the end of this semester. So until you are all over the legal age, no booze in this dorm. Capiche?”
“What’s capiche mean?” Astra asked confusedly.
“Isn’t that your line, Sparrow?” Jael grinned at Evrona.
“She means, ‘Do you understand?’” Evrona translated.
“Oh!” Astra gasped with sudden comprehension. “Is it derived from the Latin ‘capus’ meaning head?”
“Could be,” Jael nodded slowly.
“Sure,” Astra smiled happily. “Literally, you ask if it is ‘in my head.’ I like it! Capiche!”
“Good, but is it in your head?” Jael pressed.
“Oh, yes, of course,” the angel nodded. “I don’t drink alcohol anyway.”
“Last I heard it was not forbidden,” Jael commented. “Well depending on which aspect of Heaven you mean, of course.”
“It’s not that,” Astra explained. “I just don’t.”
“So maybe I’ll put you in charge of buying the drinks,” Jael commented.
“Buying?” Astra asked.
“Oh yeah, I forgot,” Jael shook her head. “Heaven is economically challenged.”
“Or centuries ahead of us,” Rona added.
“Either way, the one thing I can’t expect an angel to understand, it’s the value of a dollar,” Jael pointed out. “Amy, Sparrow, you go with her.”
“We would need a car anyway,” Amy noted. “So we can have a party?”
“Well, you don’t want to stay up too late,” Jael told her. “I know most of you don’t need to sleep, but it would attract unwanted attention if you kept going all night. On the other hand, if you guys want to shoot the breeze over soda and snacks, you’re grown up enough to decide when you ought to go to bed. I’ll even spring for the refreshments. But, guys, I don’t want to get back here and find a mess. The place had better be spotless. Get it?”
“We capiche,” Astra nodded, trying out her new vocabulary word. Jael rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly, obviously mildly amused.
“You won’t be here?” Evrona asked, surprised.
“I do have other business, Sparrow,” Jael replied. “You know that.”
“Then I should go with you,” Evrona told her instantly.
“You should stay here, Sparrow,” Jael told her. “This is your assignment. I won’t even be gone overnight in any case.”
“Are you sure?” Evrona asked.
“Completely,” Jael nodded.
“It really isn’t much of a jaunt, Evie,” Rona assured, “but we’ll be stopping in Cleveland on the way back.”
“Oh!” Evrona nodded. “Say, ‘Hi,’ to Marcus for me.”
“Will do,” Jael smiled. “Just remember…”
“No mess,” Evrona promised.
“And don’t stay up too late,” Jael repeated.
There was a small convenience store just off campus, but Amy wanted to look around Killington. “I’m sure we can get everything we need there,” she admitted when Astra asked why they were stopping, “but we haven’t had a chance to look around town yet. In a few weeks the leaves will be changing and the place will be clogged with tourists. Not too long after that it will be cold enough that even if it doesn’t snow, there will be some artificial trails so we’ll have all the snow bunnies in town. This is that brief period between the summer people and the leaf peepers when the place is as quiet as it gets. Of course it won’t be all that quiet, from what I’ve heard. This is the start of the weekend and all, but it’s good chance to see what Killington has to offer.”
“We don’t want to take too long,” Evrona pointed out. “We’ll miss dinner in the cafeteria.”
“I certainly hope so,” Amy remarked. “Look, none of us really needs to eat or so Ash tells me, but eating is recreational. We can eat out somewhere.”
“Did Jael give us enough for that?” Evrona asked.
“Only if we want to cheat our housemates,” Amy replied.
“We shouldn’t do that,” Astra told her virtuously.
“No kidding!” Amy snorted. “I wouldn’t even if it meant skipping a meal, but as it happens I have my own money and I’m sure I can spring for something for all of us.”
“Such as?” Evrona asked.
“I don’t know,” Amy shrugged. “Let’s see what we find.”
After wandering around, Amy spotted “The Phat Italian Market & Deli” and told the other two, “This should do,” as she parked in front of the rustic-looking building. Inside they quickly bought the ingredients for two party platters and were told that next time, if they called ahead, everything could be delivered. While there, they decided to take out sandwiches, juice and chips for themselves as well and so with several bags full of goodies, they headed back toward the campus.
“If I knew the area better, I could probably find a nice spot to picnic,” Amy remarked as she drove away from the market, “but we can eat in our suite too. It’s starting to cool off out here anyway.”
“The nights have been fairly cool here,” Evrona agreed.
“We’re in the mountains,” Amy shrugged, “and considerably further north than Hattamesett. Both factor in to make this area cooler than you’re used to.”
“Hattamesett?” Astra asked.
“That’s where my Granddad’s home is,” Amy replied. “Well it’s where it is in this world. The rest of the place is in the New World. We probably ought to name it, you know?”
“It’s on the South Coast of Massachusetts,” Evrona supplied. “I’ve been staying there most of the time since the new Tree accepted me.”
“I’ve only heard a little about the New World,” Astra admitted.
“We haven’t had any angels visit us yet,” Amy remarked. “Why not?”
“I really don’t know,” Astra admitted.
“Well, maybe you should be the first,” Amy told her.
“Really?” Astra asked. “Do you mean that?”
“Wouldn’t say it if I didn’t,” Amy replied.
“You really must come to visit,” Evrona told Astra.
“Yeah,” Amy laughed. “We’ve had gods and goddesses galore, even an obnoxious, flea-bitten squirrel. We’ve had several demons from Hell, seems only fair we host an angel or two. I do have a question though.”
“What’s that?” Astra asked.
“I’m not sure where I got this notion, but I always thought angels were genderless. You know, no different sexes?”
“Oh, I see,” Astra nodded. “Well, we do certainly have male and female angels. Ephrael and I should be ample proof of that.”
“You could be in guise,” Amy pointed out.
“Could be,” Astra agreed, “but we aren’t. Well, yes, we are, but you saw us in our natural forms the first day here. Jael told us all the first day and correctly too that angels and devils are basically the same class of being. I don’t know that anyone denies there are male and female demons. There are incubi and succubae, to name two of the best known sorts.”
“Must you?” Evrona sighed.
“I’m sorry. Is there a problem?” Astra asked.
“Evie’s a bit sensitive on the subject of succubae,” Amy explained.
“Erinyes are not promiscuous,” Evrona explained, blushing a bit at the thought.
“I see,” Astra nodded “Well you really aren’t a demoness when you get right down to it. Your entire order was borrowed from the Greco-Roman pantheon.”
“Many demons are debased gods from a variety of pantheons,” Amy pointed out. “Just as some of the angelic hierarchy are borrowed as well.”
“Well, that’s true and it goes to prove my case,” Astra agreed. “Angels do have gender, but for the most part our gender is irrelevant. Just as Erinyes are not promiscuous, neither are angels.”
“So does that mean you can’t… uh?” Amy tried to find the words she wanted, but Astra understood the question.
“No, I suppose we could,” Astra replied easily. “We don’t. We aren’t tempted to.”
“None of you are?” Amy asked. “Then where do little angels come from?”
“Same as demons,” Astra explained. “We come into being when it is willed for us to do so, fully grown and looking as we will for our entire existence. Education comes more slowly, of course.”
“I see, or at least I think I see,” Amy replied. “If you don’t mind, I think I like the mortal way better. I mean,” she added hastily and with embarrassment, “I prefer to have been born and grown up in the way I have.”
“Of course,” Astra agreed. “That’s natural.”
“One other thing,” Amy continued. “Is Ephrael your brother?”
“No,” Astra laughed. “Except in the broadest meaning of the word. That’s just our cover story for while we’re here in the mortal world. It was thought that if we are thought to be brother and sister it would keep others from trying to play matchmaker and put us together romantically.”
“Well it avoids that, sure,” Amy agreed, “but it won’t keep any self-proclaimed matchmaker from trying to push you together with someone else.”
“I suppose not,” Astra shrugged as though it was of no importance.
They returned to Proctor Hall to find Nerys, Inga and several others busily rearranging the furniture in the common room. “You’re late,” Nerys told them. “Dinner is almost over.”
“Brought our own,” Amy replied as she and the others carried in everything from the car. “Lots of places to eat in town, you know.”
“Are there?” Nerys asked. “Well, never mind that now. You two should eat while we finish setting up.”
The party turned out to be a good opportunity to meet the rest of their dormitory mates. Amy spent time dancing with several of the men although Evrona danced only with Tomislaw. There were six dwarf lads from somewhere in Europe that Amy and Evrona had somehow not yet seen, but they showed up when they heard the party going on and quickly left again. At first Evrona worried that they had been repulsed by the activity of their fellow students, but instead they returned a few minutes later with a variety of instruments and started providing live music that was a mix of old folks tunes and modern rock. This inspired Silvija to sing when she recognized one of the songs and after a moment Astra began to harmonize.
Most of the dorm turned out for the party, although Ephrael took one look at the goings on and left the dorm. Evrona overheard him mutter something about needing some fresh air and quiet. Several others laughed when she told them about it.
Finally, they decided it was time to pack it in about two hours after midnight although they spent another hour cleaning up.
“I wonder why Jael and Rona are still out,” Evrona remarked as she rode the elevator with Amy and Nerys. “I though Jael said this would just be a short mission.
“Evie,” Amy reminded her. “Jael and Rona are with their husband. Maybe they decided to stay the night. I think they have that right, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Evrona agreed. “Why am I so tired? We don’t need to sleep.”
“Maybe,” Amy nodded, “but we do need to rest after a big party, and sleep is the best way to do that. I’ve seen you sleeping after one of the party’s in Grandad’s mead hall.”
“Oh, yeah,” Evrona nodded tiredly. “I should know that.”
“You do know it,” Amy chuckled, although it was obvious she was just as tired as her friends. “But we all get a bit stupid when we’re tired and you and Tommy were dancing for over three hours.”
“We were?” Evrona asked with a yawn.
“Oh, you are tired!” Amy laughed. “Come on, Nerys. Our fury isn’t quite so furious this morning. We’d better make sure she reaches her bed.”
“I’m not that tired,” Evrona protested, but another yawn betrayed her.
“Oh course not,” Amy agreed. “You’ve just exhausted yourself so much you actually need to sleep.”
Together they made their way into their suite and to their beds, but after laughing about how tired Evrona was, it was Amy who turned out to have gone to sleep in her clothes.
“Wakey, wakey everybody!” Jael’s voice sounded throughout Proctor Hall. “You all have a required seminar in thirty minutes.”
“Huh?” Evrona asked sleepily as she rolled over and promptly fell on the floor.
“No excuses,” Jael called over the intercom again. “Everyone had better be there!”
“Coming!” Evrona mumbled, picking herself up off the floor.
Elsewhere in the suite she heard Nerys’s low-pitched grumble and a high shriek from Amy’s room. That was enough to wake Evrona fully and she rushed to see what was wrong. She arrived to find Amy completely soaked as though she had taken a shower in bed. “What happened?” Evrona asked.
“I guess I didn’t wake up fast enough to suit your mentor,” Amy growled. “She sent some sort of water spell to wake me up.” A moment later there was a splashing sound from Nerys’ room followed by a draconic shriek. “Hmm, what is that saying about letting sleeping dragons lie?”
“I think that’s supposed to be dogs,” Evrona replied. “Nerys? Are you alright?”
“I’m wet!” Nerys shouted back at her. “I’m wet and I’m cold. I hate that.”
“You and me both sister,” Amy chuckled.
“And what do you know about it?” Nerys demanded , stomping to Amy’s door, but on seeing Amy was just as wet, Nerys backed down instantly. “You too?”
“Remind me not to have Jael repair my alarm clock,” Amy remarked.
“Why are you still dry?” Nerys asked Evrona.
“I fell out of bed,” Evrona admitted. “That woke me up. I’d rather be wet. No time for a shower this morning.”
“Twenty-five minutes, kids!” Jael’s voice sounded again. “Up and at ‘em!”
“No time for breakfast either,” Amy grumbled. “Do we have much left over from the party?”
“A few cold cuts, some soda and two large bags of popcorn,” Evrona reported.
“We’ll take the popcorn with us,” Amy decided. “Ugh! Cheese-flavored popcorn for breakfast. Better get changed before Jael decides to give us an indoor pool where the couch used to be.”
“Weren’t you wearing that outfit last night?” Evrona asked Amy.
“Don’t remind me,” Amy replied.
Elsewhere in the dorm there were a few loud bangs and the walls shook briefly, but soon everyone was in the common room. “How late were you kids up?” Jael asked. “I told you not to overdo it. You have a seminar today and it starts in ten minutes in the auditorium. Better hurry. What’s with the popcorn, Sparrow?” she added to Evrona.
“Breakfast of champions,” Evrona replied, echoing something she had heard Jael say in the past.
“You’ve been hanging around Jael too much,” Rona told her. “No, don’t just stand there. Get going. Mike is waiting.”
“Mike?” Evrona asked.
“Go!” Jael ordered.
“Why does Jael call you Sparrow?” Astra asked as she fell in beside Evrona.
“Oh, it’s just a nickname,” Evrona replied. “I don’t entirely get it myself. Something about an old parody of a comic book and the differences in our wings.”
“Your wings?” Astra wondered.
“Jael’s wings are bat-like when she cares to use them,” Evrona explained as they hurried. “She doesn’t all that often, of course, but when she does, that’s her natural form. My wings look like yours but instead of white feathers, mine start out light tan and range down toward black at the tips.”
“So it’s because you have bird-like wings?” Astra asked.
“Something like that,” Evrona agreed. “I like when she calls me Sparrow. It usually means I’m doing something right or at least I’m not in trouble.”
“You get in trouble a lot?” Astra asked.
“I used to,” Evrona replied. “When I lived on the Plain of Dis. That’s in the past. Now I work with Jael when I can, but I’m also a part of the New World too.”
“I really must see that some time,” Astra remarked.
“Any school break,” Amy told her. “Hey, Evie, did you forget your glasses?”
Evrona’s hand flew to her face. “Oh no! I’ll have to run back to the dorm.”
“No time,” Amy told her. “Here, use mine. They aren’t as dark as yours, but they’re better than nothing. In the auditorium it might not be noticeable.”
“Thanks,” Evrona replied accepting Amy’s sunglasses just as they reached the auditorium doors.
Inside there were maybe a dozen students milling around the foyer. Amy greeted them in passing as she and the others made their way past in order to find good seats. They needed not to have bothered rushing. The hall was hardly full. Everyone from Proctor Hall was in attendance, but only twenty or so from Wheeler had bothered to come.
“I wonder why that is,” Evrona remarked.
“This isn’t required for them,” Amy reminded her. “They got to sleep in. Oh, hi, Kara. Evie, Nerys, Kara is in my Music History class. I didn’t expect to see you here this morning.”
“Oh well, I’m thinking of declaring a major in classics,” Kara told her. “And I have Professor Fulden for Latin, you know.”
“I didn’t know,” Amy admitted, “but that makes sense. Mike’s a great teacher. So what is the seminar about today?”
“You don’t know?” Kara asked.
“Our resident faculty told us this was required attendance, so I didn’t think to look at the schedule,” Amy explained.
“Mike is going to discuss the nine Muses today,” Evrona told her.
“Right,” Kara agreed. “You know him? I mean outside the school?”
“He’s a friend of a friend,” Amy explained quickly.
“Yeah, he and Ina are an item,” Evrona chuckled, not catching Amy’s subtle signal to drop the subject.
“Ina?” Kara asked. “You mean Ms. Loveall in the Religion Department?”
“Right,” Evrona agreed immediately.
“Shh!” Amy told her. “Mike’s about to start.”
Actually, Mike was still fumbling through his papers up on the stage, but it was a good and polite way to tell Evrona to shut up before she said too much. The truth of the matter was that Amy and Evrona knew far too many of the faculty members for it to be mere coincidence. Fortunately, this time Evrona took the hint and a minute later, Mike Fulden began his presentation.
“Good morning, students,” he greeted them. “Thank you for coming. As I remember my student days, Saturdays were partly for recovering from Friday night and partly for getting ready for Saturday night.” That drew a few chuckles and a handful of groans so Mike continued. “Today’s subject is the nine Muses and their place in the world. This morning I’ll discuss each of them and their specialties and then after lunch we’ll turn the house lights up and discuss them in their ancient contexts and how they still influence us in modern society.”
“Not to mention our curricula,” Amy whispered to Evrona with a giggle.
“First, let’s consider them by name,” Mike continued. “Calliope, is the chief muse. Her name means, ‘beautiful of speech,” and she is the muse of epic poetry. Clio, the ‘glorious one’, is the muse of history. Erato or the ‘amorous one’ is, as you might guess, associated with love or erotic poetry, and also with marriage songs. Euterpe, the ‘well-pleasing’ holds sway over music and lyric poetry. Melpomene or the ‘chanting one’ is the muse of tragedy. Polyhymnia, sometimes referred to as Polymnia, is the ‘singer of many hymns’ and her charge is sacred song, oratory and rhetoric. Terpsichore who ‘delights in dance,’ is the muse of choral song and dance. Then there’s Thalia, the ‘blossoming one,’ who is the muse of comedy and bucolic poetry and finally the ‘celestial one,’ Urania, the muse of astronomy, not to be confused with Aphrodite Urania who was at one time associated with the Moirae or Fates.
“Quite a list, huh?” he asked. “Good thing I made sure there were handouts. It was either that or wrist braces after all the note taking.” He paused to let the chuckles subside. “The muses were not actually assigned the specific areas of poetry and whatnot until late Helenistic times and the Nine as I have just listed them are as they were established as late as the Renaissance. Originally they were more general in their inspirational aspects.
“It was also very late that specific objects were associated with the muses,” he went on. “It was probably done so that one could look at a statue and know at a glance who was being depicted, so it is normal to see Calliope with a writing tablet, Clio carrying a scroll or books. Erato is depicted with a crown of roses and a lyre while Euterpe carries a flute. Melpomene has a tragic mask and Polyhymnia is often depicted with a pensive expression. Terpischore also might carry a harp, but she is often dancing. Thalia holds a comic mask and Urania carries a pair of compasses and a celestial globe.”
“I’m sure I would have noticed that,” Amy told Evrona.
“I’m sure he means that as an artistic convention,” Evrona told her.
Mike spent the morning lecturing on the Muses, their function in society and literature and in the many ways the Muses had been translated into the cultures down through the ages from the Cults of the Muses in the ancient world.
“In Delphi and Parnassus, they became closely associated with the god Apollo,” Mike explained. “Apollo was sometimes referred to as mousagetes or the ‘Muse-leader.’ And the Muses were considered to be his personal chorus. But there were also local cults of the Muses across the ancient world such as at Croton where a shrine was erected to the Muses at the center of the city. In other places a common sort of veneration of the muses came in the form of fountains, where they were said to like to linger or even live. And, in fact, the word ‘museum’ literally means, ‘shrine of the muses.’
“Attempts to reestablish a ‘Cult of the Muses’ were common in the 18th Century,” he told them, “including a prominent Masonic effort in France before the Revolution where one lodge was called Les Neuf Soeurs, The Nine Sisters, which was known to have been attended by a fair number of famous men like Voltaire and Benjamin Franklin.”
He continued on, telling mythical stories about each of the muses, most of which were cautionary tales, but others told of how those who honored the muses inevitably prospered. The students of Proctor Hall took an entirely different meaning from the lecture, however.
“Well, we already knew about Miss Terpsichore and Doctor Calliope,” Amy told some of the others as they ate lunch during the break.
“And Professor Mousa,” Nerys added. “You heard Doctor Fulden. Her name even means ‘Muse.’”
“None of them have actually admitted to being the muses,” Silvija pointed out. “Miss Terpsichore didn’t exactly evade the issue well, but she never quite admitted our suspicions were correct either.”
“She knows who and what we are,” Xandros argued. “She must be divine, and if so why would she choose to use the name of another divinity?”
“And the same goes for the other two,” Amy agreed, “and if we have three of the muses on staff, why not all nine?”
“I must admit to being suspicious of Mister Thallins in Astronomy,” Georgi commented.
“Maybe,” Amy nodded, “but Miss Euterpe in the Music Department sounds more likely, but you could be right.”
They continued to discuss the matter, assigning possible aliases to their teachers until Jael strolled by. “No fair outing your teachers, kids,” she told them.
“So they are muses?” Amy asked eagerly.
“That depends on which ones you mean,” Rona replied in Jael’s place. After they discussed their conjectures, Rona admitted, “Well, you are correct about Doctor Calliope and Miss Terpsichore. Professor Mousa too, for that matter, but you’re wrong on all the others. For one thing, none of them are pretending to be men.”
The argument went on, though, until Jael cut in, “All right! Just to keep you kids from shouting it to the entire school, the only others of the Nine who are here are Doctor Hymnia in the Religion Department and Thalia Themos in Theatre Arts. I imagine you didn’t notice them as none of you have them as teachers, but really keep it down. We can’t have your mortal classmates hearing about this and who your teachers are is not as important as what you learn from them.”
“But that’s only five muses,” Evrona noted.
“That’s correct, Sparrow,” Jael told her. “The other four were unavailable when we asked.”
“Why?” Silvija pressed.
“I haven’t the foggiest,” Jael shrugged. “Maybe they weren’t in the mood or they were out inspiring some starving artists in Greenwich Village. Mister Waters only told me…”
“You mean Enki,” Evrona cut in.
“Yes, Sparrow,” Jael nodded, “but you know we’re all trying to stay in mortal guise, Mister E. Waters or Springtime Seed included. Anyway, he said they were already committed to something else.”
“What?” Amy insisted.
“I don’t know!” Jael snapped. “Ask Enki if you can find him. No, wait a minute, don’t do that! I doubt he knows anyway. He extended an invitation and five out of nine Muses accepted.”
“You sound like a commercial,” Amy chuckled. “Five out of Nine Muses recommend attending Sherburne College!”
“Oh yeah?” Tomislaw asked. “What do the other four recommend?”
No one had an answer to that.
As the next few weeks passed, the students gradually grew used to the academic routine, most establishing at least semi-regular study habits, although Evrona worried that Tomislaw was not taking the class work seriously enough. He had been as anxious to come to Sherburne College as she was, but now that he was here among other fantastic creatures like himself, he seemed all too ready to put off required reading and the planning of his term papers in favor of horsing around with some of the other men in their class.
Tomislaw had formed an instant friendship with the frost giant Johann and Evrona had thought that was good, but he also hung out with the other three demons in their class and she was not too sure of them. Having grown up in Hell, Evrona knew all too well what those particular classmates might be like and told Tomislaw so.
“Oh, they’re okay,” Tomislaw replied.
“Tomislaw,” Evrona shook her head, “maybe they are, but they don’t seem to be all that interested in studying. You should at least be keeping up with the required reading, you know. Amy told me of some of her freshmen classmates who kept putting it off. They tried to read it all just before the final exams and some flunked their classes. You can’t just assume you can pull an all-nighter and get a good grade.”
“I’m not that far behind,” Tomislaw insisted.
“Not yet,” Evrona told him, “but have you read any of those books? I can see you’re having trouble in math class.”
“I don’t like math,” he grumbled.
“All the more reason to work on it,” Evrona retorted. “I’m not particularly fond of it either. Are you having trouble understanding the basics like I did? Talk to Jael. She still has some Tree of Knowledge fruit left. It will help. You still have a lot of work to do, but at least you’ll understand what you’re supposed to be doing.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Tomislaw hedged.
“Look,” Evrona snapped at him. “You can’t spend every day tossing the Frisbee around or running on the track or playing touch football. I’ve seen you out there, Tomislaw. That’s fun and all, but we’re here to learn. Remember what Jael said about not wanting the New World to have ignorant demons? We’re going to be important people in that universe, or we might be, rather, but not if all we do is play games.”
“I like games,” Tomislaw grew sullen. Evrona recognized the symptoms and knew he was going to get stubborn, but she was more stubborn yet.
“You should spend more time with the boys like Georgi or Ephrael,” she suggested. “They study as soon as they get out of class and then have most of the evenings free.”
“Those two!” Tomislaw scoffed.
“Then be more like Johann, then,” Evrona went on. “He’s been doing well in class, I hear and I only see him playing games once in a while. Come to think of it, you’re the only one I see playing around every day. Tommy, don’t let the fun tempt you away from what has to be done.”
Eventually Tomislaw agreed to buckle down, but Evrona was certain he only did so to keep her from nagging him on the subject. However, over the next few days she did notice he spent more time in his suite than out on the athletic field or horsing around in the quad.
After their first week in creative writing, Evrona and Amy got the notion into their heads that they would write a novel together as their class project and they spent several nights hashing around ideas and trying to organize and outline a plot in the manner Professor Mousa had suggested. However, as they worked on the notion, the scope of the project that had started out sounding like a fun idea grew mountainous until they realized that, with all their other work there was no time to actually write a novel over the course of a single semester.
“Maybe if this was all we had to do,” Amy sighed the evening they finally had to shelve the idea. “Maybe it should be a novella. That’s much shorter and more succinct.” Evrona agreed tentatively and they were off again until they realized that even a novella might be too challenging for a pair of first-time authors, trying to get several other term papers written at the same time. They then considered writing a novelette and eventually decided that a short story or two would be about right.
Life at Sherburne College, however, was not all work and the students did have the time to socialize and just chat some afternoons and evenings. “I’m sure we’d get to know our classmates at Wheeler House better if the Student Union was open past six thirty in the evening,” Amy told Nerys and Evrona. “But during the day we don’t normally have the time to do more than sip at a cup of coffee or tea and then it’s on to classes again, or else we’re off studying. But in the evenings there’s almost nothing to do on campus except for movies on Wednesday night.”
They did not have time to consider that for long however. One month into the semester it was time for their first inter-collegiate event, the annual track and field competition with Stephen A. Douglas College from Brandon, Vermont, not too far from Killington. This year it was Sherburne’s turn to host the event and Evrona and her classmates looked forward to the break in routine.
“No,” Miss Terpsichore told them, “You know why you lot cannot be permitted to compete. It simply would not be fair to the mortal students.”
“How about me?” Amy pointed out. “I still don’t have any real divine attributes.”
“Yes you do,” Terpsichore reminded her. “If nothing else you have stamina. I dare say you could run a marathon, rest up an hour and run it again.”
“You’re kidding!” Amy scoffed.
“Have you tried it?” Terpsichore asked. “Divine abilities tend to manifest when they are needed. Zeus does not toss lightning bolts around for His own amusement. It is done when He gets angry. I assure you He doesn’t juggle them for the amusement of His court.”
“Then why am I always so winded after gym class?” Amy asked.
“You’re supposed to stretch yourself, Miss Terulla,” Terpsichore told her. “Otherwise it is not exercise, but how long does it take to catch your breath? Just a few moments, I’ll wager.”
“Well, okay, you have that right,” Amy admitted begrudgingly, “but I’m young and healthy. I ought to catch my breath easily anyway.”
“I think you underestimate your abilities,” Terpsichore told her, “but even there, while you have the stamina, you do not have the training or the speed. You could run all day if you took your mind to it, but at the moment, your mortal classmates, those on the team at least, will beat you in any race, so even if I were inclined to let you compete, it would not be best for the school team.”
“Why did you want to compete?” Evrona asked later as they left the gymnasium.
“I don’t,” Amy admitted. “Not really. I just didn’t like being told I wasn’t allowed to. Silly of me, I know.”
“No, I didn’t like it either,” Evrona agreed, “and I don’t really like gym class.”
“I’ve never heard you complain about it before,” Nerys noted.
“Why complain?” Evrona countered. “It wouldn’t make any difference. It’s something we have to do, so we do it. Complaining would only add to the effort it takes to get through it.”
“Doesn’t seem to stop your boyfriend,” Astra commented. Since their town run, the female angel had been friendlier and more accessible than she had seemed on first acquaintance.
“Tomislaw still has a lot of growing up to do, I’m afraid,” Evrona admitted.
“Of course he does,” Amy laughed. “He’s a guy. I doubt any of them ever really grow up. So what’s up with this track and field event? What are we supposed to be? Cheerleaders?”
“Does the school have a cheerleading squad?” Nerys wondered.
“I doubt it,” Amy shrugged. “The only sports our teams compete in are track and field and swimming and then only with Douglas. Not much need for cheerleaders, do you think? It just seems to me, it’s going to be a boring day if all we get to do is watch a bunch of people running and jumping.”
“There is the inter-school social that evening,” Astra pointed out. “We’ll have a chance to meet the students from Douglas.”
“We haven’t even really had much chance to meet the students from Wheeler House,” Evrona replied, “not outside of class.”
“Well then,” Astra said brightly, “this will be a chance to do that as well.”
In spite of herself, Amy turned out to be an enthusiastic watcher of the inter-collegiate games that weekend. She allowed Evrona and Nerys to drag her to the grandstand, but once the competitions began she was cheering for Sherburne College as loudly as anyone else. However, by Noon it became clear that once more Sherburne College did not stand a chance against their long-time rivals. The Douglas athletes were just faster and stronger than their counterparts from Sherburne.
“Should have let us on the team,” Amy groused once they were back in the dorm.
“In what event?” Astra asked, with a slight smile. “The hop, skip and fly, perhaps?”
“Those of us who could have competed would have been setting world records, you know,” Nerys added. “It would have looked very suspicious.”
“Just because you can run that fast or jump that far,” Amy countered, “it doesn’t mean you have to do so. One of us could have won by just a bit, you know.”
“Hah!” Silvija laughed, “We’re a bunch of gods, demigods and other fantastic creatures. Can you really imagine any of us not doing out very best once put in that position?”
“Hmm, maybe not,” Amy admitted, “but it would have been nice to win in even one contest.”
“We came in second and third a lot,” Evrona pointed out. “We came close to winning on points.”
“Close, but no cigar,” Amy replied.
“Cigar?” Astra asked with obvious distaste.
“Just an expression,” Amy shrugged.
“Not a pleasant one,” Astra told her.
“Oh, it’s not that bad,” Amy chuckled. “I think it refers to a time when carnival and fair games might offer a prize of a cigar to the man who managed to win. Of course most of those games are generally rigged and I’m willing to bet the cigars were cheap beyond belief as well. Genuine cabanas,” she chuckled to herself.
“Is that bad?” Nerys asked.
“The good ones are from Habana,” Amy replied, “not cabana. Anyway, I meant coming close is not a victory. Also the way the point structure works is you have to win at least some of the contests in order to win the entire meet. So long as we were always in second place, we would lose.”
“Well, winning isn’t everything,” Astra shrugged. “I thought it was fun to watch.”
“Would have been even more fun if we had a chance,” Amy replied. “And I disagree about winning. If we hadn’t beaten Lilith and her allies, the world would have been very different today.”
“We do not deal with what if’s in this class,” Nerys mimicked Professor Mousa.
“Funny,” Amy replied sourly. “You weren’t there. Had it not been for Rona…”
“Rona?” Inga asked. “I heard it was Jael who defeated Lilith.”
“No, Jael lost that fight,” Amy replied, “although it was her strategy that won.”
“But Rona is mortal,” Inga protested. “How could she possibly have defeated someone the Destroyer couldn’t?”
“You still think of Jael as the ‘Destroyer,’” Amy noted. “Well, I suppose I can’t blame you, really, but no, Lilith was one of the Queens of Hell and even Jael had no chance when up against her one-on-one.”
“But then, how?” Astra asked.
“With the same ‘pop-gun’ Jael used to depopulate Jotunheim,” Amy replied. “I know Jael was hoping to be able to defeat Lilith, but it was the second time she went up against the older demoness. Jael obviously knew she’d have to get very lucky, but if you want the truth, I think Jael is much smarter than Lilith ever was. I think evolution works even on the divine plain and Lilith was one of the oldest in the Netherworld. She was powerful, sure, and clever and treacherous, but Jael was better, and far more imaginative.
“You’ve seen how she and Rona can take each other’s place, right?” Amy asked. The others nodded. “Well, it’s hard to explain but while they share a common body, there’s also a degree of separation, so when Jael, beaten and bloodied – and she was in horrendous shape, trust me – became unconscious, Rona was suddenly there with that anti-light bazooka or whatever it was. Lilith never even had the chance to finish her next breath.”
“That gun is too horrible to be allowed,” Inga shivered. “They still have it, don’t they?”
“Nope,” Amy shook her head. “They destroyed it after the new Tree ascended. Dropped it into a volcano, I think. Like you say, it was too horrible a weapon to be allowed. It was only to be used to defend the Tree, and the moment it was no longer needed Jael got rid of it. I don’t think she really liked it either and Jael’s been around long enough to know that no matter what the tool or weapon, if you wait long enough, it can, and often will, fall into the wrong hands.”
“Well, thank goodness for that,” Inga breathed.
“So what time is the party tonight?” Evrona changed the subject.
“No, the real question is what will we all wear!” Amy laughed.
Sherburne College’s Student Union building hosted, among other things, a large ballroom on the top floor. The students of Proctor Hall arrived to find it had been decorated with colorful bunting and streamers and a large banner proclaiming, “Welcome Stephen A. Douglas College.” At the far end a live band was playing and students were milling around the edges of the room while a few of their more adventurous fellows were dancing in the middle.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen the inside of this building at night,” Evrona commented as they entered.
“I’m not surprised,” Amy replied. “So far it’s been closed up by sundown.”
“Well, that encourages us to study more, doesn’t it? Astra remarked.
“I’m not sure that ‘encourages’ is the word I would use,” Nerys retorted. “’Forces’ perhaps.”
“We are supposed to be studying,” Astra insisted.
“Yes,” Amy nodded, “but there is a time and a place and having a bit of leisure time helps as well. And tonight we have a party. About time.”
Evrona and her friends were neither first nor last to arrive, but while Amy and Nerys dived right into the social occasion, Evrona and Astra hung back. ”You too?” Evrona asked the angel.
“We don’t have this sort of thing in Heaven,” Astra admitted.
“I don’t recall a whole lot of parties in Hell either,” Evrona replied. “Well not out on the Plain of Dis where I lived. Jael says I was a sort of country bumpkin. It was different in the city, I understand, although Jael says I didn’t really miss anything.”
“I don’t want you to think there are no parties in Heaven,” Astra told her. “Anything the deserving desire can be found there really but this is…”
“Loud,” Evrona filled in.
“Yes,” Astra nodded nervously.
“If you think this is loud,” Evrona chuckled, “you should have been with us last year when Enki’s TV program came to its finale.”
“Glad you liked it,” A masculine voice said from behind them.
They spun around to see Enki, dressed in a smart business suit, but with a glaringly bright tie. As Evrona had come to expect, there was a perpetual knowing smile on Enki’s face and sparkle in his eyes. He knew the humorous side of almost anything and somehow managed to make his own attitudes infectious. Standing beside him was Isis with long black hair pinned back with gold jewelry. She was wearing a long deep blue dress and Evrona thought there was something about her makeup that harkened back to the ancient depictions of the goddess in Egypt.
Evrona was constantly fascinated by makeup, mostly because she never wore much to Amy’s dismay. However, so long as she did not cry, her complexion remained perfect. An Erinys’ tears were mixed with blood and as Jael had said far too often, did nothing for her appearance. The bloody streaks on her cheeks were hard to wash off and the stains could last for days if not wiped off immediately. It was only a small bit of magic Jael had taught her that cleaned her face after a crying jag. However, since leaving Hell and coming to terms with Tomislaw, Evrona had rarely cried save in her natural form when it took a conscious effort not to let the bright red tears flow.
In contrast Isis’ face looked wrong to Evrona on the rare occasions she had seen the elder goddess without makeup. Most of those occasions, however, had been during the week between the two final episodes of “Living Legend” when Isis was too worried to bother with her appearance.
“Hi, Enki, uh, Mister Waters,” Evrona greeted him and quickly added the name Isis was using, “Doctor Philae. Looks like a nice night.”
“Hello, Evie,” Enki greeted her. “Who’s your friend?” Evrona quickly introduced Astra. “Nice to meet you, my dear. Are you two enjoying academic life so far?”
“It’s wonderful,” Evrona replied and Astra nodded. “Thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure,” Enki assured her. “Well, don’t let us old-timers hold you back. Go mix with your fellows.”
“Yes, sir,” Evrona replied politely.
“You’re actually in awe of Him, aren’t you?” Astra asked as Enki and Isis moved on into the hall.
“Well, yes, I guess I am,” Evrona admitted. “He is one of the oldest deities around, you know.”
“God is eternal,” Astra reminded her.
“True,” Evrona replied with a slight smile, “but he’s one of the Infinites. That’s different, but you’re an angel, you must have at least been in God’s presence.”
“Only in the sense that He is everywhere. I’m young and not very important in Heaven, so there has never been a reason I should have met Him… You know, to actually talk to him,” Astra admitted. “Have you…” she let the question fade out.
“What?” Evrona asked.
“Met Lucifer?” the angel finished the question in a voice almost too soft to be heard.
“No,” Evrona shook her head. “I was just this teenaged erinys, not even fully trained. Why should He have taken any notice of me? Actually I doubt I would have met any of the notables I have if I had not been Jael’s protégée.”
“Yes, I understand,” Astra agreed. “Um, maybe we should get something to drink?”
“There’s probably some punch on the refreshment tables,” Evrona suggested.
They were only halfway there when one of the men from Douglas asked Astra, “Hi. Would you like to dance?”
Astra shot a panicked look at Evrona, but Evrona merely shrugged and said, “Go ahead. The punch isn’t going anywhere.”
“Ah, um, okay,” Astra replied uncertainly, but followed the young man out to the dance floor. Evrona watched for a minute or so and smiled when Astra started to relax and move with the music.
Evrona moved on and found Tomislaw at the refreshments table with Johann and one of the other demons. Evrona thought his name was Baalem, but everyone called him Bill. “Hi, Tommy,” she greeted her boyfriend. “Johann, Bill.”
“Hey,” they chorused in return.
“Tommy?” Evrona asked, “would you dance with me?”
Tomislaw glanced at his classmates. Johann did not look at though he cared, but Bill had a nasty smile on his face. “Nah,” Tomislaw replied finally. “Not tonight. I don’t feel like dancing.”
“All right,” Evrona told him although she was hurt by his reaction and she walked away from the table. Behind her she heard Bill teasing Tomislaw about being asked to dance and she instantly reached into her purse for one of her dark handkerchiefs with which to dab her eyes before the bright red tears could stain her face.
Getting control of her emotions, Evrona looked around the hall and saw she was hardly the only one who was not dancing and convinced herself that maybe that was okay after all. It was just that after several parties at the home of Amy’s grandfather, Eddy Salem, Evrona had grown used to dancing somewhat, even if many of her dances had been with the Sphinx, whom she had come to call, “Lizzie.” However, Tomislaw had never refused to dance with her there.
She wandered slowly around the room until she saw a young man sitting by himself looking somewhat wistful. He was pleasant enough to look at, Evrona thought, with dark hair and eyes with a slight epicanthic fold, but he seemed to only be partly there, as though he was trying to hide. Trying to hide or not, he looked lonely to Evrona and she immediately went and sat down next to him.
“Hi,” she greeted him. “I’m Evrona although most everyone calls me Evie. What’s your name.”
“Kisho,” he replied turning to face her. There was a slightly worried look on his face, but it vanished when Evrona smiled at him.
“Kisho,” Evrona repeated. “That’s a nice name. Where are you from?”
“Japan,” Kisho replied. “You?”
Jael had coached Evrona on that. It would hardly do to say, “I’m from the Plain of Dis. That’s in Hell, you know. It’s a bit warmer there than here. What’s it like where you come from?” so instead she replied. “Hattamesset on the South Coast of Massachusetts. That’s about five hours south of here. So you came all the way to Vermont to go to school?”
“They offered me a scholarship,” Kisho told her.
“Would you like to dance?” Evrona asked suddenly. A startled look crossed Kisho’s face and he seemed to shrink away from Evrona although she could see no overt movement on his part. “Oh, come on,” she urged him. “It’s fun.”
“I don’t know how,” Kisho admitted. “I wouldn’t be very good at it.”
“It isn’t about being good at it,” Evrona told him, unconsciously repeating something Lizzie had told her nearly a year earlier. “The point about dancing is to have fun. Come on.” She grabbed his hand and led him gently away from the line of chairs. He was short for a man, she noted, about her own height, but he allowed her to drag him out on to the floor and turned out to be able to follow her movements as she showed him how to dance. “See?” she encouraged him. “It’s not that hard.”
“It’s fun,” he agreed, smiling.
“Told you!”
“Hi, Kisho,” another woman came by when the music had ended and the band went on break. “Who’s your friend?” She was slim and tall with shoulder-length black hair with light skin, although, like Kisho she looked Asian.
“Hi, Kiyoko,” Kisho replied. “This is Evie. She’s from around here.”
“Thought she might be,” Kiyoko grinned. “Hi, Evie. Do you have a major yet?”
“No,” Evrona shook her head. “Not officially, but I’m probably going to declare for Art. The real question is whether I’ll minor in English or try for a double major.”
“Oof! A double major with one of them being in the Arts?” Kiyoko asked. “That’s a lot of work.”
“Well, there’s not that much to do on campus at night,” Evrona grinned.
“Same at Douglas,” Kiyoko nodded. “Well, we could walk down into town, I suppose, but we are there to work, I guess, and Kisho and I are on scholarship, so there’s not a lot of money to spend. You know?”
“Same here,” Evrona replied. “Huh! A year and a half ago I didn’t even know what money was.” It was a mistake and Evrona knew it the moment the words escaped her lips.
“You didn’t?” Kiyoko asked interestedly. “I thought all Americans used money.”
“Well, I grew up on…,” Evrona’s thoughts raced. There was a word Jael had used to describe the lifestyle of the Erinyes. “a commune,” she finished with only a moment’s hesitation. It was true, the Erinyes did live in a communal lifestyle, it was just that until she met Jael, Evrona never realized there was any other way to live. “We didn’t use money.”
“Not among yourselves,” Kiyoko nodded. “But what about when dealing with the outside world? You must have used money then, didn’t you?”
“I suppose we must have had some sort of exchange,” Evrona nodded, “but I didn’t have much to do with the outside world when I was there.”
“Sounds a little like a cult,” Kiyoko opined.
“Not really,” Evrona denied. “It did not have much to do with religion at all. But what about you?” She was anxious to change the subject.
“Well, I have to admit I did not have much to do with others until I came here,” Kiyoko admitted. “Kisho says I talk too much.”
“You’re overcompensating for your innate shyness,” Kisho replied without heat.
“Oh, listen to him, in his first month of Intro Psych,” Kiyoko laughed lightly. “He’s right though. I really am shy most of the time. All this, um, extroversion? Yes, I have to really push myself to behave this way.”
“Well, nothing out of the ordinary here,” Evrona shrugged. She had seen the movie, Pinocchio, a month earlier and privately wondered if her nose was growing visibly. “So what’s your major, if you have one?”
“Oh, environmental studies,” Kiyoko replied.
“Math,” Kisho told her.
“Oh, too bad you’re in Brandon,” Evrona laughed. “I’m so far behind in math it isn’t funny.”
“Does an art student need much math?” Kiyoko asked.
“All knowledge is useful,” Evrona replied. “That’s what Dee, um, our Dean tells me.”
“Yeah, ours says things like that too,” Kiyoko laughed.
“Still, I don’t want to know only art,” Evrona told her, “even if that’s my specialty. My mentor’s degrees are in philosophy, but she can do almost anything she wants to. I would like to be like that.”
“Mmm, sounds nice,” Kiyoko agreed. “Oh the band is starting up again. Kisho, you owe me a dance.”
“Uh… I do?” Kisho asked.
“You danced with the stranger,” Kiyoko teased him. “Are you going to refuse to dance with your best friend?”
Evrona laughed and told him, “Go ahead. I’ll be around somewhere when you two get tired.” She watched as they walked off and sighed, “No wonder Ina likes being a matchmaker!”
“What were you doing?” Tomislaw demanded suddenly, breaking into her reverie.
“Excuse me?” Evrona asked archly in return. “I was talking to some new friends.”
“You were dancing with him!” Tomislaw pointed out.
“I did, yes,” Evrona admitted freely. “What’s it to you? You didn’t want to dance and I did.”
“I don’t want you dancing with him,” Tomislaw insisted. “He’s not your boyfriend. I am.”
“You haven’t been much of a boyfriend since we got here,” Evrona lashed out. “You’ve spent hardly any time with me. Instead you’ve been hanging out with the guys and avoiding your class work, Tommy.”
“So?” Tomislaw demanded.
“It wouldn’t bother me so much if you were ignoring me to do your homework, but you aren’t doing that either,” Evrona told him. “College isn’t a free ride. I’ve told you that several times now. You have to work for it.”
“You dance with me or no one,” Tomislaw told here possessively.
“I dance with whom I choose,” Evrona insisted. In the heat of the moment, she felt herself losing control and two bright green snakes rose up from out of her hair to hiss at Tomislaw.
Seeing them, the demon took half a step backward and warned, “You better put them away before someone sees you.”
“Just you remember they’re always with me,” Evrona told him and she reestablished her mortal guise, privately glad none of her other natural attributes had manifested. The snakes she could pass off as pets even if they would have seemed odd to her mortal classmates. Wings, claws, fangs and tears of blood could not have been explained away by any stretch of her imagination.
Tomislaw, however, did not realize the manifestation had not been accidental and the shock calmed him down. “I guess I’m a bit jealous,” he admitted at last.
“You think?” Evrona countered. “Well, you know what the only way you’re going to keep others from dancing with me is, don’t you?” Tomislaw shook his head silently. “Oh, come on!” she grabbed his hand and dragged him, none too gently, out on the dance floor. A few minutes later, during a slow dance, she told him. “We were only dancing, you know. I felt so sorry for Kisho. He was sitting on the side all by himself watching the others as though he was afraid to talk to anybody.”
Tomislaw looked around and pointed out, “He doesn’t look so afraid now. All the girls seem to be lining up to dance with him.”
“Hmm?” Evrona asked and turned to see for herself. “So they are, but until I started talking to him, you might have thought he was invisible. They sure look like they see him now though. Well, good! But now Kiyoko is on her own again.”
“Are you going to find her a boyfriend too?” Tomislaw asked.
“Actually, I thought I should introduce her to Astra,” Evrona replied. “No, she’s still dancing. Huh! With Ephrael of all people. Those two don’t always get along. Nerys and Amy seem to be free, but let’s finish this dance first. Oh, look at Mina and Nina.”
“They’ve been flirting all evening with those two boys from Africa for some reason,” Tomislaw commented.
“Oh? Are they from Africa?” Evrona asked. “Interesting. Well, those two have been flirting with all the guys since they got here. Nymphs!”
“Not all nymphs are like that, you know,” Tomislaw commented.
“No, but those two are,” Evrona chuckled. “I’ve hardly seen them in the dorm at all and if they weren’t in Astra’s suite I might think they never studied, but they do actually. They stay up all night studying sometimes, although that will end soon. When the leaves drop they’ll be tempted to hibernate.”
“They will?” Tomislaw asked.
“Oh yeah,” Evrona nodded. “Tanise goes through that every year, but after a couple weeks she’s able to stay awake during the day. I imagine they will too, at least I hope so. I know they want to learn here. Poor Georgi, though.”
“What’s wrong with him?” Tomislaw asked, “other than needing a little exercise?”
“He has a crush on those two,” Evrona explained. “I don’t think he knows anyone else has noticed, though, in fact I’m sure he doesn’t, but it’s pretty obvious considering he can’t take his eyes off them. Look at him over in the corner.”
“Yeah, I see,” Tomislaw confirmed. “Maybe I should go talk to him.”
“Be subtle,” Evrona warned him, “and don’t try to just bully him into approaching the dryads. That won’t work with any of them.”
“Why not?” Tomislaw asked.
“It just won’t,” Evrona sighed as the music ended again. “Just be nice.”
“Nice?” Tomislaw asked. “I’m a demon.”
“That has nothing to do with it,” Evrona told him firmly. “You know that, or you did last summer. Try to remember what you learned while following Enki around and stop trying to be the tough guy. It doesn’t make you loveable or attractive,” she added as they parted.
“I think that’s the most time you’ve spent with Tommy since you got here,” Amy remarked as Evrona joined her.
Evrona shrugged. “We’ve been very busy,” she replied with a sigh, but before Amy could get nosy, Evrona distracted her with a trip to the refreshments table.
“Midterm exams already?” Evrona asked. “It feels like we just got here.”
“Five weeks ago,” Nerys pointed out.
“That is true,” Professor Mousa agreed. “But it is time for your midterms, or rather it will be next week so now we will review. After the exams you have three weeks before the Thanksgiving break after which it will only be another two weeks until final exams. A semester is such a short time when you get right down to it. Now the exam will cover everything up to the end of the Middle Ages…”
“I’m not ready for this,” Evrona sighed later back in her dormitory suite.
“No one ever is,” Amy chuckled. “You’ve been studying hard. Harder than most of us, I think. Just don’t panic, it will be okay.”
“What if it isn’t?” Evrona fretted. “What if I fail?”
“Then you’ll try even harder so you can pass your finals,” Nerys assured her. “But really, Evie, you have nothing to worry about. I mean you’re the one I come to every time I need an answer.”
“Maybe,” Evrona nodded, “but what if I panic and forget everything?”
“Don’t do that,” Amy advised with a chuckle.
All their assurances did little to put Evrona at ease and, in an attempt to relax, she tried sleeping. Late that night, Nerys woke Evrona and suggested, “Come flying with me.”
“Huh?” Evrona asked sleepily. “What?”
“Flying,” Nerys repeated. “It’s something winged creatures do, I hear.”
“We can’t,” Evrona told her.
“I have wings,” Nerys pointed out. “You have wings. What’s the problem?”
“We’re not supposed to get caught out of our mortal guises,” Evrona pointed out.
“Yeah,” Nerys agreed. “That would be bad. We shouldn’t get caught. C’mon!”
Evrona allowed her friend to lead her to the elevator and then up to the top floor of Proctor Hall. “Everyone is asleep?” Evrona asked. “What time is it?”
“Two AM,” Nerys whispered. “Otherwise there would likely be a whole flock of us. The ladder to the roof is over here.”
“Do you do this a lot?” Evrona asked once they were on the roof. The air was cold and she was starting to shiver.
“Whenever I need to just shake the bad thoughts out of my head,” Nerys replied, dropping her mortal guise in favor of her natural draconic form. “Change or you’ll likely catch your death of cold.”
“I can’t catch a cold” Evrona replied. “At least I don’t think I can.”
“But if you try flying like that,” Nerys retorted, “the best you’re likely to do is bounce.”
“More like splat,” Evrona decided and shrugged her way into her natural form. She felt her wings reappear and naturally corrected her balance. The two snakes that she had grown up with in her hair slithered up a bit as though stretching for air after having been kept in some dark closet for months and her fangs and claws grew out. She felt wetness on her cheeks and realized tears of blood were streaking her face again. There was no help for that. That happened whenever she transformed back as though there was internal pressure struggling to equalize. She wiped her face until she had stopped weeping and then stretched her wings in preparation for flight. “It’s been weeks since I did this,” she told her friend.
“I know,” Nerys chuckled deeply. “For a demon you sure are well-behaved.”
“Erinyes aren’t really demons,” Evrona explained. “We stand for the rightness of things and punish those who sin against nature. We’re not evil or badly behaved ourselves. That would be wrong and against our own natures.”
“And yet you live among the demons of Hell?” Nerys asked.
“No, we live mostly apart from them,” Evrona replied. “Well there are always a few around, but we don’t mix very much. Tomislaw was an exception.”
“Well, we’re wasting the night,” Nerys decided. “Follow me.” Without another word, she stepped off the edge of the roof. There was a light woof as the air caught in her wide, outstretched wings followed by the sound of those mighty wings pumping hard. A moment later her long, sinuous body was climbing steadily into the sky.
Evrona paused for a moment and then, with her feathered wings tucked in, she ran toward the edge and jumped. She too unfolded her wings the moment there was no longer a solid surface beneath her feet. She swooped once and then hurried to catch up to Nerys.
Speech was nearly impossible at the pace Nerys set. She flew swiftly until only a few lights from the college could still be seen and then she headed for Killington Peak. She did not take a direct route by any means. Nerys was flying for the sheer joy of the act; swooping down and skimming just above the maple treetops and then soaring up to do loop de loops and barrel rolls. In the dark neither of them could see the bright yellows and reds of the leaves but during the day it was obvious they were deep in the heart of the Vermont foliage season.
Evrona’s wings were better suited for gliding than aerobatics and once Nerys started playing in the air, Evrona was able to keep pace with her friend and even take the time to look over the countryside. The moon was about three quarters full that night and still high enough in the cloud-dappled sky to reveal the jagged, leafy terrain below. Not as adventurous a flyer as the dragon, Evrona preferred to glide well above the trees, but when she heard a high-pitched shriek of joy from her friend she looked up to see Nerys plunging hard toward the ground.
Worried that something might be wrong, she tried once more to keep flying and was soon flying hard, nearly straight down. The dragon streaked past her and then at the last moment, pulled out of her dive and skimmed the leaves once more with an undulating movement. Evrona suddenly realize she was falling too fast and just barely missed crashing into the trees, but the downward plunge had given her more than her normal forward motion once she had managed to avoid disaster and everything zipped past in a dizzying blur.
She was far too low and a few trees here and there reached up giving her a dangerous obstacle course to navigate. All her concentration went into dodging around the stray branches that stuck up above the rest of the forest, trying desperately to gain enough altitude, but she was flying up the side of a mountain and the trees and the ground beneath them were getting higher as rapidly as she was. In her desperation, she realized slowing down would also mean crashing into the trees and she was already flying faster than her wings could normally carry her. There was barely any time to react and there was no time at all to be able to see which way to turn.
A branch brushed her feet and she realized that in spite of her efforts the ground was rising faster than she was. She zipped to the right, saw a large clump of branches in her path and banked left again. A moment later she was forced right again when another clump got in her way. Now there was clear space ahead of here, but she was hemmed in on either side and for a few seconds she began to relax. And then a great wall of leaves barred her path and she was trapped.
Bracing for the impact she threw her arms forward to protect her head and closed her eyes. A long moment passed and then Nerys’ talons clamped down around Evrona’s arms and pulled her upward. “You like to live dangerously, little one,” Nerys chuckled.
“I was following you,” Evrona told her, “I thought you were out of control.”
“Never!” Nerys told her emphatically, “but I’ll stop playing. Come on, I found the most perfect place.”
They circled upward for a while and then flew out toward Killington Peak, coming to rest at the top of the mountain. “Isn’t this marvelous?” Nerys enthused.
“What are all those lights?” Evrona asked pointing down one side of the mountain.
“The ski resort,” Nerys replied, “and further down all the residences and businesses in Killington Basin.”
“Good thing it’s so late,” Evrona observed. “On a bright night like this we could have been seen.”
“Oh please!” Nerys scoffed, reassuming her human guise. “I’ve been seen plenty of times.”
“You have?” Evrona asked.
“Of course,” Nerys laughed. “You didn’t think I was invisible, did you? No one ever believes their eyes. Well, once in a while someone claims to have seen a dragon, but no one ever believes them.” She lowered her voice into a stage whisper and told Evrona. “Dragons aren’t real, you know. We don’t really exist. So on the few occasions we’re actually seen, there’s always someone around to explain it all away as a trick of light or a deranged mind or something else. I doubt anyone believes in flying women either.”
“What you say sounds like something Jael told me about Bigfoot the Sasquatch,” Evrona admitted. “There are so few sightings and any attempts at pictures are always so blurred or taken from such a distance that an observer cannot tell if the shot is real or faked.”
“One of these days someone could get a good shot, though,” Nerys commented.
“Not really,” Evrona shook her head. “A sasquatch doesn’t have much in the way of magic, but it’s impossible to get a clear shot of one. Sort of like the Loch Ness monster.”
“Does Nessie really exist?” Nerys asked.
“Only on the Divine Plain,” Evrona replied. “There are a few families of them actually. Jael and I had to check in on them and see if there had been any babies this year. That was back in early August, but you’d better find some other place to hang out with the ski season coming. I’m not sure, but if they have illuminated trails here for night skiing you might get spotted by the one person everyone would believe.”
“I don’t like flying in the winter anyway,” Nerys admitted. “Too cold and I have to really exert myself to fly at night when I can’t make use of convenient thermals.”
“Then why fly at all?” Evrona asked. “It’s hard to do at night, and dangerous since you can’t see as well and there’s the chance you might be seen.”
“Because I’m a dragon and a dragon has to fly,” Nerys told her. “And really, this is probably my last chance until spring. And you really have to admit it feels good to just fly for the fun of it.”
“It’s nice, I suppose,” Evrona admitted.
“And I could see you needed to do something that had nothing to do with school, girl!” Nerys continued. “Evie, you have been too intense lately. Relax a bit, why don’t you? There’s not a chance you won’t pass.”
“But I have to more than pass,” Evrona replied.
“You will. You have every subject down cold, even the math,” Nerys assured her. “Everyone knows that but you.”
“Evidently someone forgot to tell me,” Evrona sighed.
“Well, heck!” Nerys laughed. “That’s why I brought you out here.”
“We have to go back,” Evrona decided. “I know I don’t really need it, but I think I’d like to get some to sleep.”
“Okay,” Nerys nodded and shifted back into her natural form. “Last one back buys the coffee tomorrow!” She took off like a shot, leaving Evrona to fly her fastest all the way back to Proctor Hall.
The week of midterms went by in a blaze. Evrona studied constantly and worried about every answer. But when the results came out on Friday afternoon, it showed she need not have been worried.
“Evie, you aced every subject!” Amy told her when Evrona was too afraid to look at the results.
“The announcement won’t be until next week,” Jael added, but Dee tells me you’re definitely on the Dean’s List, Sparrow. You too, Amy,” she added. “Some of the others, though, didn’t do as well.”
“That was fast, though,” Amy remarked. “At Brown we wouldn’t have seen the results until next week. And no one would have been on the Dean’s List until next semester.”
“This is a much smaller school,” Rona remarked, “and there weren’t as many exams to grade. Also Dee felt the freshmen could use a little positive reinforcement. I think we’re going to have to organize study groups, though.”
“Why? Who needs the help?” Evrona asked.
“You know I can’t tell you how others did,” Rona retorted, “but I will be asking for volunteers to help tutor their classmates. These are only the midterm results and there is still time for everyone to bring their grades up.”
I think it’s safe to say, though, that our problem kids are the ones who waited too long to start studying,” Jael remarked.
“Tomislaw?” Evrona asked.
“He’s not at the bottom of the class,” Jael replied, “although there is room for improvement. You’re on the right track, though. Well, don’t worry about it for now. You two deserve to celebrate.”
“Another dorm party?” Evrona asked hopefully.
“Yes, but not here,” Jael replied. The students of Wheeler House have invited everyone in Proctor to join them tomorrow evening.”
Word of the party spread quickly, but since everyone seemed to want confirmation, both of the party and that it was alright to mix with the mortal students, Jael held a meeting in the common room. “Yes, of course it’s fine if you associate with your mortal counterparts. That’s why we’re here in Killington. We could have built our own school on the Divine Plain if it was just about giving you an education. We expect you to mix.
“Now as to the party,” Jael continued.
“We’ll need to reciprocate,” Silvija suggested. “It’s only fair if they’re inviting us that we should invite them.”
“That’s already been arranged,” Jael replied. “Next semester we’ll host a big bash just before the Spring Break. By the way this weekend’s seminar is not required, but some of you may want to attend. Isis will be talking about magic then and now. Not sure how she plans to handle the now part of that since we live in a rather prosaic age and very few actually believe in magic so that in and of itself should be interesting.”
“Now about improving your grades,” Rona cut in to the groans of about half the students. She went on to explain her idea and by the end of the session she had organized study groups and assigned evenings during which they would be required to study together. Even after it was explained, the idea was met by mixed opinions, but Rona was firm, “I will not have any of you flunking out and if this is what it takes to get you through finals, then this is what you will do.”
“I know several of you have been cutting classes as well,” Jael added, “and it shows up in your grades. No more of that from here on. You are all here to learn. Have fun tomorrow night, relax when it is appropriate, but remember you aren’t here for the parties. Also the Fall Scholastithon is in two weeks. This is not a mortals-only event so I expect some of you to try out for the team. Admittedly, most members of the teams are juniors and seniors, but that should not stop you from trying.”
Only about half the students from Proctor Hall actually attended the Wheeler party, but Amy and Evrona were at the forefront of the crowd who did make the trek across campus to the house where the mortal students lived.
“Amy!” one of her classmates called. “Good to see you.” Amy and Evrona turned to see Kara waving toward them. “You’re Evie, right?” she added.
“We met at the picnic in September,” Evrona recalled.
“Right, we played softball,” Kara nodded. “You’re not the only ones coming are you?”
“No,” Amy shook her head. “I’m sure the others will be along soon. I know Nerys was helping Astra figure out what to wear.”
“For a dorm party?” Kara laughed. “Come as you are is good enough.”
“Well Astra is a perfectionist,” Amy explained off-handedly. “Definitely high-maintenance, but she’s okay.”
“That brother of hers is something else though,” Kara commented.
“Ephrael?” Amy asked, “Yeah he doesn’t make a lot of friends in our dorm either. He has his entire suite to himself, because no one wants to live with him. He had two roomies at the start of semester, but they both moved out. One said he’d rather sleep on the floor of the common room. Jael, Doctor Steele, that is, told them they would have to until she caught Ephrael’s act, and then she opened one of the empty suites and let them move in there.”
“I’ll bet that Ephrael thought he deserved an entire suite to himself,” Kara laughed.
“He did,” Amy agreed, “but then he also thought he deserved better than straight B’s too. He’s been sulking in his suite since then. Oh, here comes some more of the gang.”
Some of the students already knew each other from class, but others were strangers to each other so Amy, Evrona and Kara handled introductions as the Wheeler House common room filled beyond capacity.
“Hey, it’s snowing!” Patty, one of Kara’s friends, announced.
“It’s Vermont,” her boyfriend, Levin, retorted, “Of course it’s snowing. We’re only supposed to get an inch or two tonight, though.”
“But it’s the first snow of the season,” Patty insisted as half the students rushed out of the stiflingly warm common room to see the snow fall. Evrona found herself being swept along with the crowd and was soon outside looking up to see the gently falling white flakes as they reflected the light of a street lamp.
“The first snowfall is always something to see, huh?” a young man named Jim asked her.
“I’m sure we’ll all be sick of it before the winter is over,” Evrona replied, “but yes, it’s a novelty right now. You’re Kara’s friend, aren’t you?”
“Right,” Jim nodded. “Aren’t you seeing that guy, uh, Tommy?”
“Tomislaw, yes,” Evrona nodded. “I don’t think he’ll be here tonight. He didn’t do so well in his midterms and it scared him a bit.”
“Oh? Too bad,” Jim replied.
“Not really,” Evrona shook her head. “He was slacking off. A good scare is just what he needed. Maybe now he’ll study more and play less.”
“No, I meant it was too bad he wouldn’t be here,” Jim clarified. “One night off isn’t any harm.”
“No, but he’s taken too many off,” Evrona commented. “You know, I never saw snow before I moved to New England.”
“Really?” Jim asked. “Where did you live before. No, wait, I remember you lived in the desert, right?”
“Uh huh,” Evrona agreed.
“When I was a kid,” Jim went on, waving at the snow, “I used to think it would be fun to fly through the snow.”
“Um, really?” Evrona asked noncommittally.
“Oh yeah, I fly all the time when at home,” he replied, “but flying in any sort of precipitation is a mess and you can’t see the snow anyway except as it spatters. Do you fly?”
“Once in a while,” Evrona replied without thinking.
“My dad has a Cessna 177,” Jim told her. “I’ve flown her dozens of time.”
“Oh!” Evrona laughed, when it finally occurred to her what he was talking about. “You mean in an airplane!”
“Well, yeah,” Jim nodded. “How else do you fly?”
Evrona caught her mistake too late but remembered what Nerys had said up on the mountain and told him lightly, “Oh, I just stretch out my wings and flap, though it helps if I get a running start.”
Jim laughed, “Now that is something I would love to see.”
“What if, along with wings, I also grew long claws and fangs?” Evrona asked, keeping her tone airy.
“Maybe not so much, then,” Jim replied easily. “Are you taking creative writing for Freshman English?”
“I am,” Evrona confirmed. “Why do you ask?”
“I think you might be good at fantasy stories,” Jim remarked.
“I’d rather write mysteries,” Evrona admitted. “Getting cold out here. I’m going back in. Are you coming?”
“I think I’ll enjoy the snow for another minute or two,” Jim told her. “I’ll see you inside.”
“I heard you out there,” Amy told Evrona a few minutes later. “You took a chance, talking about growing wings.”
“I know,” Evrona admitted, “But I’d already mentioned flying and I know nothing about planes. I hoped he’d drop the subject if I made a joke about it.”
“You’ve been hanging out with Jael too long,” Amy told her, “but it worked. We all have to be more careful, however. Inga was talking about the snows of home and I had to step in to explain that Jotunheim was a small village in Sweden north of the Arctic Circle. Fortunately there was no one in hearing range who knew much about Norse mythology outside of what appears in the comic books. If I didn’t know any better I’d think someone spiked the punch.”
“Spiked the punch?” Evrona asked.
“Poured vodka or other alcohol into it,” Amy explained. “Then again… C’mon!”
“Where?” Evrona asked.
“I need to talk to Kara,” Amy explained.
“Well, of course there’s vodka in the punch,” Kara shrugged. “It’s a college party.”
“Oh boy, that’s gonna be a problem,” Amy told her. “Our resident faculty has been very strict about that and I know that some of our classmates have never touched alcohol.” To accentuate that statement there was a wild whoop from where several students were dancing and when they turned to see, it was the normally demure Astra dancing wildly with three men at once.
“I’ll find Nerys,” Evrona offered. “I think we’re going to need help getting Astra home tonight.”
“Oh, I am sorry,” Kara apologized. “I would have warned you all, had I known.”
“Not your fault,” Amy replied. “I’m a big girl and I know what college parties are like. But this is the freshman year for most of these guys.” There was another wild whoop and she added, “I hope she reacts well to aspirin.”
“You guys are Heavenly!” Astra gushed as Amy, Evrona and several other women helped get Astra back to Proctor Hall.
“Nice of you to say,” Amy commented dryly.
“No, I mean it,” Astra went on. “You are my bestest friends ever. Why am I so dizzy?”
Amy was about to answer when Astra suddenly slumped to the ground. “Oh boy, I was hoping we could get her back to the dorm before she passed out. How much of that punch was she drinking?”
“I don’t think she had very much,” Inga replied. “One or two cups at the most.”
“A cheap date then,” Amy sighed. “No helping that, but now we’ll have to carry her, and she’s phasing back into her natural form.” There was a ripping sound as Astra’s wings tore through her blouse and then her heavy coat.
“I used to do that all the time,” Evrona remarked, trying to lift the angel. “She’s heavier than I am! How does she manage to fly?”
“Perhaps through some Heavenly magic,” Silvija suggested. She looked around and then gave a sigh or her own, kicking off her shoes. “No helping it. At least there’s no one else around. Lean her up against my back if you can.” The others did so and Silvija instantly became a centaur once again, but with Astra sitting precariously on her back. Silvija looked at the tattered remains of what had been her slacks and underwear. “Someone grab my shoes, please,” she requested. “This is going to be embarrassing when I have to change back.”
“We’ll shield you,” Evrona promised.
“What happened here?” Jael asked archly as the women approached the door to Proctor Hall. She was standing in the doorway, blocking their entry.
“Jael, help us,” Evrona requested. “The punch had vodka in it and Astra…” she trailed off.
“Sparrow, there’s supposed to be a code of silence to not say things like that to a faculty member,” Jael replied, obviously amused. “Oh don’t worry, I won’t tell, but next time keep in mind the drinks might be spiked. So our angel had a bit too much. She didn’t reveal herself at the party did she?”
“Only after she passed out about halfway back here,” Amy admitted. “Do you have something to cover Silvija up with after she resumes her guise?”
“I do,” Evrona volunteered, removing her winter coat. “It’s longer than your jacket, Syl, and should provide you enough modesty to get to your suite.”
“Thanks, Evie,” Silvija replied accepting the coat. “Someone better catch Astra and watch out, this might wake her up.”
“Hmm, she is snoring a bit, isn’t she?” Jael noted.
“She doesn’t have a lot of practice sleeping,” Inga commented.
“Nobody’s perfect,” Jael shrugged. “Okay, Amy. You get on her right, I’ll take left. Sparrow be ready to catch her from behind if we miss.”
Evrona’s help wasn’t necessary. Amy and Jael caught Astra neatly and were able to haul her inside. Some of the men of Proctor had been sitting around the common room, especially the ones who had blown off the invitation from Wheeler House. There were some whistles as Silvija hastily wrapped Evrona’s coat around her.
“Can it, boys!” Jael snapped at them.
Most of them quieted immediately but Ephrael took a look at Astra, vertical only through Amy’s and Jael’s efforts and sneered, “Disgusting.”
“Stuff it!” Evrona told him angrily.
“Or what?” Ephrael asked haughtily.
Evrona was instantly out of guise. Her wings, a mass of tan and black feathers were spread out behind her and the two bright green snakes reared up out of her hair, She grabbed Ephrael’s shirt with the claws of her left hand and dragged him closer, threatening to leave gouges in his face with her right. “Or I’ll get angry,” she snarled at him.
“Are you going to let her do this?” Ephrael demanded of Jael.
“Yep,” Jael told him. “Sure am. You ought to know an erinys stands for what is right.”
“I’m going to report this,” Ephrael threatened.
“You do that,” Jael told him. “You can let him go now, Sparrow.” Evrona did so with a slight push that sent the male angel backwards over a couch to the jeers of the other men in the room. “Come on, Girls, We’d better get this one in bed.”
They managed to get Astra into a dressing robe and made her as comfortable as possible. “See? This is the problem with people who never sleep; no pajamas in the closet.”
“That settles it,” Amy remarked. “No pajama parties until we go shopping.”
Polka music began sounding from out of Jael’s pocket. “Is that a new ringtone?” Evrona asked curiously as Jael plucked her cell phone out.
“’Who Stole the Kishka?’ by Frankie Yankovic and the Yanks,” Jael identified the music. “I’ve been living in Cleveland too long. Hello, Dee. Already? That boy moves fast. Hmm? Yes, that’s the story I got too. I was going to call, but it was more important to make sure she was okay, don’t you think?” She was silent a long time. “I wouldn’t either. Just kids being kids. The ones in Wheeler? You’ll have to ask Doctor Carryn, he’s their resident faculty, but I imagine there wasn’t a lot of drunkenness at the party. Odds are, they had several gallons of punch with a single bottle of hooch mixed in. Yeah, I think our little angel just can’t hold her booze. Uh huh? You’re kidding, right? No? Well, you’re nastier than I am, but it’s your call. Sure, I’ll stop by tomorrow when I know. See ya.”
“That was the dean, wasn’t it?” Silvija asked.
“Yes and she was not very pleased,” Jael reported.
“It’s not Astra’s fault,” Evrona defended the angel.
“Oh, she’s not angry at Astra,” Jael laughed, “nor is she ticked off at me or anyone over in Wheeler House. But she is not at all pleased with Ephrael. No one likes a tattle-tale and she evidently spared no effort in telling him so.”
“I would have thought Dee would be more angry over the spiked punch,” Amy remarked.
“Well, it doesn’t exactly fill her with joy, but if anyone understands human nature it’s Mother Nature,” Jael explained. “She knows students tend to spike the punch at a party even if it is illegal. So long as no one got out of control she’s willing to turn a blind eye.”
“But Astra was out of control,” Evrona pointed out.
“Not her fault and no one could have known how susceptible to alcohol she might be,” Jael replied. “I mean you guys must have had the punch too and you don’t act like you even felt a mild glow.”
“If Astra hadn’t been dancing on the table, I wouldn’t have known there was anything amiss,” Amy replied.
“On the table?” Jael asked skeptically.
“Well, not literally,” Amy admitted, “but that’s how far gone she was.”
“Well, I think someone should stay with her,” Jael decided. “I seriously doubt she’s going to be a happy camper when she wakes up.”
“I’ll stay,” Evrona volunteered.
“We all will,” Nerys added and the others nodded agreement.
They sat up in the suite, with the door to Astra’s room open for the next few hours. Finally around dawn, they heard an agonized groan and rushed to help the angel. “I feel sick,” Astra groaned.
“I’m sure,” Amy agreed. “Do you need a bucket?”
“What?” Astra asked almost unintelligibly. “My head hurts and why’s it so bright in here?”
Amy looked around, the curtains were drawn and the light as subdued as it could be with an east-facing window. “It’s called a hangover, dear. You were drunk.”
“What?” Astra asked again, sitting up rapidly. Her hands flew to her head and Evrona and Inga gently helped her back down.
“Better just lie there for a bit, although you might be more comfortable on your back,” Amy suggested. “Do you feel up to losing the wings?” Astra concentrated and groaned. On the third try she re-established her mortal guise. “Someone get her some water and an aspirin.”
“I thought you were worried she couldn’t take an aspirin,” Evrona remarked.
“I wasn’t entirely serious,” Amy admitted. She looked around and saw that no one had moved. “No one has aspirin? Well that makes sense. I haven’t had a headache in years, except the one time. Evie, I have a bottle of them in our suite’s medicine cabinet.”
“Why?” Nerys asked.
“Old habits and all,” Amy shrugged. “Just get it, please. “Inga, could you get a glass of water, hon. Part of a hangover is dehydration.”
The disguised giantess rushed off for the water and Evrona returned a few minutes later with Amy’s aspirin. With considerable coaxing they managed to get Astra to try sitting up again and convinced her to try the medicine.
“I’m a fallen angel, aren’t I?” Astra moaned disconsolately after finishing the glass of water.
“Hardly,” Evrona told her with complete certainty.
“But I misbehaved,” Astra pointed out. “Angels aren’t allowed to do that.”
“So you’re a naughty monkey,” Amy remarked. “It’s no big deal.”
“Evie?” Astra asked forlornly. “Do you think Jael could find me a place in Hell?”
“Why would you want to go to Hell?” Evrona asked.
“That’s where fallen angels go,” Astra replied.
“You weren’t listening,” Amy told her. “One drunken incident does not make you a fallen angel. The way I heard it that status is the penalty for rebellion.”
“I have disobeyed God’s commandment,” Astra continued to moan.
“There’s a commandment, ‘Thou shalt not get drunk?’” Amy asked.
“Angels were not created to misbehave,” Astra told her.
“Oh, you misbehaved last night,” Amy told her, “but it wasn’t your fault. Someone put vodka in the punch. You didn’t know.”
“But I shouldn’t have been drinking,” Astra maintained.
“No, probably not,” Amy agreed, “but you didn’t know. It wasn’t your fault.” Astra moaned yet again. “And I hear tell God is a forgiving deity. I’m sure He understands.”
“You think so?” Astra asked hopefully.
“Yes, and you will too once the aspirin kicks in,” Amy told her. “Well good thing this is a Sunday. You’ll likely feel better this afternoon.”
“Knock, knock!” Jael called from the suite doorway. “Has our fallen angel picked herself back up yet?”
“See?” Astra began to cry. “She knows.”
“Bad choice of words, Teach,” Amy admonished Jael. “Astra really thinks she’s done the unforgiveable.”
“Nonsense!” Jael scoffed. She looked directly at Astra, “You’re just feeling sorry for yourself, kid. It’s not like you went out intending to get drunk. Anyway, I have something for you.”
“What?” Astra asked, squinting at the demoness.
“A pair of dark glasses,” Jael replied. “It will make the daylight easier to take until you finally recover fully. And that, in turn, might help this afternoon at the finals.”
“Finals?” Evrona asked. “So soon?”
“Not exams,” Jael corrected her. “The final selections for next week’s Scholastithon. I seem to remember you and Astra are still in the running.”
“But we were told the team was mostly juniors and seniors,” Evrona replied.
“Mostly, yes, but the rules state there must be at least one member of each class on the panel, so you two still have a chance although I will admit you have some stiff competition. The two mortal students are pretty sharp cookies, you know. And the Academic Trivia Bee is open to the top ten students in each class. I’m sure you’ll be in that.”
Neither Astra nor Evrona made the final cut for the Fall Scholastithon team, although Evrona came in second and earned the position of First Alternate and might sit on the panel should the winner be unable to. Also of all the Students in Proctor Hall, Amy, Astra, Evrona, Georgi, Xandros and Eprhael qualified for the Trivia Bee.
The Scholastithon did not excite the entire school in the same way the track and field meet had, but for those who were interested, the sense of anticipation built up over the next week so that by Saturday morning the participants were eager to board the bus that would carry them north to Brandon.
While the main event of the day was a competition between two panels of eight students each, there was also an art show in which Evrona’s drawings won second place, theatre productions by both schools and the Academic Trivia Bee.
Evrona and her housemates missed most of the main event when the Trivia Bee went into overtime with Evrona, Amy, Astra, Georgi and Xandros still standing out of the entire set of students from Sherburne. They successfully answered questions on chemistry, astrophysics, religion, several specialties of history, anthropology, biology, geology and many more subjects. Evrona even made a lucky guess concerning mating customs in pre-Columbian Peru to keep herself in the running.
Finally, the competition was forced into the “Sudden Death” phase and still the contestants on both sides continued to answer correctly until Ephrael finally failed to answer a question concerning the tool set of the paleospecies, Homo habilis, giving the entire Trivia bee to Douglas College.
“I thought you did very well,” the Douglas student, Kisho, told Evrona and her friends after the competition. “I couldn’t have answered half those questions.” Kisho and Kiyoko had been on Douglas’ team although both had been eliminated during the preliminary phases.
“Neither could I,” Evrona admitted, “but I got lucky and only got questions I knew or could guess the answers to.”
“You’re being too modest,” Kiyoko told her.
“Is the main contest still going on?” Amy asked.
“I believe so,” Kisho told her. “I was in the auditorium an hour ago. Your school won the sections on history, physics and math. We took astronomy, archaeology and biology. They were just starting the current events section when I came back here to the gym.”
“We missed the plays though,” Evrona noted, looking at her watch.
“That wasn’t a competition anyway,” Georgi pointed out.
“I still wanted to see them,” Evrona told him. “Well, I think our theatre department is performing again tomorrow afternoon instead of the weekly movie.”
“You have weekly movies?” Kisho asked.
“Three times, actually,” Evrona answered. “We have the Wednesday night flicks – those are mostly old classics and then usually silent films on Sunday afternoons. Saturday night is for more recent movies.”
“We have to go into town for that,” Kiyoko commented.
“We don’t get into Killington center very often,” Evrona told them. “It’s a few miles away, too far to walk.”
“No, if we want that sort of hike,” Amy added, “there’s always the Appalachian Trial. It runs by the far edge of campus and is safer to walk along than Route 4.”
“It’s a shame you haven’t had a chance to see Brandon,” Kiyoko told them. “I had hoped to invite you into town for a late lunch, but the Bee lasted too long. Well, hopefully in the spring? I hear the swimming meet lasts two days.”
“Sounds like fun,” Amy told her.
They arrived at the auditorium just as the main Scholastithon was winding down with the result of the chemistry section in which the teams were required to conduct a series of experiments, each of which, if correctly conducted, would provide a clue as to the correct construction of complex molecule model they were working on. There were points awarded both for the experimental results and the final model.
The hall was silent as the two teams worked, but at the last moment a solution that should have turned blue, stayed green for the Sherburne team and Douglas won the section and the entire contest.
The Sherburne students were dejected, but as they rode home, Dean of Students Doctor Meter told them, “You all did very well today and should be proud of yourselves.”
“But we didn’t win,” someone in the front of the bus pointed out.
“No, but this was the best showing by Sherburne in years,” Dee Meter replied. “We won several sections, just not the grand prize.”
“And we’ll get them on our own home territory in the spring,” Jael added enthusiastically.
They arrived back on campus around mid-evening and found the news channel on the screen of the Proctor Hall as Jael led her students inside.
“Where have you all been?” Silvija asked from the common room. “The world’s been going crazy all day.”
“Really?” Jael asked. “We’ve been a bit cut off all day. What’s up?”
“Well, it started out just after Noon when there was a news flash that Uganda is in a state of civil war,” Silvija began.
“Again?” Jael asked. “Well, they were probably overdue. That wasn’t all that’s been happening, was it?”
“Not hardly,” Silvija retorted, “although part of what made it newsworthy is that all their neighbors are taking sides. That started when Congo decided to enforce her borders and drive Ugandan rebels out of her eastern region. Kenya declared support for that move, although they have their own rebels to worry about and those rebels are in sympathy with Uganda, having taken refuge there often enough. In the last few hours Rwanda and Tanzania have taken opposite sides and there was just a report that Tanzania has been mobilizing forces near the Rwandan Border.”
“Okay, that’s a bit more serious,” Jael agreed, “but it hardly qualifies as the world going crazy.”
“No, of course not,” Johann agreed, “but that was just the start. While all that was going on, a special session of the US Congress is considering a bill that will cancel all trade agreements with China. I think some politicians feel that will resolve the trade imbalances, but China, in turn, is threatening to recall its loans immediately in retaliation.”
“The United States can’t afford to pay them off so soon,” Jael noted. “Of course they were damned fools for taking out those loans in the first place.”
“The World Cup playoff game between Argentina and Brazil was stopped when a riot broke out in the stands this afternoon,” Silvija added finally.
“That’s it?” Jael asked. “Not exactly a slow news day but none of that sounds like much to get worried about.”
“I don’t know,” Silvija shook her head. “It’s been quiet the last year or so.”
“These things come in clumps,” Rona told her.
“They came in clumps last year too,” Evrona reminded her, referring to some of the odd Mortal Realm reflections of happenings on the Divine Plain that had taken place during the reality show, “Living Legend.”
“You might have a point, Sparrow,” Jael nodded. “Something might be happening at that, but likely it’s not any of our business. Still, you’ve peaked my curiosity. I’ll make a few calls and see if anyone knows anything.”
“You’re going to call Enki?” Evrona asked.
“Heck, no!” Jael laughed. “Enki will just laugh all this off. He always does until his toes are in the fire. I’ll try calling Ninti. She’ll at least consider the situation.”
“Whew! Last gym class before the break,” Amy rejoiced as she left the gymnasium with her friends. “You know, I don’t mind exercising, and I usually walk a few miles a day when at Brown, but these gym classes are brutal!”
“They’re not so bad,” Silvija commented.
“Not for you,” Amy nodded, “but I have to go all out just to vaguely keep up.”
“I think Terpisichore is trying to draw out your basic divinity,” Astra commented.
“Maybe,” Amy allowed, “but what if godhood works differently in the New World. I’ve never felt like a goddess. Maybe the Tree didn’t really accept me.”
“I doubt that,” Evrona told her. “Tanise would have known.”
“Maybe she didn’t want to tell me,” Amy suggested.
“Are you kidding?” Evrona laughed. “Tanise? I love her like a sister, no, more than I love my sisters, but Amy, can you really imagine Tanise keeping something like that to herself.”
“She wouldn’t want to hurt me,” Amy replied.
“She never wants to hurt anyone,” Evrona laughed.
“You’ve never seen her when the Tree was threatened,” Amy pointed out.
“True enough, but she’s too open a person to be able to hide something of that magnitude,” Evrona told her. “You would see it in her eyes every time she looked at you.”
“You have a point,” Amy agreed.
“Who is Tanise?” Astra asked.
“She’s the dryad of the New World Tree,” Amy replied, “and my first divine friend.”
“I didn’t know World Trees had dryads,” Astra commented.
“This one does,” Amy replied. “I think it may be a unique case. It was Dee’s idea from what I was told. When Yggdrasil, the World Tree of this world produced the one viable seed for this cycle, she convinced Enki to help her find a way to allow it to grow and reach maturity.
“They knew it would be difficult,” Amy continued. “Nearly impossible, in fact, but that’s when Enki got the idea of starting the Springtime Seed Company. They did some sort of divination mumbo-jumbo and decided my grandfather was the best guy to raise the new Tree. That was months before I ever heard of it, mind you. I was still living in Anchorage.
“Anyway,” she went on, “Dee decided that the Tree needed a special sort of protection so she gathered a fair number of dryads to do whatever it is they do to create a new dryad. You can ask Mina and Nina. They were part of it. Tanise is unique among Dryads though. For one thing she was born in the fall, not the spring, and her Tree is a maple so her dress of leaves is much more colorful than most. She’s very intelligent and brave.”
“Why isn’t she here?” Astra asked.
“Tanise is confined to the New World,” Evrona explained. “The closest she can come to here is the inside of Mister Salem’s house which is the gateway to the New World.”
“Too bad,” Astra commented.
“Well as confinements go, an entire universe isn’t so bad,” Amy remarked.
“I’d like to meet her some day,” Astra told them.
“Why don’t you come for Christmas break,” Amy invited.
“Christmas I’m supposed to be in Heaven,” Astra replied.
“Then at least come for New Year,” Amy told her. “Grandad puts on a great party. Just stay away from Thor’s mead.”
“All right,” Astra agreed. “Thank you.”
Jael caught them as they entered Proctor Hall. “That was your last class, right?” she asked them. When they admitted as much she went on, “Good, go pack what you need and we can be off. With luck we’ll be in Hattamessett for dinner.”
“Driving?” Amy asked. “It’s five hours away.”
“I don’t think so,” Jael shook her head. “Oh I could navigate a shortcut and get us there in half the time or less, but we’ll do better on foot.”
“Jael,” Amy replied. “We have homework to do over the break.”
“And studying,” Evrona told her.
“Load up your backpacks,” Jael told them.
“I was going to bring laundry home,” Amy pointed out, “and we’re going to need our laptops, you know. Even walking across the limbs of Yggdrasil, that’s too much to carry easily.”
“Darn it!” Jael came as close to swearing as she ever did. “You’re right, but it’s going to be a tight fit for four in that convertible of yours.”
“We’ll have the room,” Amy assured her.
“How can you be so sure?” Jael asked archly.
“Well, you’re obviously planning to travel lightly,” Amy replied, “and I’ve already asked Tommy. He’ll have his laptop and a spare set of clothes.”
“Two large bags of laundry will fill that trunk of yours,” Jael predicted.
“I washed my clothes yesterday,” Evrona told her. “I’m taking an extra blouse and pair of jeans and that’s it. Between you and Ninti, I had plenty of extras that got left behind at Eddy’s house.”
“You did?” Amy asked Evrona. “When did you do the laundry?”
“About Four this morning,” Evrona replied. “It was something to do while reading.”
“Okay, so we drive,” Jael told them. “Better go pack, because I still want to get there before dinner.”
“Do you think we can?” Rona asked Jael as they closed the door to their suite.
“Either that or we can eat in Boston, I guess,” Jael replied, barely audible through the door.
Amy insisted on driving her own car, once again to Jael’s annoyance. “I’m just more comfortable as a driver than a passenger,” she admitted to the students. “Where’s your bag?” she asked Tomislaw suddenly.
“I’m not going,” he informed her.
“Not going? Why not?” Jael demanded.
“Look, I’m so behind on my studies and papers, I’d better stay here and work,” Tomislaw explained.
“The library won’t be open, you know,” Jael told him.
“I know,” Tomislaw nodded. “But I can’t even afford to take off the few hours of travel time.”
“Why are you so studious all of a sudden?” Jael asked suspiciously.
“I, uh,” Tomislaw began, but promptly finished up in an incoherent mumble.
“What?”
“I was in the Dean’s office this morning,” Tomislaw repeated with embarrassment. “Dee warned me I could flunk out and that I’d better get serious or else.”
“And you figure a weekend of cramming by yourself will help?” Evrona asked.
“I won’t be entirely by myself,” Tomislaw replied. “Georgi and the centaurs are here. Lars too, though he’s been warned like me, but Georgi and Alexos have promised to help us.”
“So you’ll have a homework boot camp, hmm?” Rona cut in. “All right. Georgi and Alexos are good students and maybe this will be just what you need to pull through this semester, but…”
“…but, next semester don’t wait until the last minute to remember you’re a student,” Jael warned him. “Let’s get going already, unless Amy has more dirty laundry to pack.”
Gods, angels, demons and other related beings of the Divine Plain had a variety of means by which to get from one place to another without all the tedious business of moving one inch per inch in the Mortal World. They had shortcuts. The Divine Plain was actually a collection of worlds on – sometimes in – which each pantheon and their associated creatures lived. Most of those worlds had natural entrance and exit points which may or may not coincide. For example, Hell had several entrances, one of which was a sort of service entrance or backdoor, but the rest of them were used by the arriving damned souls. There was, however, only one way out and that was via the “Great Egress” from which one could find themselves transported to almost any place in creation.
Most active divine worlds had similar zones as appropriate to their natures and some gods would speed up their travels by stepping into a nearby divine world and then leaving shortly thereafter to another point in the Mortal World. Not all places were convenient for travel that way. Some were unfriendly to strangers and others just had their exits too far from their entrances for rapid travel.
The most useful realm to speed up one’s travels, assuming you were among the welcome ones there, was Yggdrasil, the great World Tree itself among whose branches were extant points to anywhere in the universe. The Tree was, by all means, Jael’s favorite way to travel. Evrona had followed Jael all over the universe and in almost every instances they had trod on the branches that led absolutely everywhere.
Yggdrasil was not the only way to get from one place to another, however and that was just as well. Sometimes the tree was just not convenient such as now when Amy had more to carry than could conveniently have been shoved into a backpack. In fact the most common means by which the gods travel was through a state of being that was neither part of the Divine or Mortal realms.
“Just where is this place?” Amy asked as she navigated along a bubblegum pink road that seemed to be going in a wide circle through a golden yellow world.
“It’s not any place at all,” Jael explained. “I thought you knew that.”
“I’ve heard the explanation and been dragged through here often enough,” Amy admitted, “but to say we’re not anywhere is nonsense. We’re obviously somewhere, so where are we?”
“All right,” Jael sighed, “it isn’t as complex as all that. The Mortal World and the Divine Plain do not actually touch each other. If they did, they wouldn’t be different worlds, or universes or whatever. This is the infinitesimally thin interface between those two realms. In many real ways we have one foot on the Divine Plain and the other in the Mortal World, but then we are also in neither. This isn’t a place in any normal way of thinking of it. It’s more like a state of being and it can be directed by intelligent thought. It’s just as well Tommy isn’t with us, if you want to know the truth. He always has a tendency to try to experiment in here.
“This is the stuff that dreams are made on, to misquote Shakespeare,” Jael kept talking. Outside the car, the world had gone from yellow to green and they appeared to be travelling on their side. “We travel through here by imposing our will on the nature of the place. No. Don’t try it. I don’t have time for a side trip to Vega this evening. You’ll notice you haven’t heard much from Rona since we started out. That’s because she doesn’t have the century’s worth of experience you need to control where you go in this place. Keep that in mind and don’t either of you try to get here just because you’re late for class one morning.”
“So we’re in a place that’s in between?” Amy asked.
“I keep telling you,” Jael replied. “This is not a place. There is no real space in here. This is a state of being and we get from one place in either the Mortal or Divine realms to another by thinking our way through it.” Suddenly the world around them winked out and they were in a black void with a thin line of blue to follow. “Getting through here is an art form and as I said it takes a lot of practice, and the trip is never the same way twice as it is changed by events in the real worlds as well as by our thoughts. Hold on. We should be breaking back into the Mortal World in a moment.”
The black was replaced by a cold blue sky studded with light clouds, colored yellow by a late afternoon sun and they were falling. The car tilted slightly forward and they saw the ground thousands of feet below them.
“That’s what happens when you get distracted,” Jael muttered to herself. She could barely hear her own words over Amy’s and Evrona’s screams, however. “Kids,” Jael muttered to herself.
I don’t really enjoy motorized sky diving either, you know, Rona’s thoughts sounded inside Jael’s head.
“I hear ya,” Jael replied even as she slipped them back out of the Mortal World and on to what looked like a giant ski jump. The car rolled down the slope at an incredible speed and then back up, but before they reached the end of the ramp it changed into a gently rising slope. “Amy, stop screaming and try taking your foot off the gas,” Jael suggested.
“Aaah!” Amy responded and then abruptly stopped. “Oh sorry. Are we really going over one hundred twenty?”
“Let’s see,” Jael leaned over to get a view of the dashboard, “The speedometer needle is pinned and trying to bend in half,” she observed calmly. “I’d say so. Yes. Try slowing down or we’ll burn up on reentry.”
“Sounds like I ought to have parachutes retrofitted into my car,” Amy replied with surprising calmness. “Is it okay if I just let us coast a bit?”
“Preferable, if you ask me,” Jael replied. “You could burn out your brake pads at these speeds. I’ll increase the slope ahead.” She did so and they gradually slowed down to a mere sixty five miles per hour at which point Jael transitioned them back into the Mortal World.
“I think we missed our exit,” Amy remarked, “and the one after that.”
“What did you expect?” Jael chuckled. “Turn around at Route 28, it’s the easiest way back from here. How you doing back there, Sparrow? Ooops.” Looking back she saw Evrona had gone ashen and had dropped out of mortal guise, her wings filling the entire rear of the small vehicle. Jael sighed and grabbed a handkerchief from her purse and started mopping the bloody tears from the erinys’ face. Evrona took the cloth automatically and finished the job. “You may want to lose the wings, Sparrow” Jael suggested. “I think Amy here could stand having the use of her rearview mirror.”
“Oh sorry,” Evrona apologized, pulling herself back together. “I ought to have better control than that.”
“I think you did all right,” Rona told her. “At least you didn’t try to claw your way out of the car. I know I was tempted to.”
“Another reason I stay in charge when traveling that way,” Jael commented. Her phone rang just then. “Hello? Oh, hi Ash! Is there a problem? No, we had to take the long way around is all. We ought to be there in ten to fifteen minutes. Great! Should I pick up something on the way in? You really like that frozen pudding? Okay, I’ll grab a quart. See you!”
“Is Ash out of ice cream again?” Amy smirked.
“Seems like,” Jael chuckled. “I don’t know how she does it, though. If I packed as much of it away as she does, I’d be twice my size.”
“Ash isn’t exactly slim,” Evrona remarked.
“Not slim,” Jael agreed, “but despite her matronly attributes she is also not fat. Well, we’ll stop by the shop and pick up her favorite. It’s the least we can do as she’s been cooking all afternoon for us.”
“Can we get some ginger too?” Evrona asked.
To look at the small dune gray house Mister Edward Salem lived in, one might never know it was the gateway to an entirely other universe. It was just another home among the others on Elm Street in Hattamesett, Massachusetts, a few short blocks from the harbor. Several years earlier, when she first saw it, Amy had not been impressed. It had practically no front yard, just a couple patches of grass on either side of the porch that was at the end of a short walkway. All the property that made living there worthwhile had been in the back of the house where Eddy had kept a modest garden. That garden no longer existed in a sense. Although in another sense it had grown infinite. When the New World Tree had ascended to that state of maturity that created an entire universe around it, it had taken Eddy’s home and backyard along with it, so now all one needed to do to visit that New World was to enter the unassuming home and stroll out the back door.
Neither Evrona nor Amy got that far. The moment they entered the house they were inundated with greetings, hugs and even a few kisses on their cheeks. Amy’s mother grabbed her first. “I missed you, Amelia,” Maggie told her daughter. “You haven’t been home every other weekend like you used to be. Who does your laundry these days?”
“Ah, um,” Amy stalled, but Jael answered for her.
“Don’t worry,” Jael laughed, “she brought home a bag.”
“Should have known,” Maggie smiled as Eddy embraced both Evrona and his granddaughter in a warm hug.
“And how’s Vermont been treating you?” Eddy asked them both. They did not have a chance to answer right away as they found themselves being passed about to Ashera, the one-time Israelite goddess of the hearth, Lizzie, the Sphinx, and finally to Tanise, the young dryad dressed in her gown of blazingly colorful maple leaves. It was Tanise who dragged her two best friends to the couch where she could sit between them and catch up on the months they had been apart.
While all that was going on, Mother Nature, affectionately known here as Dee, arrived and was forced to endure a friendly buffet of greetings all her own and a short while later Inanna showed up with her boyfriend, Mike and Jael’s and Rona’s husband, Marcus, in tow.
“Another big party weekend?” Jael asked Eddy once the excitement was over. She had been trading places with Rona almost constantly since Marcus had entered the house, so they could both cuddle up in his arms equally and they were still somewhat wrapped up together an hour later.
“No, just family,” Eddy replied. “New Year’s is the big bash, you know, although Enki and Ninti have promised to be here for dinner.”
“Almost like old times,” Jael smiled and allowed Rona to have some time with their husband.
“I feel bad,” Amy told Evrona on the way back to Killington. “I wish we could have spent more time with Tanise. She was really disappointed when we spent nearly all our time on term projects and studying for finals.”
Jael and Rona had left with Marcus two days earlier for some “alone time” in Paris, promising to meet Amy and Evrona back in Vermont. “Good thing I let you talk me into bringing the car, huh?” she had added.
“I know,” Evrona replied to Amy. “I made it a point to visit her Tree, but he’s sleeping now anyway. It was just a gesture. I’d have liked to have spent more time with Lizzie, too. Has she been in Hattamessett all this time?”
“Only since October,” Amy replied. “You know she was travelling since half-past July or so. She says she’s looking for a new home.”
“A new home?” Evrona asked. “I thought she might move to the New World.”
“Eventually maybe,” Amy shrugged, “but she says she feels more at home in the old one. The New World is more like a vacation home for her. I think we’ll both live there full time someday, but Lizzie is more likely to just visit from time to time.”
“I think you’re right,” Evrona agreed. “Why do you think Dee refused to come back with us?”
“Well, for one thing she wanted a little more time with Granddad, I’m sure,” Amy chuckled. “And also you may have noticed she’s been making a policy not to be personally involved with individual students even those of us she knows.”
“I thought she was just too busy,” Evrona commented.
“That’s part of it,” Amy agreed, “but she also has to maintain a certain objectivity as the Dean.”
“Come to think about it,” Evrona noted, “except for Jael none of the faculty members have had much to do with us.”
“They haven’t been unfriendly,” Amy pointed out, “and Ina and Mike talk to us when they come to see Jael and Rona. You know it’s different than when we’re all at granddad’s.”
“Or when we were working on the TV show,” Evrona added. “I was part of their team then.”
“And you will be again,” Amy assured her, “but right now, we each have our parts to play. They’re faculty and we’re students. On the other hand, once you declare a major you’ll probably get invited to department parties. Faculty and students tend to mix at those things more.”
“Well, I’m probably going to declare in art,” Evrona replied, “but I’m still not sure whether to minor in English or double major or maybe something else.”
“Well, no one expects you to declare in your freshman year,” Amy pointed out. “Try some other subjects next semester to get a taste of everything.”
“Good idea,” Evrona nodded. “I think I’d like to take Jael’s philosophy class.”
“I wouldn’t,” Amy advised.
“Why not?” Evrona asked.
“She won’t take it easy on you,” Amy warned. “She’ll expect more of you than anyone else.”
“She always does,” Evrona replied. “I’m used to that and she always brings the best out in me. And besides, I’m interested in the subject.”
“Really?” Amy asked. “I suffered through it from beginning to end. Well, to each her own, I guess. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
The next week was filled with review classes and late night studying. To Evrona’s delight, Tomislaw really had seemed to be taking his class work seriously. In their absence he had finished his term papers and, according to Silvija, had spent nearly every other spare moment studying. “Well, he and the guys did take time off every so often to avoid brain burn, but nothing excessive and I know for a fact that Tommy refused to take half the breaks Lars and Xandros took.”
“He’s allowed to take time off,” Evrona remarked.
“He is, and he did,” Silvija told them, “just not as much as the other guys did.”
“I just hope he isn’t going too far the other way now,” Amy remarked.
“After all the slacking off,” Evrona replied, “I’m glad to see he knows how to work.”
“You’re not giving him any slack, are you?” Amy observed.
“I don’t see why I should,” Evrona replied. “Jael has told me numerous times she won’t tolerate an ignorant fury in the New World. Why should I tolerate an ignorant Devil?”
“Dee doesn’t think either of you two will fill those roles in the New World, you know,” Amy told her. “As you told me, you’re outside of Hell because you didn’t want to be an erinys.”
“I’ll always be an erinys, Amy,” Evrona replied. “Nothing can change that, but Erinyes will probably fill a different role there. But enough of that. I have studying to do too.”
After a week of constantly studying for their final exams, however, even Evrona was ready for a break. “Of course you should take some time off, Sparrow,” Jael told her. “Your mind needs time to process everything you’ve been studying. Take a break every now and then. Watch something on TV, read a book just for fun, chat with your friends, go for a walk.”
“Really?” Evrona asked. Jael nodded. “Would you like to get a cup of coffee with me, maybe?”
“Love to Sparrow,” Jael told her, “but Rona and I need to pop off to Japan this evening.”
“Japan?” Evrona asked.
“It’s Celestial League business,” Jael explained. “A group of spirits there want to form a team. To tell the truth, I’m surprised they haven’t done so sooner. Baseball is as big there as it is here in the States. Well, mine is not to wonder why, I suppose. Don’t worry, I’ll be back late tonight. We can have coffee tomorrow morning.”
“Okay,” Evrona nodded. “How about breakfast somewhere off-campus?”
“Sounds good,” Jael nodded.
Evrona was not the only one feeling the need for a break, so when Kara and Tim from Wheeler house dropped by Proctor Hall early Saturday evening with an invitation, their timing was perfect.
“Kara, Tim!” Evrona greeted them. She and Astra were taking their turns at the reception desk. It had been a quiet afternoon and they were quizzing each other on various subjects. “This is a nice surprise. Aren’t you guys busy studying for finals too?”
“We were,” Kara laughed, “but we were starting to burn out and decided a little time off campus would be just what the doctor ordered. Then it seemed to me that you guys might be feeling the same way. We never see you in town and I thought, well, that maybe you just didn’t know.”
“Know about what?” Evrona asked.
“Ruggles,” Kara replied. “It’s a bar in Killington Basin we go to most weekends. Want to join us?”
“Tempting,” Evrona considered, “but I’m on duty.”
“You’re on duty because Ephrael is late for his shift,” Astra pointed out. “I’ll find someone else to fill in for him if you want an evening off. Silvija and I share a couple classes and we were supposed to be studying together so if Ephrael never shows, we can do it here.”
“Is it okay if my suitemates join us?” Evrona asked.
“We have room for three in Levin’s car,” Tim replied. “He’s waiting outside, but anyone who wants to follow us is welcome.”
“Okay,” Evrona nodded. “Wait here. Astra, are you sure it’s okay?”
“I wouldn’t have suggested it if it wasn’t,” the angel laughed.
“We’d love it if you joined us, Astra,” Kara told her as Evrona raced off.
“This really is my shift,” Astra shook her head, “but maybe next time.”
Evrona returned a few minutes later with Amy, Nerys, Georgi, Mina, Nina, Johann and Inga. After discussing the matter, they decided Kara and Tim would ride in Amy’s car with Evrona and Nerys and the others would go in Levin’s.
“Aren’t most of us underage?” Amy asked as she started the car.
“They never card the students at this place,” Kara pointed out, “and you don’t have to order anything alcoholic if you don’t want. I usually just have Coke. Designated drivers get free soda all night, by the way,” She added to Amy.
“Suits me fine,” Amy agreed. “I’m here for the social occasion anyway. After this past week a night off is just what I need.”
“And back to the grind tomorrow?” Kara asked.
“Absolutely,” Amy agreed.
Ruggles wasn’t quite as small a place as Kara had made it sound and Amy could not quite decide if it was a restaurant with a bar attached or the other way around. Kara led them into the bar area where there were two pool tables in the center and three dart boards along the walls. With some early season skiers taking up much of the room, several tables had been pushed together in one of the back corners and two carloads of Wheeler House students were already staking that corner out.
“Looks like we need another table,” Kara observed, but Evrona and Amy were already dragging one to increase the size of the row.
It was a fun and relaxed evening of watered down drinks and conversation. At one point, one of Jim’s friends enticed Evrona to try her hand at Eight Ball and was amazed at how she won the entire game on her first turn. “Is that unusual?” Evrona asked.
“Rather,” he replied, “Unless you’re a pro. You say you’ve never played before?”
“Never,” Evrona shook her head. “But what’s so hard about it? It’s just geometry. You can calculate the angles you need to make the shots. Well, okay the surface isn’t frictionless and I don’t imagine the balls are perfect so there must be some room for error, but there must be more to the game than just sinking the balls in the pockets. What do advanced players do?”
“Well, I’ve seen some play that requires calling all your shots, not just the eight ball,” he replied.
“That’s it?” Evrona asked. “No required using the rail or having to sink two balls at once?”
“Not in this game.” A shrewd look came over his face. “I wonder if we could make some money betting on you.”
“How?” Evrona asked.
“Well, you’re the best natural pool player I’ve ever seen. Except against a pro, I’m sure you’d win every game.”
“What kind of bet is that?” Evrona asked.
“A sure thing,” he responded happily.
“I don’t think so, Craig,” Kara cut in. “Evie, what the sharpie here is trying to say is that while you’re right, it’s all geometry – well geometry and basic physics – not everyone has your superb eye-hand coordination. Most of us can’t hit the balls around with your accuracy.”
“Oh,” Evrona nodded, wondering if she had slipped up.
“So he figures to make a few quick bucks, suckering in those who don’t know you to bet against your play,” Amy continued.
“That sounds like cheating,” Evrona considered.
“Not cheating, per se, Evie,” Amy told her, “but not exactly playing fair either.” She favored Craig with another glare before escorting Evrona back to the table.”
“I don’t really enjoy that game anyway,” Evrona commented. “Anyone want to play with the darts?”
“Are you as good with those as you are with a cue stick?” Levin asked.
“Better,” Nerys laughed.
“I’ll pass,” Levin shook his head.
“Oh, I’ll play,” Kara told Evrona. “I don’t mind losing.”
By the end of the evening, Evrona, Tim and Nerys, were slightly tipsy from the watered down drinks, but since Amy and Kara had stuck with soda all night, there were no worries about drunk driving on their parts. The same could not be said for everyone on the Killington roads.
Amy’s car was nearly the last one from Sherburne College to leave Ruggles that evening and so it was close to midnight when Amy started heading back down slope to Route 4. Tim was telling a joke in the back seat with Kara and Nerys and Evrona was nodding off in the passenger seat as Amy drove. With Tim as a distraction, no one noticed that the car coming from the other way was weaving all over the road until nearly too late.
As the vehicle swerved directing in front of them, Amy steered hard to her right, hoping in the darkness that there was enough of a shoulder to keep them out of harm’s way. She over-compensated, however, and a moment later, the car was off the road and headed directly toward a clump of white birches.
And then just as suddenly it was not.
The world around them was chaotic. One moment everything was black and in the next, it was filled with blinding white light. “What the hell?” Amy shouted over the screams from the back seat.
“My fault,” Evrona admitted. When Amy glanced over at her friend, she could see, through the strobe effect of the light, that Evrona had her eyes closed and was trying to concentrate.
“What did you do?” Amy asked tightly.
“We were going to crash,” Evrona replied, screwing her eyes up even tighter.
“Yeah, I noticed,” Amy replied. “What are we going to do now? I’ve stopped, I think.”
“No, keep moving,” Evrona told her.
“What’s happening?” Kara asked, obviously frightened out of her wits.
“Drunk driver forced us off the road,” Amy explained and she started the car off again.. It was an honest answer as far as it went, but she wondered just how far off the road they were now. The strobe light effect diminished and was soon replaced with a deep gray fog underneath which a dirty brown road-like structure could be seen.
“Are we dead?” Kara asked.
“Um, not unless you want to be, I’m sure,” Amy replied. “Evie, do you know what you’re doing?” she added softly.
“I didn’t even know I could do this,” Evrona whispered back, unaware that in the close quarters of the car even a whisper could be heard.
“Where are we?” Tim asked, straining to make some sense of what he saw.
“Vermont,” Amy told him. “Where else? Whoops!” that last escaped her and they suddenly found themselves going down a steep hill that still couldn’t be seen through the fog. “Sure wish I could see where we’re going,” she added to Evrona. A moment later the fog cleared and the world was filled with a hot pink light. “Be careful what you wish for,” Amy muttered, her hands still clamped hard on the steering wheel. “I may have been happier in the dark.”
“At least we’re not crashing,” Nerys told her.
“I’d be a little happier if we were on a level plain, though,” Amy retorted. “I can’t even slow down. Evie, try something else.”
“What’s Evie doing?” Kara asked wildly. “What can any of us do?”
“Calming down a bit might help,” Amy replied as the world turned red then violet. Then the road beneath them flattened out and the sky became a deep blue. “Hmm, that’s a little better. I’m going to slow down. No need to rush if you don’t know where you’re going.”
“I don’t understand,” Kara complained in a voice close to panic.
“Kara, don’t worry, we’ll get out of this,” Nerys told her calmingly, “and we’ll explain once we get out.”
“Get out of what?” Tim demanded.
“Oh, explain it all now,” Amy decided. “It doesn’t matter and understanding may bring some calm. Evie we have to get out of here you know. Can’t you just do the opposite of what you did to get us here?”
“Where?” Kara insisted.
“Actually as I understand it,” Nerys told her and Tim, “we are literally nowhere at the moment, well except for inside this car. What you see out there is the gap between worlds and it’s a bit chaotic and somewhat influenced by conscious thought. That’s why we all need to calm down. Evie brought us here – by accident I should think – although I suppose Amy could as well.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t me,” Amy replied. “I haven’t had the training and Evie’s had a little.”
“I wish I hadn’t been drinking tonight,” Evrona admitted. “That might be why this happened.”
“No, instead we would have hit those trees,” Amy replied practically. “And I’ll bet you don’t feel drunk at all now. At least right now we’re lost, but unharmed. Evie, are you sure you can’t just get us out of here?”
“I don’t know what I did to get us in here,” Evrona replied. “Jael’s never let me even try.”
“Try what?” Kara struggled to understand.
“We are in a sort of gap between the Mortal World and the Divine Plain,” Nerys tried to explain. “This is how the gods and goddesses travel from place to place so quickly. Only they can come through here.”
“And Evrona’s a goddess?” Kara asked. Strangely that possibility seemed to calm her down.
“Not really,” Evrona denied.
“Yes, really,” Amy disagreed. “Kara, Evie is an erinys and they were considered goddesses in the Greco-Roman world.”
“What’s an erinys?” Tim asked.
“A fury,” Nerys explained. “You’ve probably studied ancient mythology, right?”
“Back in grade school we read Bullfinch,” Tim replied. “Well bits and pieces of it anyway. Oh wait! The Furies appear in Dante as well.”
“Yes,” Amy agreed. “They were borrowed as punishers in the Christian version of Hell.”
“I grew up on the Plain of Dis,” Evrona volunteered. Outside, the world began to grow dark again and the sky was filled with stars. Their path was now a stripe of deep red without anything else around it, so she started to concentrate on making that more normal.
“Isn’t Dis the great city of Hell?” Tim asked.
“That was a long way away,” Evrona replied. “I was a bit of a country girl and never saw the city until last year.”
“Wait a minute. Are you saying you’re a demon?” Amy asked.
“A demoness,” Amy corrected automatically, “and no. The Erinyes are debased goddesses, I suppose, if you want to get technical, but they stand for natural rightness and only punish those who sin against nature. And in all honesty, Evie is too nice to do that sort of thing, that’s why she’s here.”
“Wait a minute!” Kara cut in again. “You said you didn’t get us here. Does that mean you’re one of these furies too.”
“Oh, good Heavens, no!” Amy laughed. “I’m a goddess. Look, it’s a long story and divinity isn’t all it’s cracked up to be if you aren’t one of the Infinites as we call them.”
“Infinites?” Tim asked.
“God, Allah and a few others,” Amy replied, “although I think most, maybe all, of them are just different religious aspects of each other. Anyway I was born mortal and got the promotion through no real fault of my own. And to tell the truth, being divine doesn’t feel any different from mortality, at least not so far. Ask me about it in a few millennia and I may say something else.”
“Is this some sort of joke?” Tim asked angrily. “You might think you’re some sort of goddess, but I’m not building any temples in your honor.”
“Good,” Amy nodded. “I don’t want temples or worship or anything like that and even if I did, I’m not your goddess. It would be totally inappropriate.”
“Whose goddess are you then?” Kara asked.
“At the moment, nobody’s” Amy replied. “I’m not even a goddess in this world. Well, I’m told I am who I am, but my divine status comes from another world so if I ever have worshippers – and that’s open to debate – they’ll be in that other world.”
“What other world?” Kara asked. She no longer seemed frightened, just curious. Outside, there now seemed to be ground beneath them and the deep red strip was beginning to fade.
“Later,” Evrona cut in. “I think we’re almost out of here.”
There was a rumble as the car’s tires touched down on a less-than-smooth surface and the red stripe disappeared completely. They were surrounded by trees and in the light of their headlights there was not even a trace of a path to follow. “I think we’re here,” Amy remarked.
“Wherever the heck that is,” Evrona added.
“We’re in some sort of forest,” Nerys reported. She rolled down the windows and took a deep breath. “A lot of pine out there, although most of these trunks look like birch and maple to me.”
“Mixed then,” Amy noted. “We might still be in Vermont, but off the road. I can steer through the trees, but if you don’t mind, I would like to wait until we have a bit of daylight.”
“We could just be a few yards from the highway,” Tim pointed out.
“Or we could be hundreds of miles away,” Amy retorted. “I don’t even guarantee we’re still in North America. The interface between the Mortal World and the Divine Plane can be that way. And even if we’re only a short way from the highway, we could wander in the wrong direction and get lost. Does anyone know which way north is? I can’t see enough of the stars to tell.”
“What about looking for moss on the trees,” Tim suggested. “Moss grows on the north sides, right?”
“If the forest isn’t too dense,” Kara pointed out. “I think Amy is right, we should wait until morning. And getting a little sleep won’t hurt.”
“Good idea,” Amy agreed.
The car was filled with the soft sounds of them trying to find comfortable positions and then quiet breathing. Every so often one of them would move slightly and then settle down again. Finally, after an hour, Kara muttered, “This is ridiculous,” under her breath.
“I’ll say,” Amy whispered, “I hardly ever sleep anymore.”
“Is that a goddess thing?” Kara asked.
“Kind of,” Evrona replied. She opened the car door and the other two followed suit.
“Nerys is really sleeping,” Kara observed once they were outside.
“So is Tim,” Amy pointed out.
“Tim isn’t a god,” Kara chuckled.
“Neither is Nerys,” Evrona told her.
“She isn’t?” Kara asked.
“Not everyone in our dorm is a god,” Amy explained.
“Nerys is a dragon,” Evrona supplied.
“A dragon? Does she breathe fire?” Kara asked.
“When she wants to,” Evrona replied.
“Handy to have her around for a barbecue,” Amy added.
“Really?” Kara asked.
“Well, if we didn’t have other ways to make a fire,” Evrona told her. Evrona held out her right hand and a small flame danced over her palm.
“Cool!” Kara enthused.
“Where did you learn to do that?” Amy asked.
“Jael taught me,” Evrona explained.
“Oh man!” Kara exclaimed. “I’m taking the wrong classes.”
“I doubt she’s teaching that in philosophy class,” Amy remarked.
“It’s really nothing more than a party trick,” Evrona explained. “Real beginner’s magic.”
“I still think that’s cool,” Kara remarked. “Could you teach me how to do it?”
“I don’t know,” Evrona admitted. “It’s really a basic ability that can be trained. Either you have it or you don’t.”
“You’re taking this really well, you know,” Amy observed. “I know I had trouble taking it all in and my introduction was a ringside seat to a battle between Jael and Lilith.”
“I’ve heard of Lilith,” Kara responded. “Doctor Steele was able to beat Lilith?”
“Not hardly,” Amy replied, “but she was only giving the rest of us time to get away.”
“Tell me about it,” Kara requested. So they sat down on the ground while Amy told about the New World Tree, and his guardians. When Amy was done Evrona told her story of how Jael had found her and then dragged her all over Creation. “That is so cool,” Kara enthused. “So what do you two really look like.”
“Heh!” Amy laughed. “This is the real me. Do you think I’d look like this if I had a choice?”
“Oh shush, Amy,” Kara laughed. “You’re cute enough, and I know Craig couldn’t take his eyes off you.”
“Craig?” Amy asked. “You mean the one who wanted Evie to hustle on the pool table for him?”
“I never said it was a good thing,” Kara laughed. “What about you, Evie? If you’re a fury, this can’t be the real you.”
“Best if I don’t,” Evrona told her. “Most people don’t find the sight of an erinys particularly pleasant.”
“Well, yeah,” Kara agreed. “A pleasant-looking fury would be, well, wrong. Now show me.”
Evrona stood up, took her warm coat off and handed it to Amy. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and then allowed her true form to manifest. Her great wings sprang forth fully open and the two snakes slithered up out of her hair. When she opened her mouth, her fangs showed although she intentionally held back her tears. “There, you happy?”
“Wow!” Kara enthused.
“It’s dark and you can barely see her,” Amy pointed out.
“I think that’s part of it,” Kara remarked. “Dark, mysterious and dangerous. It’s kind of exciting.”
“In broad daylight it can be a bit gross,” Amy chuckled. “Evie, you’ve got to be cold like that. Change back and put your coat on. I don’t think you can catch a cold, but if you can I really don’t want to see what happens when you sneeze.” Evrona nodded and accepted her cloak back as she restored her mortal guise.
“Ah ha!” Kara exclaimed, “So that’s why all your blouses are slit in the back.”
“Well, not all of them,” Evrona denied, “and I’m not the only one who’s been wearing them.”
“I know,” Kara laughed. “There were so many on campus I went looking for one or two of my own during the break.”
“You didn’t find any, did you?” Evrona asked uncertainly.
“No, of course not,” Kara replied, “although I didn’t know why at the time. Too bad, I think they look cool.”
“I’ll see if Ninti can make one in your size,” Evrona offered. Then she had to explain who Ninti was.
Kara had one more question, “So why do you always wear dark glasses? Are your eyes really that sensitive?”
“Not really,” Evrona admitted. “My eyes are the one thing I haven’t been able to change, so since my tears are mixed with blood…”
“Eeew,” Kara responded. “Yeah, I understand. It would look creepy.”
“It’s not that bad,” Amy put in, “so long as she doesn’t cry. But it does tend to stand out and standing out is something we’re trying not to do.”
“Yeah,” Kara nodded. “It’s cold out here. Maybe we should get back in the car.”
They managed to sleep a few hours, but when a shaft of light hit Amy in the face, she woke suddenly and shouted, “Cell phones!”
“Wha? Huh?” the others chorused.
“We should have used our cell phones to call for help,” Amy told them. “That was stupid of us.”
“I tried,” Kara told her. “I thought you had too. We’re in a dead zone, I guess. No service.”
“Hmm,” Evrona considered the problem. “I think Nerys and I should go have a look around. We won’t go too far at first, so honk the horn if something happens.”
“Maybe we should all go,” Tim suggested.
“No, they can move much faster without us,” Amy pointed out, “and it’s best if we stay with the car.”
“Why can they move faster?’ Tim wondered even as Nerys and Evrona left the car.
“Let’s get out of sight before we change,” Nerys suggested.
“Why?” Evrona asked. “They know what we are now.”
“Evie, I have to take all my clothes off.” Nerys pointed out. “Remember? I’d have never thought I’d be this modest considering I’ve never worn clothing before coming here, but maybe it has something to do with being human.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Evrona replied. “I’ve never been comfortable with the notion of being naked in public. I don’t even like dressing provocatively even when Rona assures me it’s fashionable.”
“Rona?” Nerys asked, “not Jael?”
“Have you seen some of those outfits Jael wears?” Evrona laughed. “Some of them would make a succubus blush. Oh, not the clothing she wears on campus. She does have a sense of the appropriate, but she certainly doesn’t mind exposing her skin. Tried to get me on a topless beach last summer. Eeew!”
“Well, if everyone is nude, that’s not so bad,” Nerys commented.
“Eeew!” Evrona repeated.
“Well, I think we’ve come far enough for modesty’s sake,” Nerys decided and started to strip down. A minute later they found a gap in the trees and were flying.
“Doesn’t look too unusual,” Evrona noted as they found the edge of the forest. “Trees, grasslands and fair-sized river, I don’t know where we are, but it doesn’t seem out of the ordinary.”
“Not yet,” Nerys agreed, “but it is missing something.”
“What?” Evrona asked.
“Roads, cities or any other trace of civilization,” Nerys told her. “From up here I can usually see something. Oh oh!”
“What’s wrong?” Evrona asked.
“I see a band of men hunting down there,” Nerys reported. “Looks like they’re stalking a deer.”
“So?”
“So they aren’t using rifles,” Nerys told her. ”They have bows and arrows and they’re dressed in skins and bark cloth, or something that looks like it.”
“And I just spotted some, ah, dwellings,” Evrona pointed to the south.
“Wigwams,” Nerys identified the structures. “Unless we went back in time, this is not the Mortal World.”
“There’s no such thing as time travel,” Evrona replied. “We’d better get back.”
Nerys was only half dressed, when a high squeaky voice spoke, “Hey, babe! New in these woods? Woohoo!”
“Eeps!” Nerys rushed a few trees away to cover herself.
Evrona had a different reaction, “Ratty! What are you doing here?”
“That’s my question, kiddo,” Ratatosk told her, as he climbed down to the lowest branch of a nearby maple. Evrona thought his perch looked terribly precarious considering he was much larger than the average squirrel. “However did you get here, and who’s the babe doing the reverse strip tease?”
“Ignore him, Nerys,” Evrona advised.
”That’s Nerys?” Ratatosk asked, remembering the young dragon who had been part of the “Living Legend” reality show. “She’s a lot cuter this way.”
“That depends on what you like,” Evrona pointed out. “And Ratty, you really ought to be more careful. Nerys could well turn you into squirrel flambé.”
“Life’s no fun if I can’t take chances every once in a while,” Ratatosk told her.
“But what are you doing here?” Evrona pressed.
“Looking for you of course,” Ratatosk replied. “If the locals spotted me they’d want me for their stewpot.”
“Tastes like chicken,” Evrona chuckled.
“You’ve been hanging around Jael too much,” Ratatosk grumbled. “You know that?”
“But where are we?” Nerys asked, returning once she felt properly dressed.
“The Algonquin afterlife region of the Divine Plain,” Ratatosk replied, “or one of them. I’m not too clear on the details, to tell the truth. I don’t get here too often. But as I said I was looking for your lot. Jael and Rona are worried sick something happened to you. What did happen, by the way?”
“We got run off the road,” Evrona replied.
“And ended up here?” Ratatosk shook his furry head.
“We didn’t do it on purpose, Ratty,” Evrona tried to explain. “It just sort of happened. I guess I panicked and suddenly we were between the worlds. This is where we came out.”
“Remind me to buy you a map sometime,” Ratatosk told her. “Well, no need to practice your story on me. My job was to find you and then tell Jael. For now I suggest one of you wait here and the other go back and rejoin your classmates. Oh, and try not to give yourselves away to the mortals in the car.”
“Too late,” Nerys commented.
“They already know,” Evrona added. “Some of it, anyway.”
“Jael is just going to love that, you know,” Ratatosk replied sourly.
“It was that or get killed crashing over the side of a mountain,” Evrona replied, but the squirrel was already gone before she could finish the sentence.
“That is one thoroughly disgusting rodent,” Nerys commented.
“Actually, I like him,” Evrona told her, “even if he doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. And he’s my friend.”
“You have suspect taste in friends, girl,” Nerys replied.
“I like you too,” Evrona pointed out.
“Nobody’s perfect,” Nerys sighed. “Let’s get back to the car.”
“You go back,” Evrona decided. “I’ll wait here for Jael and Rona.”
Jael appeared less than half an hour later. “Jael!” Evrona called in relief. “We got lost.”
“Later, Sparrow,” Jael told her brusquely. “Right now we have to find a way to get you all back to Sherburne.”
“Jael,” Evrona tried again, “I need to tell you…”
“Later, Sparrow,” Jael cut her off, “this is going to be hard enough as it is.”
“No, Jael!” Evrona disagreed with far more firmness than she normally could with her mentor. “Listen to me.”
“Huh?” Jael reacted and turned to face Evrona. “Must be important, hmm? Okay, but wipe the blood off your cheeks.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a cloth. Then instead of handing it over and she dabbed at Evrona’s tears herself.
“Oops, sorry,” Evrona replied. “Didn’t realize I was doing that.”
“S’okay,” Jael replied, her voice softening considerably. “It was just a couple of drops and it did get my attention. At least you didn’t have to pull the full-on fury act with me.”
“I wouldn’t do that with you, Jael,” Evrona told her.
“You never know, kid. Someday you might have to,” Jael smirked, “but not today and not anytime in the near future if I have something to say about it. So what’s so important that you nearly stained your coat?”
“I want you to know what happened and understand why,” Evrona told her. “Kara and Tim invited us out last night. There’s this bar in Killington where they don’t card the students.”
“Well, I’m not particularly pleased you went out drinking, especially after the incident with Astra,” Jael told her, “but I suppose that’s part of being a college kid. So what happened? Did Amy have too much to drink?”
“Amy stuck to diet Coke all evening,” Evrona explained. “She was our designated driver. Kara did too and I didn’t really have all that much. None of us were out of control, I don’t think.”
“That’s the funny thing about being drunk, Evie,” Rona cut in, “you don’t always realize you’re out of control.”
“Well, none of us were driving,” Evrona argued, “but there was this car coming the other way and it was all over the road.” She went on to describe the wild ride that brought them to the Algonquin world.
“I guess I ought to be glad you only got this far,” Jael commented when Evrona ran down. “Actually, it’s a darned good thing you kept your head on or you might still be in the gap. Remind me to give you lessons on how to do it properly. I don’t want you running around through the worlds willy-nilly, but if it’s going to happen in moments of stress, I’d better make sure you can get back out quickly too.”
“Amy too, I think,” Evrona added. “I didn’t say anything at the time, but someone was resisting my attempts to get us back. I’m fairly sure Amy was trying, unconsciously, maybe, to get us somewhere too.”
“Well, she does have the potential,” Jael agreed. “I’m sure she wasn’t fighting you intentionally. Well, a bit of training for both of you won’t go amiss, I hope. Maybe I should talk to Dee about it first.”
“Dee?” Evrona asked.
“Sparrow, what I teach you is strictly up to me,” Jael explained. “Even here in college, you’re my protégée and I’m your mentor. Got it? Amy is a different story. Eddy would likely go along with anything I suggested. Amy’s mom would likely fight me every step of the way, but Dee is the one I should ask. She and Asherah are the two who have had the most to do with bringing up Amy as a young goddess, not that they’ve done much yet. Ash isn’t in Killington, but Dee is.”
“I see, so it’s up to Dee what sort of special knowledge Amy gets,” Evrona nodded. “But you know Amy well enough, don’t you, to realize that if I can do this, she’s going to try too?”
“Good point,” Jael admitted. “I’ll be sure to bring it up. But for now we need to find a way to ease you guys back to Killington without giving anything away to your mortal friends.”
“Too late,” Evrona told her. “They already know who and what we are, well, some of it.”
“Couldn’t hide it, huh?” Jael asked.
“After everything they saw, I couldn’t think of enough convincing lies,” Evrona admitted.
“And decided to lead with the truth,” Jael finished for her. “Well, it can’t be helped and it will sure make getting you all back easier.”
Evrona led Jael to the car where the others were waiting. “Hey, kids,” Jael greeted them. “You’re late for breakfast, you know.”
“Doctor Steele,” Tim told her seriously. “Get us back to Killington and I’ll buy breakfast for everyone.”
“Sounds like a deal to me, hon,” Jael told him. “Sparrow, you’d better squeeze in back with the others. I need to see where we’re going and there’s no room for you to sit on my lap.”
“There’s only room for three back here as it is,” Kara pointed out.
“Not if we put the top down,” Jael told her. She waited while they got settled in and then told Amy to start up the car. “Go slowly at first until I can get us out of this forest, after that, well it won’t matter as much except that Evie doesn’t want to have to pick bugs out of her teeth, sitting on top of the roof the way she is.”
“Do we have to move very fast?” Amy asked.
“Not really,” Jael replied. “You didn’t come all that far, fortunately. Now Tim and Kara, while we travel we need to talk. You guys know that some of us are, well, inhuman, right?”
“I think I would have guessed even if they hadn’t fessed up,” Kara admitted. “What we saw on the way here was just too weird.”
“I’ll bet,” Jael nodded. As Amy started the car moving, the trees began to blur and before they had gone twenty feet they had completely vanished and they were now driving on a smooth blue road on a plain of gold. “Okay, that was the hard part. Amy, you can bring us up to highway speeds now. Kara and Jim, before we get back we need to talk about this.”
“I know,” Kara replied resignedly, “we can’t tell anyone about this.”
“Sure you can,” Jael replied. “You can go to the top of the mountain – literally around here – and shout yourselves silly about it. Tell everyone you know, give interviews, go on CNN and announce there are gods, demons and other fantastic creatures living among us. You have the freedom of speech and there’s nothing I’m going to do to stop you. However, I would prefer you don’t, and if you think it through you’ll realize that you have as much to lose as your friends would if this got out.”
“I’m not going to talk,” Kara replied easily,” and neither is Tim. We already discussed this, in fact, but what do I have to lose?”
“The school for one thing,” Jael told her. “Let’s say you make your announcement that your classmates are gods, goddesses and all that. Odds are no legitimate news organization will believe you or even run with the story save as an example of how school kids crack up during the stress of final exams. But even then, there are always the supermarket tabloids to consider. In their case all you need are a few fuzzy photos and a spectacular enough story and they’ll run it.
“They won’t believe a word of it,” Jael chuckled, “but that doesn’t matter if they think it would sell papers and it would, of course.”
“So they would send tons of investigators and cameramen?” Tim guessed.
“Are you kidding?” Jael laughed. “Those tabloids don’t investigate anything. They’ll buy the story and the hokey photographs, but they won’t do any investigative work. That costs money. But every empty-minded idiot who believes in everything from fairies to Bigfoot will flock up here to have a look for themselves
“And on the outside chance you do manage to convince a real newsman or woman that you’re telling the truth,” Jael kept going, “that whole scenario you suggested with the cameras and nosy reporters will come true, promptly followed by the same army of the gullible. The upshot, however it goes, is that we’d have to leave. The entire population of Proctor Hall and a little over half your teachers. You probably don’t realize it, but last summer Sherburne College nearly lost its accreditation. Had that happened, all your work here would have been nothing but practice for a real college. Hardly any school would have allowed you to transfer credits from here. The only way the school was saved was because a company called Springtime Seed pumped a lot of money in for improvements. The President of Springtime Seed Company was put in charge of the Board of Trustees and he arranged to fill up the faculty with well qualified teachers, thereby turning the school around. The thing is most of those new teachers, as well as the new dean and assistant dean, are gods and goddesses.”
“Mostly goddesses,” Amy added.
“Yes, Enki seems to take delight in using women at the core of any team he builds,” Jael agreed.
“I like that,” Kara opined.
“For an ancient god he has an amazingly modern mind,” Jael replied. “But do you see what would happen if we all had to leave so suddenly?”
“The school would close,” Kara concluded, “but, as I said, Neither of us are going to talk. Not because we’re afraid the school will close on us but because these are our friends and we don’t want to hurt them.”
“Well, that’s a good reason too,” Jael responded calmly. “Remember we’re just trying to fit in here like normal folk, because when you get right down to it we’re just people, same as you and all the special powers and different appearances count for nothing. Get it?”
“Then why are you all in a special dorm?” Tim asked. “Wouldn’t you fit in better if you mixed it up a bit more?”
“Maybe,” Jael allowed, “but the decision was not mine to make. Besides, maintaining a mortal guise twenty-four-seven is not easy, especially for the kids. I’m over a thousand years old, but your classmates are your age. For most of them this is their first time trying to pass as mortals. So far they have done a pretty good job. However, we would like the two houses to mix more socially.”
“That’s what we were doing last night,” Amy pointed out just as Jael deposited them on the road that would lead them to the college.
“We approve of socialization,” Rona cut in, now that they were back in the Mortal world, “but not illegal trips to local bars. But perhaps this is something we can work on together.”
“Who are you?” Amy asked, amazed to see black-haired Jael suddenly transformed into a blonde.
“I’m Rona Steele,” Rona replied. “It’s a long story, but I’m as human as you are and only about twice your age.”
“Twice?” Kara asked. “You look about twenty at the most.”
“I stopped aging the day I died,” Rona replied. “Next time, though, it might be best to confine your nights out to the Student Union.”
“The Union closes too early,” Kara complained.
“Eight o’clock,” Jael noted as she phased back in. “Yeah, I thought that was too early myself. Well, let me talk to Doctor Meter and Mister Waters about that. Maybe we can keep it open until midnight, but you know we’ll need student volunteers for that; someone responsible to clean and close up.”
“I’m willing to do that occasionally,” Evrona offered.
“Me too,” Kara agreed. The others made similar sounds of agreement.
“Okay, we’ll see,” Jael told them. “In the meantime, no more crawls to the pub.”
“Not this week anyway,” Kara laughed. “Finals, remember?”
“How can I forget?” Jael asked. “You just have to take them. I have to read all the answers and grade them. Trust me, you have the easy part.”
Finals week began the next day, driving the students into ever more frantic last-minute studying. Evrona knew that cramming for the exams would help her very little considering she had been studying assiduously throughout the semester, but nearly everyone else was doing it and she reminded herself that there was always a chance some key bit of information might be the one she had forgotten.
Actually, Evrona had fewer finals to complete than most of the students. There would be a final three hour session in her Life Studies I class in which she would have to complete a sketch and hand it in for a grade, but unless she cared to learn a new technique and try applying it in the final, no amount of studying would make much of a difference, and Creative Writing had no scheduled final as their final project had been turned in the previous week. Gym also had no final exam, so her only exams were in math, history and biology.
Consequently, Evrona spent more time helping others study than she did working toward her own exams. To make the whole process all the more doleful, it snowed on the first day of finals week, forcing the students to slog their way to exams through the all-day storm. Amy had her Music History exam that first morning and managed to get there before the snow had begun to fall heavily, but by the time she met Evrona and Nerys at the cafeteria for lunch, there were already several inches on the ground and the college groundskeepers were only starting to clear the paths.
“It’s brutal out there,” Amy told her friends. “You have Bio this afternoon?”
“In an hour,” Nerys nodded, gulping down a forkful of meatloaf.
“Better give yourself a little extra time to make it across campus,” Amy advised. “I swear we had two inches come down on my way back from the Music Department.”
“How’d you do?” Evrona asked interestedly.
“Okay, I guess,” Amy shrugged. “It wasn’t the hardest exam I’ve ever sat through, but I always get the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries confused. I know the music was very different before those two eras, but I keep forgetting which innovations came in with the Ars Nova and which came later, so it all depends on whether I got it straight. But I figure the difference is between an A and a B and I’m more concerned about the astronomy exam tomorrow afternoon.”
“My biggest worry is today’s test,” Evrona commented.
“Not the math?” Amy asked. “You were having trouble with that early on.”
“No, the fruit Ratatosk brought me helped a lot,” Evrona told her. “I still had a bit of trouble but it all started to click together a few weeks ago. So long as I don’t get too relaxed about it I should do well.”
“Well, that’s good,” Amy nodded. “The stuff in that class is really high school level, but it’s amazing how many kids never got it down then. Well, after tomorrow, I have two days until my Comparative Religions test. I wish I could get a handle on what sort of exam Ina’s planning to give us. I’ve known her for years, but somehow I never saw this side of her.”
“What do you mean?”Nerys asked.
“Well, she can seem a bit flighty at times. She isn’t really, but she laughs easily so you might think she’s brainless if you don’t know her. She actually takes things rather seriously, but I never saw her as a professor.”
“Well, what did she review last week?” Nerys asked.
“Everything!” Amy groaned. “She covered absolutely everything we had over the course of the semester. I’ve spoken to the others in the class and none of us can see any particular emphasis.”
“So you’re forced to actually learn what she’s been teaching?” Ephrael asked sarcastically from the next table. “Must be rough.”
“Shut it, you,” Amy snarked back at him.
“Yes, what she said,” Astra chimed in, just approaching the women’s table. She added in a whisper, “What did he say now?”
“Oh nothing worth repeating,” Amy admitted. “You look cheerful.”
“I am,” Astra admitted. “Jael just posted a notice up in the dorm. Starting next semester the Student Union will be open until midnight if we can get enough student volunteers to do so.”
“She arranged it then,” Evrona concluded. “Wonderful. I guess we’d all better volunteer.”
“I already have,” Astra told them. “There was a sign-up sheet with the notice.”
“Amy,” Evrona requested. “Put my name on the list, will you?”
“I’m sure the notice will still be there after your exam,” Amy laughed. ”Speaking of which, you’d better get a move on.”
“Just another sip or two or coffee,” Evrona hedged.
“Get a fresh cup and take it with you,” Amy advised. “That’s what the lids are for and you’ll be glad for an extra sip, even if it’s cold, halfway through the test.”
Amy’s and Tomislaw’s exams were over by Thursday morning of exam week, but Evrona and Nerys still had their World History final Friday afternoon. “You guys go on ahead,” Evrona urged them. “There’s no need to wait until tomorrow evening. I can come back to Hattamessett with Jael and Rona. They have to keep office hours even though Jael finished grading already.”
“Well, if you’re sure,” Amy agreed reluctantly.
“Sure, I’m sure,” Evrona told her, “and I’m not carting my laundry back with me.”
“Hey!” Amy complained at the light verbal jab.
“Just don’t expect Ash and your Mom to do it for you again,” Evrona added knowingly.
“Yeah, they were pretty firm about that at Thanksgiving,” Amy agreed.
“And don’t try to sucker Tanise into it either,” Evrona added quickly.
“You’re starting to know me too well,” Amy sighed.
“Washing your own clothes isn’t all that hard, Amy,” Evrona told her. “There’s no need to get someone else to do it for you.”
“But Tanise likes helping with anything I have to do,” Amy protested.
“Just another reason not to take advantage of her,” Evrona pointed out. “Look, just do the laundry your first night in and it will be done before I join you.”
“Yeah, okay, Mom,” Amy retorted.
“Maggie wasn’t being this nice about it as I recall,” Evrona chuckled.
“Yeah, no kidding,” Amy nodded.
“And you still didn’t do the laundry before the end of the semester?” Evrona asked.
“I’m incorrigible,” Amy shrugged.
“Try to be corriged,” Evrona advised.
“Actually, we’re not going straight back to Hattamessett, Sparrow,” Jael told her. “Marcus asked us to meet him in Cleveland while he finishes up his semester there. Don’t worry, we’ll see you in a few days.”
“But Ina already left with Mike,” Evrona pointed out.
“So you can travel with Dee,” Jael recommended.
“Dee?” Evrona asked uncertainly.
“You don’t think Mother Nature knows her way around the Cosmos?” Jael chuckled.
“Of course she does,” Evrona nodded, “it’s just…”
“She still intimidates you?” Jael asked.
“She shouldn’t, Evie,” Rona added, replacing Jael. From a momentary look of discomfort on Rona’s face, Evrona deduced that Jael did not appreciate the sudden interruption. There was nothing new about that. Both Jael and Rona occasionally had to scrap in order to get a word in. “Mother Nature can be implacable, I know, but she’s genuinely fond of you and thinks quite highly of your abilities.”
“She does?” Evrona asked.
“Of course,” Rona nodded. “She’s told us so. It’s just not the sort of thing she’ll tell you.”
“But she did love the idea of travelling with you,” Jael added, forcing her way to the front once more.
“Well, okay,” Evrona agreed. “Did she say which way we’ll be going back?”
“No,” Jael replied. “She may take her car, but she does prefer to travel via Yggdrasil, so I suspect you’ll be walking. Do you have much to carry home?”
“Not really,” Evrona replied. “Unlike Amy I did my laundry and have enough changes of clothing at Eddy’s place that I can travel light.”
“What about your textbooks?” Jael asked.
“I can leave them here,” Evrona shrugged. “I planned to anyway and bring them back at the end of the school year. All I need is a change of clothes and some of my drawing stuff. And even that I can buy more of if I need to.”
“Good enough then,” Jael nodded. “Dee says she ought to be ready in an hour. Why don’t you pack up and meet her at her office?”
As it happened, Evrona had already shoved what she needed into her backpack, so she ran up to her suite where Nerys was just packing her bag. “You’re ready to leave too?” she asked her friend.
“Yep,” Nerys nodded. “Jael arranged to have Ratatosk escort the rest of us through the Tree.”
“You’ll be at Eddy’s party at the New year, won’t you?” Evrona asked. She wondered why Ratty couldn’t escort her as well, but then Dee really was going to the same place so it made sense.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Nerys smiled. “Sounds like fun and I’ll be able to ride back with you and Amy.”
“And we’ll have a few days together in the New World, just to kick back for a bit,” Evrona added hopefully.
“Yeah,” Nerys smiled. “Well, I’m ready. See you soon, roomie” They hugged and Nerys rushed out of the suite.
Evrona picked up her pack, took one last look around to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything and spotted the charger for her cell phone. “I can probably charge it off my computer,” she commented, then realized the laptop she had been supplied with was still sitting on her desk. She had a case for it, but more often than not had carried it with her books in the backpack, so she had no problem now, fitting it in with her spare clothes.
She looked outside and saw it was starting to snow again and put her heavy winter coat on and slung the pack over one shoulder before setting off for the Dean’s Office.
“Hello, Evrona,” Isis greeted her as the young erinys entered the Administration Building. “Here for Dee?”
“Yes,” Evrona nodded. “I’m traveling back with her.”
“Lucky you,” Isis smiled. “How was your first semester?”
“Okay,” Evrona shrugged. “Fun, I guess.”
“You only guess?” Isis chuckled. “Well, I never saw you in my office so I imagine you stayed out of trouble.”
“Schoolwise at least,” Evrona admitted, wondering if Jael had mentioned the incident after they left Ruggles.
“Yes, I heard about your little jaunt last weekend,” Isis admitted, “but that wasn’t Dean’s Office business. It might have been, but Jael handled it very well. She’s quite remarkable, isn’t she?”
“Yeah,” Evrona nodded, a bit of enthusiasm shining through as she agreed with the elder goddess. Much of Evrona’s previous contact with Isis have been during the “Living Legend” show when the erinys had been assigned to help keep the Egyptian goddess from cheating. In many ways their roles had now been reversed and Evrona was uncertain if Isis held a grudge. It seemed not, however and she began to relax. “Jael and Rona are both wonderful.”
“The New World ought to be an interesting place with them involved,” Isis remarked.
“We don’t really know that they are a part of it yet,” Evrona pointed out.
“Of course they are,” Isis told her firmly. “I could tell the moment I first visited there. Jael had a lot to do with the shape of that universe. It’s subtle, but it’s there. If she wants it, there will always be a part for her to play there. Rona too, although to a lesser degree, I suspect.”
“Why is that?” Evrona asked.
“Well, Jael is usually the active personality in everything they do and I understand it was Jael who was most active during the growth of the new Tree,” Isis replied.
“But it was Rona who defeated Lilith, saving the Tree,” Evrona pointed out.
“There is that and you know they are so tightly bound together they must share everything. A dual goddess of the New World,” Isis mused. “It will be interesting to see how that develops, if it does. Ah, well, I need to scoot. I still have exams to grade before I can get going. See you New Year’s Eve!”
Evrona thought about the encounter. Isis had chatted with her like an old chum. It was a sort of camaraderie the teen-aged fury would never have expected from Isis, but Evrona reminded herself that she lived in a world filled with immortals and perhaps after a few centuries one stopped worrying about how old someone else was and became more concerned as to whether the person was worth having as a friend. She was still wondering whether if it should even take that long when she reached Dee’s outer office.
The door to Dee’s inner office was open as Evrona stepped in. “Is that you, Evie?” Dee called. “Come on in. I just have a few more papers to grade. Sorry to hold you up.” Evrona entered and noticed that along with her usually startling green eyes, Dee had let some of her guise slip and was allowing her hair to have green highlights. Evrona read that as a sign Dee was under a bit of stress.
“That’s okay,” Evrona replied, shrugging off her pack and coat. “Jael warned me I’d have to wait a bit, but I figured I ought not to keep you waiting in case you were done early.”
“Sadly not,” Dee sighed. “Things came up at the last moment. They always do, I fear. Remind me to see what I can do to make Enki take a more active role next semester. Half the stuff I’ve been dealing with should have been handled by the Trustees. Well, that’s not the issue now. Would you like something to drink? Soda? Tea? Coffee?” She pointed at a small refrigerator and counter on which a small machine capable of producing coffee and tea by the cup sat.
“Maybe a cup of coffee,” Evrona decided. “May I make one for you too?”
“Yes, please and thank you. The Kona if you don’t mind,” Dee responded and immediately went back to the papers on her desk. Evrona made a cup for Dee, and then, after looking through the selections, chose a rich Ethiopean Yrgacheffe for herself. “You like that one?” Dee asked although as far as Evrona could tell the dean had not actually looked up.
“I’ve never tried it before,” Evrona admitted.
“It’s a nice choice for a winter day like this,” Dee smiled, looking up at last. “A lot of folks identify it with hints of citrus and flowers, but to me it’s closer to the chocolaty tones of a Mocha.”
Evrona took a sip and remarked, “I can see why they think citrus. It has a sharp acidy taste, but the dark flavor does remind me of chocolate a little. It’s very good. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Dee replied, still smiling, then she sighed, “Just one more of these to do, dear, then I can post the grades. When you’re finished, you’ll find a small thermos in the cabinet below the brewer. It will hold three cups. If you’ll fill it with the Yrgacheffe, we will take it with us and enjoy it on the way. No. Sit and relax first. Finish that cup, we have time.”
Evrona nodded and took another sip of the coffee.
Dee finished working on the paper and then turned to a computer set up behind her desk. “I’m glad we have this time together, dear,” she told Evrona. “I’ve wanted to talk to you about last weekend.”
“I’m really sorry about that, Dee,” Evrona apologized. “I had a little too much to drink, I know. I promise not to do that again. Ever!”
Dee stopped and turned around to face the young erinys. “Don’t make promises you may not be able to keep, dear. I’m not angry that some of you students went out drinking, well not at you. I have had a chat with the owner of Ruggles, however. It’s only natural for teenagers to be curious and experiment a bit with these things, but I don’t want the local businessmen encouraging it and, worse, profiting from it.”
“I wasn’t planning to go back,” Evrona replied.
“Well, I made it known that in the future if he served alcohol to any of my underage students and they got into an accident, I would see to it that he was prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” Dee told her. “His bartender should have been asking for identification and he darned well knows it. No, I’m far more interested in this budding ability you have for traveling between the plains.”
“That was an accident,” Evrona admitted. “I don’t even know how I did it. One moment we were about to hit a tree, or was that a clump of trees? But the next we were in between and I had no control over where we were going. Amy and I were sort of working together.”
“Sort of?” Dee asked. “Jael says you thought Amy was working against you.”
“Well, I was trying to do one thing and it kind of felt like she was doing another. We were both worried, you know?” Evrona asked.
“I can imagine,” Dee smiled. “The first time you do that without guidance can be very frightening, but you both managed to come out again.”
“Somewhere,” Evrona nodded. “I won’t try that again.”
“But I want you to,” Dee surprised her. “Evrona, dear, this is something you’ll be doing more and more in the future anyway. It’s how we get from one place to another and Jael did say she was going to train you and Amy, didn’t she?”
“But it takes years to learn, doesn’t it?” Evrona asked.
“Decades, really,” Dee nodded, “but most of that is just the experience and learning how to get from one place to another. We’ll start with specific routes, say from here to Hattamesett, and gradually you’ll learn others. The first thing Jael will show both of you is how to get back on to the mortal plane. That’s not too hard if you haven’t gone very far. Learning how to get to a specific place, that’s a bit more difficult. That’s not really why I brought it up though.
“There,” Dee commented with satisfaction, “That’s one class. One more. Maybe you should start the coffee, dear.”
“Yes, Dee,” Evrona nodded and got to work.
“Anyway, what I’d like to teach you today is how to get to Yggdrasil,” Dee continued.
“Me?” Evrona asked. She poured the first cup of coffee into the thermos and started brewing another.
“Who else?” Dee countered. “It’s not really all that hard and pretty much the same thing as you did to get between the plains.”
“But I don’t know how I did that,” Evrona reminded her.
“Then now you’ll know,” Dee replied. “I don’t want you experimenting with, well, we don’t really have a word or phrase we all agree on, but some call it plain-walking and it doesn’t matter what you call it. That, as we agreed, takes a long time to master, but if you know how to get to Yggdrasil, you’ll always have a way to get somewhere in an emergency.”
“I don’t know my way around the World Tree either,” Evrona admitted, pouring the second cup. “Every time I was there with Jael and Rona we took a different path.”
“And did Jael never stop to ask for directions?” Dee asked pointedly. “I know for a fact that she has only been allowed by the Tree to walk his branches for nineteen years. To know the Tree in his entirety is to know the Universe. Only the Infinites know every leaf and branchlet, but the nice thing about Yggdrasil is that he comes with his own guides. One who is a friend of the Tree may always ask one of the residents for directions. And after a while, you’ll get to know your way around, memorizing familiar routes in the same way you found your way to classes this year.”
“Are you sure the Tree recognizes me as a friend?” Evrona asked. She was just pouring in the third and final cup into the thermos. Then she closed the thermos up and started cleaning up the coffee counter.
“I’m fairly sure you have been accepted,” Dee remarked. “Ratatosk likes you and, honestly, that little fleabag doesn’t like very many.”
“I like Ratty,” Evrona said loyally. “He’s a bit crude, but it’s just the way he keeps others from realizing what a softy he is.”
“And there are even fewer people who like him,” Dee added. “You are quite a remarkable young woman, Evrona. Well, if you get along with him, the Tree is bound to like you. Perhaps we should formally introduce you, however. Yes, good idea. Well, I’m finished. Are you ready to leave?” Evrona nodded and Dee told her, “Let’s go.”
Evrona slipped the thermos into her back pack and they both put on their coats. Evrona followed Dee to the main door of the Administration Building and stopped just before the doors. “Interestingly, you can get to anywhere from Yggdrasil,” Dee told Evrona, “except for inside a building. I have a few hypotheses as to why that may be, and the one I favor right now is that Yggdrasil is a symbol of the world outside whereas men build buildings to keep the outside out. That is inconvenient in some ways, since it means there’s always a chance someone will see us disappear as we step out on to the Tree, but we can use that to our advantage as well. Evrona, see that door?”
“Of course,” Evrona agreed. “It’s tall and made of glass, uh mostly.”
“Right,” Dee nodded. “Now, if you concentrate and look in just the right way, you should see the Tree just outside.”
Evrona blinked a few times and then she saw what Dee meant. “I do. I see both the campus outside and a branch of the tree at the same time.”
“You’ll find you can do that almost anywhere if you think about it,” Dee told her. “And it is just a matter of stepping from one world into the next.”
“But this isn’t like what I did last weekend,” Evrona protested as they stepped out and on the limb of Yggdrasil. ”This is directly on the Divine Plain, isn’t it?” It was dark, but Dee did something that caused a bright globe of light
“The Tree is a special case,” Dee explained. “It coexists in both the Divine Plain and Mortal Realm. The Mortal Realm can be thought of as another aspect of the Tree. That’s an over-simplification, but it will do. The rest of the Divine Plain is distinct from the Mortal Realm which is why we have that special state of being between them, but Yggdrasil reached through that interface to connect the two plains.”
“Then wouldn’t the interface be an aspect of the Tree in a way?” Evrona asked.
“That’s true as well,” Dee agreed.
“That’s very complicated,” Evrona admitted. “I’m not sure I understand how that works.”
“It’s easier to just take it the way it comes, dear,” Dee told her. “Remember that sometimes different aspects really are distinct from one another. Asherah and I are aspects of each other, or we were at one time, but we never merged and are therefore different people.”
“Okay,” Evrona nodded as they walked on. “It’s really dark here, isn’t it?”
“We’re north of the Arctic Circle,” Dee explained. “The sun won’t rise again for a month, although we’re not so far north that we don’t have the equivalent of false dawn once a day, but that would have been hours ago.”
They walked on for a while, but when they finally came within view of the vast trunk of Yggdrasil, they heard the screech of a hawk and a moment later Vetherfolnir, one of the avian protectors of the Tree landed in front of them. “Mother Nature,” the large bird greeted her politely, “There is a problem.”
“Tell me about it,” Dee requested.
“It is uncertain, but there are clouds gathering and it is beyond my ability to ascertain their nature in detail save that there is danger associated with them,” Vethrfolnir replied.
“I see,” Dee replied. “We shall investigate. Evrona, I believe you may prefer to use your wings for this. It will be faster.”
“My blouse is one of my specials,” Evrona replied. “But it’s too cold to remove my coat and…” she trailed off.
“That’s no problem,” Dee remarked. She made no overt gesture, but Evrona felt the fabric of her woolen coat shift slightly and she knew there were now slits in the back her wings would fit through.. A moment later Evrona shifted to her true form to find Dee was already riding a breeze upward with the great hawk. They did not seem to be rising quickly, but Evrona had to scramble to keep up.
As they flew upward through the branches of the World tree, Evrona caught fleeting glances of the world, and, indeed, of other worlds. As they continued higher and higher, Evrona noted she could see more of those worlds as they went as though the higher they got, the further she could see until they had finally flown clear of the Tree itself. They continued going higher, until they reached the peak, the very uppermost reaches of the branches of Yggdrasil.
As Evrona came to rest beside Dee and Vethrfolnir she saw something Jael had only once described to her. From this vantage point, one could see the entire universe from Heaven to Hell. In fact she could see every version of Heaven, everyone’s version of Hell and all the worlds in between. In that moment she felt she was at one with the Universe.
“Quite a view, isn’t it?” Dee asked her.
“Yeah,” Evrona nodded, unable to think of any other words. The view was hypnotic. It was as though the entire universe was begging to be seen and understood all at once and Evrona did not know where to look next and was afraid to blink lest she miss something. It was only when Dee spoke again that she was lifted from the trance.
“I see what you mean,” Dee replied to Vethrfolnir. “Evrona, dear,” she said something else, but Evrona missed it.
“I’m sorry,” Evrona apologized. “What?”
“Yes, the view is overwhelming the first time you see it,” Dee told her. “In fact, it is not one you can ever truly get used to.”
“I think Jael told me about this place,” Evrona replied at last. “She says it is one of her favorite places.”
“I was unaware Jael had been here,” Dee remarked.
“The Protector?” Vethrfolnir asked. “Yes, she has been here several times.”
“What was she doing?” Dee asked even as Evrona mused over the fact that Vethrfolnir called Jael the “Protector” while Inga had once referred to her as the “Destroyer.”
“Just being here,” Vethrfolnir replied. “I think she may have been meditating.”
“Could be,” Dee nodded. “This is a good place to see the universe in total, but not so much if you need details, but I see the clouds you spoke of. Evrona, can you see them too? Look off to the East and the South.”
Evrona looked and noted, “There seems to be fog all around on the horizon, but there are tendrils and banks of clouds in those directions that are closer.”
“There is always something hidden in the distance,” Dee remarked. “I believe it could be the edge of the universe, although physicists tell us there is no edge as such. It is those tendrils and fog banks I meant. They are odd, but not too unusual.”
“They are receding now,” Vethrfolnir told her. “They were heavier and covered more of the world when I came to find you. Almost half the world was obscured.”
“Just like when you take your car in to a mechanic and the funny noise goes away,” Dee commented. “Some momentary issue perhaps?”
“The clouds had been gathering slowly for months,” the hawk replied, “and have only now begun to recede.”
“What does it mean, Dee?” Evrona asked.
“I’m not at all sure, Evrona,” Dee replied. “I have seen clouds like these before, but there is something unique about these. Something I have not ever seen.”
“There is wrongness about them,” Evrona replied with certainty. “I can feel that much at least.”
“Yes, I was certain you could,” Dee nodded. “Can you define it, though? Can you feel how we might right this wrong?”
Evrona studied the gradually thinning clouds some more, but eventually replied, “No. I’m sorry, but it is like trying to hold smoke. I don’t know enough.”
“Neither do I,” Dee admitted. “I had hoped that you, with your natural abilities as an erinys, might see to the heart of this, but… All I can tell for certain is that whatever this might be, it is not real.”
“Not real?” Evrona protested. “But…”
“It is not real yet,” Dee clarified. “This is a potential wrongness or an injury to Creation that may or may not come to be.”
“How can it be so visible if it does not yet exist?” Evrona asked.
“Some things have power even before they come into being,” Dee explained, “but I do not think this is something we can counter directly.”
“Do you mean we shall need to study this, determine the cause and then head it off before whatever this is actually happens?” Evrona asked.
“Exactly, dear,” Dee told her. “That is very well reasoned. Well, forewarned is forearmed…” Evrona suddenly started laughing. “What’s so funny?” Dee asked suspiciously.
“I’m sorry,” Evrona replied, wiping at her eyes and not completely able to stop laughing. “I think Jael would have said, ‘Forewarned is to have four arms,’ and I couldn’t help it.”
Dee sighed, “Jael’s sense of humor is suspect at times. Vethrfolnir, thank you for showing this to us. We shall spread the word and try to keep an eye on the situation.”
“I will endeavor to let you know if it persists or gets worse,” the hawk promised.
“What kept you?” Amy demanded as Dee and Evrona walked through the door. “We expected you back hours ago.”
Evrona was about to explain, but Dee stopped her, “We’ll explain when everyone gets here.”
“A problem, dear?” Eddy asked as he hugged her. Eddy Salem still looked like the octogenarian he was although he moved like a young man these days. As the primary deity of an infant universe, Evrona supposed he could look anyway he wanted to, but she could not help but wonder if that would ever change.
Dee and Eddy kissed briefly and Dee went on. “I think we’re going to need a war council. Evrona and I saw something while on Yggdrasil that needs to be discussed among those we trust. Excuse me, I have some calls to make.”
Dee rushed off into another room while the others looked at Evrona. “Uh uh!” Evrona shook her head. “If you think I’m going to spill the beans after Dee said to wait, you’re crazy.”
“I just want to say, ‘Hi,’” Tanise told her, hugging her friend.
“We were really worried,” Amy admitted as the two girls dragged Evrona toward the den.
“Wait!” Evrona protested. “I haven’t even taken my coat off and said hello to Ash or Lizzie or Maggie.”
“Mom’s working,” Amy replied. “I don’t know why she bothers, but it makes her happy. She should be back soon though. Ash and Lizzie are out in the mead hall.”
“The mead hall?” Evrona asked, finally getting her coat off. Tanise grabbed and hung it up in the front hall closet. Amy picked up Evrona’s back pack and put it out of the way. “The party isn’t for two weeks yet.”
“Ash likes to make sure,” Amy replied. “Also she likes the kitchen out there better than the small one here in the house.”
“It sounds like we may need the room for Dee’s council when everyone gets here too,” Eddy remarked. “I’d better go make sure the heat is on out there.”
“We can do that,” Amy told him.
“No,” Eddy stopped them. “You should help Evrona settle in. Are you sure you three don’t mind sharing a single room?”
“Doesn’t bother me,” Amy replied, “and I’ve been living with Evie in my suite for months.”
“And besides,” Evrona added, “Amy and I almost never sleep there, although I need some place to put my computer.”
“Use the solarium,” Eddy suggested. “That’s where mine is. Amy’s too, though you’ll want to put it away during the party, just for safety’s sake.”
“Come on!” Tanise urged, tugging on Evrona’s hand. “Let’s get you unpacked.”
“That shouldn’t take long,” Evrona remarked, retrieving her backpack. “Oh, we never drank the coffee.”
“What coffee?” Amy asked.
An hour later they were seated at one of the tables in the mead hall Thor had built for Eddy a little over a year earlier. Enki had been the first to arrive, getting there while Evrona was still deciding where she would like her laptop. She finally decided to use the other side of a table Amy had co-opted as it would not mean setting up more furniture in the solarium which was already somewhat full of plants of various sorts.
Directly on Enki’s heals had been Isis. “Got me in London,” she admitted to Dee.
“London?” Dee asked.
“There’s an exhibit at the British Museum I wanted to catch,” Isis admitted. “They’ve pulled out some of the more obscure objects from their Egyptology collection and I thought it might be nice to see some of my old things again. Well, maybe later. This sounded more important.”
“I hope so,” Dee replied and then corrected herself. “Actually, I hope not. Well, we’ll see. For now I just want our team to know what’s going on.”
Next, Inanna and Mike arrived via the “back way.” There remained a connection between Yggdrasil and the new tree. Only a few people knew where that connection existed, but those that did could arrive in the New World that way and then make their ways down the trunk of the new Tree. “Ratty will be along in a bit,” Ina told them. “He’s waiting for Jael and Ninti.”
It was about that time that Amy’s mother, Maggie, arrived home. Finding the house empty, she wandered out to the mead hall and found the others there. “I’m not sure what good I can do,” she admitted when Dee invited her to join them.
“You have better access to some sorts of information in the Mortal Realm than we do,” Ina remarked, “so you never know.”
“If nothing else, you may be aware of some oceanic anomaly before we are,” Dee added, remembering that Maggie was an accomplished oceanographer.
“Hawk is in Arizona this week,” Ninti explained when she arrived with Jael and Ratatosk sometime later, “but he promises to fly in day after tomorrow if we want him here.”
“I believe we do,” Dee told her.
“Marcus is coming in then as well,” Jael added. “They can probably split a rental car from Logan.”
“Or I’ll drive up to Boston and pick them up,” Amy volunteered.
“Is this everyone now?” Lizzie asked. The Sphinx had not normally been a part of this team although she had been on the staff of “Living Legend,” but since she was in Hattamessett, tutoring Tanise and interested in helping, no one saw any reason to turn down her offer.
Asherah and the girls came out of the kitchen with a large platter of freshly made pastry and coffee and joined the crowd around the table. “We are now,” Dee decided. She proceeded to tell them about the clouds she and Evrona had witnessed from the World Tree.
“I have seen similar formations in the past,” Isis commented. “They do not always portend disaster, but they almost always hint at great and unknown changes to come.”
“I don’t know that disaster is quite the word I would use yet,” Dee admitted. “I believe you all know I am not generally an alarmist, but Evrona was able to detect a wrongness about the clouds or perhaps about whatever they were hiding. And I do believe you are all aware of just how sensitive the Erinyes are to that sort of thing. At the moment those clouds do seem to be withdrawing, but I felt their existence alone was enough to call you all here so that we can keep an eye on the situation. It may be nothing and whatever caused it may already have passed, but we do not know that.
“I have not seen clouds that felt like these since the end of the last cycle,” Dee went on. “No, I don’t think this cycle is in danger, not yet at least. There were many incidents last cycle too, some of which were covered by their clouds of uncertainty.”
“Yes,” Enki agreed, “but as I recall the forces of Chaos, Loki’s army especially, used such clouds to mask their attacks. That’s why we had to employ so many messengers like Hermes and Thialfi during the war at the end of the cycle. We needed eye-witnesses because we could not always rely on what could be seen from the Tree.”
“It is possible we need more perspective as well,” Eddy remarked.
“What did you have in mind, dear?” Dee asked interestedly.
“Two things, really,” Eddy admitted. “First of all, it seems we have been able to see things from Tanise’s tree that were hidden on Yggdrasil before, so perhaps tomorrow we should try taking a look. And also Thor told me that Heimdall not only has keen eyesight but hearing as well. Perhaps we should ask if he hears anything useful from under those clouds.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Enki replied, “although these aren’t normal clouds, they may be able to block Heimdall’s hearing as well.”
“But we don’t know that yet, do we?” Eddy argued.
“No, we don’t and you’re correct. We should at least ask,” Enki agreed.
“What we really need to know, however,” Dee told them, “is what’s causing it? Such events are generally reflected in some way in the Mortal Realm. If we can find that reflection we might be able to guess at the cause. When we know the cause we’ll have a target.”
“Are you planning to shoot?” Jael asked, slightly amused.
“That all depends on the cause, Jael,” Dee replied. “We have all seen cases in which merely having a quiet chat resolved all the problems, and other times it’s only a matter of letting the troublemaker know he’s been caught.”
“And other times it’s a matter of giving them a good, sharp spanking,” Jael replied. “You’re right, of course. Mike foiled the machinations of the Moirae through cleverness and words, but no amount of talking would have saved Tanise and her Tree.”
“You can say that again!” Amy agreed emphatically. Next to her, Tanise nodded.
“I don’t recall a whole lot of talking at the end of the last cycle,” Isis recalled, “although it was words and trickery that got us all past the problems I caused during “Living Legend.”
“Don’t take all the credit for that,” Ina laughed. “Lugh was at least as guilty. Words did not get us past the crisis during our first season in the Celestial League either.”
“I could argue they did,” Enki told her.
“Grandfather, you could argue nearly anything, but that would not make it so,” Ina laughed.
“We came through the events of that season because we had Hawk’s guidance,” Ninti told them. “But it was not words but actions that got us through.”
“We lost that last series with the gods of Baseball,” Ina remembered.
“That depends on how you look at it,” Ninti smiled. “We lost the game, but won their respect. That is what that crisis was all about. The newly emerged gods of Baseball needed proof that we respected the game. When we proved that we did, the crisis was averted.”
“So,” Mike summed it up, “each of these crises were unique and were handled in a unique manner. Is that what we’re trying to agree on?”
“It is,” Dee nodded, “I could generalize it in another way as well. Each time the solution depended on the nature of our adversaries. If we can determine that now, we will know how to act.”
Enki and Dee traveled up the new Tree with Tanise the next morning to the observatory Enki had once created. Evrona and Amy stood on the snow-covered ground watching them climb up with the dryad’s guidance. “Sure wish I could have gone with them.” Amy sighed. She and Evrona were standing at the edge of a small clear pond next to which the Tree grew. In warmer weather, the water from the pond emptied over a cliff and into another pond below. In the middle of the winter, both ponds were frozen over.
“Me too,” Evrona agreed.
“Sparrow, you can come with me,” Jael told her from behind. “Amy, unless you’ve learned to grow wings, float on a breeze or just defy gravity while I wasn’t looking, you’ll need Ash’s flying carpet.”
“It got stored up in one of the attics in the mead hall,” Amy replied. “You two can go, I should probably help Ash anyway.”
“Well, okay,” Jael shrugged, “but I think we ought to keep that where it can be reached in a hurry.”
“Why?” Amy asked.
“Just on general principles,” Jael told her. “It’s a very useful item and the time may come when we need it in a hurry.”
“I’ll see if I can find it,” Amy promised.
“Good,” Jael replied.
“You just don’t like magic going to waste,” Rona remarked.
“Well, I hate seeing something like that going to waste,” Jael admitted. “Storing a flying carpet in the attic is almost as wrong as using it for a throw rug.”
“If it was a throw rug,” Evrona pointed out, “it would probably have been easy to find.”
“I suppose,” Jael sighed. “Well, follow me.” Jael instantly sprouted a pair of large black, bat-like wings, through the slits in her shirt and with a few quick flaps she was airborne and ascending rapidly. Evrona, who had been appropriately dressed for the weather, started to remove her coat and then remembered Dee’s alterations. In another moment, the erinys was chasing after her mentor.
Evrona had expected Jael to lead her through a maze of branches, but instead she stayed outside the tree, circling it as she rose ever higher. Evrona heard a basso twitter from the branches of the Tree and looking to her left she saw a tremendous robin sitting on the branch, She waved hello at the bird and it seemed to nod in recognition. The protective creatures on the new Tree did not talk as their counterparts did on Yggdrasil, although they did understand speech. According to Dee, that may have been because the New World was still too young and had not yet evolved sentient creatures capable of speech themselves. She was certain that once the World had progressed to that stage, all the denizens of the Tree would probably speak.
Evrona remembered there was a female robin in the tree of similar size on the Tree as well as a pair of mated cardinals. So far the robins had had chicks twice and both times the babies had flown off on reaching maturity, although none of them had been seen in the outer world as yet. There was also a large black-furred squirrel a little smaller than Ratatosk and whom Ratatosk had been courting in recent years, but while the two squirrels spent a lot of time together, Tanise had made it known that “Ratty” would keep his paws to himself until the younger squirrel came of age.
Evrona looked down to see Eddy’s home with the large mead hall and the path leading up to the great Tree. Then she circled around to see the ponds and realized their circles were getting smaller and the view made her just a bit dizzy. “Where are we going, Jael?” Evrona asked.
“To the very top,” Jael shouted back.
“That’s not where the observatory to the other world is,” Evrona pointed out.
“I know,” Jael told her, and then surged ahead so conversation was not practical. A few minutes later they were level with the broad top of the new Tree and Jael flew to the center and finally landed. “Hello, youngster,” Jael greeted the Tree.
As always, Evrona heard no response in return, but as she landed she did feel that the Tree was welcoming them both. “Yes, dear,” Evrona crooned. “It’s nice to see you too. So Jael, why are we here?”
“For the view, of course,” Jael chuckled.
In a deft imitation of her mentor, Evrona replied, “Hmm? Oh yes, I can see my house from up here.”
“Sparrow, you really are spending too much time with me,” Jael told her. “Seriously, we are here for the view. We can’t see into the old world from here, but we can see everything in this universe, just like at the top of Yggdrasil.”
“That’s where Dee brought me yesterday,” Evrona admitted.
“I’ve been meaning to do that,” Jael told her.
“When do we ever have time to just go sight-seeing when we’re working together?” Evrona asked.
“Not too often,” Jael admitted.
“But we should,” Rona added. “Just like you and Amy took the scenic route up to Killington last fall. Sometimes you just have to stop and look around.”
“Looking around here,” Evrona nodded, “but what are we looking for?”
“The same as you saw on Yggdrasil,” Jael told her. “Clouds.”
“Nothing of the sort here,” Evrona replied without even looking.
“How can you be so sure?” Jael asked suspiciously.
“I could feel the wrongness yesterday, Jael,” Evrona told her. “There’s nothing wrong here, though. Not now in any case.”
“What about that?” Jael asked pointing off to the east.
Evrona glanced and saw a white, fluffy cumulus cloud just above eye level. “No, that’s just a cloud,” she replied. “A normal one, like you get rain out of. There’s nothing wrong with that. Jael, the clouds we saw from Yggdrasil were a sort of greasy gray in color and looked almost like tentacles and they felt… wrong. They were also low against the ground and blocking our view. There’s no comparison.”
“And those down there?” Jael pointed to the north. “They block our view, don’t they?”
“They do, but not for long,” Evrona replied. “They’re normal clouds too. It’s probably normal to have small sections of the world hidden that way, but there is nothing wrong there. You can feel it, when it’s there.”
“Even me, you mean?” Jael chuckled. “Ah well, it was a long shot anyway, Sparrow. It would have meant that whatever was up there was moving around here too, but this really is a different world and what happens in one probably is not going to happen in the other.”
“It was a nice morning to fly though,” Evrona told her.
They flew back down slowly, taking the time to glide and feel the air and found Dee, Enki and Tanise just returning as well. “Find anything?” Jael asked.
“Nothing we did not already know,” Dee remarked.
“I felt the disturbance on the other world,” Tanise reported. “Now that I know what it is, I know I’ve been feeling it for weeks, but it did not really involve me so it was a distant feeling and not urgent enough to investigate. In fact I thought it was just the fall season getting to me.”
“Does it feel that way every year as you struggle to stay awake for the winter?” Jael asked.
“It feels different every year, Jael,” Tanise replied, “but I should have known this wasn’t the same.”
“Not necessarily,” Enki told her. “This was something new for you and also nothing that concerned you directly. I think it’s amazing you detected it at all.”
“Were you able to see the clouds through the observatory?” Evrona asked.
“We did,” Dee nodded, “but there are far fewer now and they are dissipating. It might just be this was another near crisis that never came to fruition. I would still like to know what caused them, though.”
Marcus Steele and Hawk Wilton arrived later that morning and the crowd enjoyed Christmas together, but they spent a lot of time discussing the ramifications of the clouds around Yggdrasil and after a meeting that lasted deep into Christmas night, Dee and Enki left, promising to be back by New Year’s Eve and earlier if they could.
Ina and Mike decided to spend a few days in Boston, visiting museums and, in general, just enjoying each other’s company and the rest settled down to getting the mead hall ready for visitors. Amy and Evrona, however, still had time to make good on their promises to spend more time with Tanise, although rather than exploring the world still more as had been their intention, Amy took it into her head to see if they could discover the cause of the recent disturbances that the clouds represented.
This turned out to be not only difficult, but impossible. By the end of the next day all traces of the clouds had vanished and neither Tanise nor Evrona could detect them or, in fact any wrongness in either world that was out of the ordinary. This did not prevent them from discussing it constantly with whomever they could find until Ash decided that they were becoming obsessed over a situation that might no longer exist. The ancient goddess put them to work cleaning out the lofts in the mead hall which involved not only the usual sweeping, but laundering sheets and making the beds their company might be using up there.
“For company that never sleeps,” Evrona commented as she spread a large fitted sheet over one of the mattresses, “I honestly have no idea why they should need beds.”
“Truly, little erinys?” she heard Lizzie’s amused voice ask her.
Evrona turned around to see the Sphinx hovering by the loft’s balcony. Lizzie stretched out her forepaws, clutched the rail and drew herself in to perch there. “Hi, Lizzie!” Evrona greeted her and added innocently, “What do you mean?”
“Beds are not only used for sleeping, little one,” Lizzie replied with a knowing grin.
Evrona stared at her for a moment, unable to figure out what her friend had been saying, and then comprehension dawned in Evrona’s mind. She looked at the sheet in her hand and then at the beds and muttered, “Eeew!”
“Oh it is not so bad as that little flyer,” Lizzie chuckled.
“Don’t let her kid you, Evie,” Amy remarked from the other side of the loft. “After several flagons of Thor’s mead even the gods need to take a nap. Lizzie, you have a dirty mind.”
“I was merely thinking about how children like to bounce on them,” Lizzie smirked.
“Right,” Amy responded sarcastically.
“Your grades arrived a few minutes ago,” Lizzie told them, tossing a pair of envelopes onto one of the beds, “and Tomislaw asked me to relay his request you finish making up the beds in the other loft.”
“Why does he need our help?” Amy asked, “Isn’t Tanise with him?”
“Tanise is in the kitchen with Asherah,” Lizzie replied, “and Jael has asked me to work with Tomislaw on a number of subjects. He did not do as well as she had hoped.”
“He failed?” Evrona asked worriedly.
“I should not tell you this,” Lizzie replied, “but no, he did not, but Jael is not satisfied with C’s either, so Tomislaw and I will be downstairs working with his biology text.”
“Why not get him some fruit for the Tree of Knowledge,” Evrona asked.
“We will do that too,” Lizzie replied, “but just a little so he can catch up. We want him to develop better study habits and merely knowing he can bite into an apple is not going to do that. Knowledge does not always bring wisdom, you know.”
“I know,” Evrona nodded. “Knowledge brings you the ability to build a better weapon. Wisdom teaches you when not to use it.”
“Well said, young erinys,” Lizzie commended her. “Is this what you learn in college?”
“I heard or read that somewhere,” Evrona admitted, “but I am not sure where.”
“It is quite profound,” Lizzie nodded. “I wonder if there is a riddle somewhere within.”
Evrona merely shrugged while Amy replied, “Tell Tommy we’ll finish the other side.”
“I will,” Lizzie nodded and then turned around on her perch and leaped across to the other balcony.
When Evrona and Amy were finished in the lofts, then went back downstairs and found Asherah and Tanise enjoying cups of tea. “Join us?” Ash invited them. They were just finished when Enki and Dee returned. Ratatosk was with them.
“Is Eddy here?” Dee asked after the usual greetings, “or Jael, Rona or Ina?”
“Eddy went into Fairhaven about two hours ago,” Ash told her. “Ina and Mike are still in Boston. I’m not sure where Jael is.”
“She and Marcus went for a walk on the beach,” Evrona supplied.
“It’s bit cold out to walk on the beach,” Dee remarked.
“That depends on which beach,” Enki commented. “Just because we’re in New England, there is no reason they might not have decided to stroll around Fiji.”
“Actually I think they went to one of this world’s beaches,” Amy supplied. “I found Ash’s carpet when we started straightening upstairs and Jael borrowed it immediately.”
“Well,” Evrona added, “she did stop for a cup of coffee.”
“Is there a problem?” Tanise asked, bringing them back to the subject.
“No, or at least nothing new,” Dee replied. “I just wanted his input.”
“Not going over this too many times might have helped too,” Ratatosk added as Ninti and Hawk joined them.
“Not really,” Dee disagreed. “I suspect I’ll be talking to a lot of others about these clouds. One or two more repetitions won’t hurt.”
“Are they back?” Amy asked.
“No,” Dee shook her head. “No more than normal.”
“Huh?” Amy grunted the question.
“As Evrona noted when she and I were first shown the clouds,” Dee responded. “There are always some clouds that can be seen from the branches of Yggdrasil. They do not all represent danger or menace. They really indicate areas of uncertainty. You can always see some of these uncertain clouds on the distant horizon.”
“Sure,” Ratatosk added. “They just mean you can’t always see into the future. I told you that myself.”
“You told me,” Dee replied. “You told Enki. The rest of us haven’t been told. Actually, this is something some of us already knew. We have all pondered the universe at some time and understand that without omniscience there is always something we do not know. The clouds we were concerned about were much closer to the Tree itself.”
“I don’t recall seeing any such clouds from my Tree,” Tanise pointed out.
“This world is too new,” Dee told her.”There is comparatively little uncertainty here. Later when intelligent life evolves such clouds will become more pronounced.”
“Are you saying that evolution is fixed?” Lizzie asked. “I’ll admit you know more of nature than I ever could, but I do recall reading that evolution was more random than that.”
“Evolution is random when allowed to progress without guidance,” Enki told her. “Many of us have interfered in its course from time to time.”
“Does that mean the Intelligent Design people have it right?” Amy cut in.
“What?” Ratatosk laughed. “You can really look at the world and think it was guided to the state it was in by an intelligent and intentional process? More like designed by children in a sandbox.”
“I resent that, Ratty,” Enki told him, although the grin on his face told another story.
“Fairly stupid and foolish children,” Ratatosk took the bait, “who squabbled with each other most of the time, destroying each other’s creations. Nothing intelligent about it.”
“Hold on, you two,” Dee stepped in before Enki and Ratatosk could truly get started. “Yes, we do occasionally meddle in the details, but we tend to allow the overall course of evolution to proceed on its own. Think of life as an art medium. We might occasionally carve a statue of marble, but the quarry that stone came out of is still there untouched. Most of us do not have the capacity to shape the entire Universe.”
“You don’t?” Evrona asked. “I mean, you’re Mother Nature, right?”
“I am,” Dee nodded, “but I don’t shape nature to my will. I could, but it would not always be the right thing to do. In general I create to preserve the balance of nature, not to send it in the direction of my choice.”
“You say you do not have ability to shape the entire Universe,” Amy pointed out, “but the Infinites do, don’t they?”
“So I believe,” Dee answered, “but that is another of the very long list of things they do not talk to us about.”
“Talking to an Infinite is more about listening than asking questions,” Evrona added.
“You’ve spoken to an Infinite?” Amy asked her friend, amazed.
“Not really,” Evrona admitted, “but I was there when Jael and Rona did a few times, mostly for the Celestial League. He told us where to go, but not always what the problem was or even who we should talk to. We were told exactly what we needed to know, but never any more than that, even if it seemed like we were being cast into the dark at the time.”
“Because He is omniscient,” Asherah told her, “He knows all, including how much you need to know to do your job. Leaving you with questions was also probably part of what you needed to do it right.”
“That sounds amazingly convoluted,” Amy remarked.
“Not if you know everything,” Asherah told her. “By the time you get done, the reasons are sometimes clear.”
“If you say so,” Amy shrugged.
“In any case,” Dee started up again, “the clouds we witnessed around Yggdrasil were not normal clouds, but they were not really all that unusual, save in their locations and area covered by them. They were there at times during the ‘Living Legend’ game show last year, for example and also while the Moirae were playing their little games before that.”
“What about during the year that Tanise’s Tree was growing up?” Amy asked.
“Especially then,” Dee told her, “and other times as well. But while we may not have always been aware of where the causes of uncertainty were during those incidents, we usually knew who or what was causing them. This time it’s a mystery to us all.”
“So something is going on out there,” Ratatosk summed up.
“That’s correct,” Dee replied.
“We don’t know what it is?” Ratatosk asked.
“No,” Dee shook her head.
“We don’t know who is behind it?” Ratatosk continued to ask.
“Where are you going with this, rodent?” Dee’s eyes hardened to twin green flames.
“Outside to see my girlfriend,” Ratatosk replied. “There’s only so much doubt and uncertainty I can take any day and this is exceeding this week’s quota.”
That signaled an end to the conversation for the time being and Evrona, Amy and Tanise started discussing how to spend the rest of the holiday. “I think Jael had a good idea,” Amy told the others. “We could go spend some time on the beach.”
“But it’s cold out there,” Evrona pointed out. “Colder than last year.”
“Yes, it’s a cold winter,” Tanise agreed. “We seem to have a two year cycle of sorts here with eight seasons; warm winter, spring, dry summer, fall, cold winter, spring, wet summer and then fall again. At least that’s how it has been so far. Of course, the differences between cold and warm winters as wet and dry summers are relative. It can still rain in a dry summer and snow in a warm winter.”
“Yes, but that only applies around the Tree,” Amy pointed out. “I guess that’s the climate we’re eventually going to get in the temperate zones. Once we get about twenty miles away, though, it’s all Jurassic out there and warm – summer, all year round.”
“There are also dinosaurs out there,” Evrona pointed out as Jael and Marcus entered the hall.
“Oh oh!” Jael laughed, dropping the rolled up carpet on the table. “What are you three cooking up?”
“Jael,” Amy requested, “Could we invite some of our classmates here for spring break?”
“What?” Jael asked, having been taken by surprise. “No, I heard you. Well, you should ask Eddy, of course, but I don’t see any reason why anyone from Proctor Hall should not be allowed here.”
“How about Kara and Tim?” Evrona asked. “They already know about us?”
“That’s a little more problematic,” Jael admitted. “It’s one thing to allow two mortals to know who you are back at school, but if we started letting them in through the front door, eventually someone is going to slip out that the gateway to a New World is in Hattamesett.”
“Not if we bring them in the back way,” Amy told her.
“March them through Yggdrasil?” Jael asked, thinking it over.
“Sure,” Amy replied. “We could tell them Granddad’s house is off-limits and let them have the mead hall as a dorm.”
“Well, that is a better idea than I was afraid you might have come up with,” Jael admitted.
“It sounds fairly well thought out to me,” Marcus added. “I think I’d have loved doing that back when I was in college.”
“Dear,” Rona told him, “You’d have loved it for the chance to see living dinos.”
“That’s paleontology, not archaeology,” Marcus commented, “but you’re right, I would.”
“Let me talk to Dee and Eddy about this,” Jael told them. “Maybe they can figure out why this is a bad idea.”
“Cool!” Amy said gleefully. “Jurassic beach party!”
Jael slapped her hand against her forehead and kept it there as she replied, “Just, please, no dressing the allosaurs in swim trunks. They wouldn’t like it. Hmm… We’ll have to figure out a way to keep the native beasties from trying to use you guys as a smorgasbord. As you’ve pointed out, it’s half-past the Jurassic out there.”
“And tropically warm,” Amy replied. “But I think we can handle them.”
“I was more worried about the poor defenseless dinosaurs,” Jael cracked wise, “but it does sound like fun and if you can bear the thought of chaperones…”
“That depends on the chaperones, now doesn’t it?” Amy hedged. “You, maybe?”
“It was my stupid idea,” Jael sighed, “so I suppose I should be part of it. Marcus here will be on break then too and I can probably talk Ina and Mike to join us.”
“Oh,” Amy nodded with relief. “I was worried you might tap Dee or Isis for that.”
“You don’t think Dee understands the nature of Spring Break?” Jael smirked. “I assure you She does!”
“That’s what I was afraid of,” Amy admitted.
“Don’t discount either Dee or Isis, kiddo,” Jael retorted. “They may seem serious-minded at times, but they both know how to cut loose and have a good time. If you haven’t noticed for yourselves, just watch at the party tomorrow night. That reminds me, I took the liberty of inviting some of your dorm mates.”
“Who?” Evrona asked. “We already invited Astra and Nerys.”
Jael merely smiled. “Oh, you may want to sit in on Lizzie’s session with Tommy this afternoon. I understand they’ll be reviewing philosophy in preparation for my class next semester.”
“I’ve already had philosophy back in my sophomore year,” Amy pointed out.
“Heh!” Jael chuckled. “Not the way Lizzie teaches it.”
A high pitched squeal slashed though the mead hall as the dryads Mina and Nina spotted Tanise working at the kitchen end with Asherah. The hall was still fairly empty with only two dozen gods having shown up so far, but it was early yet. The two dryads raced past Amy and Evrona with only a nod in their direction, leaving Georgi, now in his natural form as a satyr, in their wake. “Don’t mind them,” Georgi commented. “All they talked about on the way here was seeing Tanise again.”
“Well in a nymphish sense,” Amy replied, “she’s sort of their daughter. But I do wonder how they manage to study when at school.”
Georgi sighed. “They have to do something when all the mortal boys are asleep, I guess.”
“They tend to ignore you, don’t they?” Evrona commented.
“They tend to ignore everyone,” Amy laughed. “You probably ought to come on to them a little stronger. Either that or find a more serious-minded nymph.”
“Have you met many nymphs?” Georgi asked.
“Just those two and Tanise,” Amy replied.
“Well, in truth they have gotten a bad reputation for being shallow and bubble-headed,” Georgi replied, “but mostly because so many of them are. Mina and Nina are two of the most sensible ones I know, although I know mostly wood nymphs. I’m told mountain nymphs are a more sober lot and water nymphs are even more varied.” He sighed and Amy realized that the satyr was smitten by only Mina and Nina. That was sort of a shame as she thought he might be a good match with Tanise, who really was more like him than the other two.
“In here?” a male voice asked suspiciously from the door way. They turned to see Astra enter with Ephrael pausing to look inside first.
“Of course in here,” Astra told him just as Amy and Evrona called out their own greetings and rushed to meet them. Georgi glanced once more toward the other end of the hall and then trotted over to greet his classmates. “Hi, girls!” Astra greeted them, “I love this, it’s so charmingly rustic.” She greeted the satyr happily too.
“Thor designed it and built a lot of it too,” Amy replied. “The Scandinavian design doesn’t really go with the house, but you forget that once you get inside. Hi, Ephrael. Glad you could join us tonight.”
The male angel looked at her suspiciously as though trying to figure out what she really meant by that. “Uh, thanks,” he replied at last. “This is the New World, is it?”
“What small bit passes for the divine plane at the moment,” Evrona explained. “We expect it to expand and achieve a degree of separation from the Mortal Realm when intelligent life develops, but right now you can get from here to the outside world by walking or riding.”
“Meanwhile the rest of our neighbors are dinosaurs and their kin,” Amy added. “That reminds me. We were going to invite everyone here for Spring Break. There’s a really nice beach to the south of here and we’ll have it all to ourselves.”
“Sounds nice,” Astra nodded.
“Better shift to mortal guise, Syl,” they heard Xandros say from just outside. “The angels might have fit through that door, but we won’t.”
Just then there was a strange, but identifiably draconic shriek from outside and the students all rushed to investigate. High up in the Tree, they heard a loud grunt and sound of something bouncing off the branches. Then there was another high shriek and several branches vibrated violently. Finally a long serpentine body shot out from the tree and unfurled her wings with a triumphant roar mixed with fire that lit up the darkening sky.
The dragon swooped down and landed just as she shifted into her human guise. “Hi, Nerys!” Evrona and Amy greeted her.
Nerys was about to say something but Ratatosk called down from the tree first, “Hey! Learn to fly, ya over-grown lizard!” Nerys blushed with embarrassment and several of the others laughed.
“I fell off the branch,” Nerys admitted. “The corresponding one on Yggdrasil was much wider, you know?”
“I’ve noticed,” Evrona told her. “It’s why we usually come in the front way. I didn’t think you even knew the back way in. It’s not exactly a secret, but we don’t go out of our way to advertize it.”
“Why not?” Nerys asked.
“It’s a hold-over from the year during which the tree was growing up,” Amy explained. “We knew we were under siege from everyone who wanted to possess the tree and Dee thought there should be a way in directly from Yggdrasil…”
“Why,” Ephrael asked belligerently. Everyone turned to look at him and his tone softened. “I mean why should it have necessarily followed that there should be a way in other than through the front door of Mister Salem’s home?”
“I don’t know,” Amy admitted. “There are other universes centered around the children of Yggdrasil. Perhaps they are linked to their parent as well.”
“Not that I’ve heard,” Ephrael retorted.
“And how much do you know of those worlds?” Silvija demanded. “How much do any of us know? I don’t recall ever hearing of anyone who had been to them.”
“Most never actually formed,” Georgi told his classmates. “The sapling Trees were destroyed in the struggle to possess them. Of the few that survived, one ascended without a deity in possession. The world associated with it is said to be strange and alien, but its entrance is a well-kept secret as are those of another two . The primary deities of those worlds have done their best to keep all others from knowing where they are. It is rumored there were several others, but they collapsed in on themselves and are no longer accessible from our universe.”
“So this one is truly unique,” Xandros remarked, “in that it is Earthlike, accessible and known to many.”
“That’s about the size of it,” Georgi shrugged.
“Well, I like having company,” Tanise told them as she stepped outside to join them. “If this world were closed off or secret, I would probably get very lonely. Hi, everyone, I’m Tanise and that is my Tree.”
While she was being introduced, Lars arrived and was soon followed by Johann and Inga. Eventually, Evrona suggested that they go indoors where it was much warmer.
After another half an hour, the mead hall was filled with various deities and mythological creatures all laughing, chatting, dancing and especially drinking. The students took over a table near the kitchen and spent much of the night discussing the upcoming semester and the plan to spend Spring Break in the New World. When the dancing started up, Lizzie took it on herself to lead them through a number of dances, but most of the students were not all that interested in dancing and only did so to be polite. Most stopped as soon as they could and went back to their table to plot their next vacation.
An exception to that was Evrona who spent the better part of an hour dancing with the Sphinx. She and Lizzie had danced together before and had found a way to do so in their natural forms. “Lizzie,” Evrona asked, “Are you able to assume the guise of a human?”
“Of course I can,” Lizzie replied. “At one time it was my favorite way to hunt. But after a century or two I grew tired of that. I rarely do so these days.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know,” Lizzie replied. “I just don’t. Why is this important to you?”
“It isn’t important,” Evrona admitted. “I was just curious is all. My classmates and I have been in guise all semester and I, well, I don’t really like my true form, but I guess it all made me wonder about others.”
“Yes,” Lizzie nodded. “Most of the so-called fantastic creatures can assume a guise if they are sentient. It separates us from the animals. But being able to do something and making it a habit are not the same, you realize. Unlike you, I am very comfortable in my natural form.”
“So you wouldn’t try to look human?” Evrona pressed.
“Oh, I would not go that far, my little flyer,” Lizzie chuckled. “There could be times looking human might be appropriate. There is little I need from the cities because I hunt for my food, or I do when I am not here. So I don’t go into the cities, but if I did, it would be most sensible to blend in. Humans get upset when monsters start walking down the street.”
“You’re not a monster,” Evrona told her.
“Thank you,” Lizzie replied simply, “but I did not mean to say I was evil, just non-human and not natural. We should be dancing more.”
The other exceptions were Georgi who had managed to build up his courage enough to ask both Mina and Nina to dance with him at once. Amy blushed furiously when she caught sight of the trio dancing together. Their dance was suggestively erotic and it put Amy in mind of various courtship dances performed by birds and animals. When the dance music ended shortly before midnight, the two dryads giggled and dragged Georgi up to the loft area.
Most of the guests went home after midnight, but the students all stayed and the next day they spent first helping to clean up the hall and then looking around the immediate area around Tanise’s Tree while the adults sat in Eddy’s living room as they often did after a party, just watching movies. Two days later it was time for school again.
“So what classes did you get?” Silvija asked Evrona.
“I’m taking Introduction to Philosophy with Jael,” Evrona replied, “and the second semester of Life Studies. I’m still not used to posing without my clothes on, but since everyone else has to too, it’s not so bad.”
“Ooh. I have Jael’s class too,” Sivija remarked. “I hear she’s really a tough teacher though. I’m glad we can compare notes. Do you think she might give you some hints as to what will be on her exams?”
“I doubt it,” Evrona laughed. “She’s more likely to give hints to you than to me.”
“I thought you were her protégée,” Silvija remarked.
“I am,” Evrona nodded, “and that’s why. She expects me to do better than anyone else. I hope I don’t disappoint her.”
“I doubt you can do that,” Silvija laughed. “You got straight A’s last semester.”
“Not in gym,” Evrona denied.
“That was pass-fail,” Silvija reminded her, “and all you had to do there was show up and try. So what else do you have?”
“Ancient Religions,” Evrona told her, “Physical Anthropology and Advanced Creative Writing.”
“Oh you have the bug, do you?” Silvija teased.
“I liked the first semester,” Evrona admitted. “Amy and I made a good team, but I’m on my own this time. We do have Physical Anthropology together though.”
“And Gym,” Silvija pointed out. “We all have Gym together. Well, I have Music Theory 2, Astra does too, and I’m trying Cosmology. The beginnings of the Universe fascinate me.”
“You need to take some religion classes too then,” Evrona pointed out.
“I’ve had those in my earlier schooling,” Silvija admitted. “I’m more interested in the Creation on the Mortal level, than the Divine.”
“Why?” Evrona asked.
“On the Divine plain the Universe was created in many ways at many times,” Silvija explained. “Not only that, but there’s no uncertainty about it on the Divine Plain. Every creation myth is true and valid even when they are in conflict with each other, but in the Mortal Realm, the Universe was only created once and the details are still being discovered and debated. That’s far more interesting than comparing creation myths.”
“If you say so,” Evrona replied, “but I like the ancient stories too.”
Classes began as usual, but on the first weekend everything halted for the next intercollegiate event, the annual swimming meet. “Tell me again why this is supposed to interest me?” Ephrael asked, stubbornly refusing to spend the weekend in Brandon. “We aren’t allowed to compete so what’s in it for us?”
“A remarkably selfish opinion for an angel,” Amy remarked sourly. “No, we can’t compete. So what? We should be there to cheer our schoolmates on and there will be a big party there tonight too.”
“I don’t have time for parties,” Ephrael told her.
“You weren’t exactly Dean’s List material,” Jael commented as they sat in the Proctor Hall common room, “but you can’t be all that far behind after only one week. Still, far be it from me to force you to go. Anyone who wants to stay here may do so.”
“Suits me,” Ephrael replied as he got up and returned to his suite. Several other students did likewise until only a dozen were left.
“I guess we won’t need a big bus,” Jael noted, “Although I don’t know how many are coming from Wheeler House.”
“There were about as many of them as there were of us at the Scholastithon,” Astra recalled.
“My only complaint,” Amy remarked, “is that none of us are allowed to compete.”
“I thought we had been over that,” Jael replied. “Your divine abilities would give you an unfair advantage over the other students.”
“What divine abilities?” Amy asked as she had before. “I’m not sure what my divine attributes might turn out to be, but I seriously doubt I’ll be a goddess of the sea or even a fair-sized lake. I’m not likely to be a goddess of athletic competitions either.”
“You never know, kiddo,” Jael told her. “Stranger things have been known to happen. A god can go through many changes over the millennia. You get passed from one culture to another, attributes get added or taken away. You can control the process to a point, but mortals will believe what they want to in the end and whatever that is, you have to fit the mold, at least while they’re watching. Don’t worry about that, though. It’s a long way off, but there‘s always a chance you’ll bloom in the middle of a competition.”
“Not very likely,” Amy shook her head.
“I’m just as glad I can’t compete,” Evrona remarked. “I can’t even swim.”
“I keep meaning to do something about that,” Amy remarked. “Maybe at the beach party.”
“You can’t?” Astra asked.
“Haven’t I told you guys this?” Evrona replied. “Oh, maybe that was in art class. Anyway the Plain of Dis is a desert. We don’t even have pools of brimstone.”
“Just smells like it,” Tomislaw added.
“Oh,” Amy replied. “Glad I never got to any of the Celestial League games there then.”
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that,” Jael laughed. “They keep the air in the Earthdome sweet and clean and comfortably conditioned, just as it is in Hell’s administrative offices.”
“I still find the offices a bit chilly,” Evrona pointed out.
“You’re still a country girl at heart, Sparrow,” Jael replied with a gentle chuckle. “You grew up in the natural conditions down there. You seem to be okay with temperatures in the Mortal Realm, though.”
“It’s different,” Evrona replied. “Why? Where did you grow up?”
“My first few years were spent in Azazelville,” Jael explained. “It’s only a regional administrative center, but it qualifies as a small city. We didn’t have the modern conveniences like the kids do today, but there’s still a difference between growing up in a city and in the country, even back during the Middle Ages.”
“Is that why you were so comfortable in a mortal university?” Astra asked.
“What makes you think I was comfortable there?” Jael countered. “Oh, I loved the classes and being able to immerse myself in my studies, but you have to remember I was pretending to be a boy. Only it was about that time I discovered I liked boys. I got along with my classmates well enough, but I didn’t dare go out to the taverns with them most of the time as that almost inevitably led to other activities that didn’t appeal to me but which made me seem odd when I didn’t join in.”
“Such as” Astra asked innocently, forcing Jael to spell it out.
“Sex, dear,” Jael told her. “Many nights the drinking was just so the guys would get in the mood to get it on with the barmaids or the other ladies whose affections were available for rent. It didn’t take long for anyone to realize I wasn’t joining in with that.”
“And no one in the class was gay?” Amy asked.
“A few, just as in any mixed group, I should think,” Jael shrugged. “But while I might have looked like a guy, it’s only because I cut my hair short and dressed the part. Adapting a cross-gender guise is very difficult and not something I was ever interested in mastering. So in the end, I tended to be fairly lonely in Salerno. I got along well with the professors, though, especially the older ones, and if I seemed a bit nerdish, well, that was because I was a nerd.”
“Well,” commented Johann, “I’m just as glad there will be more to do in Brandon than watch the watersports.
“Yes,” Inga nodded. “Last fall I saw some nice shops up there but we didn’t have the time to go into town. Now we can go shopping.”
Johann did not look happy at the prospect. As Inga’s boyfriend he would be obliged to do at least some of that shopping with her unless he could make sure she had other companions. “So are all you girls going shopping together?” he asked hopefully.
“I’m interesting in the competitions, really,” Evrona admitted. “Some of them, anyway. Kara is swimming in the five hundred and one thousand meter Freestyle and some of the relays. I think we ought to be there to cheer her on. Maybe between or after her races depending on the schedule.”
“I don’t really need anything,” Astra added. Amy just shrugged when Johann looked at her imploringly.
“Inga, go easy on him,” Jael advised, “or at least let him check out a hardware store while you’re looking for shoes.” Johann brightened a bit at the prospect.
“Evie! Up here!” a young man’s voice called to her.
Evrona turned to look. “Kisho! Kiyoko! Hi! Come on,” she urged her friends, “Let’s sit with them.”
“Aren’t we supposed to sit in the visitors’ section?” Amy wondered.
“Which section is that?” Astra asked. “It looks like Douglas supporters are pretty much spread all around.”
“So they are,” Amy admitted. “Hi Kiyoko, Kisho! I’m surprised you aren’t on the Douglas team. You both kind of look like swimmers.”
“We both love the water,” Kiyoko admitted, “but our dean advised us not to compete. She was concerned that we might, uh, as scholarship students she felt we shouldn’t take that much time off from our studies.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” Silvija admitted. “I’m on scholarship too, I guess most of us are.”
“True,” Evrona nodded, quickly adding, “and we were advised not to compete in this meet too. But we came to cheer for our friends.”
“There’s more going on than just the swim meet, you know,” Kisho told her. “Some friends of ours would like to play basketball this afternoon. Are you interested?”
“I’m up for it,” Amy told him.
“I’ve only played a couple of games in gym class,” Evrona admitted.
“You were pretty good for a beginner” Amy told her. “I think Tommy, Lars and Johann might be interested.”
“Johann especially,” Silvija laughed. “If Inga gets done shopping before then.”
“I’m fairly new to the game too,” Kisho told Evrona. “We’re just looking to have fun.”
“Well, so long as we can see Kara swim,” Evrona told him. “She’s a good friend of ours and it would feel wrong if we weren’t here for her.”
“What events is she in?” Kiyoko asked, checking a schedule. Evrona told her. “No problem then, her short race is in a few minutes and the relay is scheduled an hour later. After that she won’t be on until tomorrow after lunch. We’ll have most of the afternoon.”
Kara won her first race by a close margin and one of her teammates came in third. It was a good start to the swim meet for Sherburne College, but the next two races were won entirely by Douglas, putting the home team ahead. Sherburne was only trailing by a few points, however, when Kara’s relay team won another victory, evening up the score. Sherburne swept the next two events, leaving them with a comfortable lead when Amy, Evrona and their friends went off to their impromptu basketball game.
Several Douglas students were waiting for them at the basketball court upstairs from where the meet was being held. “These are our friends,” Kisho began the introductions. “Hota, from Bismark.”
Hota was a tall young man with a broad nose who had been dribbling the basketball as the Sherburne students had entered. He tucked it under his left arm as he started shaking hands all around. “Actually I’m from about fifty miles north of Bismark, but no one has ever heard of my home town, so saying Bismark is easier. This, by the way,” he added nodding toward a shorter fellow, “is Minh, from Hanoi.”
“Not hardly,” Minh laughed. “Actually I’m from Bien Hoa, but it’s kind of like Hota’s Coleharbor. If you don’t live around there you might not of heard about it. And this is the fifth member of our team,” he indicated an athletically slim young woman with her dark hair tied back and still of an impressive length down her back.
“Maruata,” she introduced herself. “I am from Moorea in French Polynesia. Some of our other classmates may join us later, but they were being shy, I fear. So many of us come from far away, you see, and we tend to clump together.”
“I know!” Amy chuckled. “Of the lot of us I’m the closest to a local girl. I’m originally from Anchorage, but these days I call Massachusetts home. Silvija and Xandros are from Macedonia, Georgi is from Turkey… Oh! And here come Inga and Johann. They’re from Svalbord.”
“Svalbord?” Minh asked curiously. “Where’s that?”
“We’re an island group about midway between the North Pole and the rest of Norway,” Inga replied, sounding all the world like the travel brochure she had memorized the information from. “Well, we’re officially part of Norway, but there are settlements from Poland and Russia too, mostly for research or mining. It was nice to be able to come south for the winter,” she added a line Jael had coached her to say.
“Although we are missing the annual Jazz festival,” Johann added, “and it seems strange to see the sun at all this time of year.”
This led to a heated, but friendly debate over the virtues of living on an island as opposed to the mainland for which Evrona was relieved she would not have to recite her own or Tomislaw’s stories. It was technically true that they were from Hattamesett these days, but it still felt like lying. If Evrona had trouble getting through her own cover story, Astra’s set speech about being from Paradise, California was an even thinner cover and her monologue about Northern California and “Johnny Appleseed Days” even more obviously cropped from a brochure.
But while Astra might have had as much trouble lying as Evrona, Lars had no trouble going on for hours about his “boyhood in Copenhagen.” He was able to shrug off mentions of various landmarks like the Mermaid Statue or the Amalienborg Royal Castle as well as any native, accustomed to seeing them as a matter of course might.
Once the debate was over, with the islanders ganging up on the “landlubbers,” they got down to the game. Amy, Evrona, Tomislaw, Lars and Xandros made up the first team, but they played to 21 points rather than for a set time to allow the Sherburne students to all have a shot and in the third game it turned out that Johann, Tomislaw, Lars and Silvija made a strong enough team to compensate for Astra’s klutziness with the ball. After five games, the Douglas students had won three and everyone was ready for a break.
They chatted for a while in the stands, mostly comparing classes and teachers until they noticed a crowd coming up from the swim meet. “Oh, there you guys are!” Kara called as she and Tim stuck their heads in through the doorway. “Couldn’t take much more swimming, huh? I’d have ducked out too if Coach Terpsichore hadn’t insisted the entire team stay on.”
“Well we didn’t leave until you were done,” Evrona told her. “How’s it going?”
“Pretty close so far,” Tim told her. “But Douglas is ahead by about ten points.”
“You Douglas guys have a really good team,” Kara added for the others while Amy handled the introductions.”
“Well, we still have a chance tomorrow,” Tim said loyally. “Anyway we’re on dinner break now. I know we can get a free dinner in the cafeteria, but we were thinking of getting something in town.”
“There’s a great pizza shop just a few blocks away,” Kiyoko told them. “And it’s a lot better than anything the cafeteria serves.”
“We ought to let Jael know where we’re going,” Evrona commented and pulled out her cell phone. “That’s odd. I’m getting her voice mailbox. Jael? It’s Sparrow. A bunch of us are going to have dinner in town. See you at the dance this evening. Bye.”
“Sparrow?” Kiyoko asked.
“It’s a long story,” Evrona replied, “but it’s a special name Jael has for me.”
“I’ll try calling Inann.. uh, Miss Loveall,” Amy replied. “Oh wait, there’s Doctor Fulden. Mike!”
“Hey, Amy,” Mike waved. “What are you guys up to?”
“Have you seen Jael?” Amy asked.
“She got a call from Dee about an hour ago,” Mike shrugged. “I guess something came up so I’m stuck trying to watch all of you.”
“Oh,” Amy replied. “Maybe we shouldn’t wander off then. We were all going into town for pizza.”
“Sounds good to me,” Mike told her. “I only wish I could join you, but it’s just Coach Terpsichore and me to be here for all the others. Amy, I think it’s safe to leave you in charge.”
“Me?” Amy asked, surprised.
“The eldest should be the most responsible,” Mike told her. “You have my number should anything come up, right?”
“I do, but that reminds me, what came up that Dee called Jael and Ina?” Amy asked.
“I didn’t get the details, but Dee asked them to join her on the Tree,” Mike replied.
“The Tree?” Amy asked. “Is it the clouds again?”
“Clouds?” Kisho asked. “It was bright and sunny out all day.”
“It’s probably nothing then,” Amy remarked unconvincingly especially to herself. “Well, if we’re going, let’s do so, although I need a shower after those games.”
“I never thought of that,” Kisho apologized. “We could use the locker rooms if you like?”
“My overnight bag is in the dorm,” Evrona pointed out. “Let’s swing by there, grab some quick showers, dress for the party tonight and then go grab a bite?”
They all agreed that was a better plan.
The shower stalls were larger than she was accustomed to at Sherburne and after assuring herself she had complete privacy from floor to ceiling, Evrona allowed her natural form to manifest for a few minutes so she could shower down completely for a change. She had forgotten how much noise was made when she shook the water out of her feathers and it startled her, but not as much as when she heard a similar sound coming from the next stall.
“Good idea, Evie,” Astra told her as they both stepped out, in mortal guise once again. “Do you think we could get the school to maybe replace the showers we have in Proctor Hall?”
“We could ask, I suppose,” Evrona considered. “I suspect we’ll get a lecture on the value of a dollar from Jael. Or wait, I know who to ask.”
“Who?” Astra asked.
“Mister Waters,” Evrona replied, using Enki’s alias, “or, better yet, Miss Therib, his assistant. She’ll understand.”
Astra whispered, “Does she have wings too?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” Evrona replied. “She’s old enough that several of her aspects could have, I suppose, but what I had in mind was her ability to empathize. Ninti is the one who first designed these blouses for our use, although it did take a while to convince her to make one for Kara.”
“Kara doesn’t fly,” Astra shook her head.
“Not the way we do,” Evrona agreed, “but she likes the way it looks.”
“Strange,” Astra remarked. “She knows why our tops have them, right?”
“She does now,” Evrona replied, “but even before she was trying to figure out where she might buy them. And the way Ninti is making them now with the flaps that cover the holes, it just looks like a unique style of tailoring.”
“Well, I think they feel different from normal blouses when we move in them,” Astra considered.
“I’m pretty sure it was just the look she liked,” Evrona smiled.
By the time they made it to the party that night it was already in full swing. Predictably, most of the students from Wheeler House were huddled together on one side of the floor, leaving the Douglas College students on the other. As before the faculty members were chatting with each other at one end but the only intercollegiate grouping was Amy’s and Evrona’s crowd. These few, however, formed a seed of social interaction and when their friends drifted over to greet them they were introduced to their counterparts from the other school so that by the end of the evening there were few groups who weren’t mixtures of both student bodies.
Jael and Ina did not show up until nearly the end of the evening. “You should have taken me with you,” Evrona told Jael accusingly.
“It wasn’t such a big deal, Sparrow,” Jael told her. “Nothing you haven’t seen before. Dee just wanted us to verify what she thought she was seeing.”
“And that was?” Evrona demanded.
“Evie,” Rona’s voice came out of Jael’s mouth. “There’s no need to take that tone. We were asked to come immediately and even had we been inclined to invite you along, you were nowhere in sight.”
“And if I had been?” Evrona asked.
“We still would have left you here,” Jael told her. “Dee told us not to let any students know we were leaving and that includes you. The only difference between what you saw and what we saw is that the clouds were growing when we got there.”
“Are they still growing?” Evrona asked, no longer sounding belligerent.
“No,” Jael shook her head. “They reached a certain size, probably about the same as last time or a little larger and leveled off. We have Vethrfolnir keeping an eye on them for now. The nice thing is we know when they started to appear and we’ll know when they start to recede.”
“If they don’t get bigger,” Evrona pointed out.
“Then we’ll know that too,” Jael told her. “I don’t think this batch of clouds are particularly dangerous or foreboding, not at the moment. Look, if you like you can come with me tomorrow afternoon when it’s my turn to check in there again, but I want you to concentrate on your studies. Don’t worry so much, Sparrow. If we need you, we’ll ask.”
Evrona did not like that answer very much, but short of following along against orders, there was not much she could do about it. Evrona’s upbringing had not been one that disposed her toward rebellion and, in fact, the thought of disobeying her mentor was not even considered, but it did not make her happy either. After a year of following Jael and Rona into all sorts of situations, it felt wrong to stay behind.
“You don’t have to take that, you know,” Amy told Evrona later that night in the room they shared. “Dee showed you how to get to Yggdrasil.”
“Jael said not to,” Evrona replied simply.
“So?” Amy asked. “What kind of demoness are you if you don’t disobey once in a while?”
“I’m not any kind of demoness,” Evrona replied. “I am an erinys.”
“You’re also a teenager,” Amy pointed out.
“What’s that got to do with it?” Evrona asked.
“I’m just saying we should go look for ourselves,” Amy told her.
“No,” Evrona told her firmly. “We shouldn’t. Jael is going to take me tomorrow on our way back. If you want to go too, ask her, but don’t expect me to take you there now.”
“Why not?” Amy insisted.
“Because it would be a violation of the trust Dee gave me in showing me how,” Evrona replied. “Because it would serve no useful purpose by doing it and because it would be wrong, Amy.”
“Okay, okay,” Amy told her. “You’re right, I guess. I just want to be involved too. Jael takes you all over the world. Me? I gotta stay home or at school. I never get to go on adventures.”
“I would have thought the whole incident of the Tree would have been enough for you,” Evrona pointed out.
“That was years ago,” Amy complained.
“Amy, how much mythology have you read?” Evrona asked.
“We got a lot of those old stories back in grade school,” Amy admitted. “Why?”
“What sort of people were the gods depicted as in those old stories?” Evrona pressed.
“Well, larger than life,” Amy replied.
“I suppose,” Evrona nodded. “What else? Were they nice people?”
“Not especially,” Amy noted. “I seem to recall most of them were pretty badly flawed; petty-minded, easily angered and fairly greedy.”
“In short pretty much just like humans only more so, right?” Evrona asked.
“I suppose so,” Amy replied.
“Don’t take my word for it,” Evrona told her. “Try asking someone who was there at the time like Dee or Ina or Enki. If you want a really unvarnished version of it all, talk to Ratatosk. I’m sure he could go on forever about it. The point is so many of them were basically children who never grew up; object lessons for mortals who could say to themselves, ‘The gods are mightier than us, but at least we’re better people.’”
“Well, okay,” Amy nodded, “so the power went to their heads. Is that what you’re saying?”
“What I’m saying,” Evrona replied, “is that the ones those stories are about never stopped to consider the consequences of their actions. All they wanted was to have their own way, always. It did not matter who they hurt. If they wanted it, they took it. Look at Zeus. Nothing in a skirt was safe from him and the usual way of escaping his tender attentions was to turn into some other sort of creature. That wasn’t fool-proof, of course, seeing as how he had a habit of turning himself into swans, bulls, showers of gold and anything else that occurred to him in order to have his way with whichever female had most recently caught his eye.
“My point,” Evrona went on, “is that none of them had any self-restraint and if you want the same sorts of stories told about you, all you have to do is pretty much the same. Think of yourself first and only do what you feel like doing.”
“You know I’m not like that,” Amy complained.
“I do know,” Evrona agreed, “but you know, eventually you’re going to discover your divine attributes and if you can’t control yourself now, how do you expect to do so when you can have everything you want to?”
“Hmm, okay,” Amy nodded. “I see what you mean.”
“And you’ll probably know what’s going on as soon as the rest of us do,” Evrona added, “assuming we ever figure it out. Not every mystery is solved in real life, you know.”
“Looks pretty much the same to me as last time,” Evrona told Jael at the top of Yggdrasil.
“I didn’t think there would be any obvious differences, Sparrow,” Jael chuckled.
“Too bad we couldn’t bring Amy,” Evrona commented. “She really wanted to come here.”
“I would have brought her,” Jael replied, “but walking takes hours to get here. Flying is the only way to do so in a reasonable amount of time. Still we should bring her and some of your classmates here one of these days. Call it a field trip.”
“Oh yeah, great idea,” Ratatosk told her. “And what should I stock the souvenir shop with? T-shirts and snow globes, perhaps?”
“That’s a start,” Rona commented, instantly manifesting. “Don’t forget the bumper stickers.”
“Good one, Rona,” Jael commended her reappearing again. “Ratty what are you going on about? What are you doing up here anyway. I expected to find Vethrfolnir.”
“He had to take a break and asked me to fill in,” the squirrel replied.
“Take a break?” Jael asked. “Doesn’t sound like the timeless guardian of the World Tree.”
“Well, okay it wasn’t a break,” Ratatosk admitted. “He had something to investigate.”
“That’s better,” Jael nodded. “Was it about the clouds?”
“What else?” Ratatosk retorted. “Anyway, what I was going on about was your half-baked notion about making Yggdrasil a tourist destination.”
“That wasn’t quite what I had in mind,” Jael told him. “But some of our students would benefit greatly from coming here and looking at the entirety of Creation.”
“Perhaps they would,” Ratatosk agreed, “but how well would Creation fare?”
“What do you mean?” Evrona asked.
“Who was it that said the act of observation changes that which is observed?” Ratatosk countered.
“Hugh Hefner,” Jael snapped. “Are you trying to say that the world can be changed merely by looking at it?”
“As a matter of fact,” Ratatosk replied, “yeah. That’s exactly what I’m telling you. The more you observe the world the more you change it. Why do you think the Tree is so picky about who is allowed on His branches. The chance to do damage exists anywhere on the Tree really, but up here the danger is especially high. You can change all Creation from here because you can see all Creation.”
“Ratty,” Jael replied, “I’ll admit there’s a small chance that might happen, but do you have any idea how much effort it would take to change the world?”
“I seem to remember hearing about butterfly wings causing hurricanes,” Ratatosk told him.
“Where’d you see that?” Jael asked. “It’s comic book-level physics meant to explain why we can’t predict the weather for more than a few days.”
“I thought it was an explanation of Chaos Theory,” Ratatosk shot back.
“No, just sloppy thinking,” Jael replied. “Look, I’ll grant that weather is caused by so many factors that only an Infinite could consider them all accurately, but the flapping of some unknown butterfly is not going to have any great effect since for any given butterfly influencing an effect that is highly dependant on initial conditions, another is likely to counter it. The whole Butterfly Effect notion is just a poetic example of how a very minor action could have far reaching effects. It’s a fine and imaginative notion, and it helps popularize the theory, but unless you can find a way to trace the beginning of that hurricane from the flap of a wing, it’s just another Schrödinger’s Cat, neither alive nor dead until you see it for yourself.”
“Schrödinger’s Cat?” Evrona asked.
“I’m going to cover that later in the semester, Sparrow,” Jael told her. “But it was a thought experiment by Ernest Schrödinger back in the Thirties to explain quantum mechanics. According to Schrödinger, the cat, placed in a certain sort of situation, but not immediately observable, might equally be alive or dead and according to quantum mechanics will be simultaneously alive and dead until you actually go and look at the cat. Once again, he was not honestly saying the cat really was both alive and dead simply because no one observed it, but to show a representative image of how the theory involved would work if it were true on the macro level. It was to make the theory understandable only and an excellent example of applied philosophy in physics.
“Well, we’re not accomplishing anything here,” Jael decided, “and debating the Observer Effect with Ratty here isn’t on today’s agenda. You have an Eight O’clock class as I recall, right?”
“With you,” Evrona admitted.
“Hmm, why did I ever let them schedule Intro. Philosophy for that time in the morning?” Jael asked no one in particular. “No one has their brains turned on yet!”
Jael, however, failed to show up in class that morning. Instead Isis stepped into the classroom. “Good morning, students,” she greeted them. “Doctor Steele will not be here today. I am filling in.”
Evrona waited until after class to ask, “Where is Jael? I just saw her last night.”
“Dee asked her and Ina to investigate,” Isis admitted after making sure the other students had left. “I wouldn’t even tell you this much, but I know you were there when Dee first saw the clouds.”
“But Jael and I looked at them last night,” Evrona protested. “There was nothing new.”
“Perhaps Dee had a new insight on them then,” Isis suggested. “I’m not sure, since she didn’t have the time to tell me either. I just know that she, Jael and Ina are out for the next day or so.”
“All three of them?” Evrona remarked. “Dee must think she’s on to something. Who’s filling in for Ina, though?”
“Asherah is, didn’t you know? She’ll be staying in Jael’s apartment in your dorm,” Isis told her.
“Haven’t seen her yet,” Evrona replied, “Well, I need to run. Ancient Religions next and Professor Hymnia doesn’t much like students who arrive late.”
It didn’t occur to her until later in the day that if Ash were staying in Proctor Hall, it meant Jael would be gone for days. “What’s up with you?” Kara asked Evrona as they left Advanced Creative Writing. Doctor Calliope had been discussing the novel form with them all afternoon and one of their projects would be to compose a plot outline for a novel. Finishing the novel would be optional, but several students dreamed of doing so during the semester.
Evrona told her about how Jael and the others had left the school suddenly. “That does sound mysterious,” Kara nodded, but then added a note of practicality, “but is there anything you can do about it?”
“I really just want to know what’s going on,” Evrona admitted.
“Yeah? I hear you,” Kara nodded. “But there’s not much either of us can do, is there? Remember what happened last fall when you accidentally slipped us off this world?”
“Well, Dee showed me how to get to the World Tree,” Evrona admitted. “If I had to get somewhere now, I could.”
“I think you’re just worried about your friend, Jael,” Kara observed. “She’s more than just one of your teachers. It’s obvious.”
“Well, yes, I suppose,” Evrona agreed uncertainly.
“There you are then,” Kara told her. “You know it will be a few days, right? Then don’t worry about it before the weekend. Hey, you want to work on this plot outline together?”
“Sure,” Evrona nodded. “I used to work with Amy, but she’s not taking writing this semester.
“Cool, I’ll come by Proctor this evening and we’ll brainstorm.”
Jael returned late Wednesday evening and found Evrona had been keeping a vigil in the dormitory common room. “Waiting up for me, Mom?” Jael asked lightly.
“Maybe I worry too much,” Evrona admitted.
Jael looked like she was about to say something, but instead she sat down next to Evrona. “Nice to know someone cares, Sparrow. But it’s like we discussed in Brandon; your most important job for the next few years is getting an education. And it will only hurt you if I drag you out of classes every time Dee or Enki gets nervous.”
“I realize that,” Evrona admitted, “but you left without saying, ‘Goodbye.’”
“Couldn’t be helped,” Jael explained. “I went to report what we had seen to Dee and left directly from her office. Dee had some clever ideas and instantly recruited Ina and me.”
“So what did you learn?” Evrona asked hopefully.
“Not a thing,” Jael replied. “The clouds were already half gone by the time we left and once again there were no reflections on the Mortal Realm that we could detect.”
“Is that normal?” Evrona asked.
“Nearly everything that happens on the Divine Plain is reflected here,” Jael replied, “It’s just that sometimes it’s such a minor incident we don’t notice it. Dee had us out investigating minor fluctuations in the stock markets of the world. If you want to know the truth, I didn’t learn anything I couldn’t have by watching television this past week or browsing web pages on the Internet.”
“Then why go at all?” Evrona asked.
“You don’t know until you look for yourself,” Jael shrugged. “So I spent a couple days in Tokyo – not as much fun as it sounds – Tahiti and Sydney. That last was just to get pizza on the way home, really. If I’d known you were waiting, I’d have brought some back. Well, I suppose I should sit back and plan this morning’s classes. Want to join me for coffee?”
“No thanks,” Evrona shook her head, although the coffee sounded like exactly what she wanted. “I ought to read another chapter of my Physical Anthropology text.”
“Okay,” Jael nodded. “See you in class.”
Enki showed up to conduct the next weekend seminar, “The Invention of Brewing.” This turned out to be the most popular class of the semester especially on Saturday night when Enki allowed participants to actually taste the various beers he had brought in. “I have made sure these are all non-alcoholic,” he told them, “but their flavor is absolutely authentic.
Some of the brews were not fit for modern tastes, especially the warm and lumpy foaming stuff they had to drink through a straw which Enki assured them was the way it was served in ancient Sumer.
Amy and Evrona privately doubted the beer was truly non-alcoholic, but since no one got drunk, that was difficult to prove. After that, classes continued and the next weekend was an open house in which high school students from nearby towns and cities were invited to tour the campus. Amy and Evrona instantly volunteered to serve as guides and together showed around a busload of students from Rutland High School. While doing so they crossed paths with Kara and Tim who were similarly escorting kids from Woodstock.
Finally on the fourth weekend, Proctor Hall got a chance to repay Wheeler’s hospitality and held a dorm party for the entire school. “Quite a blast,” Kara told Amy over the music. “Too bad Doctor Steele is watching the punch so closely though.”
“Well maybe just as well,” Amy replied. “Astra got very sick after your party and we had to carry her home.”
“And being sober doesn’t seem to have diminished her fun, does it?” Kara laughed, looking over to where Astra was dancing with one of the men from Wheeler House.
“Not one bit,” Amy agreed.
“There’s something strange about Mina and Nina, though,” Kara pointed at the dryads.
“Oh hell,” Amy swore.
“Why? What’s wrong?” Kara asked.
“Those bimbos are out of guise,” Amy told her sourly. “That something odd you see, is their air of divinity or whatever it’s supposed to be called. It doesn’t do much for women, but it drives the men wild and they darned well know it.”
“It’s sure driving Georgi wild,” Kara remarked.
“I’m sure that’s what they really have in what passes for their minds,” Amy replied. “They’ve been dating Georgi the last few weeks and now they’re trying to make him jealous. But they’ll more likely cause a riot in here if we don’t put an end to this. Jael should step in, but she’s on the phone, I think. Help me, please.”
Amy shoved her way through the crowd and with Kara’s help started dragging the nymphs out of the room. When Mina and Nina protested, Evrona and Nerys rushed forward to help finish the job, but Amy refused to talk about it until they were safely inside the elevator.
“What did you two think you were doing?” Amy demanded of the dryad sisters.
“Having fun,” Mina replied sulkily.
“And you spoiled it,” Nina accused.
“That’s not all I’m going to spoil if I catch you two out of guise again,” Amy warned them.
“Oh, what can you do, anyway?” Nina taunted her.
It was a cutting remark. Nina knew full well that Amy was still waiting to display any of the divine attributes she was expected to.
“I’ll turn you in to Jael,” Amy snarled at her. “And Jael will turn you over to Mother Nature. We’ll see how well she reacts to this. Rule One here is to never be caught out of guise and you both know it.”
“That’s our business,” Mina denied.
“Not when it affects everyone else in the house,” Kara told them.
“You’re mortal,” Mina told her flatly.
“You wouldn’t understand,” Nina added.
“Oh? You don’t think so?” Kara retorted. “Well I know you’re just taunting Georgi, which is pretty damned petty-minded when you think about how much he loves you both.”
“Of course he loves us,” Mina gloated.
“No!” Kara told them forcefully. “There’s no, ‘of course’ about it. There’s never an ‘of course.’ Now I know as dryads you two are supposedly ageless wonders, but being immortal does not give you the right to parade your immaturity. Grow up!”
“What she said, girls,” Ina told them sternly as the elevator doors opened. Amy realized then that in the heat of the moment she might have gotten the two nymphs into the elevator car, but had never actually pushed the button to go anywhere. “I’ll take it from here, ladies,” Ina assured them. “I think you two need a little time out,” she added to Mina and Nina, now put your guises back on and walk straight on into Jael’s and Rona’s apartment.”
“Yes, ma’am,” they chorused. Amy, Kara, Nerys and Evrona waited until the dryads were out of site before returning to the party.
“You know this isn’t the first such incident,” Kara told them. “Nerys, you were spotted in dragon form the other night.”
“I was?” Nerys asked, embarrassed.
“Yeah, by a couple of the kids, in Wheeler House,” Kara explained. “I take it you were out for a stroll of sorts?”
“I usually do that around One or Two A.M.,” Nerys replied.
“This is a college,” Kara laughed. “You think there’s no one else up at that time?”
“I didn’t think, period,” Nerys admitted. “I’ll have to be more careful in the future.”
“Well, no harm done, dear,” Kara assured Nerys. “They didn’t really believe what they saw and you weren’t clearly visible for more than a second, but repeated sightings might gain credibility, you know?”
“I know,” Nerys nodded soberly. “I’ve been warned. People hunt dragons.”
The two dryads reappeared just then, looking thoroughly chastened and obviously back in guise. “Jael says we owe you our thanks,” Mina told Amy and Kara.
“And our apologies,” Nina added.
It was neither a thank you nor an apology, really, but Amy and Kara chose to accept it as such. Amy shook her head, though. “The one you own an apology to is Georgi.”
“Oh, him,” Mina laughed. “We were just teasing, you know.”
“Oh, I know, but he doesn’t,” Amy retorted.
“Boys like that sort of thing,” Nina said almost plaintively.
“Not Georgi,” Amy told them. “He’s a lot more serious than the boys you’re used to. You two are just lucky he’s chasing after you and not Tanise. She really is more his type and if he ever realizes that, he won’t even care you’re alive, you know.”
“Tanise wouldn’t do that to us,” Mina replied, not sounding certain in the least.
“If you keep treating Georgi that way,” Kara butted in, “He’s fair game to Tanise.”
“He is?” the two dryads chorused. Amy nodded and they ran off to find the satyr.
“Who’s Tanise?” Kara asked.
“Another friend of ours,” Evrona explained.
“You can meet her if you come to my place for Spring Break,” Amy offered.
“Some friends have been trying to get me to fly down to Florida with them for Break,” Kara replied.
“Our Break will be a lot more interesting,” Amy promised, “and without the Girls Gone Wild camera crews.”
“Hattamesett doesn’t sound all that interesting to me,” Kara commented. “I’ll get frostbite if I try to get a tan.”
“Not on my beach,” Amy laughed. “Trust me. I told you about the New World? Well, it’s the middle of the Jurassic epoch there. Very warm and every day is a beach day.”
“With dinosaurs?” Kara asked, both fascinated and repelled.
“We have to promise to leave them alone,” Amy replied.
“Hmm,” Kara considered briefly. “Okay.”
“I don’t recall hearing about an annual volleyball tournament with Douglas last fall,” Astra commented when Jael announced it for the next weekend.
“Well, it’s not an annual event until you have two of them,” Jael retorted, and this will be the first, but the real news is that I’ve managed to convince Dee to let you guys, most of you anyway, compete.”
“Really?” Nerys asked eagerly.
“Yeah!” Lars’ voice could be heard over the others. There was also cheering from the corner where the demon boys were seated. Even Ephrael looked interested in a group activity for a change.
“None of you have superhuman strength while in mortal guise,” Jael told them, “and we do not think your stamina will make that much of a difference in the course of a one-day tournament. Anyway the school is allowed three teams of six and if any of you are interested in trying out, go to the gym this evening after dinner.”
Most of the Proctor Hall students were interested and the gymnasium was as full as Evrona had ever seen it when she and her friends arrived. Volleyball nets had been setup to fill the sports floor, and Coach Terpsichore quickly divided the interested students into teams, although she ended up with teams of nine in each court, rather than six, in order to allow everyone to play at once. As they played, she walked between the courts, calling out instructions and corrections to their game play. Every fifteen minutes she stopped them and mixed up the teams. Finally at the end of the evening she nodded and called out the names of eighteen students and another six alternates to fill in if needed.
Evrona knew even before the final decision that she would not make the cut. She enjoyed the games they were playing, but she saw she just did not have the talent some of the others displayed. Amy, however had been chosen to lead the first team on which Kara was also playing. Inga, Johann, Ephrael and Astra were all on the second team and Silvija and Xandros were named to the third team with Lars.
Tomislaw was named as the sixth alternate which bothered him deeply but Evrona pointed out, “I didn’t even make the cut, and neither did Ashtoth and Horeth,” she mentioned two of the other demons who had been trying out.
“But as sixth alternate I probably won’t even get a chance to play,” Tomislaw pointed out.
“Then you will be there for your team, Tomislaw,” she told him. “That’s the important part, you know.”
“Are they coming here this time,” Astra asked the coach as the other students started heading for the showers.
“No,” Terpsichore replied. “This weekend will be in Brandon again. We’ll host next year.”
“We were just in Brandon two weeks ago,” Astra remarked.
“We have five intercollegiate events this year,” Terpsichore pointed out. “One school had to host more than the other. The Spring Scholastithon will be here after Break.”
“That feels like a long way away,” Astra shook her head.
“By the time it gets here,” Terpichore laughed, “you’ll wonder where the time went. Go get showered, girl,” the muse added now that they were the only two left in the gym. “No one likes a sweaty angel.”
Gym classes were all volleyball that week and the three teams and the six alternates practiced every evening until it was time to leave once more for Brandon.
The Sherburne students were not enthusiastic in general about their chances in yet another athletic contest with Stephen A. Douglas College and so only a few who were not actually on the team boarded the bus with their friends. Evrona was the only one not on the team from Proctor Hall who opted to make the trip so without many schoolmates to sit with she found Kisho and Kiyoko once again and dragged Jael, who had come to wrangle students, over to meet them.
Jael barely had time to say hello, however when her cell phone went off. “You know I thought this song was funny when I loaded it up. It may be time to choose something else. Hello, Dee. Again? Well, that’s different at least. You do know I drew the straw for the trip to Brandon, right? Well, if you’re certain, sure I’ll handle it. Call you later. Bye.”
“Clouds again?” Evrona asked.
“Actually, no,” Jael shook her head and remembered they weren’t alone, “or at least there are no storm warnings. Mister Waters wants to see me for a bit and is going to meet me halfway is all. You enjoy the games.”
Evrona nodded, realizing it might have looked odd if she went tagging along after Jael just then. It was not until after Jael had left that she paused to wonder why, if Enki had wanted to see Jael, he had not called himself or have Ninti call on his behalf.
Both teams played hard, and in a final game which seemed to last forever, Amy’s team took first place. One of the Douglas teams, on which some of Kisho’s friends had been playing, came in second, but Astra’s team won third place, giving the meet to Sherburne; the first intercollegiate contest Sherburne had won in years.
“Congratulations,” Kiyoko told Evrona when the final buzzer sounded.
“Thanks,” Evrona replied. “I just wish more of the school would have turned out for this, but after the last few, I guess keeping up the school spirit is difficult.”
“The tournament didn’t take very long,” Kisho pointed out. “It’s still three hours until dinner.”
“There’s a crafts show in town,” Kiyoko told them. “Let’s go check it out.”
Not everyone was interested in the crafts show, but once they had showered, Amy, Tomislaw, Astra and Nerys joined them. Brandon had flourished in the Nineteenth Century when its mills, mining and manufacturing facilities were in full swing and perfectly located to be of vital importance to the growth of Vermont. Consequently there were still many fine homes and shops there and much of historical interest to visitors. Also the village afforded much in the way of recreation and arts to visitors.
“I’ve wanted to actually see the town,” Evrona told her friends, “but until now we’ve always been too busy when we visited. It’s a very pretty town, and so much closer to your school than most of Killington is to ours.”
“I like coming down here for lunch every so often,” Kiyoko admitted, “and the various arts shows are fun.”
“Any chance of getting a snack?” Tomislaw asked. “I missed lunch.”
“We could stop for ice cream,” Kisho suggested.
“Ice cream?” Amy laughed. “It’s snowing.”
“What’s that got to do with it?” both Kisho and Tomislaw asked.
They found an ice cream shop, although Amy opted for a cup of coffee and Evrona had tea while the others enjoyed their sundaes. After that they toured the crafts show which was part of the “Arts in the Snow” event, chatting most of the while. Amy spotted a silver bracelet she just had to have and Evrona found a pair of glasswork figures, one angel and one demoness that she later swore to Amy felt as though someone had seen Evrona with Jael and captured them in glass.
They weren’t the only students at the crafts show, however, and they were soon joined by some of Kisho’s and Kiyoko’s other friends from school until they seemed like a crowd pulsing from exhibit to exihibit.
It was a pleasant afternoon, but on their way back uphill to Douglas College, a car came down the hill at an alarming speed with its horn blaring and its wheel locked as it tried to stop on the slippery hill. A scream from the middle of the street caught Evrona’s attention and without thinking she ran pell-mell toward a pair of children who were frozen in terror at the sight of the approaching car. Still not going fast enough, she unconsciously shifted into her natural form, using her wings to help propel her forward.
Then, just before reaching the endangered children, Evrona heard the sound of rushing water and suddenly Kiyoko was by her side. Each woman picked up a child and rushed across the street and out of danger. Once there, Evrona looked back to see a rapidly freezing trail of water where Kiyoko had crossed.
“Um, wings,” Kiyoko whispered.
Under her dark glasses, Evrona’s eyes went wide as she realized what she had just done. Under her knit cap she felt the two green snakes moving around and trying to get out. “Are you an angel or something?” the little girl in her arms asked even as Evrona quickly reassumed her mortal guise.
“Something,” Evrona replied evasively.
“You’re bleeding. Are you okay?” the child asked
“Yes, I’m fine,” Evrona assured her, taking out a black handkerchief and drabbing off the blood from her cheeks. “Jael will just kill me later,” she added under her breath. “Hey now, you two be more careful, okay?” The children promised and rushed off.
“What are you?” Kiyoko asked Evrona.
“I could ask you the same,” Evrona told her. “How did you leave a trail of ice across the street?”
Kiyoko looked around. Their friends were crossing the street to join them. “Don’t tell anyone, please!” Kiyoko pleaded. “We’re not supposed to manifest in public, but I’m what my people would call a lake spirit.”
“Like a naiad?” Evrona asked.
“Except I really am Japanese and much younger than most spirits,” Kiyoko replied.
“Why are you much younger?” Evrona asked. “Wouldn’t you be the same age as your lake?”
“It’s an artificial lake,” Kiyoko admitted, “Only eighteen years old. How about you? With those bleeding eyes you look a bit like a demon.”
“I’m an erinys,” Evrona admitted. “A Fury, but I live in the New World now.”
“And the others?” Kiyoko asked.
“Hmm, maybe a public sidewalk isn’t the place to play, ‘I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,’” Evrona pointed out. “Let’s get back up to the school and find a private place there.”
By the time they got done comparing notes, it turned out that Kisho was another Japanese spirit although of a small canal. “So you really were invisible at that first social?” Evrona asked him.
“I was trying to be,” Kisho admitted. “It really shocked me when you saw me sitting there, but it turned out okay.”
“I just thought you were being naturally shy,” Evrona admitted. “Well, shy in a natural way I guess I saw through the enchantment. Erinyes do that fairly easily. I should have noticed the magic use too, but I wasn’t really looking for it either.”
“So wait a minute,” Amy broke in. “How many of you are divine?”
“Maybe a couple of dozen,” Kiyoko replied. “You remember Minh? He’s actually the patron of a new village in Vietnam, And Hota says he’s a Lakota god, but I think he’s kidding when he says he’s the god of Anglo schooling.”
“And Maruata too, I’ll bet,” Amy remarked.
“And others you haven’t met yet,” Kiyoko nodded. “And bunches at Sherburne we don’t know either, I’ll bet.”
“There are only about three dozen of us,” Astra pointed out.
“More than there are of us,” Kiyoko countered.
“We need to let Jael know about this,” Evrona decided, pulling out her phone. She dialed but only got to a voice mailbox. “I guess she’s still with Enki.”
“We can tell her later,” Amy decided.
However, Jael didn’t return before the bus arrived to take them back to Killington. Evrona exchanged phone numbers with Kiyoko and they promised to keep in touch, but Evrona’s mind was centered on reporting what they had found to Jael who did not get back to Proctor Hall until nearly Three in the morning.
“I am really starting to hate those clouds,” Jael remarked as she saw Evrona and the others in the common room. “Sorry I missed the victory, kids.”
“More clouds, Jael?” Evrona asked.
“Yeah,” Jael nodded. “That really wasn’t why Enki called for me, by the way, but while we were there, the clouds started thickening up again, apparently.”
“And then they thinned out later on, right?” Amy asked.
“However did you guess?” Jael asked sarcastically.
“We found out why,” Amy told her triumphantly.
“Say what?” Jael asked. They told her about Kisho and Kiyoko. “What are they all doing in Brandon? Did you think to ask?”
“It didn’t occur to any of us,” Evrona admitted. “I mean we’re in school here. Why shouldn’t they be there?”
“Everyone has to be somewhere, huh?” Jael asked, not sounding amused. “You’re not all here by accident, you know. Do you think they are?”
“I didn’t really think about that,” Evrona apologized. “I’m sorry. They seem really nice. I doubt they’re up to anything.”
“Well, I can usually rely on your instincts, Sparrow,” Jael told her, “but I’m not worried about the students so much as about who got them all together and why there in Brandon. If I had a suspicious mind I’d think it was an intentional reaction to our coming here.”
“Jael,” Amy responded instantly. “I’ve known you for years and you do have a suspicious mind.”
“What’s your point, kiddo?” Jael asked.
“We should report this to Dee,” Rona pointed out.
“Dee’s with Eddy this weekend,” Jael argued. “We should see if we can find Enki.”
“In Dilmun?” Rona asked. “That’s where he said he was going.”
“Oh yeah,” Jael remembered. “Okay, no use sitting around here. Come on, kids?”
“Where are we going?” Astra asked.
“Hattamesett,” Jael told them. “Yes, we could phone Dee, but I think this will go best face-to-face.”
“Hold on,” Amy told her. “I just have to grab something.”
“Leave your laundry in your room,” Jael told her. “We’re not on vacation this time and that habit of yours is starting to get on Ash’s nerves. You can wash your clothes here just like everyone else.”
“You don’t need all of us, do you?” Evrona asked.
“I know you’re not trying to duck out, Sparrow.”
“Never,” Evrona denied, “but ten of us is a bit of a crowd to fit in either Amy’s or your car.”
“We won’t be driving,” Jael retorted, “and herding a dozen students through Yggdrasil isn’t necessary. I’ll take you, Sparrow. Also Amy, Astra, Nerys, Tommy and Lars.”
“Me?” Lars asked.
“Why not?” Jael asked.
“No reason,” Lars admitted. “I just didn’t even think you knew my name.”
“I know all your names,” Jael told him. “Just because I haven’t had to ream you out for causing problems, like Tommy here or that Ashtoth – that one’s on his last chance – doesn’t mean I don’t know who you are. Well, no time to waste. Let’s get going.”
“You do know we have classes tomorrow and Dee should be back here by then,” Amy pointed out.
“None of you actually have to sleep,” Jael pointed out.
“I do,” Nerys reminded her, “but I can go for days without a nap.”
“In any case this won’t wait,” Jael told them. “Come on. Spit spot. Don’t make me do any more Mary Poppins imitations!”
“Well, that explains a lot,” Dee remarked once she had heard what the students had to say, “and I am sure we can keep your competitions on a friendly basis now that we know.”
“Is that all that caused the clouds this time, Dee?” Evrona asked.
“Apparently,” Dee replied.
“Young folks tend to take school rivalries too seriously at times,” Asherah added. “Normally that’s no big deal, but in your cases you need to watch yourselves is all. So long as you keep in mind that these contests are just games, no harm ought to come of this.”
“I find it curious, however,” Eddy added, “That two schools with students from the Divine Plain should come to be situated so close to one another. That they should be traditional rivals is even more remarkable.”
“Stranger things have been known to happen,” Dee admitted.
“So the world is not in jeopardy for a change?” Amy asked.
“Over a college rivalry?” Jael laughed. “Not a chance!”
“We should take a deeper look into Stephen A. Douglas College though,” Asherah pointed out. “I’ll do that. I need a hobby any way.”
“You may want to work with Ninti,” Dee advised her. “On the off-chance there is something going on there, we don’t want to give ourselves away, so pry carefully, but given the transitory nature of the disturbances and the way they coincide with inter-school contests, I think we can discount any intentional problems.”
“If we go too carefully, we’re guaranteed to find nothing,” Asherah pointed out.
“Most of the known divine students at Douglas seem to have come from the Pacific Basin and Asia,” Jael pointed out.
“Except for Hota,” Evrona added.
“And we’ve only met a handful of the divines at Douglas,” Amy pointed out. “We don’t know the ones we’ve met are representative of the others. Hey! Evie has Kisho’s phone number.”
“What?” Tomislaw asked jealously.
“I have Kiyoko’s number,” Evrona corrected Amy, “and it’s none of your business whom I choose to be friends with,” she added to Tomislaw. He scowled and she continued, “Oh don’t you give me that look! I don’t tell you who to be friends with, because if I did I can think of several who’d be on the ‘Don’t’ list.”
“Such as?” Tomislaw demanded.
“You do not want to go there,” Evrona told him flatly.
“Listen to her, Tommy,” Amy advised. “This can’t end well.”
“No, not this time,” Tomislaw told them. “Which of my friends aren’t good enough for you?”
“The point isn’t if they are good enough for me but whether they are good enough for you,” Tomislaw,” Evrona retorted.
“Who?” Tomislaw demanded again.
“Just remember you asked,” Evrona shook her head. “Baalem is okay, but Ashtoth is just a bully who hasn’t grown up. Horeth, however, is a weasel who shouldn’t have been allowed out of the Pit. Neither of them have a lot to recommend them, but the worst of the lot is that Shem. He eggs the rest of you on, but manages to hide whenever something goes wrong. Really, all three times you got called to Dee’s office, that snake should have been at the head of the line, rather than getting off scot-free.”
“Really?” Dee asked. “I must have a chat with the young man.”
“Dee, I forgot you were here,” Evrona admitted.
“That’s all right, dear,” Dee smiled. “It’s nothing I wouldn’t have figured out once it came to my attention.”
“There’s nothing wrong with Shem,” Tomislaw denied.
“Taking any bets on that one, sport?” Jael asked. “Dee may not have been aware of that one, but I’d have had to be blind. You may want to warn your mate that I’m required to report on the behavior of all students to the Dean and of all demons to my boss down there. I told you Ashtoth is on his last chance, but Shem’s account is already bankrupt.”
“This is your fault!” Tomislaw raged at Evrona.
“No,” Nerys cut in, “It’s Shem’s.”
“And you knew it even before Evie said anything,” Lars pointed out. “You’re the one who warned me about him.”
“Lars,” Tomislaw protested.
“No, Tommy,” Lars shook his head. “I am not going to let you get into trouble trying to protect Shem. He’s the one who suckered you and Ashtoth into going… uh never mind.”
“Ruggles, again?” Jael asked. “You were there on Friday night. You showed up around Eight Thirty and stayed until closing.”
“We already warned the owner about serving underage students,” Dee told them. “I was not bluffing.”
“I am more concerned about your selected mode of transportation, Tommy,” Jael went on.
“Where does it say we can’t fly into town?” Tomislaw asked.
“Use that brain of yours, Tommy,” Jael told him harshly. “What the heck did you think we were talking about when we told you to stay in guise at all times while in public?”
“Um, Jael,” Evrona interrupted guiltily. “Tomislaw is not the only one to go flying at night. I did once too.”
“You weren’t seen by a dozen mortals, Sparrow,” Jael told her. “Tommy and his mates were.”
“So was I,” Nerys admitted. “Once. When I found out, I stopped, but I went flying several times. Evie only did it once.”
“Perhaps we should have been a bit more specific about that,” Dee remarked. “Look, I don’t blame any of you kids for wanting to stretch your wings every so often. It’s to be expected really, but I would hope you would be more careful and it would be better to resist the temptation altogether. So I won’t punish any of you for going into public out of guise up until now. From here on in, however, I will have to consider disciplinary action.”
“Maybe not,” Jael cut in.
“What do you have in mind, dear?” Dee asked Jael.
“Well, as you say, it’s natural for the kids to want to stretch their wings,” Jael replied. “Maybe we can work out a way to allow just that. I mean if we go elsewhere first, no one will see it in Killington.”
“Use the Tree?” Dee asked.
“In some cases, perhaps,” Jael nodded, “but we can escort them between worlds too. Of course even that will have to be done by prior arrangement and no matter what, we still won’t be allowing you guys to go to a bar.”
“Jael, see if you can scout out a safe place,” Dee decided.
“That probably is not necessary,” Nerys told them both. “We should be learning restraint and we’ll be allowed to fly on Spring Break. I was wrong when I went flying and I think it best if I just do without. What the rest of my classmates do is up to them.”
“We have gym class,” Evrona added.
“Very well,” Dee decided. “That brings us back to the matter of that bar and what to do about trouble makers.”
“No, Dee,” Evrona told her. “It brings us back to our fellow divines at Douglas College.”
“Right,” Amy nodded. “Evie has Kiyoko’s number and she can call her and get more information for us.”
“I think not,” Dee told her. “We just talked about using restraint. That’s good advice in this case too. Ash, try looking up the names of their Board of Trustees, see if there’s anyone new there – someone analogous to Enki. If you can get information on any of their recent donors, that might be revealing too. Then do some research on those names you come up with. Anyone without much of a past is suspect, of course, but let’s not go overboard.”
“Good thinking,” Asherah agreed. “There has not really been any harm and if those clouds were just the results of youthful enthusiasms, we’d be reckless to go storming in. That would only make it worse.”
“Precisely,” Dee responded. “So there are others from the Divine Plain in a nearby college. Until we know more, there’s no reason to think there’s a conspiracy afoot and if there is, exposing themselves this way would be very clumsy.”
“If they’re that clumsy, we’ll likely figure out who’s there by reading the local newspaper,” Jael remarked, “but I refuse to believe that many young godlings or whatever just sort of decided to enroll in a small Vermont college on their own.” She stopped and looked around as though noticing something was different. “Where’s Tanise?” she asked at last.
“Sleeping inside her Tree,” Eddy replied. “Or rather, she is waking up with him. She’s done this the last couple of years. She says it’s good to be in contact with him as he begins to bloom every spring, so she joins him each year after the sap stops running. She should be out next week sometime if this is like the last two years.”
“Oh good!” Amy exclaimed. “I was worried she might miss Spring Break, but that’s still two weeks away.”
“No, she should be up and fully alert by then,” her grandfather told her. “The New World spring comes a few weeks earlier than it does in Hattamesett, so the Tree should be covered with light green maple flowers by then.”
“Cool!” Amy smiled. “Did you say the sap was running? Did Tanise make syrup again this year?”
“Of course,” Asherah told her, “and I suppose we ought to feed you before you have to rush back to Vermont. Pancakes or waffles?”
“Are we there yet?” Kara asked in a little girl voice.
“We’ll get there when we get there,” Ratatosk told her nastily. Kara had been somewhat nervous around the oversized squirrel on first meeting, although Tim took it and the concept of walking on the branches of Yggdrasil surprisingly in stride. When Ratatosk treated Kara to his usual chorus of wolf-whistles and snide innuendos she sought out ways to retaliate and eventually discovered that the childlike “Are we there yet?” worked superbly.
“Just another few steps,” Jael assured her. Jael and Evrona had been escorting Kara and Tim to the New World and Ratatosk had merely joined in when he realized where they were headed.
“Actually,” Tim commented, “the trip on Yggdrasil could have been a party in itself.”
“It’s a bit cold here at this time of year for most of you mortals, boychik,” Ratatosk told him, “and it would have been singularly inappropriate.”
“Inappropriate?” Tim asked. “To want to party all around the World?”
“Yes,” Ratatosk told him flatly. “Look, buddy, do you have any idea of who I am?”
“Assuming this isn’t some drug-induced dream,” Tim replied, “you’re the squirrel who carries strife up and down the trunk of the World Tree.”
“Right,” Ratatosk nodded, “and I’m not exactly known for my good manners and courteous behavior either, so when I tell you something is not appropriate behavior, that really means something.”
“Why?” Tim asked, “Doesn’t the Tree like a good party?”
“Yggdrasil is more prone to quiet contemplation often lasting decades at a time,” Jael informed him. “Also it doesn’t take much to fall off one of these branches if you aren’t careful. Trust me. You do not want to do that!”
“Besides,” Evrona told them, “we’re here. You two haven’t seen our true forms yet, so you might not want to look. Most mortals don’t find it pleasant.”
“I know what furies are supposed to look like,” Tim told her.
“I want to know too,” Kara replied stubbornly.
“You’ve already seen,” Evrona pointed out.
“Not in full daylight,” Kara retorted.
“Don’t say she didn’t warn you,” Jael told them as she shifted into demoness form.
“Actually that makes you kinda sexy,” Tim commented on seeing Jael’s true form. “No offense but you don’t look all that unusual at school.”
“First of all, I’m a married woman,” Jael retorted, “and while most demonesses are cast from similar molds, I am not a succubus. And, second, the plainness is a look I have cultivated to be taken seriously as a teacher. Otherwise my classes would all be filled with boys whose minds, at least, were still pubescent, and none of them would listen to my lectures.”
“Jael can turn heads in any guise if she wants to,” Rona added loyally, briefly appearing. She had been doing that off and on since leaving Sherburne College so by now the novelty of it had worn off.
Evrona switched over to her true form and all Kara could say was, “That’s it?”
“The snakes, claws and fangs don’t bother you?” Evrona asked.
“The blood coming out of your eyes is a bit gross,” Kara admitted, “but I’ve seen you do that a couple times already.”
“If you say so,” Evrona shrugged. “Okay, take my hand as we cross over.”
A moment later they were standing on a much narrower branch. “Well the bark is different, but it’s still a tree,” Tim commented nonchalantly.
“Are you intentionally trying to ignore the miracles around you, sport?” Jael asked. “Well, try this.” She spun him around and picked him up from behind. Then she jumped off the branch and threaded a narrow course through the branches of Tanise’s tree until they were clear and started circling down toward the ground.
“Is there another way” Kara asked nervously.
“Two or three hours of climbing down the trunk,” Evrona told her. “Or I could ask Tanise to take us inside the Tree. I’m not usually claustrophobic, but that way always bothers me.”
Let’s just get this over with,” Kara decided and turned her back on Evrona. As the erinys’ strong arms closed about her waist, Kara closed her eyes tightly. In the next moment they were flying the same sort of erratic course Jael had and then as Evrona cleared the Tree and started the long glide down, Kara opened her eyes and saw the World. “It’s beautiful!” she shouted.
“We like it,” Evrona told her in a normal tone of voice. Shouting was not really necessary. “Thank you.” They had arrived on a warm spring morning and while it was still not beach weather near the Tree, they certainly did not need the heavy coats they had traveled in so far.
“I’m a bit hot,” Kara told Evrona, “is there a chance of getting down a bit faster?”
If I drop you, you’ll be down faster than you want,” Evrona remarked. “I’ll try, but I should have had you hold your backpack instead of wearing it. It’s in my face and I can’t see where we’re going very well. Tell me when we’re about twenty feet off the ground.”
“Okay!” Kara gulped. Evrona swooped down much faster and then leveled off again when Kara shouted, “Now! Eeeps! We’re about four feet up and gliding fast.”
Evrona said nothing, but slowed them down until her feet brushed the ground and then brought them to a halt. They tumbled to the ground in a heap. “Sorry,” Evrona told her. “I’m usually much better at that and generally land lightly.” She willed herself back into her mortal guise. It was not required that she do so here, but Evrona had found she much preferred a non-threatening form. It felt friendlier to her.
“There was a drop-off just as you tried to land,” Kara explained. “We only fell about a foot. Where are we?”
Evrona looked around and saw a cliff a quarter of a mile away. “On the wrong side of the Tree, I’m afraid,” she replied. “We could fly back up, but it’s just as easy to walk and Eddy built a stairway into the cliff last summer while he was repairing the damage.”
“What damage?” Kara asked.
“This world is still forming,” Evrona explained as they started hiking toward the cliff, “and it can be influenced by intelligent thought. Tomislaw got a bit too creative before anyone could make him understand what might happen.”
“What did happen?” Kara asked.
“He created a monster,” Evrona replied. “I suppose he did it for me in his twisted way. He wanted to ride up to me on an impressively powerful steed. What he got, only a demon could love and it wasn’t saddle-trained either. We eventually had to put it down, but it went on a rampage and damaged the local scenery. I think it’s nicer now than it was, but that’s how God works and in this universe you should know that Amy’s grandfather is the primary god.”
“Amy is God’s granddaughter?” Kara asked.
“In this universe, not yours,” Evrona corrected her.
“How do I address him?” Kara asked nervously.
“Call him Mister Salem,” Evrona laughed. “Or Eddy once you get to know him. Oh, I know what you’re expecting, some ancient patriarch in a robe and a long flowing beard, right? Forget it. He looks like everyone’s granddad and generally wears jeans or khakis,” she added as they came to the shore of the lower pond. There were two ponds near the tree, the upper pond at the top of the cliff in which the water was always a clear blue and the lower one, which Tanise had started calling the ‘Pool of Life.’ The water in it now was brownish, but as Evrona explained, “Soon there will be all sorts of aquatic plants and animals in here. I’m particularly fond of the Blue Lotuses. They were donated in memory of the Egyptian god, Horus, who died defending the Tree in this cycle.”
Kara looked up and saw the tree towering over them, its roots sticking out of the cliff face in places. “A god died?” she asked.
“Quite a few of them, I’m told,” Evrona told her. “It’s only death and not at all permanent in most cases.”
“Death isn’t permanent?” Kara asked.
“Not for an immortal,” Evrona replied. “In most cases we return to life at the beginning of each cycle.”
“Cycle?” Kara prompted.
“That’s a bit harder to explain,” Evrona replied. “The World has cycles of birth, life and death. In a sense it does this each year with the seasons, but there are longer cycles in which the world comes into being, history continues on for a while until the world is destroyed somehow, generally in conflict, but not always. A very few of those cycles leave a mark we can see, like the K-T boundary that marks the extinction of the dinosaurs. Other cycle endings are not quite as obvious, such as the one that ended about nineteen years ago, which coincidentally was the same time I was born.”
“Are you sure that was a coincidence?” Kara asked. “I mean, you’re sort of a god and if gods are born or reborn at the start of a cycle…”
“Maybe,” Evrona shrugged. “I don’t really know for certain. How could I? And erinyes are born when they are needed, not just at the beginning of a cycle. Well, anyway, that was when the last cycle ended and the current one began.”
“And how long will this one last?” Kara asked.
“There’s no way to tell, but they usually last a few centuries at least and can be much longer,” Evrona replied.
The stairs when they came to them had been cut into the face of the cliff and zigzagged their way twice to the top. Kara found herself gripping the iron rail more than once to steady herself as they climbed up. And then they were finally on top and beside the upper “Pond of Vision.”
Kara asked why it was called that and Evrona replied, “Because you can see all the way to the bottom. These are Tanise’s names, you realize and since no one else even thought to name them, they stuck.”
“There you are!” Rona called from just ahead. “What kept you?”
“We took a shortcut,” Evrona replied, aping something Jael had once said. “I decided it was safer just to walk the rest of the way.”
“Okay,” Rona let that pass. “Everyone else is here though, and we’re going to start the orientation lecture in the mead hall.”
“Can’t I put my stuff away first?” Evrona asked. “I live here after all.”
“Sorry, Sparrow,” Jael told her, appearing in Rona’s place. “You’re one of this world’s guardian spirits. I want you to hear what I’m telling all the others.” Evrona nodded and followed Jael and Kara into the large A-frame building that sat next to Eddy’s home.
“All right, kids,” Jael told them. “Some of you have been here before, but except for those of you who live here, none of you have been out into the real world beyond the immediate area of the Tree. This is a very new and impressionable world and I want you all on your best behavior. First of all, Tanise here, along with Amy, Evrona and Tomislaw are among the guardians of this universe. If they tell you not to do something, don’t. Do not argue with any of us, do not ignore us. The world may be new, but it already has cautionary tales. Don’t be the next one.
“As I said,” Jael went on, “keep in mind at all times that this world is still developing and we are the only sentient creatures on it at the moment. Our thoughts, if we allow them to stray, especially along strongly creative lines could well cause things to come into being. It’s called creation. Try not to do it. None of us are Infinites and we don’t know what you might get. Remember that the world would be using your subconscious mind as well as your conscious one. If you try to create a flower, you might well come up with one that walks and eats people and frankly we’re trying to let the world grow up without undue interference.
“Dee assures me that normal idle thoughts should not have that sort of effect,” Jael continued, “so it is safe to allow you to have your Jurassic beach party as Amy seems to have dubbed it. So just go out there and have a good time. Also, try not to harm the local wildlife.”
“What?” Inga laughed. “You mean the poor defenseless T-Rexes and Brontosauruses?”
“What are they teaching you kids?” Jael asked sourly. “Okay, first of all, the world out there is in its Late Jurassic epoch. Tyrannosaurs were very late to the dinosaur dance. You certainly won’t find them until the Cretaceous period, which here is probably going to be this time next year. So you will find no T-Rexes out there. Mind you, the Allosaurs can be just as nasty. They aren’t referred to as the Lion of the Jurassic without reason.
“Second, there are no Brontosaurs,” Jael continued. “Never were. The type specimen of the so-called ‘Thunder Lizard’ was actually composed of the parts from several creatures, but most of the body came from an Apatosaurus and the head came from a Camarasaur.”
“Why would anyone do that?” Astra asked.
“According to some it was a paleontologist’s best guess at the time,” Jael replied. “He had this big old Apatosaurus body and thought it ought to have a large, impressive head. Other odd parts could have been used to approximate parts known to be missing. When doing that you’re suppose to make the recreated pieces a different color to indicate they are not part of the original specimen, but I wasn’t there and maybe at the time that wasn’t the convention.
“Others are not quite so generous and believe that same paleontologist was desperate to name a new species,” Jael went on. “Whichever the case, he had a headless dead critter on his hands, so he fitted on one that he thought looked good at the end of that long neck. The head came from a different animal, a different source and a different stratum so it looks fishy to some. It was definitely bad paleontology, if you ask me, but for some reason no one managed to correct the error for nearly one hundred years. So, no Brontoburgers and ribs except on The Flintstones.
“Both species are from this period and it is possible you’ll see them wandering around,” Jael kept going, “although not on our chosen beach. Dee has worked with Eddy to… Well, let’s just say we’ve discouraged them from visiting that area while you’re there. You may have some of the smaller creatures wandering in, but we believe you’ll have no trouble shooing them away.
“Now I said you may see some of these critters,” Jael told them. “No exploring. Feel free to site-see on your way from here to the beach, but we want no interference with the wildlife. Eddy has seen to food, drink and shelter on the beach. There will also be a two-way radio there so if something goes wrong and you need help we can be there in a hurry.”
“Jael, you aren’t coming with us?” Evrona asked.
“We, and by ‘we’ I mean Dee, Eddy, Ina, Ash, and me,” Jael told them. “We decided you deserve a chance to prove you can be trusted. One or more of us will pop in during your stay here just to say, ‘Hi,’ and to drop off perishable food, but we’re going to trust you guys. You’re not kids and we think you know how to behave yourselves.”
“Jael,” Evrona spoke up. “I’d like to invite Kiyoko and Kisho to join us.”
“So would I, Sparrow,” Jael admitted, “but until we know more about your friends at Douglas and why they are there, we’ve both been overruled.”
“By whom?” Evrona asked.
“By Dee and Enki,” Jael replied. “Sparrow, while I don’t believe it, there’s a chance Kiyoko and Kisho are part of someone’s plans against us.”
“Us?” Amy asked. “In what way?”
“It could be any number of things,” Jael told her. “Maybe they’re looking for the back way into this world. Could be planning an invasion, kill the lot of us for the rest of the cycle. It wouldn’t do them a lot of good, since they couldn’t exploit this world, but they may not realize that. Or maybe someone is just trying to disrupt Enki’s college experiment.”
“I don’t believe that,” Amy told her flatly.
“We think Ondia and Ondirva are nice,” Mina chimed in.
“Who?” Jael asked.
“They’re Lugbara tree spirits,” Nina replied. “We met them last fall.”
“And you didn’t tell anyone?” Jael asked incredulously. “Oh, never mind. Let Ash know about them, though. You never know which datum will be key. Sparrow, I have a hard time with this too,” she admitted, “but we’re going to play this as though it’s a possibility for now. Kids, you can stay here for the night and then head out to the beach in the morning. I’d let you go now, but it’s raining out there, and Dee tells me it will be bright and sunny in the morning. A perfect beach day in fact.”
“What was that about perishable food?” Johann asked.
“Ah,” Jael paused to think back a few minutes. “Yes, Eddy has arranged for there to be a sort of beach shack there for you. You’ll find it has been stocked with enough snacks and soft drinks to keep you all happy, though someone will have to come back for ice every so often. But we figure you may want a beach barbecue a few times, so we’ll bring in something to barbecue. There’s no power there and this will be easier than keeping enough meat for you on ice there.”
Those who had a need to sleep eventually climbed up to the lofts and made good use of the beds with the women in one loft and the men in the other and Rona making sure they kept it that way. The rest stayed up on the main floor of the mead hall until Asherah came in and started making breakfast. Tanise, Amy and Evrona instantly stepped up to help Ash. Astra, Mina and Nina joined in a few minutes later and soon the sounds and smells of breakfast filled the hall, waking up the students in the lofts.
While many of them could fly the thirty miles or so to the beach, there were still quite a few who had to ride and so they crowded on to Asherah’s flying carpet, practically sitting in each other’s laps, although Nerys allowed Mina and Nina to ride on her back and Tanise used one of the two all-terrain vehicles, with Georgi perched carefully behind her. They followed a carefully marked trail to the south.
Arriving on the beach, they discovered a small wooden building which had been outfitted with a bar to serve food and drink from, although rather than using conventional power to run a modern kitchen, Dee had enchanted several cabinets to provide various snacks and, as promised, there was an ice chest filled with soft drinks. Amy estimated they would only have to restock the ice once every other day, although as warm cans were added to the chest later on, she realized that once a day was closer to accurate.
A large party tent had been set up on the beach with tables and chairs underneath it. It would provide shelter from the sun and the rain, which Dee warned them was likely to fall nearly every day in the late afternoon. “It does feel like August here, doesn’t it?” Amy asked Astra.
“Does it?” Astra responded. “I’ll keep that in mind. I think we’re over-dressed though. It was nice of your grandfather to provide us with summer clothing.”
“As soon as we have some privacy to change in I plan to put on a swim suit,” Amy remarked.
A large pile of firewood had been stacked up next to the shack and inside they found two dozen cloth bundles that turned out to be dome tents for evening shelter and for changing their clothes in once they were set up. Several students grumbled about having to change clothing in small tents where they couldn’t stand up and Astra didn’t bother to, merely taking off her clothing outside the tent and tossing it inside. Several of the boys whistled in appreciation of the show and she simply told them, “Grow up,” as she slipped on the bikini.
“How can you do that?” Evrona asked her, still in her jeans and the Springtime Seed t-shirt with the slits for her wings.
“It’s more comfortable this way,” Astra replied practically.
“But the boys are all watching,” Evrona replied. “It doesn’t bother you?”
“There is no shame in Paradise,” Astra remarked lightly. “Oh, all right, I don’t like being stared at that way, no, but nudity in itself does not bother me. Why does it bother you?”
“I, uh,” Evrona tried to formulate an answer. “It just does. When I lived in Hell, I wore the same loose dresses my sisters did. It took me forever to wear a t-shirt like this without wanting to keep my hands over my chest.”
“Well, I’ll tell you a secret,” Astra whispered conspiratorially. “The boys will soon lose interest if you act like you don’t care. I could easily wear nothing in this heat, you know. I’ll wear the swim suit because it is a convention and our host supplied it, but there’s a basic problem with clothing when it serves no other purpose than modesty. It tends to imply there are forbidden parts of the body, things that must never be seen. That’s silly. God made Man in His own image. So why should the display of that image be disgraceful?”
“I always thought that meant God created Man in the image that best pleased God, not the way God looks,” Evrona replied. “I mean the time I met God, He wasn’t even vaguely human in appearance”
“You’ve met God?” Astra asked, obviously awed.
“Well, not in a social situation,” Evrona replied. “I was with Jael and she was receiving instructions as a deputy commissioner of the Celestial League. But He greeted me and thanked me for coming. But back to clothing, I don’t think I could wear a bikini. I’m not even sure I could wear a one-piece suit.
“Give it a try and just pretend you don’t care,” Astra advised. “The boys will be boys for a few minutes, but when they don’t get a reaction out of you, they’ll go looking for their entertainment elsewhere. You don’t hear any whistles here, do you?”
“No,” Evrona shook her head, “but I must also stay in keeping with my own nature.”
“Evie!” Amy called to her. “Change out of those heavy jeans.” Amy got closer with a piece of denim in her hands. “At least put on a miniskirt if you don’t want to swim.”
Evrona inspected the garment, “You call this a skirt?” she asked skeptically.
“I have a pair of cut-offs in my bag if you’d rather,” Amy offered, “and you can swim in them. Come on, even Tanise has a bikini on.
“Where did she find one made of maple leaves?” Evrona asked, amazed at the sight.
“Ash made it for her,” Amy chuckled. “You know she’d walk around in her skin every day if it didn’t shock Granddad so much. But those aren’t real leaves, like her dryad dress, just cleverly cut cloth. Actually, I kind of like it. Maybe I can talk Ash into making one for me. Oh, come on and get changed.”
Evrona slipped into the tent she and Amy shared with Tanise and put on the cut-off jeans. Amy had cut them embarrassingly high, but Evrona decided she might as well get used to them. She left her dark green t-shirt on, but when she emerged from the tent, Amy insisted in showing her a more casual way to wear it. “But now my stomach is exposed,” Evrona protested.
“Really, Evie,” Amy laughed. “You are such a prude. It’s not like you have anything to be ashamed of. No, do not untie that! Look around, you’d be the only one not showing as much skin as possible.”
“I don’t like dressing this way,” Evrona replied. “It’s like, like…” she trailed off.
“Like what?” Astra asked gently.
“Like a succubus,” Evrona whispered with embarrassment.
“Oh hardly!” Amy laughed.
“And how many succubi have you met?” Astra countered Amy.
“Personally to talk to?” Amy asked. “None, but…”
“So you don’t really know, do you?” Astra pointed out. “Evie, wear the t-shirt anyway you like.”
“Well, I’ll try this for a while,” Evrona decided, only having second thoughts when she caught Amy’s triumphant grin. “Um, anyone want something to drink?”
“I want to go for a swim,” Amy remarked. “Who’s with me?”
Nearly everyone went into the water. It was a hot, summer-like day and the sea water felt good on their skins. Nerys stayed in dragon guise and dove in to the water several times before changing back to human and carefully swimming close to Amy and Evrona. “I forgot I wasn’t wearing clothes,” she admitted to them.
Amy just laughed, but Evrona, understanding how Nerys felt, told her, “Meet me behind the shack. I’ll bring you something to wear.”
“Thanks,” Nerys told her gratefully and flew off again. However, as she swooped out seaward, something large jumped out of the water and narrowly missed her.
“Are you sure this beach is warded from predators?” Nerys asked them when she returned a few seconds later.
“The beach is,” Tanise replied, “but I don’t think anyone thought of the water.”
“A bit of an oversight,” Nerys pointed out. “I feel like I just had a close encounter with one of my ancestors and it was not a happy family reunion.” There was a large splash from a few hundred yards off-shore.
“Let’s go in and think this one out,” Evrona suggested, noticing others were already on their way out of the ocean.
The creature, which they decided was either a pliosaur or a pliesiosaur, tried to follow them up on to the beach but got no further than being able to stick its long neck out of the breaking waves. Nerys breathed a long gout of flame toward it in defiance, carefully aiming to miss, although not by much, and the creature made a startled squawk and turned back out to sea. By the time Evrona had found clothes for Nerys, the others were already deep into discussion.
“Maybe we should call Jael for help,” Astra suggested as they sat down in a circle on the warm sand.
“We should be able to handle a few overgrown sea snakes ourselves,” Ashtoth pointed out. Most of the men agreed with him.
“We aren’t to hurt them,” Tanise reminded them. Ashtoth tried to face her down and was unable to, so he tried another tack.
“We don’t have to harm anything,” he finally replied, “just shoo them away. Isn’t that what Jael said?”
“She said we ought to be able to shoo away the small dinosaurs that might come looking to go through our trash bin,” Amy argued.
“When did she say anything about a trash bin?” Baalem wondered.
“She didn’t actually say that, Bill,” Amy replied, “but it’s what she meant. This is not the first time I’ve been out for a picnic in this world, although last summer it was still an early Triassic sort of place, though I think I preferred it in the Permian epoch. All those sail-backed reptiles were pretty cool. In any case, the worst I was expecting here were a few scavengers, whether reptilian or mammalian.”
“It looks like our teachers overlooked something then,” Johann commented.
“Or maybe it is a test,” Georgi commented from where he was seated between Mina and Nina. The other students had chosen to segregate by gender, with the men on one side of the circle and the women on the other, although Evrona and Tomislaw sat together directly across from Georgi.
“It would be a rather reckless and dangerous test,” Astra pointed out.
“And not at all in keeping with the way they have behaved at school,” Silvija added.
“I still say this is something we should be able to handle ourselves,” Ashtoth told them.
“See if you can put that into words,” Amy suggested. “At the moment the only problem is that we cannot go swimming.”
“Isn’t that the point of a beach party, though?” Nerys asked.
“Well, the point is to have a party,” Amy replied, “but being able to jump into the waves ought to be part of it. Well, I think we should just call back and ask Dee why she didn’t ward the water here as well. There may be a valid reason. Maybe the magic doesn’t work in sea water.”
“That doesn’t sound right,” Evrona commented. “Jael never mentioned that sort of limitation and it seems to me that what with water being one of the four classical elements, the proper spell should be very effective.”
“Maybe that’s it,” Amy agreed. “That sort of makes sense, given what I’ve been learning in Anthro this semester.”
“Anthro?” Tomislaw asked. “You mean anthropology?”
“Yes,” Amy nodded. “My class is Magic in Primitive Cultures. It’s not at all what I expected it to be. I thought it would be about superstitious nonsense and strange religious beliefs, but actually primitive magic is very scientific. There are very strict rules as to how it all works and if you don’t do it right you get nothing.”
“According to those primitive cultures, right?” Astra asked. “It doesn’t really work, does it?”
“I think that depends on who you ask and what you believe,” Amy replied. “But I mean the laws of magic are every bit as firm as the laws of physics. Funny wand waving and magical phrases really have nothing to do with it. Magic must conform to the Laws of Contagion and Sympathy. It must be sensible to the person casting the spell and the subjects of the spell as well.”
“Yeah, okay,” Tomislaw nodded. “Does that apply here.”
“We might be able to make it apply,” Amy nodded. “Evie, Jael’s been teaching you magic, hasn’t she?”
“A few spells,” Evrona admitted. “Just tricks and such as she calls them. Jael says she’s really just a beginner at that sort of magic too though. She’s been learning from Dee and Ina, and wasn’t it Dee who erected the ward around this beach? But the magic they use isn’t really like what you’ve been learning in class, Amy.”
“No,” Amy admitted. “Well there are some points of commonality, but only in some tribes. That’s not what I was trying to get at. It was the usage of the four classic elements; fire, water, earth and air. You see, depending on what you want to do and where you want to do it the choice of which elements you incorporate into the spell makes a big difference. Water and fire tend to cancel each other out, so do Air and Earth, but sometimes you need to mix them anyway. It’s very complex and comes down to modifying symbols and incantations. I mean you can use fire to extinguish a blaze by doing something that reverses the spell.”
“That still doesn’t apply to this sort of magic,” Evrona pointed out.
“Sorry, I was off on a tangent again,” Amy apologized. “I think Dee used magic that was specifically keyed to be used on land. It’s not that she didn’t want to ward us from dangers from the sea, it’s just that the effects of her spell stop at the water’s edge. That’s why the dinosaur couldn’t actually follow us on to the sand.”
“It wasn’t actually a dinosaur,” Tanise corrected her. “Pliosaurs and pleisiosaurs are reptiles, but they are not taxonomically classed with the dinos.”
“How do you know that?” Evrona asked Tanise.
“I was interested in the creatures here,” the dryad admitted, “so Eddy bought me some books about them. I’ve noticed some differences between the books and this world, but Ash says we can’t be sure that’s because the evolution on this world is finally diverging visibly from Earth or if we’re just finding specimens that the paleontologists haven’t”
“Have you been exploring?” Amy asked.
“Only a little with Ash and Lizzie,” Tanise responded.
“Where is Lizzie?” Amy wondered.
“Oh, she’s back in the old world,” Tanise replied. “She comes and goes a lot and she prefers to hunt in the mountains of Greece. Where’s that other angel? The man?”
“Ephrael decided not to join us,” Astra replied.
“He thinks we’re beneath him,” Baalem commented. “I suppose technically Heaven is over us all, but…”
“But that’s no reason to be snooty, Bill,” Astra finished for him. “That’s what you meant, right?”
“Sorry,” Baalem replied, “I wasn’t including you in that assessment or any other angel for that matter.”
“How many other angels have you met?” Astra replied. It might have been said sharply, but she had a slight smile on her lips. “You’re right, though, and I wasn’t much better last fall.”
“Maybe yes or no,” Baalem shrugged, “but you kept an open mind. Ephrael didn’t. But what are we going to do about the sea creatures?”
“I suppose staying out of the water is not on the table?” Xandros asked.
“I’m not all that fond of swimming anyway,” Georgi agreed. “I hadn’t thought of pliosaurs, but there are sharks out there too, aren’t there?”
“Some,” Amy replied. “Sharks go back hundreds of millions of years. The really big and nasty ones are yet to come though, or they were on Earth. I’m not really worried about sharks. The pleisiosaurs are larger and possibly hungrier although I would have thought the chance of getting attacked by one was the same as by a shark.”
“They could be territorial,” Evrona guessed, “or maybe this one is nesting nearby.”
“Was that a female?” Georgi wondered.
“Sure,” Ashtoth laughed nastily. “Couldn’t you tell? Her mouth was open.”
“You know,” Evrona growled at him, “we can do without you.”
Ashtoth only laughed, and Evrona found herself thinking, That’s one.
“All this isn’t getting us anywhere,” Tim pointed out. “Is there a way to extend our protection into the water or not?”
“It’s way beyond anything I know,” Evrona admitted. “Jael explained the basic theory of a ward, but she did not show me how to do it.”
“Fine!” Kara told them. “Then let’s just call back and ask for help.”
“And admit we can’t take care of ourselves?” Ashtoth asked.
“If that’s what it means,” Kara responded, “yes! I have no problem admitting that I can’t fend off a giant sea lizard without help.” She got up and walked briskly over toward the shack.
“Stop!” Ashtoth called, getting to his feet.
“No,” Kara told him, “This is silly. In the time it’s taking us to discuss this, I’m sure Doctor Meter could have just waved her hands or whatever she does and solved the problem.”
Ashtoth suddenly resumed his natural demonic form and leaped into the air, landing directly in Kara’s path before anyone could stop him. “I said, ‘Stop!’” he roared.
Kara’s hand shot out and slapped the demon’s face hard enough to rock him. “And I said, ‘No,’” she replied evenly. The others were getting up to come to her aide, but Ashtoth roared again and made a vicious swipe at Kara with his long claws. Kara ducked under the powerful but clumsy attack, and then jumped back up and kicked Ashtoth in the same place her slap had landed.
The teenaged demon fell to the ground and groaned. “You nearly broke my jaw,” he complained. It was almost a whimper.
“I’ll try a little harder next time,” Kara promised, stepping past him.
“That’s two,” Evrona told Ashtoth.
Dee arrived an hour later and apologized for her error. “You were correct, Amy, that the warding spell I used to repel the dinosaurs was keyed to the land, but it wasn’t due to the elements. I just overlooked the fact that there are dangerous creatures in the water as well so when I cast the spell it naturally ended at the water’s edge. I’ve corrected that now. Don’t swim out more than a quarter of a mile, but at least now you’ll be safe.”
“Even from sharks?” Georgi asked nervously.
“Some of the local sharks are only six inches long,” Dee told him with a smile, “but the big ones will stay away.”
“I wish I had a surfboard,” Amy remarked the next morning. The day was warm and sunny, but the breakers had grown from a mere two feet to nearly ten overnight.
“Do you know how to surf?” Nerys asked.
“No,” Amy shook her head, “But this would have been a good opportunity to learn.”
“It’s probably best to learn from someone who already knows how,” Astra advised.
“I’ve been thinking,” Georgi told them as he walked down the beach with Mina and Nina. “This can’t be New England, can it?”
“This isn’t even Earth,” Amy retorted.
“But if evolution has been parallel so far, shouldn’t the continents be the same?” Georgi pressed.
“Should they?” Amy asked. “I don’t know, but just because we came from New England in the old world, it doesn’t mean we’re in New England here. In fact, I know we are not. The Atlantic Ocean was just forming during the Jurassic on Earth and would certainly not have had waves like this. We haven’t been able to explore the entire world yet so we don’t really know where we are and so far it hasn’t mattered. This is here, that is there. It seems to work well.”
Astra joined them and asked, “Has anyone seen Ashtoth and the boys this morning?”
“No,” Evrona shook her head. “That’s usually a good thing.”
“I think I heard them say something about taking a look around,” Tanise volunteered.
“When was that?” Evrona asked.
“Last night,” Tanise told her. “It was sometime before midnight.”
“They were out taking a look around at midnight?” Amy asked. “That doesn’t sound good, especially if they didn’t come back. Who’s missing?”
It turned out, that Ashtoth had left the beach with Shem, Lars and Johann. “Ashtoth said he wanted to go walkabout,” Tomislaw explained to Jael and Ina when they arrived in response to Evrona’s call.
“He actually said, ‘walkabout?’” Jael laughed
“Ashtoth did, yes,” Tomislaw replied.
“Weird,” Jael remarked. “He must have watched Crocodile Dundee a few times too often.”
“He watched who?” Evrona asked.
“Later, Sparrow,” Jael told her with a smile.
“We need to figure out which way they went,” Ina remarked. “I’ve never been much of a tracker. How about you?”
“Strangely, no,” Jael shook her head. “I’ve never had to actually go looking for trouble. Trouble generally knows where to find me, when it wants the old rough and tumble.”
“There is something wrong to the southeast,” Tanise told them.
“Any idea what it might be?” Ina asked her.
“Not really,” Tanise. “It could just be a dino that stubbed its toe. Evie? You can generally sense that sort of thing too.”
“It’s a small wrongness,” Evrona decided. “I don’t know the nature of it, but it could be them.”
“All right then,” Jael nodded. “Sparrow, you come with Ina and me. The rest of you stay here and enjoy the beach. You know, I really had my doubts about inviting Shem and Ashtoth to this party, but Dee insisted on inviting the entire dorm. I’d have traded all the ones who decided to go home for the break for those two.”
“Ashtoth was doing all the talking,” Tanise told her.
“Yeah, that one is all talk,” Jael nodded. “And Shem seems to control him by the strings. Well, let’s go see what the boys are playing at.”
“Amy,” Ina turned to her, “if you don’t mind, I think I’ll borrow that flying carpet. I really don’t like the form I have to assume in order to fly.”
“I know, Ina,” Amy agreed. “I think it’s a bit creepy too.”
“Thanks,” Ina told her dryly and Amy was uncertain whether it was sarcasm for her comment or gratitude for the loan.
Jael, Ina and Evrona flew off to the southeast and managed to get nearly ten miles before finding the missing students. They landed at the top of a hill and saw the boys in their natural forms down in the valley where they appeared to have a large tawny reptile surrounded in the trampled grass.
“What are they doing?” Evrona asked.
“I thought this perversion went out with the Middle Ages,” Rona replied disgustedly. “Back then it was bear baiting and these guys are doing it with an allosaur, but it is essentially the same activity. They have it surrounded and they’re taking turns attacking it. Of course the attacks are meant to hurt but not kill, not right away. Basically they are torturing the poor creature to death.”
“What she said,” Jael added. “I saw this done with bears back when I was a kid and it disgusted me from the start, and considering who and what I am, that’s saying something, especially since that was long before I had Jiminy Cricket in my head playing the part of conscience.”
“Excuse you,” Rona demanded indignantly.
“Bet you ten dollars the lizard wins,” Ina cut in confidently.
“You know something I don’t?” Jael asked her. She quickly held up her hand to forestall getting an answer. “I can’t believe I just handed you that line.”
“I’ll be gentle, dear,” Ina chuckled. “Actually what I was about to say is that the poor critter evidently has more and better friends than our wayward boys. Their natural camouflage allows them to blend in to the grass, but the color isn’t perfect. My guess is that most of their prey is colorblind, so this is close enough.”
“Oh yeah,” Jael agreed. “I see them now. About a dozen, hmm? Well I do seem to remember reading there was a chance they hunted in packs.”
“Well, I think we should let the boys think they are in trouble before we go down there and show them just how much trouble they are really in,” Ina suggested.
“You know for a goddess of love you have a real mean streak,” Jael told her admiringly.
“Love and War, remember?” Inanna told her. “Maybe that’s why love hurts sometimes.”
Down below, the one allosaur the boys had surrounded was confused and angry, but also was rapidly tiring. The powerful beast was good in a sprint but long term stamina was not its forte. However, the beast did, as Ina had pointed out, have friends in the grass and several minutes later the boys found themselves surrounded by a nearly a dozen snarling, hungry carnosaurs. “I think that’s our cue,” Ina said smugly. Evie, fly up and keep an eye on us just in case. Jael, I’ll need you on the carpet.
“A lady with a plan,” Jael chuckled moving onto the carpet. “I like that.” The carpet lifted smoothly into the air. “Want to let me in on it?”
“Nothing complicated,” Ina laughed, “Just lower this rope over both sides.”
“Both sides?” Jael wondered, and then figured it out. “Ah, yes. To balance the load.” She tossed the ends of the rope down just as they got over the baiters who had just become the bait. “You know,” she pointed out as the boys started climbing up, “This ought to be impossible.” The carpet not only held the increased weight without losing altitude, but stayed stiff as a board as well.
“You’re very tech-minded is all,” Ina laughed as she directed the carpet to rise, lifting the boys out of the allosaurs’ reach. “This is not technology, it’s magic. The rules are different.”
“Not the laws of physics,” Jael argued.
“I’ll show you how the spell works later,” Ina promised. “For now believe me that the forces it utilizes are fully in concert with your laws of physics.” Down below, Ashtoth said something that made Ina frown. “Well, I was going to land and let them get on top of the carpet, but now…” she waved her hand in the boys’ general direction and willed the carpet to start heading north. “… I think we’ll deliver this bunch directly to Dee and Eddy and see what they’d like to do with them.”
“Good,” Jael agreed. “Because if you left it up to me I’d toss them on some desert island and tell them to swim home.”
“Would they get past the pliosaurs, do you think?” Ina wondered.
“We could still find out,” Jael suggested.
“My, aren’t we vindictive this morning?” Ina laughed.
“You aren’t their resident faculty,” Rona pointed out.
“Good point,” Ina admitted. “Good thing I’m flying this rug then, although I must admit it would save Dee the trouble of dealing with them.”
“Hold on a sec,” Jael requested. As they slowed down, she signaled to Evrona. “Have a seat, Sparrow,” she offered. “You won’t get as tired.”
“Where are we headed?” Evrona asked.
“Back to Eddy’s,” Jael explained. “Vacation’s over for this lot.”
“I could just fly back to the beach,” Evrona pointed out.
“You could,” Jael admitted, “but I want you to bring the carpet back for Amy.” Evrona nodded and nearly fell off the carpet as Ina caused it to continue on.
“Ina, why can’t they just let go of the rope?” Evrona asked, looking over the edge. “Shem and Ashtoth can fly even if Lars and Johann cannot.”
“Just a compulsion spell, Evie,” Ina explained. “They think their hands are glued to the rope, so they’ll stay there until I release them.”
Dee was not at all happy to hear about what the four boys had been doing. “You were specifically told not to go wandering,” she reminded them. “You were specifically told not to bother the local wildlife, and yet not two days after you were told, that is precisely what you did. I would expel all four of you if we were at school.”
“But we’re not at school, are we?” Shem asked, grinning.
“No, you aren’t,” Dee agreed, “but you are on a school-sponsored vacation trip and punishments are deserved. For starters I expect you to clean up that beach after your classmates are done there.”
“No,” Eddy shook his head. He had been sitting quietly while Dee spoke. “I won’t have them in this world. Not until you can be sure they have learned their lessons.”
“Reasonable,” Dee nodded. “Congratulations, boys. You are the first ones to be cast out of the New World. Now you might be allowed back here in the future, but not until you have worked off your punishments. You will spend the rest of this semester working with the grounds keepers, cleaning up the campus, mowing the lawns and so forth and then the rest of the summer doing similar work in a Celestial League ball park, policing the stands and field , helping set up for the games…”
“Four different parks, Dee,” Jael added. “I don’t trust these four together.”
“Four different parks,” Dee echoed. “we shall review your situations at the start of next semester to see if you’ll be continuing such duties.”
“I don’t have to do that,” Shem told her bluntly.
“You do if you want to stay at Sherburne College,” Dee told him.
“Then I won’t,” Shem retorted.
“Fine,” Dee shrugged. “Jael, will you escort this gentleman back home, please?”
“With pleasure,” Jael replied. “Shem, old buddy, are you really sure you want to go back to Hell with a black mark on your record?”
“I don’t care about that,” he sneered.
“You will,” Jael promised.
The remainder of Spring Break passed without any further unpleasant incidents. The day after being banished from the New World, Lars and Johann returned to Hattamesett and apologized so sincerely to Eddy for their behavior that he was tempted to allow them to rejoin their classmates, but Dee would have none of that. “This is a step in the right direction, but you still must pay for what you did,” she told them.
They nodded dejectedly, but perked up a little when Eddy told them that if they promised to behave they would be welcome to join their friends here for his annual Fourth of July barbecue. According to Jael, Shem had kept up his defiant attitude right up until she dropped him off for reassignment in Hell.
“He thought he’d be allowed back in the University at Dis,” Jael told them. “Instead he got disciplinary pitchfork duty. Trust me, a year or three of that will knock the smirk off his face.”
“So there’s no chance he might come back?” Evrona asked her.
“None whatsoever,” Jael told her. “You know what security is like at the Great Egress. But don’t feel too bad for him. If he straightens out, he might get back to school there in a few years. He isn’t stupid, just foolish, and we do not like to waste intelligence. The discipline might help him though, sort of like military duty in that respect, or basic training anyway.”
The rest of the students spent their last night on the beach sitting around a bon fire where Evrona cuddled with Tomislaw, Georgi spent some time chasing Mina and Nina up and down the beach until they were all tired and came to watch the flames, leaning on each other, and Amy stayed up late singing old folk songs with Jael, Rona, Marcus, Ina and Mike.
Back at school, with midterms over, the next event on the horizon was the Spring Scholastithon although that was three weeks away. With the popularity of the volleyball tournament with Douglas College, it was decided to try an exhibition baseball game with them as well and knowing now that some of the Douglas students were from the Divine Plain, the students of Proctor Hall were encouraged to try out for the team.
Another bit of excitement came when the Theatre Department announced the auditions for the spring play. “An Ideal Husband?” Amy asked.
“By Oscar Wilde,” Nerys told her. “I’m going to try out. I think it would be fun.”
“It does sound like fun,” Evrona agreed thoughtfully, “but I’ve already got too much on my plate with the Scholasithon.”
“Oh?” Amy asked. “I thought they were still trying to put the teams together.”
“We are,” Evrona nodded, “but I volunteered to work on coordination as well as trying out for the team again. And I still have the usual academic load of homework papers and what-not and my art teacher wants me to polish up some of my work for display in the spring show.”
“That’s great!” Nerys told her encouragingly.
“It’s also a lot of work,” Evrona replied. “Too much to try out for the play, I fear.”
“Well, you can’t do everything,” Amy pointed out. “Even if you never sleep.”
Astra turned out to be as interested in the play as Nerys so when the angel landed the role of Lady Chiltern and the dragon got to play the Countess of Basildon, their friends all looked forward to the performance, which would be on the same late April weekend as the baseball game.
A few days before the Scholastithon, Evrona was called into Dee’s office. “Good news, dear,” Dee told her. “You are your team’s captain. I wanted you to know before we posted the final results.”
“Really?” Evrona asked excitedly. “I was only hoping to get on the team. Shouldn’t the captain be a senior?”
“You scored higher than anyone in the school, dear,” Dee assured her.
“Dee?” a familiar voice came from the doorway. Both Dee and Evrona turned to see Jael and Ash stepping into the room. “Mind if we chat alone? Oh, hi, Sparrow. Didn’t know you were here.”
“I was just telling Evie she’ll be our captain of the Scholastithon team,” Dee replied.
“Oh, then maybe she should stay,” Asherah remarked, closing the door firmly behind her. “This is about Douglas College.”
“Sounds ominous,” Dee replied.
“Maybe,” Jael shrugged. “Maybe not. Tell them, Ash.”
“Well, there are nearly as many young divines at Douglas as we have here,” Ash reported.
“Really?” Dee asked. “That’s surprising. And no one knows they are there”
“Kiyoko and Kisho told me this was their first year in school too,” Evrona explained. “I think this is the first year any of them have been there.”
“Sounds like I should have just come and talked to you,” Asherah sighed.
“It could just be an amazing coincidence,” Jael pointed out.
“I’m thinking it’s no coincidence,” Rona cut her off. “Jael, usually you’re the suspicious one. And Enki made no big secret about his plans. I suspect someone caught wind somehow of what we were planning here and decided to have the sort of fun only petty gods and goddesses have.”
“I’m not sure how to take that remark,” Dee frowned.
“Oh, Dee, I wasn’t including any of you,” Rona laughed. “I didn’t even mean that whoever was behind the students at Douglas was unimportant, merely that it was petty-minded of them to act out in this way.”
“You may be right, Rona,” Jael admitted, “but I’m more interested in who it is and why. Those clouds around Yggdrasil have reappeared, you know.”
“Have they?” Dee asked. “I’ve been trapped in this office lately.”
“They’re back,” Asherah confirmed. “And this time it’s in advance of one of your competitions. Seems to me, someone is taking this too seriously. The faculty, perhaps?”
“I don’t think so,” Dee replied, “Although I’ll ask Isis to have a chat with everyone. Jael, you should be careful about how seriously you look into this. I assume you’re going to,”
“I am,” Jael confirmed, “and I would like to borrow both Ina and Isis to do it, although if you think Isis will be too busy…” she trailed off.
“Maybe I should handle this matter personally,” Dee decided. “Go ahead and ask Isis, but I still must stress you should do nothing to make the situation worse.”
“Me?” Jael laughed. “I’m a minor demoness. Even Johann Weyer never heard of me. My influence on the universe merely by thinking at it is minimal.”
“You are not as minor as you think these days, dear,” Dee told her. “You are currently directly below one of the queens of Hell, which I suppose would make you a sort of demonic princess.”
“Now there’s a notion I could do without,” Jael laughed. “And when do I get my bat mitzvah?”
“It does sound silly,” Dee admitted, “but male demons in your position style themselves princes, do they not?”
“I’m not really part of that hierarchy,” Jael scoffed. “Not anymore.”
“And that adds to your influence, dear,” Dee insisted. “Plus you hobnob with some fairly major deities and are easily accepted as an equal. You are a rising star on the Divine Plain and I think you might be the only one who hasn’t realized it. But never mind that for now. All I’m saying is don’t get too intense. You do that, you know. If you find yourself getting a bit monomaniacal, step back and have a cup of tea, metaphorically, of course.”
“Don’t worry,” Rona assured her. “I’ll let her know when she goes too far.”
“So speaks the one who took out Lilith with a smile on her lips.” Jael chuckled. “Sparrow, have you been talking to your friend, Kiyoko?”
“Off and on,” Evrona shrugged. “We’re having dinner together after the Scholastithon. Is that okay?”
“More than okay,” Jael assured her. “I was just wondering if you’ve learned any more about what’s going on at Douglas College.”
“We never discuss this sort of thing,” Evrona replied. “Oh, we compare classes and teachers, that sort of thing, but that’s all.”
“Do you get the idea that any of her teachers are, well, supernatural?” Jael asked.
“It’s never come up,” Evrona replied, “nor have I mentioned who you all are.”
“Just two co-eds shooting the breeze, huh?” Jael responded. “Well, that’s not too bad, but it would have been nice to get some inside information.”
“I’m not going to use my friend to pry for you, Jael,” Evrona told her.
“Never thought you would, Sparrow,” Jael sighed. “Besides if there’s something Ina, Isis and I can’t find out on our own, I’d like to know what it is.”
“Uh,” Evrona began, “If you can’t find it out, how would you know what it was?”
“Never mind,” Jael shook her head. “You know, this weekend will be a good time to snoop. They’re all coming here, so…”
“This was such a bad idea,” Rona told Jael. Just as planned, they had waited until the competition had started at the Sherburne auditorium and then they set out. Just a slight shuffle along the limb of Yggdrasil brought them from the auditorium to the Administration Building on the Douglas campus unseen, and using a spell Inanna had provided, they were able to unlock the door.
It took a while to find the records room, and then to figure out the filing system. Every few minutes some minor tick of a clock or the creak of a floorboard would cause them to freeze and wait nervously to be discovered.
“Shh!” Jael hushed her, speaking as loud as Rona had. “Can’t hear myself think.”
“Funny,” Rona responded, “I can hear you think just fine.”
“Someone might hear us,” Jael told her irritably.
“Then try shutting up,” Rona replied, just as irritated. “That’s why I said this was a bad idea. Not everyone went to the Scholastithon you know.”
“No kidding,” Jael muttered. “I can see them walking around out there.”
“Really?” Rona asked acidly. “Did you think you could use those violet eyes without my seeing everything you can?”
“Only when you sleep,” Jael chuckled.
“Oh, that’s better,” Rona calmed down. “If you can laugh, we have a chance.”
“A chance to get in real trouble if you can’t find the student files,” Jael remarked, looking in yet another filing cabinet. “Who organized this? I’d hate to have to put up a defense against the IRS with records like these.”
“So would I,” Rona agreed. “They aren’t financial records, but if there’s any logic to the organization it’s lost on me. Oh wait a minute,” she stopped Jael on the next cabinet she opened. “I think this might be what we’re looking for.”
“So it is,” Jael agreed. “Student files, but are they current?”
“Look up Evie’s friend, Kiyoko,” Rona suggested.
“What’s her surname?” Jael countered. “All we have are a few first names. This could be a very long search.”
“What’s Japanese for ‘water?’” Rona asked.
“Can’t your language lessons wait?” Jael demanded.
“Most of ours have names that connect to what they are,” Rona pointed out. “Kiyoko told Evie she’s the spirit of an artificial lake.”
“That would explain her young age,” Jael nodded. “Oh, I see. Let’s see, water would be mizu. It’s not very likely, but it’s worth a shot. No, no Kiyoko Mizu.”
“Try lake, then” Rona suggested.
“I’m not really up on Japanese,” Jael admitted, “I think it might be mizuumi, but I would have seen that while looking for mizu. Oh, no. That’s just too easy,” she laughed. She pulled out a file. “Kiyoko Lake? No doubt Veronica’s Japanese cousin. Let’s see what it says in here.”
“Not much of a file,” Rona commented. “Very thin and it doesn’t say a lot.”
“What?” Jael asked. “Did you expect it to list her divine attributes? I wonder what this asterisk next to her name means.”
“She set the world record during an extended season?” Rona suggested. “Check some other files. I think this drawer is the Freshman class and all their divines should be freshmen this year.”
“Unless they transferred in like Amy,” Jael pointed out. “No, cancel that. How many young gods and goddesses ever even considered going to a mortal college?” It took them another hour, but they eventually learned what they needed to know.
While Jael and Rona were breaking into the student files at Douglas College, Inanna and Isis were keeping an eye on the students and faculty from Douglas at the Scholastithon. Ina’s job was simple enough. She took notes on the known divine students and the others they associated with. When Jael had assigned her the task she admitted that it might not be necessary, but Ina had pointed out, “No matter what you find out, this might confirm it. We ought to have someone help Isis though,”
“I only have a few faculty members to keep an eye on,” Isis had pointed out. “If the other competitions are any indication, there will only be three or four of them anyway.”
“How’s it going?” Isis asked Inanna in passing around mid-day.
“It’s like a clique,” Ina responded. “All the known divines hang out together and I’m willing to bet the others hanging out with them are divines as well. You can tell.”
“It takes years to get a mortal guise good enough to be undetectable,” Isis agreed. “These kids are pretty good, but I have to admit only Evrona has her guise perfect.”
“Evie’s very good,” Ina admitted, “and she’s been working on it longer than the rest of them, that’s probably why.”
“She also prefers her mortal guise to her natural form,” Isis pointed out. “That makes a big difference as well. Anyway, I’m not sure about the teachers. If they are gods, they’ll have their guises down pat, just as we do, but there’s something about that assistant dean of theirs. It’s not a flaw in her guise, but she just seems familiar, you know?”
“I’ve had the feeling before,” Ina agreed. “Sometimes we just know each other. It could be those little unguarded moments. What’s her name?”
“Doctor Bellona Prudens,” Isis replied.
“Bell… oh you’re kidding,” Ina shook her head. “I’d have thought she would have been more subtle.”
“Who is she?” Isis asked.
“I think you can figure it out for yourself,” Ina laughed. “Translate from the Latin.”
“Oh, yes,” Isis nodded. “I should have seen it for myself. I think I’ll just follow Doctor Prudens around for a bit and see where she leads me.”
“Wise course of action?” Ina chuckled.
“Could be,” Isis nodded. “Oh heck! Where did she just disappear to? Got to run!”
Dee was working in her office when her cell phone started vibrating. “Hello?” she responded, stepping over to the window. There were only a few places on campus her phone worked well. Being near the window helped.
“Mother, it’s Ninti,” came the response. “Have you been watching the news?”
“Afraid not,” Dee replied, “I’ve had a lot of paper work building up. Stopping to read the news or turning on the television would have been counter-productive. Why?”
“The simplest explanation is that the world has gone crazy,” Ninti told her. “Late yesterday several stock markets crashed overseas and the effect continued across the world as the day wore on. Are you sure you hadn’t heard?”
“I don’t have much reason to watch the financial sectors,” Dee reminded her. “Eddy would be better at it anyway.”
“Anyway, the financial world is in shock and only the fact that it happened on a Friday kept various investment firms and banks from going under immediately. Runs on those firms are expected Monday morning,” Ninti reported. “Of course after a nervous night, the fear has turned to outrage and everyone is blaming someone else. Governments are meeting all around the world looking for someone to pin it on and also competing to see who has the biggest black hole to sink money in to make it look like they are doing something positive. Some figure to the tune of two trillion dollars.”
“That’s not a pretty tune,” Dee remarked, “and haste is never a good strategy, especially in a crisis. That’s pretty bad, but I doubt you would have called simply about the stock market. It’s too broad and general. Give me some specific details, dear. Something we can work with maybe.”
“Okay,” Ninti replied. “The European Union is blaming the OPEC countries for intentionally manipulating the oil market. They have done that frequently enough in the past, but making speeches and groundless threats never improves a situation. In Hong Kong, investors are demanding an investigation into widespread insider trading between several large companies, most of whom are foreign, I could list the countries involved but these are all multi-nationals.
“Several Japanese corporations are alleging and counter-alleging corporate espionage,” Ninti went on. “It would be quite amusing if not for everything else going on. Meanwhile Australia has its own gripe with OPEC, claiming that Indonesia is drilling in Australian territorial waters. In North America, Mexico is claiming the United States and Canada are violating the NAFTA agreement. So is that better?”
“Not really, but it is more specific information,” Dee admitted tiredly.
“Do you think any of that might apply to your school and the contest this weekend?” Ninti asked.
“Possibly,” Dee replied. “We have a lot of international students and they are all competing at once, but I wouldn’t have thought the Scholastithon would generate sufficient intensity to do all that, Where is Enki, by the way? Shouldn’t he be in on this?”
“Enki went back to Dilmun yesterday morning before all this started happening,” Ninti replied. “I’m starting to wish I’d gone with him, but someone has to be on the job. He should have been back by now, but he probably got distracted by some new thought. You know how he is.”
“All too well,” Dee recalled. “I thought we had impressed on all our special students the need to not take these contests so seriously.”
“Then either they were not listening very well,” Ninti replied, “or something else is at work here. Divining the source of this sort of disturbance is not really my specialty. I can do it by observation after all this time, but I’ve no special talent for it.”
“That’s all right, dear,” Dee replied. “You have more important talents, not the least of which is your brain. For now, though maybe you ought to go see if you can find Enki. In a very real sense this might be all his fault.”
“I could cross paths with him,” Ninti considered. “Well, I’ll just have to leave a note in case he gets here after I leave.”
“You can also ask Ratatosk if Enki has been through lately,” Dee suggested.
“If I can find the squirrel, I will,” Ninti promised. “What are you going to do?”
“Well, my first instinct is to jump over to Brandon and break things up,” Dee admitted, “but the contest must be nearly over by now. I’ll try calling Jael, Ina and Isis, although Vermont is not exactly a cell phone paradise – just the opposite, really. I probably should have gotten the landline number of the auditorium there.”
“We have been relying on them a bit too much,” Ninti agreed. “Should I have called your office phone?”
“The office is fine,” Dee replied, “well, not fine, but I get two bars if I sit on the windowsill, but the dean’s house is in a dead spot. Most of the campus is really, so maybe trying the landlines first is a good idea.”
“Maybe Enki will want to start up a phone company next,” Ninti remarked.
“Heavens forbid!” Dee laughed. “Well you’d better get going. I’ll see if there’s any cellular service in Brandon. I may have to pop over there yet.”
Jael and Rona finished up with the student record and notices that all the known divine students had asterisks next to their names, so following that, they made note of the others who were similarly marked. “Thirty of them,” Rona noted. “A few less than we have at Sherburne.”
“Hmm, too bad I haven’t been able to hack my way into the computer system here,” Jael remarked. “I thought I was better than that. I wonder if there’s a magic spell to do that. Anyway, I’ll bet we could have sorted the students by class and whether tagged with a star in seconds that way. No helping that, but I’d really like to check out the faculty members.”
“It’s getting late,” Rona warned her.
“I know,” Jael snapped at her, “but it shouldn’t take too long.”
Just then the door swung open and a woman asked, “Looking for something, Jael?”
“Athena?”
“You would see through any guise, wouldn’t you, Jael?” Athena commented dryly.
“Your voice gave you away,” Jael admitted. “We’ve worked together in the Celestial League and you do have a distinctive voice. Oh, my goodness! Bellona Prudens? I must have been sleeping when I saw that name.”
“Yes, we nearly all were,” Isis commented, stepping up behind Athena. “War and Wisdom combined. Clever, but not very subtle. I will admit that Inanna was the only one who caught it immediately.”
“Hmm, she would,” Athena nodded. “We’re related aspects of each other through our warrior sides. Still I would have thought the Aphrodite was stronger in her after all this time.”
“Ina Loveall is so much more than Aphrodite or Venus,” Isis told her. “I made that mistake once too, but no more.”
“We’re not all eternal children,” Jael commented. “Ina did seem like that when I first met her, but she grew up rather suddenly a few years ago. It might have been an association with the new Tree. It happened while the tree was growing as she was one of Eddy’s bodyguards.”
“I suspect all of you involved matured a bit during that year, Jael,” Athena noted. “I know you did.”
“Did I?” Jael asked. “Never noticed.”
“Neither did I,” Rona added.
“Thanks, evil twin,” Jael muttered. “But why are you here, Athena? What’s in all this for you?”
“Well, I heard about Enki’s college project,” Athena admitted, “and when he didn’t invite me to join his faculty, I decided to do the same with my own school.”
“You could have just asked him, you know,” Isis commented. “We didn’t know you were interested.”
“Let me get this straight,” Jael cut in. “You brought the world up to the proverbial brink just because Enki failed to invite you to the dance? Not exactly living up to that rep for wisdom this time.”
“Just what are you talking about, Jael?” Athena demanded, her face reddening.
“Oh, like you don’t know,” Jael laughed humorlessly.
“I don’t think she does,” Isis interrupted the exchange.
“What?” Athena demanded. Jael, Rona and Isis all took turns bringing Athena up to date on what had been going on. “Oh, that’s ridiculous!” Athena responded at last. “Until the first Scholastithon, I didn’t even know which school Enki had taken over. For all I had known you could have been in Europe.”
“We aren’t blaming you,” Rona told her, “not directly. But the kids are young and excitable and essentially meaningless contests are exactly the sorts of things they do take seriously. Surely you’re not too old to remember that.”
“I honestly never considered that,” Athena admitted, “but I haven’t been encouraging them to take it all so seriously either.”
“You didn’t have to,” Isis pointed out. “They’re still young enough to do that without any encouragement whatsoever, and yet they are apparently also old enough to start making their marks on the world as well.”
“I’ll have to see about putting a stop to that,” Athena sighed.
“Well, it’s not entirely hopeless,” Jael told her. “In fact, I’d go so far as to say it is not hopeless at all. The kids, yours and ours both, figured out what sorts of students were in both schools before we did.”
“They did?” Athena asked.
“Uh huh!” Rona nodded. “Some of them are even fairly good friends now too.”
“I particularly like that nice Kisho boy,” Jael commented. “What is he a god of, anyway?”
“He’s a water spirit from Japan,” Athena told her. “He’s a bit insubstantial at times and prone to disappear when a teacher is looking elsewhere. I’ve had to work with him on that. But why are you two, er three, snooping around here while everyone else is in the Sherburne auditorium?”
“We wanted to know how many divine students you had,” Jael replied. “We wanted to make sure it was not more than a few minor deities enrolled in a pair of rival mortal schools. Finding out why was on the list too. We also wanted to know who you were and what you were up to, just in case, you understand. We would have just knocked on your door during office hours had we known.”
“And now you do know,” Athena remarked. “So maybe we ought to hurry back to the contest to make sure nothing gets out of hand.”
“Ah!” Jael laughed. “Now there’s the fabled wisdom we’ve all heard about.”
“And the not-so-fabled sardonic humor we’ve all had to tolerate,” Athena chuckled.
They arrived at the auditorium just in time to witness the final question, “What were the names of the Three Moirae?” Evrona’s hand slammed down on the buzzer before the final word had reached its second syllable. “Sherburne?”
“Alec…” Evrona started to say and then quickly coughed and started over, “In Greece their names were Atropos, Lachesis and Clotho.”
“Correct!” the moderator announced. “Point and game goes to Sherburne College. Congratulations, Sherburne!”
There was cheering from the Sherburne side of the auditorium and polite applause from the Douglas side. “That doesn’t seem too extreme a reaction,” Athena noted as the two teams got up to shake hands. In fact, the teams were more than just cordial to each other with Kiyoko hugging Evrona when their time came.
“That was very well done!” Kiyoko congratulated her friend. “And the first Sherburne win in this event in a long time. I’m so glad you were the captain!”
“Thanks, but I almost blew it,” Evrona admitted. “For one moment I thought he had asked for the names of the Three Erinyes and I was about to answer Alecto, Megaera and Tisiphone.”
“Yeah, I think we all heard you stumble over the names,” Amy laughed, “but you covered well with that cough. Just as well since he wasn’t about to ask if that was your final answer.”
“Huh?” Evrona asked.
The elder goddesses watched as the two teams stood around chatting like old friends and began to relax. “Well, I think we dodged the big one,” Jael remarked, sitting back with her legs over the seat back in front of her.
“Do you really think it was that close?” Athena asked.
“It’s possible,” Dee remarked as she stepped in through the nearest door. Ninti and Enki were directly behind her.“Did you tell her about the clouds?” she asked the others.
“We did,” Isis confirmed.
“I might have been here sooner, but I had to see for myself,” Dee told them. “And I ran into Ninti and Enki on the way back down the tree. They were larger, closer and darker than they have been since the new tree was under siege.”
“That can’t be,” Jael denied. “Look at the kids. You would think they’ve known each other forever. Best of friends.”
“Our clouds may not represent any real animosity between our students,” Enki opined that evening after everyone had managed to share what they knew about the two schools. “It could well just be a manifestation of youthful enthusiasm. Athena, I believe we should work together to teach the kids moderation in all things.”
“Agreed,” Athena nodded. “Of course, we only have one interschool competition left and baseball is really just an exhibition game, so it shouldn’t get taken too seriously.”
“I hope you’re right,” Dee told her, “but so far, each time our schools have met those clouds have become increasingly more of a problem.”
“I must look into that as well,” Athena told them, “but if I learn anything you have not already told me, I’ll pass it on.”
“Good,” Enki nodded. “Well I think we can all relax a bit now that we’ve figured out what’s been going on.”
“Would you stop saying things like that?” Rona remarked irritably. “Every time you do, you’re wrong.”
“Not every time,” Enki replied, sounding hurt.
“Often enough,” Rona told him. “Personally I won’t stop worrying until after Finals are over.”
As Gym class turned to Baseball at last, several of the students in Proctor Hall were anxious to get started, especially since Coach Terpsichore had announced that she would choose the roster of the school team based on their performances in class. Evrona enjoyed the game well enough in class, but was not interested in being on the team, especially with her work toward the spring art show taking up much of her spare time. Amy, Mina, Nina and Tomislaw threw themselves wholeheartedly into the game as did Ephrael and Astra, but the power hitters from Proctor turned out to be Xandros and the two frost giants. In mortal guise they were good, but not unbelievably so, so they got on the team along with the best Wheeler House had to offer too.
Meanwhile, Final Exams were looming and while Evrona and Amy were both doing as well in their class work as they had first semester, Georgi was finding he had taken on more than he could handle comfortably when he had signed up for a sixth academic class and he was losing sleep in his attempt to finish all his work and study for the upcoming exams.
Georgi was not the only one feeling the stress, however. Nerys was having difficulty in her second semester of calculus, although she was excelling in Ancient Religions and Organic Chemistry. She was even gliding through her Quantum Mechanics class, but something about integrals kept tripping her up. However, Georgi was able to tutor her through calculus and she helped him with Physical Anthropology and Organic Chemistry, so it was working out.
There had been several arguments between Proctor Hall students over the months, which was to be expected, but the oldest came to a head one afternoon when Astra and Ephrael started arguing over the issue of visiting mortal students.
Jael entered the dorm that afternoon to hear Astra shouting, “No! I am not going to ask my friends to stay in the common room. We are allowed all over their dormitory when visiting.”
“This is different,” Ephrael insisted in what had become his signature passive-aggressive manner. “Most of us need to get out of guise from time to time. With mortals running around the dorm, we are prisoners in our own bodies. It isn’t fair to the rest of us, just because a few of you care to associate with the mortals.”
“Whoa there, Feathers!” Jael stopped him. “I thought this had been decided on the first day here. I told you all that you might have to stay in guise around the clock, because the dorm would be open to visitors.”
“I don’t recall anyone voting on it, Doctor Steele,” Ephrael replied with obviously false courtesy. Most of the time, Ephrael had pretended none of the demons, Jael included, even existed. “In fact I believe it was a commandment that you set down without bothering to consult us. We never had a say in the matter.”
“Yeah, being Resident Faculty tends to come with a few perks,” Jael shot back.
“Well, this is our place too and we demand the right to set our own house rules,” Ephrael told her.
Jael looked exaggeratedly around the room and even behind Ephrael before replying, “We? Doesn’t look like Astra agrees with you on this one and there’s no one else in the room. Have ‘we’ suddenly become royal?”
“I am not alone in this,” Ephrael insisted, emphasizing the first person pronoun. “A lot of us feel this way.”
“Well, if that’s the case I suppose we ought to hold a house meeting,” Jael decided. “Tonight at midnight, I should think.”
“Really?” Ephrael asked, sensing a trap.
“Really,” Jael shrugged. “You’re right. This is your house and the students do have a say in the house rules. Most of us don’t need sleep, and we ought to get this out of the way as fast as practicable, so tonight at midnight.”
Ephrael repeated his complaint as soon as Jael opened the meeting only to have Amy retort, “Oh stuff it, Eph. The rest of us have friends. We also have more important things to do just now than listen to you gripe.”
“I think he has a good point,” Johann debated. “This guise is not the real me and it doesn’t fit well. Every so often you need to just be yourself.”
“Do it in your own room,” Georgi suggested helpfully.
“I wouldn’t fit in my own room,” Johann complained.
“You’re not that large,” Inga laughed.
“Well, I wouldn’t fit on the bed,” Johann argued.
“Nothing can be done about the beds,” Jael pointed out.
“We were told that before we ever came here,” Inga agreed and turned to Johann. “And I don’t know what you’re going on about. There is nothing wrong or uncomfortable with staying in guise. Everything here fits that way. We’re too large in our natural form.”
“Well, I’m not any smaller or larger,” Lars pointed out, “and it doesn’t feel natural to me.”
“I’ll admit I prefer my natural form,” Nerys spoke up, “but this is worth it to be with my friends and to have our friends from Wheeler House come and visit.”
“Not all of us have friends in Wheeler House,” Ephrael argued.
“Well, whose fault is that?” Nerys asked pointedly. “The rest of us had no trouble making friends.”
“Kiyoko tells me none of the divines at Douglas College have any mortal friends,” Evrona commented. “She’s jealous of the way we can talk to Kara and Tim and some of the others.”
“I’m not jealous in the least,” Ephrael told her coldly. “I would be just as happy if there were no mortals here at all.”
“You would only have had two of your classes this semester,” Astra pointed out.
“There aren’t enough of us to staff a whole college, mate,” Jael told him.
“There would be if we combined with the divines from Douglas,” Lars retorted.
“Not really,” Jael shook her head. “Athena only had a few slots to fill when she moved in there. They weren’t in anywhere as much trouble as Sherburne was.”
“Just what do you have against mortals anyway?” Amy demanded of Ephrael. “I was born mortal and can assure you divinity does not feel any different.”
“Who says you’re really divine?” Ephrael asked with a sneer.
“I do for one,” Jael told him. “So does Doctor Meter and Miss Loveall. We were all there when it happened.”
They continued to argue for an hour until Ephrael finally got around to making his proposal, “I move that no guests to Proctor Hall be allowed above the first floor.”
“Second,” Johann chimed in.
“Are you two crazy?” Amy asked angrily. The debate went even further downhill from there until Jael brought them up short.
“That’s enough kids,” she told them. “We’ve been going at this for two hours and started repeating ourselves about halfway through.”
“It has been moved and seconded,” Rona took over, “that Proctor Hall be closed to visitors above the first floor. All in favor, say ‘Aye.’” Only six students voted to close the dorm to visitors and Ephrael’s motion failed.
“Okay, kids, that’s it,” Jael told them. “You all had your say and the majority wins, The dorm remains as open as it has been all along.”
“I want a recount,” Ephrael demanded. Half the students groaned.
“Excuse me?” Jael responded. “Are you trying to imply I cannot count to six? No, the vote is over. The dorm remains open.”
Ephrael grumbled about that and so did Johann, but the others who had voted in favor of Ephrael’s motion took their defeat in good grace. However, while that settled the issue of dormitory visitors, Ephrael and Johann continued to be surly about the matter for the next week.
“Here to watch the practice?” Ina asked Jael as she sat down on the bench just three rows up in the stadium.
“I thought I’d poke my head in,” Jael nodded. “Professional interest and all. Some of these kids could be in the Celestial League some day. This isn’t the practice yet, is it?”
“No, just gym class,” Ina told her. “Makes me wish I could join in, or even help coach, but Terpsichore prefers to be a one-woman show.”
“That’s silly,” Jael remarked. “She’ll need at least one more coach for the game, preferably two.”
“Try telling her that,” Ina suggested.
“I will,” Jael decided.
“I already did,” Ina warned her. “For a muse she hasn’t managed to inspire much respect from me. I mean wouldn’t Hercules have been a better coach for these kids?”
“I’m sure Enki had his reasons,” Jael remarked. “The kids sure do enjoy the game, don’t they?”
“I know how they feel,” Ina sighed.
They sat back to watch the class. The Proctor students were playing a scrimmage game, being stopped by their coach every so often to correct them on some point of play. “I thought their classes were out of guise,” Jael commented.
“Not when the coach is using her class to choose a team from,” Ina responded. “Oh look, little Georgi just got on base. He’s not much of a hitter, but he sure can run. From what I hear, he can steal bases with the best of them.”
“That’s what Sparrow tells me,” Jael agreed. “He steals every time he gets on base. Yep, there he goes. Safe at second, oh no, he isn’t trying for third.”
“He is,” Ina confirmed laughing.
However as Georgi sprinted past Johann at shortstop, Johann stuck his foot out and tripped his classmate, sending him sprawling painfully into the dirt. There was an immediately outcry from the class as all the students surged onto the field in response to the incident. “We’d better get out there,” Jael remarked to Ina.
“You did that on purpose!” Amy was screaming at Johann as they arrived.
“He wasn’t watching where he was going,” Johann’s deep voice rumbled.
“Coach!” Nerys protested. “That was intentional.”
“I didn’t see it,” Terpsichore admitted.
“We did,” Ina told her. “This is why I was telling you we need two more coaches for the game. You can’t watch everyone at once.”
“You need coaches at first and third when your team is on the field,” Jael added. “Okay, you can be one of them. They do it that way in the minors all the time, but you have Ina and me to help out here. You need to manage the team from the bench and let us give the guidance on the field. Georgi, how you doing there, sport?”
Georgi groaned on the ground and tried to get up, but suddenly gasped and cried out when he tried to get to his feet. “I think he strained his ankle,” Terpsichore announced after a brief inspection.
“Okay, class is over,” Jael decided. “Sparrow, call Isis and tell her we need a van to take Georgi to the hospital. Georgi, stay down, you’ll only hurt yourself worse if you try walking on that.”
“Johann!” Ina’s voice sounded out. The young frost giant had tried sneaking off the field with the rest of the class. “You get back here right now.”
“I, uh, need to get ready for practice,” Johann rumbled.
“No practice for you,” Jael passed sentence. “You’re off the team.”
“Wait just a minute, that’s my call to make,” Terpsichore protested.
“And?” Jael asked her challengingly, meeting her eye to eye and refusing to blink.
“Johann is suspended from the team,” Terpsichore backed down unable to stand up to the demoness.
“And the rest of the class is on notice until I can sort it all out,” Jael told them. “Anyone want to protest that can take it up with the dean.” Then she turned back to Georgi and refused to listen to any complaints for the next few hours.
Evrona knocked on Jael’s dormitory door later that evening. “Come!” Jael shouted from inside.
“Jael?” Evrona asked hesitantly as she opened the door.
“C’mon in, Sparrow,” Jael invited, looking up from a stack of papers she was grading. “What can I do for you?”
“It’s about Johann,” Evrona told her.
“What about him?” Jael asked, although there was a look in her eyes that plainly said she knew what was coming next.
Evrona explained, “We’ll need him in the game against Douglas.”
“I don’t think so, Sparrow,” Jael shook her head.
“He’s our best hitter,” Evrona insisted.
“He might be the best hitter, but he’s a lousy teammate,” Jael told her firmly. “A team that works together is worth more than any single player, but it would not matter one whit to me if he truly was indispensible. He cheated and I have a zero tolerance for that. He’s just lucky Dee is the dean and not me or he’d be trudging back to Jotunheim right now.”
“But…” Evrona tried to protest and found she was out of words.
“Sparrow,” Jael went on, in a softer tone, “not only did Johann cheat, but he injured Georgi when he did. Satyr ankles are fairly delicate and he could have been crippled. Had he not been in mortal guise at the time of the injury, he probably would have been. We do not reward that sort of behavior and just between you and me, Ephrael came very close to getting yanked as well. I didn’t like his attitude when Georgi got hurt. He’s only lucky he was out in right field so all I have on him is unsportsmanlike behavior.”
“But Ephrael is an angel,” Evrona replied, mystified.
“Makes no difference to me,” Jael shook her head. “He hasn’t been behaving particularly angelically lately for that matter and that is not going to help him much over the summer. I’ve been asked to report on both him and Astra upstairs and they both know it.”
“He does not think a demoness’ report will be taken seriously,” Evrona informed her.
“Did he say that?” Jael asked, a twitch of a smile on her lips. Evrona nodded. “Then he is in for a very nasty surprise. The Powers Above know me very well and they also know when I’m telling the truth. I’ve no reason to lie on Ephrael’s behalf and you know me well enough to know I wouldn’t make anything up against him.”
“Besides,” Rona added, “I can guarantee we are better known to the higher ups in Heaven’s hierarchy than he is.”
Jael laughed at that and added, “Sparrow, you’re better known where it counts than Ephrael is.”
“I am?” Evrona asked, puzzled.
“Sure,” Jael nodded. “Deities like to gossip as much as mortals do and you made a very good impression while we were producing “Living Legend” last year. The fan pages on the Internet alone were enough to make most gods sit up and take notice.”
“What fan pages?” Evrona asked.
After Evrona had left, Jael commented to Rona, “We’re going to have to keep an eye on Ephrael, you know.”
“I know we’re rapidly running out of eyes,” Rona told her in return.
“I could use one or two in the back of my head,” Jael admitted, “And an extra pair of arms. I’ll be glad when this semester is over.”
“I miss Marcus,” Rona admitted.
“So do I kid,” Jael sighed again. “Let’s invite him in for the ball game.”
“Yes,” Rona agreed. “Can we go to Cleveland this weekend? I’m sure we can get Ina and Mike to watch the dorm.”
“Sounds good to me,” Jael admitted, “but we’d better not take the whole weekend as tempting as that is.”
Internally, Rona nodded.
As the end of the semester drew near there was still time for one last Weekend Seminar. Over the course of the school year the students had been treated to weekends devoted to ancient mythology, String Theory, physical anthropology, silent films, the evolution of cartoons and more. But nothing drew the students out like the practical exercise in baseball conducted by one-time professional ballplayer and coach, Samuel “Hawk” Wilton.
While the weekend activities were open to all students, Hawk’s exercises were mostly geared toward the team. The weekend started Friday evening with film clips of selected innings from great ball games of the past and a midnight double feature of “Field of Dreams” and “The Natural.”
Short on sleep, the team was out the next morning for drills. Not a single bat was seen all morning, but after lunch came batting practice for the whole school and then by mid-afternoon they split the squads and played a scrimmage game with Terpsichore coaching one side and Hawk on the other. The game had only been planned for seven innings but it ran into the twelfth until Astra hit a single into right field that allowed Amy to come home with the winning run.
After dinner, Hawk spent the evening with the students answering questions, telling old baseball stories and generally shooting the breeze. He also spent a lot of time giving the team advice. “Your coach,” he told them, “is no slouch, but she’s never played in a real serious ballgame. Now tomorrow we’re going to have more practice and a double header of scrimmage games, because this is the closest we’re going to come to spring training. In the normal course of things one game doesn’t mean much when you’re playing one hundred sixty-two in a season. You guys only have one game though so this isn’t just your spring training, this is the main season and that game next weekend is your World Series.
“Keep up those exercises as we ran them today and you’ll be fine, I’m sure,” Hawk told them, “but the most important thing to remember is this is a game. Go out there and have fun with it.”
It was good advice, but winning was still important to the students, and the mortal players were every bit as serious about it as the ones from the Divine Plain. The warning clouds began to gather around Yggdrasil once more as the day of the game with Douglas College approached, but this time Dee was relaxed about it. “Just remind the kids not to get too excited,” she instructed Jael, Ina and Terpsichore. We expected the clouds this time and now that we know what’s causing them, we know the situation is not too dire. Just keep the kids from going overboard.”
“No problem, chief,” Jael told her with a grin. “I’ll give them something like a reverse pep talk tomorrow night, and I’ve already got Evrona doing what she can to keep the mood light.”
“She’s come a long way in the last year or two,” Dee remarked. “She was a moody, brooding little thing when we first met, and a bit of you has managed to rub off on her.”
“A bit too much, I think at times,” Rona remarked. “She’s got a wise mouth whenever she starts to relax, but Evie’s a good kid and a natural leader among her friends.”
“Really?” Dee asked. “I would have thought Amy was the leader of that pack.”
“Yes and no,” Jael responded. “Amy is assertive and strong willed and the others do pay attention to what she says in a discussion or a debate, but Evrona leads quietly and by example. They follow her because she has grown outwardly self-confident and seems to always know what she is doing. I’m not sure she sees the difference yet, mind you. Inwardly there is still a lot of the shy and innocent young erinys I met on the Plain of Dis who at first seemed like nothing so much as a bundle of tears. But my Sparrow has a backbone and the only way someone can make her do something she does not want to is to convince her she is wrong about something. Trust me, that’s not easy, since these days she doesn’t make a lot of mistakes.”
“Has anyone heard from Enki or Ninti?” Isis asked. “They were supposed to be here this afternoon, but haven’t arrived yet.”
“They may have gotten distracted along the way,” Dee remarked. “Enki rarely travels along the shortest distance between two points and they could have stopped to do a bit of sight-seeing.”
“Does that happen a lot with him?” Isis asked.
“You have no idea,” Dee sighed. “For all I know he’s working on his next big scheme, although, frankly, this one has been the toughest one so far. He had better slow down for a while, or at least until mortal replacements can be hired for us, or he may have to do whatever he comes up with by himself.”
“That would slow him down too,” Jael laughed.
“Maybe,” Dee allowed. “He doesn’t always direct from behind the scenes.”
“Pay no attention to the water god behind the curtain!” Jael quipped. The others chuckled politely.
Enki did not arrive on the campus until two days later, an hour before the baseball game with Douglas College. Ninti and Hawk arrived with him and all of the three had a tired look to their eyes. “What kept you?” Dee asked as they stepped into her office. “Take one of your detours?” There was a bowl of mixed nuts on Dee’s desk and Hawk immediately helped himself to a handful, practically inhaling cashews, peanuts and filberts.
“Not intentionally,” Enki replied and he too reached for a few of the nuts, although unlike Hawk he only pinched two from the bowl. Hawk was already grabbing a second handful. “We had a tough time getting here. We had to come the long way, in fact, and drove up from Boston.”
“What were you doing in Boston?” Dee asked as Hawk went for still more of the nuts. “Would you like something more substantial, Hawk?” she asked with concern mixed with humor.
Hawk stopped for a moment and replied, “No, I’m fine. Just haven’t eaten in a day. These two don’t seem to need it. Hey, why is the bowl still full?”
“Cornucopia, Hawk,” Dee smiled. “It never empties. Well, Enki? Boston?”
“It was the closest major city we could get too,” Enki replied. “We got caught in between, so when we finally got out, I rented a car and we got up here as fast as possible.”
“Nothing out of the ordinary happening here,” Dee replied and then did a verbal about-face. “You got caught in between the plains? How? And why didn’t you just use Yggdrasil?”
“Yggdrasil is unapproachable,” Enki told her flatly. Even the wry grin that normally adorned his face and the humor lines around his eyes were nowhere to be seen.
“Unapproachable?” Dee echoed. “In what way?”
“In the way that you can’t get there from here, Ninmah,” Enki retorted using one of Dee’s oldest names, “or anywhere so far as I can tell. And it’s no bundle of roses to travel in between right now either. No matter what I did, it resisted my efforts, it was like trying to mold stone on a potter’s wheel.”
“I seem to recall you trying that once,” Dee remarked.
“Then perhaps you also recall how well that went,” Enki replied. “All it was good for was paving.”
“Or you might have taken the largest piece and worn a couple of grooves in it and called it an ashtray,” Hawk suggested whimsically. The others looked at him. “You know? Like in a summer camp Arts and Crafts shop?”
“Summer camp?” Enki mused thoughtfully.
“Oh no you don’t!” Dee stopped him cold. “We’re committed to this college an you’re not going to go swanning off on some new project before we’re clear of this one.”
“I was just thinking it might have been cheaper than buying into a college,” Enki remarked.
“I dare say,” Dee told him, “But you’ll do something like that without me. It’s going to be a few years before I can get clear of this office you know.”
“You could walk out on a moment’s notice,” Enki disagreed.
“Not and be able to live with myself,” Dee told him. “This school was a mess last summer when we moved in. It still has a lot of problems – problems you seem happy to delegate to Isis and me – but we’re working on them. If all our divine teachers and deans suddenly leave it will be even worse for this place. That’s actually been part of the problem all along. Teachers came here for only a year or two to have something on their curricula vitae and then with teaching credit under their belts they quickly ran off to bigger schools. Since Sherburne College did not have a lot of money to throw around, they could not afford to keep them here and so the next crop of first year teachers came along. Then the problems with accreditation cropped up and Sherburne was on a downward spiral. Through hard work, we’re in better shape now, but this school needs stability and that means we’ll all be here another year at least and then a few of us can leave at a time if we want to.
“But summer camp would be, uh, in the summer,” Enki protested. “When school’s out?”
“What? You think the Dean’s Office closes in the summer?” Dee asked. “I imagine I’ll be working even harder then. Enki, we need to get this school on a firm financial footing and that means not relying on you for all the cash. I’m working on government, corporate and private grants. I have Isis helping our faculty members get grants for their projects since the college gets a share of that as well. We also need to build up one or two departments. The way we’re set up right now, we cover the bases but we don’t really have any departments that truly shine, so that’s the stuff I’m working on.”
“All right,” Enki nodded, “but for now I’m more concerned with why it was so hard to get here. I tried going between the plains again once we had the car and kept sliding all over creation. I eventually got lucky and came out in Brattleboro and then drove the rest of the way up here. That no-man’s land we call between resisted me every bit of the way. It was difficult to enter it and even more difficult to get out and I had very little control over where we were headed. I could point us in the vague direction we wanted to go, but it was like sailing directly into the wind. When I found we were in the right state, finally, I stopped trying.”
“And you say you could not get to the World Tree?” Dee asked. “That’s very unusual. Actually I would say unprecedented. At least I’ve never heard of that before. It’s kind of hard to believe it can even be done.”
“Have a look for yourself,” Enki told her off-handedly.
“I will,” Dee decided, getting up from her desk.
“Where are you going?” Enki asked.
“Like you said,” Dee retorted, “to look for myself. This shouldn’t take too long. Either I won’t be able to approach Yggdrasil or I will. If I can’t then we’ll consider the next step. If I can then we’ll know it was something about one of you. There are people who cannot approach the Tree, after all. I know you always have been able to, but the Tree might have changed his mind.”
“I doubt that,” Enki told her, following her out of the room.
“So do I and it would not explain your other trouble getting here,” Dee admitted, “but I have to start somewhere, don’t I?”
They soon reached the front door of the Admin Building, where Dee started outside and disappeared. Two hours later, when the first pitch was thrown, she had still not returned.
“Hello, Eddy?” Jael called out from the phone in the home team dugout. “Have you heard from Dee?”
“I haven’t been expecting to,” Eddy replied. “Why?”
“Well, from what Enki tells me, she went to Yggdrasil and hasn’t come back yet,” Jael explained.
“Not unusual,” Eddy remarked. “I know it’s hard to remember sometimes, but she is Mother Nature. Sometimes little emergencies crop up and she’s never been one just to let a problem slide in the hope it might go away.”
“That’s true, but she was only supposed to have been gone a few minutes,” Jael pointed out, “and now it’s been so long even Enki is getting worried.”
“If Enki is worried, why can’t he go looking for her himself?” Eddy asked.
“A funny thing happened on his way to Killington,” Jael replied and repeated what she had learned.
“So Enki cannot get to Yggdrasil, but Dee can,” Eddy summed it up, “but now you’re worried that Dee can’t leave the Tree?”
“That’s about the size of it,” Jael agreed. “Oh hey! Just had a thought. Could you put Tanise on?”
“She’s out back with Lizzie,” Eddy explained. “Lizzie returned last night and has been teaching her all sorts of dances if you can believe it.”
“I can believe it,” Jael chuckled. “Once the Sphinx gets enthusiastic about something she holds on to it like a bulldog. Are they nearby?”
“Last I saw they were out by the Tree,” Eddy remarked. “I’ll call Tanise in. Hold up.”
“What do you have in mind?” Enki asked Jael nervously.
“I was hoping to have Tanise look for Dee from her Tree,” Jael admitted.
“I doubt that will work,” Enki opined. “We’ve never been able to see the in-between place from the Tree.”
“Last heard from, Dee was headed to Yggdrasil,” Jael pointed out. “And Tanise’s tree is not a carbon copy of her parent. Tanise has been able to see things we cannot, and if she can’t this time, there’s no harm done. That reminds me though, why have we never given a special name to it?”
“To what?” Enki asked.
“To that non-place between the plains,” Jael replied. “Seems to me it’s pretty special and we always talk about it in circularities. Kind of clumsy for conversational purposes.”
“Tanise’s Tree is a special thing also,” Rona pointed out, “but we just call him ‘Tanise’s Tree.’”
“Him, her,” Enki laughed. “You would think we would come to an agreement on the Tree’s gender by now.”
“The Tree is hermaphroditic,” Inanna added from nearby. “He is both male and female. Conventional language does not have a personal pronoun for that and very few of us like to refer to him as ‘it,’ so we use whichever gender we feel comfortable with.”
“Hello?” Tanise’s voice came over the phone. “Jael?”
“Hey there, kiddo,” Jael greeted her and quickly made her request.
“I’ll look,” Tanise promised, “But what do I do if I find her?”
“Try to contact her, of course,” Jael replied. “See if she’s in trouble and, if not, ask her to call in. If she is in trouble, find out where if you can and call me back. Actually, call me back in any case. We all want to know.” She gave her the phone number, repeating it twice.
“Why doesn’t my cell phone work here?” Enki asked as Jael hung up.
“This is Vermont, where cell phones go to die,” Jael told him, “or at least take extended vacations. You can pick up a signal in the cities, but out here in the mountains it’s catch as catch can. Well, catch can’t most of the time. Dee’s office has a spot by the window where she can pick up a signal, and I can sometimes get two bars from the roof of Proctor Hall. The good news is that students texting in class is not an issue here.”
“Jael, we have a problem,” Ina reported as Enki started using the dugout phone.
“Oh good,” Jael sighed. “I was getting bored. Now what?”
“We don’t have umpires,” Inanna told her.
“Aren’t we supposed to have some sort of interschool sports association that handles that?” Jael asked.
“We don’t belong to any such association,” Enki told her. “Neither does Douglas. That’s why we only play each other.” He turned back to the phone and started dialing again.
“Terrific,” Jael grumbled. “Where were we supposed to get them?”
“I made arrangements with Gilgamesh, Thor and a few others,” Ninti told her, “but if they’re having as much trouble getting here as we did, we’d better make other arrangements. Oh I see what you mean about the phones. No bars, but I do have a data signal.”
“You can monitor headlines with that gadget?” Jael asked.
“It’s why I got it,” Ninti replied.
“Please do so,” Jael requested. “Oh, and where’s Eddy?”
“He went to the snack bar,” Ninti replied.
“We have a snack bar?” Jael asked. “Ask him to join me, please when he gets back. Now where’s Isis? What’s so funny?” she asked Ina irritably.
“I was thinking Enki should have chosen you as dean or assistant,” Ina grinned. “You certainly do step in and take charge when needed.”
“Not bad for a rational anarchist, I know,” Jael shrugged. “My nature abhors a political vacuum, I guess. Hold on. Sparrow!” she called up into the grandstand.
“Yes, Jael?” Evrona asked, rushing down the steps and hanging over the roof of the dugout.
“Do me a favor and find Isis,” Jael told her. “When you find her, have her meet me out on the field.” Evrona nodded and rushed off. “Let’s go talk to Athena,” Jael told Ina. “Looks likes she’s with her team too.”
“What’s going on?” Athena asked after Jael and Ina met her on the middle of the field.
“We got everything but a set of umpires,” Jael told her before going into detail. While she spoke, Hawk Wilton and Isis joined them while Athena waved her coaches to join them as well. “Hey, is that Hermes walking up from the batting cage? Well, we kind of figured you weren’t working alone.”
“Of course not,” Athena shook her head. “It’s been a team effort.”
“Us too,” Jael nodded. “Isis, maybe you should be taking over.”
“Not a chance,” Isis shook her head. “You took the initiative, you go ahead and we’ll back you up.”
“Me and my big mouth,” Jael sighed. “Okay, like I said, we have no umpires. Ninti made the arrangements and so far as I know this is the first time any of her plans failed. She asked some of the Celestial League to officiate today and they’re no shows, but there are other problems up right now that relate.”
“Such as?” Athena asked.
“How did you get here today?” Jael asked.
“The bus came down Route 7 into Rutland,” Athena replied. “Turned left on Route 4 and…”
“That’s what I thought,” Jael nodded. “Did any of you come by way of the Tree or go between the plains?”
“To get here from Brandon?” Athena laughed. “That’s hardly worth the effort.”
“Right,” Jael agreed. “You can ask Enki if you don’t believe me but the usual paths are blocked at the moment.”
“Blocked?” Athena asked. “That’s impossible.”
“Wish it were,” Jael told her. “Hawk?”
“It’s true,” Hawk agreed. “I came in with Enki and Ninti. Wouldn’t know how to travel that way myself, but even working together they couldn’t get here this way. We eventually had to hire a car and drive in.”
“Dee had the same reaction you did,” Jael added to Athena.
“Who’s Dee?” Athena asked.
“Heh,” Jael laughed. “Our dean, Delores Meter, aka Ninhursag, Demeter, Ceres and a whole lot of other names.”
“Mother Nature,” Athena identified her.
“Right,” Jael nodded. “Anyway she didn’t believe Enki either. Maybe she was married to him too long, but she tried to get to the Tree. Maybe she did, we don’t know, but that was hours ago and she said she would be right back. So far there’s been no sign.”
“Strange,” Athena shook her head. “I’ve never heard of such a thing happening. I have to try this for myself.”
“Allow me,” Hermes told her. He took a few running steps and then abruptly halted. After two more attempts he had to admit, “She’s right. There’s no passage onto the Divine Plain.”
“How did Demeter do it?” Athena asked.
“We don’t know how successful she was,” Jael admitted. “And even if she made it on to Yggdrasil, we don’t know where she is or what might have happened to her. We’ve made calls of course, but so far we know nothing.
“It might be related to those clouds we’ve been observing,” Jael went on. “They were thicker and heavier around Yggdrasil than ever last night.”
“And you didn’t tell me?” Athena demanded.
“We didn’t take it seriously at the time,” Jael admitted. “We figured it was just like the other times and since we knew those clouds were manifestations of our students’ enthusiasm all we had to do was work on keeping them calm.”
“I thought as much too,” Athena admitted, “but how long have you known about the paths being blocked.”
“Only a couple hours,” Jael told her, “and we’ve been waiting for Dee to return. Heck, right now I’d even like to see that flea-bitten squirrel, Ratatosk.”
“Sounds serious,” Athena smirked. “Well, we’ll have to make do. Who can we use for umpires?”
“For starters I was going to recommend Hawk here,” Jael answered. “He’s actually played professional baseball and is not affiliated with either school.”
“In fairness I do feel a connection with Sherburne, though,” Hawk admitted, “especially after getting to know the players last weekend. I think I can do the job fairly, but none of you actually knows that.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Jael shrugged that off, “since the rest of us are going to have to join in and do the same. Athena, if Hawk is at home plate, you should probably ump at First Base.”
“Hermes,” Athena replied with a shake of her head, “and I think it should be Third.”
“Uh, ok,” Jael nodded. “Why?”
“Does it matter?” Athena asked.
“Not as long as we’re being impartial,” Jael replied.
“And I’m coaching the team, so I should stay in the dugout,” Athena decided.
“Then I’ll take First,” Jael told her, “and you choose someone to officiate at Second.”
Athena chose one of her coaches, a minor goddess from Southeast Asia. Then they went back to report their decisions. “I hope this goes well,” Enki worried uncharacteristically. “This whole notion of having teachers from the schools out on the field could be trouble.”
“We know we have to be impartial out there,” Jael told him, “But you’d better coach at Third for me.”
The game was hard-fought and close as the innings progressed, and was tied 3 – 3 at the middle of the Seventh Inning. A tie game did not worry Jael and the others much, but Ninti’s news reports did. There were several unexpected volcanic eruptions along the Pacific Rim in Peru, Washington State, Alaska, Kamchatka, Japan and Indonesia. There were also rain-induced mudslide in Southern California, a major earthquake detected in Iran, a late-spring blizzard in Montana, horrendous traffic accidents on the Autobahn that stopped traffic on roads in Germany for hours and similar traffic tie-ups on roads in the United States. A jet taking off from Heathrow International exploded just as its wheels left the ground and the entire port was shut down to investigate. Also civil war broke out in several African nations.”
“Quite a mix,” Jael commented when Ninti reported to her during the Seventh Inning stretch. “I wonder how many of those incidents are really related to this or if we just have a hectic news day.” She looked up into the stands and waved Evrona down on to the field, “I thought you were supposed to be keeping things calm up there, Sparrow.”
“Sorry, Jael,” Evrona apologized, “I’m trying but it’s hard. This is such an exciting game.”
“It’s above average,” Jael replied, “but I’ve seen better. Baseball is supposed to be played with unhurried grace. You would think this crowd was at a Soccer game. Go back and do what you can.”
Evrona nodded and went back to her seat, but Jael could see the erinys was having trouble getting through to her schoolmates. “Just another inning and a half,” she remarked to Hermes as she passed him on her way back to first base.
“I hope so,” Hermes replied, walking along with her a few paces. “I couldn’t help overhear the news report.”
“I wasn’t trying to keep it a secret, Herm,” she responded. “But even with the excitement in the stands the reaction seems out of proportion. Can’t wait for this game to be over.”
Jael did not get her wish however. In the Ninth Inning the Sherburne team scored three runs and looked assured of a victory until the game was tied up in the bottom of the inning, forcing them into extra innings. When each team scored another run in the Tenth, the crowd became even more frenetic and as six more innings passed, Ninti was reporting that the world situation was degrading rapidly.
“Over a baseball game?” Enki complained to Athena at the end of the Sixteenth Inning. “We didn’t cause this much of a ruccus during the first season of the Celestial League.
“It does seem excessive,” Athena told him, “although Jael and I were doing a lot behind the scenes to calm things down then. Maybe we should call this a tie?”
“It’s starting to get dark,” Enki admitted, noticing the stadium lights as if for the first time. “Let’s talk to our umpires.” They did and everyone agreed the best thing was to end the game, but the resulting uproar from the stands caused them to reconsider, especially when Ratatosk arrived in the home players’ dugout during the near riot.
“What the hell are you guys up to now?” the squirrel demanded furiously. “Do you have any notion about what’s going on in the world?”
“Ratty, do you know where Dee is?” Jael demanded of him.
“Sure,” Ratatosk nodded. “She’s in the same place she’s been for the last few hours, trying to keep the Tree from falling apart. The new spring leaves are getting blown off the branches because of the gale hitting the entirety of Yggdrasil . Do you have any idea of what it takes to generate a storm large enough to affect the entire Tree at once?”
“Starting to,” Jael remarked.
“Starting to, my hairy Aunt Fanny!” Ratatosk shouted back in his high squeaky voice. “The wind is so strong the birds are losing their feathers and the northern sections of the tree are coated in ice. If the storm keeps up they are all going to break off. You have to stop this game.”
“We tried that, Ratatosk,” Athena explained. “The crowd went wild. The only way to calm them a little is to continue play.”
“Oh that’s just wonderful!” Ratatosk grumbled.
“How’d you get here anyway?” Jael demanded. “The way’s been blocked.”
“It wasn’t easy,” the squirrel replied. “Ever step off a branch and just hang there in mid-air. I practically had to dig a tunnel to get here.”
“Well you’d better get back before one of the mortals sees you,” Jael advised.
“They think I’m a mascot,” Ratatosk replied. “And I can’t get back, it was a one-way trip.”
“Mascot?” Enki remarked, “Then you’d better get out there and start dancing on the field.”
“Are you kidding me?” Ratatosk asked.
“Not at all,” Enki shook his head. “Maybe you can distract them from the game itself.”
“Do I look like a clown to you?” Ratatosk demanded.
“At the moment,” Jael snapped at him, “all you’re missing is the big red nose. I can fix that for you.”
“Fine, I’ll sing and dance for the crowd,” Ratatosk grumbled.
“Just make fun of everyone,” Jael advised. “You think you can do that?”
“You think you’re a comedienne?” Ratatosk shot back.
“Good boy,” Jael smirked and ran back to first base as Hawk shouted, “Play ball!”
Athena and Enki both stressed to the players that they needed to remember this was only a game, but to the students it was the wrong thing to say and they took it as license to play at peak intensity. “Yeah!” Ephrael shouted with joyful savagery, “Let’s get them!”
The sentiment was echoed by Astra’s blood-curdling shriek and the roar from the rest of the team. Enki looked at Coach Terpsichore who merely shrugged back at him. Across the field the Douglas team was behaving similarly, so Enki walked to his post at Third Base and prepared for the worst.
Sherburne scored a run at the top of the Seventeenth inning, but when Athena came out to take her place as Third base coach she called Enki over for a consultation. “Is that Terpsichore in your dugout?” she asked him.
“Yes,” Enki nodded. “She seemed ideally suited to act as the athletic coach.”
“So you have Muses teaching here?” Athena pressed.
“Well, yes, of course,” Enki nodded. “I tried to hire all nine, but only five were available.”
“That’s because the other four are teaching at Douglas,” Athena told him. “Something strange, but I can’t place it.”
“What?” Enki asked.
“I mean there seems to be something strange about her,” Athena remarked, “but I cannot figure out what it is.”
“Maybe you’re just not used to seeing her in a baseball uniform,” Enki suggested.
“No, that’s not it,” Athena shook her head. “Are the other Muses here today?”
“They might be,” Enki replied. “I can ask.” He started toward Terpsichore.
“No,” Athena stopped him. “Be a little more subtle about it. Ask Ninti to look into it.”
“Why?” Enki asked.
“Just humor me on this,” Athena told him.
“Okay. I’ll get back to you at the end of the inning,” Enki promised.
The next half inning was as hard fought at the last and once more the team from Douglas College caught up to their rivals. Enki met Athena at Third base again and reported, “Yes, all five of my Muses are here today. There’s Calliope, Clio, Polyhymnia and Thalia.” He pointed toward each in turn. “And you know where Terpsichore is.”
Athena started pointing as well, “Urania, Euterpe, Erato and Melpomene.”
“The gang’s all here,” Hermes noted from a few steps away.
“What’s going on?” Jael asked as she jogged across the field. Tomislaw was warming up in the bullpen. He had been playing at Third Base all game, but with the Eighteenth Inning coming up, and all their regular pitchers used up, Terpsichore had sent him in to pitch.
“We have a surfeit of Muses it seems,” Enki told her, pointing them out one at a time.
“Jael!” Rona warned. “Don’t say it!”
“Say what?” Jael asked innocently.
“I know what’s on your mind,” Rona told her. “Don’t say it.”
“Ah, you’re no fun,” Jael laughed. “Is it my inexperience with magic or are they casting some sort of spell.”
“What?” it was Enki’s turn to ask, although he only beat Athena and Hermes to it by a heartbeat.
“It’s a classic glamour,” Athena remarked, “and we were all under it too, except for you Jael. How did you escape?”
“The other side of me,” Jael chuckled. “A lot of simple enchantments are broken when we switch back and forth. My guess is this glamour is a frail spell, depending on its subtlety rather than coercion.”
“Also it relies on the subject reacting normally,” Enki told her. “If it were to suppress normal reactions it wouldn’t work at all. When you and Rona had one of your little spats you disrupted it, instantly breaking the spell simply because you changed identity. We got out because it’s so frail, awareness of the spell is enough to counter it.”
“But what is it supposed to do?” Jael asked.
“Look around you,” Athena remarked. “Look at the way the spectators are reacting. Look at the intensity our students are playing the game.”
“Wait just a darned minute!” Jael told them.
“Jael, honey,” Athena laughed. “You’re a demoness. You do know you’re allowed to swear every now and then?”
“Yeah, I know,” Jael replied, “and one of these days someone’s gonna yank my union card. But are you saying the Muses have caused all these problems, especially the cloud about Yggdrasil?”
“Well, I wouldn’t call this hard proof,” Enki replied, “but I’d say this makes them our prime suspects. Athena, you said you didn’t know we were here at Sherburne College?”
“Not until the Fall Scholastithon,” she replied.
“Someone did,” Enki replied.
“At least five someones did,” Jael told him.
“Oh, yeah,” Enki nodded. “Athena, we’ve been had, but I want to know why and what the Nine were up to.”
“But first we need to remove their glamour,” Athena remarked. “I think the four of us working together should be able to handle that.”
They joined hands and in a few moments the Nine Muses collapsed unconscious, and their glamour over the people in the stadium was disrupted. Members of the baseball teams all looked somewhat dazed as though just waking up from a long sleep. “Looks like our Muses were inspiring everyone just a little too hard if you ask me,” Enki commented acidly.
“They may well have been inspiring both of us from the start of this too, you know,” Athena told him. “It’s the only reason I can think of for why we would have chosen two rival schools. We need to round them up before they recover, though. I really want to have a good long chat with them.”
“I can name that tune in one note,” Jael added. “I’ll put some of my students on the case to get our five, you should do the same with yours. We’ll find out just how involved they were.” Athena nodded and they both rushed to the grandstands to give instructions.
Jael went straight to Evrona and asked, “Feeling okay, Sparrow? How about the rest of you guys?”
“Just a bit dizzy,” Evrona admitted. The others nodded affirmatively
Jael told them what had been happening and told them to round up the Muses who had been teaching at Sherburne College. “Bring them down into the locker room,” Jael added, “and don’t let them try anything once they fully wake up again.”
“No worries on that count,” Evrona agreed, a hint of steel in her voice and she allowed her nails to grow just enough to resemble claws. “They won’t try anything twice.”
“Good girl,” Jael laughed. “Oops! Gotta get back for the rest of the game. See you soon.”
The rest of the game passed quickly. The first two batters grounded out on their first pitches, but the third, Xandros, got a one run single, to bring the score to 10 – 9 in Sherburne’s favor. In the bottom half of the inning Tomislaw managed to strike out the first two hitters from Douglas and the third popped up a long fly ball, that had Ephrael out to the warning track where he caught it in a prodigious leap into the air to end the game.
“Just what do you think you were doing?” Athena demanded of the Muses. Not far away they could hear the sound of rushing water in the showers where women from both teams were cleaning up.
Due to the coed nature of the teams, unusual on most college campuses, the two schools had divided the locker rooms into male and female, rather than home team and visitors and since all the women on the team were from the Divine Plain, Enki decided it was safe to interrogate the Muses in the Women’s Locker Room rather than parade them across the campus.
Dee returned just in time to see the end of the game and congratulate the team before Jael grabbed her and brought her up to date.
Calliope shrugged arrogantly at Athena and replied, “Just doing our jobs.”
“Somewhat excessively if you ask me,” Jael snapped at her.
“And what would you know of our jobs?” Calliope asked, and then added with a sneer, “Demoness!”
Inanna sniggered at that and the others all tried with only partial success to keep their faces straight. The Muses, realizing they were being laughed at became indignant, but Jael answered calmly.
“Yes, Poetic One,” she replied sardonically, “I am a demoness, but I would have thought you and your clique here would be aware of every supernatural being with a doctorate. I mean, we’ve always assumed you were our inspirations. So now you tell me,” she leaned closer and hissed, “what’s with the fun and games?”
“This was not fun,” Calliope responded indignantly.
“No, can’t honestly say it was,” Jael agreed. “But you were playing games just the same. So start talking.”
“It was not for fun,” Calliope amplified. “It was necessary.”
“Excuse me?” Enki interposed. “I’m getting old and my ears are obviously playing tricks on me. Did you really say it was necessary to bring the Universe to the brink of destruction? Ratty, my apologies. I never realized you were a Muse.”
“No, just amused,” Ratatosk replied.
“Ow,” Jael reacted to the lame pun.
“There, you see?” Rona told her. “That’s why I wouldn’t let you say it earlier.”
“Would have been funnier had I said it,” Jael shot back.
“Besides,” Ratatosk continued, “I’ve never destroyed anything greater than a rare steak, Waterboy.”
“Waterboy?” Enki grinned.
“We knew precisely what we were doing,” Calliope maintained. “The Universe was never in danger.”
“Oh no?” Dee asked dangerously. “I think I am in a better position to judge the nature of what you Nine were doing.”
“But the Oracle…” Polyhymnia blurted as the others hushed her hastily.
“The Oracle?” Inanna asked. “Oh no! You haven’t been taking the rambling clap-trap that comes out of her mouth seriously, have you?”
“You know what they’re talking about?” Enki asked Inanna.
“It was after your time, Grandfather,” Ina replied, “but not by much. Mike, honey, you tell this stuff better than I do.”
“The best known and supposedly most accurate oracle of the Ancient World,” Mike told Enki, “was at Delphi at the foot of Mount Parnassus. The Oracular priestesses were all known as Pythia, of course, although that was somewhat later. Now the Oracle actually predated the Helenistic culture, but the Greeks made it their own.
“Anyway,” Mike continued his lecture, “Pythia was the string of priestesses, so named to remind one and all of the murder of Python, who was also sometimes called Pythia.”
“I remember that,” Dee commented bleakly. “She was my daughter too.”
“I know,” Ina told her sympathetically with a comforting hand on the other goddess’ shoulder.
“But the priestesses called Pythia were all mortal women,” Isis reminded them.
“True,” Mike agreed readily, “but there was another legendary Oracle of Delphi, the Delphic Sibyl. She and Pythia have often been confused with one another, but Pythia was a line of real-life priestesses. Their pronouncements, if real, were extraordinary and accurate, but as I said, they were all mortal. Sibyl had mythic properties. She would have been an immortal. Hmm, I suppose she still is, if she’s immortal. If there’s an Oracle on the Divine Plain, seems to me she would be the one.”
“Hah!” Rona laughed, suddenly replacing Jael entirely. She faced Calliope. “You’ve been listening to Sibyl? The Sibyl? Even I know her predictions, like all oracles were obscure to the point of deception.”
“Rona’s correct,” Mike nodded. “Let me see if I can remember some of the Delphic prophesies. ‘Love of money and nothing else will ruin Sparta.’ That was one of them, so King Lycurgus turned around and decreed there would be no silver currency and replaced it with iron instead, which of course was rather cumbersome and did nothing for Sparta’s economy. In fairness the prediction proved true, but only after the Peloponnesian War.
“Then there was a prophecy delivered to Croesus concerning the length of his monarchy. ‘Whenever a mule shall become sovereign king of the Medians, then Lydian Delicate-Foot, flee by the stone-strew-Hermus, flee, and think not to stand fast, nor shame to be chicken-hearted.’ So Croesus figured there was no mule on the throne of Media and with other city-states attacked Persia and lost. Of course at the time anyone with parents of different nationalities was considered a mule so it did not necessarily mean what Croesus thought it did. Cyrus’ father was Persian and his mother was a Mede. A less obscure prophecy would have been correctly interpreted.”
“Those were prophesies by Pythia, not Sibyl,” Calliope argued.
“Right,” Mike agreed. “Sibyl’s prophecies are reputed to make Pythia’s look like GPS instructions in comparison.
“So,” Jael cut back in, “tell us this amazing prophecy you’ve been following. This I have got to hear!”
Calliope glared at her for a long time before reciting, “There are two schools, close to each other and yet far apart. And they should be in contest until all wrongs are right.”
“That’s it?” Jael demanded. “Two schools? You see?” she told the others, “This is why I’ve never found any prophet interesting. Two Schools? I can get more accurate results from the carnie who tries to guess my weight! Close and yet far apart.” She paused to stare at the ceiling and then at the floor, muttering something under her breath. From the shower area, Evrona knew her mentor was counting to ten in an attempt to calm down. She also knew it almost never worked.
“Two schools, close and yet far apart?” Jael repeated exasperatedly. “What in all the gods’ names made you think it was these two schools? Why aren’t you lot haunting the halls of Harvard and MIT? What made you even think the prophecy refers to physical schools and not two schools of thought?”
“Or of fish?” Ratatosk added off-handedly.
“Ratty!” Jael turned on him, and then stopped herself. “Uh, good one. Thanks. Like the rodent said, why not schools of fish?”
“We do not inspire fish,” Calliope responded, offended.
“Maybe not, but right now something smells like one that’s been dead for a week,” Jael told her.
“And the only reason the world did not come down around us is that we stopped you,” Athena pointed out.
“A wrong we would not have had to right,” Enki added, “If you had not meddled in the first place.”
“What concerns me more than anything else,” Dee told the Muses, “is why did you even consult the Oracle in the first place?”
Calliope did not answer, but the confused looks the Muses gave each other spoke volumes. “You don’t even know that?” Enki asked in complete disbelief.
“Looks like we need to go to Delphi,” Jael remarked, “but the week before Finals is one heck of a time for a road trip.”
“After the semester,” Enki told her.
“You sure?” Jael asked. “I don’t think this will keep.”
“It will have to,” Enki replied.
“Besides,” Dee added, “the way is still blocked. I got back from the Tree, but I’ve tried to get there or between the plains since and I cannot. I don’t even know why I got as far as I did the first time.”
“You heard what Jael said,” Amy told Evrona back in their dorm room. They had gathered with Astra, Nerys, Inga Tomislaw, Kisho, and Kiyoko to discuss what had been heard in the locker room. “This has to be dealt with now, but Enki won’t let her and the others go.”
“And what can we do about it?” Kiyoko asked. “None of us can travel between without guidance.”
“We won’t be going between the Plains,” Amy replied. “That way is blocked any way.”
“So is the way to Yggdrasil,” Tomislaw commented, “or it’s supposed to be.”
“Well, if it is, we won’t go and that will be that,” Amy shrugged. “But is the way still blocked now?”
“Jael told me just a few minutes ago that it was,” Evrona told her.
“So she is blocked,” Amy pressed, “but are you?”
“Well, I don’t know,” Evrona admitted.
“Let’s find out,” Amy suggested. “We’ll go up to the roof and see if we can get to Yggdrasil.”
“Why the roof?” Nerys asked.
“Why not?’ Amy asked. “We don’t want the whole dorm following us, do we? Hey look, if we can’t get to Yggdrasil, that’s it, we just sit and wait, but if we can, we can get to Delphi and track down whoever’s been behind what the Muses were up to.”
“Or we’ll just get another cock-eyed prophecy like the Muses did,” Inga added, “but we should at least check and if we solve this one for Jael, well, that seems fair after all she’s been doing for us.”
“Am I the only one who thinks this is a bad idea?” Evrona asked them.
“Looks like it,” Amy retorted. Evrona just shook her head, but followed her friends to the roof of Proctor Hall. “So can you see the Tree?” Amy asked her.
“He’s all around us,” Evrona told her. “Always is.”
“But can we get there?” Amy asked, but even before she had finished asking, they all found themselves on a wide branch. “What happened to the school?”
“Nothing,” Evrona assured her. “It’s still there, but we’re not. So where are we going?”
“To Delphi of course, silly,” Amy reminded her. “Remember?”
“I meant which way is it,” Evrona pointed out. “Do you know?”
“Don’t you?” Astra asked.
“Never been there,” Evrona admitted. “This is my first time on Yggdrasil without an elder god.”
“How do you know we won’t get lost?” Kiyoko asked worriedly.
“No problem,” Amy told her confidently. “I know how to get from here to Hattamesett and back again.”
“And you could always just ask one of the locals for directions,” a high squeaky voice from above added.
“Ratty?” Amy asked. “What are you doing here?”
“I live here, Toots,” Ratatosk replied. “What about you?”
“I meant, why aren’t you still in Killington?” Amy clarified.
“I am in Killington,” Ratatosk told her. “I am also here.”
“You are?” Amy asked. “Where else are you?”
“No one can be in more than two places at once, kid,” Ratatosk replied. “Now what the heck are you kids doing here?”
“We’re on our way to Delphi,” Kiyoko told him.
“If you’re going to ask if wandering all over Creation is a good idea, I can save you all the trip,” Ratatosk told them.
“But someone has to find out who’s been behind all the trouble lately,” Evrona insisted.
“Maybe someone does,” Ratatosk allowed, “but you need to get back to Killington, kiddo. Let the grown-ups handle this.”
“But they can’t get to the Divine Plain,” Evrona pointed out.
“Which should tell you just how dangerous this is,” Ratatosk insisted.
“Not if you come with us, Ratty,” Evrona told him coyly. She reached out and scratched him behind the ears.
“No, no, no,” Ratatosk tried to shake her off, “umm a little to the left. Ah. Wait a minute!” he stepped out of her reach again. “No! You have to go back.”
“We can’t,” Evrona insisted. “We’re the only ones who can go on.”
“No,” Ratatosk told her stubbornly.
“Please, Ratty?” Evrona asked again. “For me?”
“That’s not fair,” he grumbled.
“Thank you!” Evrona told him with a big hug.
“I’m gonna regret this,” Ratatosk predicted, “and I don’t need no Oracle to tell me that.”
“Oh, you’re such a worrywart,” Amy chided him.
“I come by it after centuries of experience, chica,” the squirrel muttered. “And this is something I am never wrong about, even when I want to be. Oh, very well, follow me, we have to get to the trunk, circle around and head down several branches. From there it’s downhill all the way.”
Ratatosk led them through the branches of the World Tree for the next four hours until they finally reached their exit point. “This is the Greater Mount Parnassus area,” Ratatosk told the students.
“It seems a bit grander than I expected,” Amy admitted. “I mean I thought those temples would be in ruins by now.”
“Not on the Divine Plain,” Ratatosk told her. “This is where you meant to come isn’t it? Here we have the pristine Castalian Fountain and the Corycian Cave, which is sacred to Pan and the Muses as well. We also have one of Dionysus’ favorite vacations homes, though to tell you the truth, it’s a bit of a dump. Maenads do not make good housekeepers as they tend to tear the place apart rather than straighten up. On the Mortal plain you have the modern city of Delphi, the ruins of what you see here and a heck of a lot of tourists. Oh, and skiers. The mountain is a big ski resort, but you won’t find the Delphic Sibyl there.”
“Where will we find her?” Astra asked.
“How should I know?” Ratatosk asked. “Do I look like a tour guide to you?”
“You were certainly sounding like one a moment ago,” Nerys told him.
“Eh!” the squirrel shrugged. “The stuff I pick up over the years.” There was a raucous chorus of screams from deep within a copse of trees a few hundred yards away. “I do know we want to stay out of the forests, as the maenads tend to rampage in there.”
“Maenads?” Kisho asked nervously.
“Wild, drunken women,” Ratatosk told him, “under a violent compulsion to madness. I imagine in their softer moments they’re fun to party with. They don’t have a lot of softer moments though,” he added and more screams reached them. “And getting torn to pieces is not my favorite way to spend a cycle. My guess is that we’ll find the Delphic Sibyl somewhere in that collection of temples over there.”
“Is that Delphi?” Evrona asked.
“As it exists on the Divine Plain,” Ratatosk told her. “Anyway, my guess is that we’ll find the one you’re looking for in a temple of Apollo.”
“No, that can’t be,” Amy corrected him. “That’s where we would find Pythia. The Delphic Sibyl shouldn’t be confused with her.”
“Yeah?” Ratatosk countered, “Well guess what? They got confused anyway. This is the Divine Plain and it tends to adapt to the memories of Mankind. Besides the line of Pythian priestesses was made up of mortal women. Sibyl is immortal, so she’ll be around here. Maybe her place isn’t a temple to Apollo, but it will look like one.”
Part of the problem was that everywhere in Divine Delphi, that was not the amphitheater or the Gymnasium, looked like a temple to the students. After several wrong guesses, they finally found the Sibyl in, as Ratatosk predicted, something that looked at least partially like a temple, although it turned out to also be a cave of volcanic origin, perhaps an old lava tube, and the temple-like structure had been built over the mouth of the cave.
Inside, the cave had been partially worked to give it the semblance of a room, but still pretty much looked like a cave and as their eyes acclimated to the dim light of a dozen oil lamps, they saw a woman, dressed in an ancient khitan seated on a stool that was perched over a crack in the floor through which sulfurous vapors and volcanic smoke rose.
“Yeesh!” Amy reacted to the stench of brimstone, “Didn’t anyone ever tell you that breathing sulfuric acid can be hazardous to your health?” The woman did not react to that at all, but she did nod to the group in acknowledgement once as they approached her. Then after a long moment, Amy demanded, “So what have you got to say for yourself?”
“You must not go where you should,” the Sibyl told them in a strange hollow voice, “but where you must go is where you should not.”
“See?” Ratatosk told the students. “Typical Sibylline nonsense.”
“Squirrel fur would make a nice coat,” the Sibyl remarked almost mundanely.
“I’ve always thought so,” Ratatosk snapped back at her. “Come on, kids. That’s all she’s going to tell us.”
“But we don’t know who’s been behind the Muses and what they’ve been doing,” Amy complained.
“Yeah, I noticed,” Ratatosk nodded, “but sticking around here and breathing this air is only going to burn out your lungs and if you don’t follow Sibyl’s advice you aren’t likely to ever find out either. I ought not to be helping you, but you’ve managed to drag me along this far.”
“Hmm,” Nerys pondered, “Where should we go?”
“You should go back to school,” Ratatosk told them testily.
“Then we shouldn’t go there,” Kiyoko considered.
“But if we should not, then maybe we should?” Kisho wondered aloud.
“That’s circular reasoning,” Tomislaw remarked.
“Who would trick the Muses into tricking us?” Nerys considered the problem. “Calliope is their leader, right?”
“She is the head Muse,” Evrona confirmed, “but they were always associated with Apollo, just as the maenads were associated with Dionysus or Bacchus.
“Apollo!” Amy shouted. “We need to find him. He ought to know who is behind this.”
“Where do we find him?” Inga asked.
“Where did Ratatosk go?” Kiyoko asked. “Not that I miss him.”
“Ratty is okay,” Evrona told her. “He acts all gruff and rude, but inside he’s a big softy.”
“Really?” Amy asked. “Not that I’ve ever noticed. I think we should be able to find Apollo in his temple. Where’s that, do you think?”
“I’m sure I don’t know,” Evrona replied, “but he’s an important god, especially in Delphi. Let’s try that big one just up the hill.”
“The one that says ‘Home of Apollo’ over the lintel?” Astra commented.
“Is that what it says?” Amy asked.
“Not in as many words, but the carvings are of Apollo and the Muses,” Astra replied.
“Are they?” Tomislaw wondered.
“You can tell from their attributes,” Astra replied. “Each of the gods had certain items or features that were unique to them. No matter how they are depicted you can tell who they are from those attributes. The laurel wreath, for example, is definitely Apollo’s as is the bow and arrows and the lyre he is holding. Apollo is the god of music and of light, but he is also a god of plagues, both causing and curing. Anyway this is either the local pub or it’s his house.”
“Well, then,” Amy decided, “if he isn’t in we can always have a beer while waiting. Let’s go and ring the doorbell.”
They found Apollo reclining on a long Roman-style bench, eating grapes and looking quite amused at their approach. “So you found me,” he noted, seemingly unconcerned. His face was unbelievably fair, even pretty and his curly light brown hair fell to his shoulders. He wore a laurel wreath on his head, just as the carving had depicted him, although he was dressed in a modern shirt and jeans.
“Yes,” Evrona nodded, “We were looking for the one who sent the Muses to our schools.”
Apollo sat up. “And you found him,” he told her. Then he waved his hand and none of the students could move. “Frankly I was expecting some of your teachers, but I suppose it’s not impossible for a student to work it all out.”
“Wait,” Amy blurted out. “You were behind all that? You came within a hair of destroying the world?”
“You didn’t know?” Apollo laughed. “Now that is funny. I see. You came to me for help. Foolish children, of course it was me. Who else do the Muses follow?”
“But why?” Amy persisted, struggling vainly to move. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“No, little girl?” Apollo countered. “It’s very simple. Even you should understand this. Neither Enki nor Athena deigned to invite me to join their faculties. The insult was too great to endure. Simple as that.”
“You imperiled the Universe because you felt snubbed?” Astra asked disbelievingly. “Because your feelings were hurt?”
“Of course,” Apollo nodded.
“That’s monstrous!” Evrona shouted at him. “And why are you gloating about it to us now?”
“Comic book Villainy 101 class,” Amy remarked sourly. “The bad guy always tells the hero everything when the hero seems helpless.”
“Sounds remarkably short-sighted,” Kisho noted.
“Well, it’s not as if any of you children will tell anyone,” Apollo laughed.
“No?” Amy countered defiantly. “You just wait and see how many folks I tell.”
“No,” Apollo echoed calmly. “Right now you cannot even move and in a few moments you won’t even remember you were here.”
“A glamour?” Evrona asked.
“Well, a binding spell if you want to be technical,” Apollo shrugged. “The point is you are all at my mercy and there is nothing any of you can do about…”
Before he could finish the sentence, Evrona cast off her mortal guise and with it the spell that kept her bound. In her true Furious form she beat her wings once and launched herself, claws first, directly at the god of the arts, leaving five bloody scratches down his left cheek.
Apollo’s laurel wreath went flying through the air, but he recovered quickly from the surprise and with an angry gesture hit Evrona with what seemed like a miniature sun. The teenaged fury could take the heat, but the impact threw her backwards until she crashed against a nearby wall and slumped to the floor unconscious.
Evrona had shown the others the way and as Phoebus Apollo turned to look at the others, Nerys was in her natural draconic form, roaring and belching flame at the elder god. Apollo shielded himself with a quick warding gesture and then with a laugh, he backhanded her against her jaw. “I killed Python, child,” he snapped at her as she lay twitching on the floor. “You’re no match.”
Apollo had no time to gloat, however, when Kisho and Kiyoko attacked in concert, dousing the god of light with storm-driven rain, leaving him both steaming and disheveled. However, it was a mere distraction and he dealt with them in the same way he had with Evrona, sending them flying out the front door of his home and then did the same to Inga who had grown to her natural size. Inga held her ground but the heat was too much for her and she slumped to the floor. The same shot knocked Tomislaw out as well. “And you, little mortal?” he asked Amy.
Amy glared at him angrily, and as he turned his back on her to give the recovering Evrona a kick, bright silver beams of light shot out of Amy’s eyes and struck Apollo, sending him flying. The older god was only slightly dazed and with a snarl, he reinforced the magical bindings on the students and limped painfully over toward Amy.
“I thought you were mortal,” he rasped at her, “and was prepared to be merciful, but…”
“But you have bigger problems, boyo!” Jael cut him off from the doorway. Apollo turned to see not only Jael, but Enki, Dee, Isis, Inanna, Ratatosk and the nine Muses, with Kisho and Kiyoko just behind them.
Apollo was not completely stupid and knew that against the other adult gods he did not have a chance and tried to run, slipping off the Divine Plain into that place in between. When he found that impossible, he tried turning into a beam of light and only transformed partially as Jael walked up to him.
“No you don’t, pretty boy,” Jael purred at him. She slammed her fist into the same place Evrona’s claws had raked his cheek, rocking him off his feet. “You and I, we’re going to have a little chat, but if you hurt my protégée, I can put it off until next cycle… or the one after that.”
“You would hold a grudge that long?” Apollo asked, fear and arrogance mixing in his voice. He put his hand to his injured cheek.
“Sunshine,” Jael told him, her voice deadly and calm, “there are some wrongs I never forget.”
“Jael,” Enki stopped her as Apollo struggled to his feet. “We’ll all let you have your turn, but perhaps you should talk to Evrona, while the rest of us have our say.” Jael noted the looks of grim determination on the faces of her companions and nodded.
“Yeah,” Apollo told her with his last trace of defiance, “you go hold her hand.”
Before Jael could do more than turn around, Enki slammed his fist into Apollo’s solar plexus and when the Greek god doubled over, Enki drove his knee up into the approaching face. “Now say, ‘Thank you, sir,’” Enki instructed him with a growl.
“Why the hell should I?” Apollo groaned from the floor.
“Because he just saved your life, stupid,” Inanna told him scornfully.
“Stupid, Aphrodite?” he asked, as though unable to believe she had just said that.
“Only a complete idiot picks a fight with Jael the Destroyer,” Inga told him from a few feet away on the same floor, “idiot!”
While the others had their say, Jael looked to Evrona. “How you doing, Sparrow?”
“I’m okay,” Evrona lied with a groan. “Well, I’ll live. I want another round with Apollo. He won’t catch me like that again.”
“Heh!” Jael laughed, “that’s my Sparrow, but he won’t catch anyone like that again, I don’t think.” She glanced over her shoulder where Dee was currently lecturing Apollo on ecological balance, using various spells on him to demonstrate her points. “But I think we should let Ina or Isis try a little healing magic on you, unless you think you need Oriel?” Oriel was a young healing goddess of remarkable talents, whom Evrona had met before.
“No, I’m just a little bruised, Jael,” Evrona insisted. “If that jerk hadn’t kicked me, I’d have torn him a new one before you had a chance to.”
Nearby, Isis was talking to Nerys. “There you go,” she told the young dragon. “Nearly as good as new. There won’t even be a scar, which is more than I can say for Apollo. I understand that wounds made by the erinyes last forever on mortals.”
“What about on a god?” Nerys asked, resuming her mortal guise.
“Well, we’ll just have to see,” Isis remarked, “but I suspect those scratches will last for the next cycle or two at least, It’s likely to be a long time before they stop bleeding for that matter.”
Ina was with Amy. “That was quite impressive, you know,” she told the young goddess.
“I don’t know how I did that,” Amy admitted. “I was just so angry.”
“Well, I think we’ll have to work together this summer,” Ina suggested. “Your divine powers are starting to manifest at last, and we’ll certainly want to keep them under your control, right?” Amy nodded her agreement.
Meanwhile Kisho was helping Tomislaw to his feet while Kiyoko helped Inga. “What did I miss?” Tomislaw asked.
“Not too much,” Kisho told him with a shrug.
“Just the arrival of the cavalry,” Ratatosk added. “Of course you kids knew that when I suddenly disappeared, right?”
“Not really,” Inga told him. “We thought you decided to bug out.”
“Gee thanks,” Ratatosk told her sourly. “No the truth is that while I can be in two places at once, I can’t be in the same place twice so when I arrived with Enki and crew, the me with you went back to the Tree. Happens all the time.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Tomislaw told him, a tinge of disbelief in his voice.
“Well, kids,” Jael told them, approaching with Evrona, “Time to get you back to school. You lot have finals this week.”
“What about Apollo?” Evrona asked, but he was already asking the same thing.
Bruised and still bleeding from Evrona’s scratches, Apollo was finally cowed by the others and as Enki and Dee started backing away, the Muses held their ground. “What are you going to do to me?”Apollo asked Enki and Dee, obviously trying to avoid the glares from his Muses.
Dee chuckled humorlessly, “Oh that. We’re going to let your choir have their turn now. I seriously doubt you’re going to enjoy their song though.”
There was a look of genuine fear on Apollo’s face when Evrona caught her last sight of him, just before the Muses closed in.
“Now don’t you go chasing after any young nymphs!” Evrona warned Tomislaw as they parted for the summer. They were standing on the lawn outside Proctor Hall in the warm late spring air. With finals over, the last two days had been filled with fond farewells. Most of her new friends had promised to come to visit in Hattamesett, even Kara and Tim said they would at least come down for the Fourth of July barbecue although they had summer jobs here in Vermont.
“As if,” Tomislaw laughed. “My girlfriend would kill me.”
“And don’t you forget it,” she laughed. Then she kissed him warmly and hugged him for a long time. “Have a good summer. I think you’re going to have a lot of fun following Enki around.”
“Heh!” Tomislaw laughed hesitantly and they released each other. “He wears me out. It’s a lot of work. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one guy trying to do so many things at once.”
“It’s called being industrious and productive,” Evrona laughed. “Learn from him. Before we know it, we’re going to have a lot to do in the New World, you know.”
“Yeah, I know,” Tomislaw nodded. “Speaking of nymphs, though. Say, ‘Hi’ to Tanise for me.”
“I will,” Evrona promised. “She is going to want to hear about absolutely everything and this time we have a lot to tell her. Might take all summer.”
“Hey, Sparrow!” Jael shouted to her from across the way. “The car’s all loaded. You about ready?”
“Be right there!” Evrona promised, and kissed Tomislaw once more before turning to join Jael and Amy. “I’m going to miss him,” she confided, taking one last look at her boyfriend before he disappeared behind the cafeteria. Seems strange we were here in the same dorm all school year and barely saw each other except during parties and classes. Next year I’ll spend more time with him.”
“Well, you won’t have me to distract you,” Amy reminded her. “I’ll be back in Providence. Brown is going to seem pretty dull after this, though.”
“It’s going to seem strange without you here, Amy,” Evrona told her.
“Well, Mom really wants me to have an Ivy League degree, you know,” Amy shrugged. She had never admitted that the real reason Jael had arranged for Amy to spend a year at Sherburne was to be there to help Evrona overcome her natural shyness around strangers. “Hey, Jael, what happened to Apollo?”
“The Nine aren’t really saying,” Jael admitted, “but I doubt it’s pleasant. The one thing we can rest assured about though is that he’ll be out of action for a good long while and it will be safe for Sherburne and Douglas to compete from now on.”
“Good,” Evrona nodded. “I liked being able to spend time with Kiyoko, Kisho and their classmates.”
“And Dee is working with Athena to open the Scholastithon to some of the other nearby schools next year,” Jael added. “That ought to make it a bit more exciting, huh?”
“Yeah!” Evrona agreed. “So what’s up for this summer? Celestial League again?”
“You know it, Sparrow,” Jael nodded, “although I want both you and Amy to work on your magic with Asherah and Ina this summer as well. It came in handy a few times this year, so we may as well make sure you know what you’re doing, right? Well, let’s get in and get going, hmm?”
Both younger women nodded and climbed in. Amy insisted on driving her own car, but Evrona allowed Jael to sit in front. “Will the Muses be back next year?” Evrona asked as Amy started the car.
“Oh yes,” Jael assured her. “They were most impressed by all of you.”
“Oh good,” Evrona replied. “I was hoping to take Miss Hymnia’s class, ‘The History of Religious Music.’”
“I wonder if I could commute for a class or two,” Amy mused.
“Well, perhaps for a weekend seminar or two,” Jael replied noncommittally. “We’ll just have to see.”
And then as Amy drove though the main gate of Sherburne College, Jael neatly slipped them between the plains and all thoughts of school were left behind for the time being.
- 30 -