Chapter 3: Guardians

Realm of the Gods - 14 years ago.

"You found our daughter! " Boomed the Sun God as he stood up and raced toward the Forest Goddess, whose eyes opened wide with shock.  "Where is she? I command that you tell me now!" The Sun God demanded fiercely.

The Forest Goddess stammered as the full force of the Sun’s God aura was on her. "My, My Lord ....she is in the Northern Forest in the mortal realm. In a country called Riverwell."

"We shall go to her now and bring her home!" The Sun God replied with a smile. "We have waited for her for far too long.." 

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news ...But, you can’t do that." The Crone Goddess said sternly. No other being would dare have used this tone, but nobody else was like the Crone.

"How dare you?" The Sun God asked angrily.

"Brother, just shut up and listen with that thick skull of yours! I want my niece back as much as anyone. BUT... SHE'S... MORTAL! The laws state that we cannot interfere directly with any mortal life without a bargain being struck. Even if you do manage to bring her back here, she will die until the conditions of the curse have been fulfilled. Her soul will be lost to the Realm of the Dead. So, unless you want to make it up with our brother, I suggest you wait. Trust me, I know what I am talking about with curses!" The Crone said as she made a chair appear, which she sat on with a sigh.

"That she did!" thought Richard bitterly.

When a bargain is struck with the Crone Goddess, she could release a curse that would make most mortals and gods weep! You would have to be a fool of a mortal to enter into any contract with a god, especially one of revenge! Plus, the God of the Dead was unlikely to give up any souls in his possession. Especially when it was well known that he courted the Moon Goddess, but she chose the Sun God instead. He would not think twice about taking his desire out on their daughter.

"So, what do you want me to do?" shouted the Sun God in frustration. He knew The Crone Goddess was right, but it still frustrated him.

"Let her live the mortal life and endure the six sorrows. The Empress stupidly only banished her from the Realm of Chaos, not all realms. My sister might be a bitch, but she is a stupid one!" The Crone said as she rolled her eyes.

"The six sorrows..but that is..." the Moon Goddess said.

"Yes, yes!" snapped the Crone. "Birth, which she has already done, betrayal, loss, sickness, failure and death."

"But if she dies, won’t she go to the Realm of the Dead?" Asked the worried Moon Goddess.

"At the point of death, the soul is technically unclaimed, therefore, we would be able to bring it here! " The Crone said as she smirked. She loved finding loopholes!

"So, why not just kill her now?" The Forest Goddess looked sorry when she opened her mouth as all of the higher Gods were now staring at her. She quickly bowed her head and whispered, "No disrespect meant!"

The God of the Cats got up, stretched, and walked casually over to the Goddess. He purred, " We know that! It is just if we kill her before the curse is lifted, she will be sent to the dark until she can be reincarnated again." The God of the Cats then sat down and started to clean his paws.

The Sun God growled, "We can not just leave our daughter defenceless! "

In mid-lick, the cat God stopped and said, " Excuse me, Adonis, but you are forgetting two things!" 

The Sun God looked shocked at the Cat God using his true name. "Well, two can play at that game!" Adonis thought.

" Pray, do tell Ovinnik, what have I missed?" Adonis said, folding his arms.

"Well, if you insist, Adonis! Firstly, the law about interfering with humans is only for human Gods. Mother Universe and Father Light trusted us animals and wild gods to have more sense. " Ovinnk pointed out.

Richard could have sworn that he could hear the other animal gods laughing. Even the Forest Goddess smiled.

"Just get to the second point, Ovinnik!" Adonis snapped.

"The second is you have a hybrid in this court to whom the rules don’t apply to. Isn’t that right, Richard? " Ovinnik said casually.

Richard was silent for a moment. It was true that his Chaos demon father had mated with a human mother. He was still an immortal as his father’s genes were much more dominant. His mother had named him a stupid mortal name and passed onto the Realm of the Dead.

 Richard had grown up in the Chaos army and fought his way to the rank of General. That was all before he met his true mate! The advantage of being a hybrid and the laws did not apply to him or his three friends. "That is great! I can protect her." Richard declared.

"Hold your horses' laddie! The Empress is still majorly pissed at what you did and she does have followers in the mortal world she can use. If she knows the Princess has been reborn, she will try and kill her. You would lead her right to the Princess! " The Crone pointed out

"The Crone is right." The Moon Goddess said firmly. 

Everyone looked around as they had not heard authority in her voice for over a thousand years. Her eyes suddenly glowed as she said, "I call upon the Gods of the Cats, Ovinnik and Bastet, to attend to me now. I call upon the Gods of the dogs, Anubis and Bau, to attend my call now. I call upon the Gods of the Horses, Epos and Aine to come to me. This is my will!"

Six balls of light appeared and the animal Gods appeared before the Moon Goddess. The animals bowed their heads in respect and said, " We have heeded your call, Great Moon Goddess!" They were all much larger than their mortal children.

"Thank you, friends, for answering my call; you know that the Empress kidnapped Adonis and I's daughter!" The Moon Goddess said. The Cat Gods hissed, the Dog Gods growled and the Horse Gods stamped their feet. The Moon Goddess waited before she continued, "Calm my friends and rejoice in the news that she has been found! But she is a mortal and needs protection. Adonis and I can not interfere in human lives, but you, my friends, can. Can I ask you to send one of your children to become a guardian of our daughter? This is not a command, but a request, as I know how precious any child is. Be they mortal or God!"

There was a moment of silence before Anubis, a huge dog with fur as black as midnight, spoke, "Dogs have always been allies with humans. My Mate and I will send Amaethon, a battle dog from the Credion Mountains. He will protect and guide the Princess!" Bau's sliver

haired Mate nodded in agreement. 

Anie, a beautiful fawn coloured mare and the mother of all horses, spoke next. "We will send our mortal child Windsoul, a white mare from the plains of Arna. She will carry the Princess safely wherever she needs to go! " 

Her Mate, a pure white stallion, neighed in agreement. Epos had never been more proud of his mate than he was now!

A few moments passed and everyone was staring at the Cat Gods. Finally, Ovinnik spoke, "Well you see..." 

Before he could finish his sentence, he was cuffed over the head by the paw of the Marmalade Queen who sat next to him.  "Shut Ovinnik, you take things far too far sometimes! You need to know your place, Tomcat! " Hissed Bastet. She arched her back before continuing, "Don’t think I don't know what happens here and the embarrassment you cause your Clowder! " 

"Yes, Darling," Ovinnik admitted, looking down.

"Ignore him, Moon Goddess; he knows who rules the Clowder! We will send Night-Song. He will advise and protect the princess. It will be our honour, won’t it sweetie?" Bastet said in a warning tone.

"Yes, Bastet!" Ovinnik said, "I do not dare disobey his Queen.

The Moon Goddess was touched and said, " Thank you, my faithful friends. This won’t be forgotten. We must be careful and not make it obvious that we are sending them. We do not want to raise any suspicion. "

"We will be careful!" Bastet announced.

"Good, because I don’t want that bitch anywhere near my daughter!" The Moon Goddess said this as she narrowed her eyes. She would protect her daughter, no matter what!