An Unearthing of Goddesses

An Unearthing of Goddesses Part 47

In the morning the Elementals, Lhamo, and Kate gathered at the liminal fields. The flower-antlered gazelle grazed in the meadows beyond, and all was peaceful. Yet Kate was feeling no peace. It was the day of the Autumn Equinox, and she was still struggling with her decision. Sleep had brought no answers.

They sat quietly in meditation, and Lhamo led them in breathing exercises and yogic poses. Gaia led them through the fields, where the stream waterfalled into a wide cove. They bathed in the cool waters, not talking or engaging in the gaiety that Kate was accustomed to. They soberly dressed in robes that Nandi provided, and gathered for a meal that Hume brought them in an enormous picnic basket. But it didn't feel like a picnic, again with quiet contemplation and somber gazes. Kate could barely stomach anything at all. The one moment of reprieve was when Hume opened champagne and they all tore a piece of ambrosia to float atop their drinks, as they had on that early summer night so long ago in celebration.

"To our sisterhood," Gaia toasted and they all raised their goblets.

Maeve stood. "In a sense, we go into battle tonight. We do not know what awaits us – but we know we will face it together. Whatever the challenge – we will rise to it."

"The storm," said Lhamo, gazing around the circle of goddesses, and lingering on Kate, "changes all who walk through it, no matter the outcome. We enter the storm tonight. You will not leave it without transformation."

Kate looked pale, and she felt her knees weaken and her stomach tighten.

"Yes," Anya said, putting down her goblet with a cross expression. "We will all become quite wet. Enough with these metaphors. Kate is becoming frightened." She glared at Lhamo and went to Kate's side.

"Yes, our task is grave. Yes, we may fail our earthly brothers and sisters. And we are also at risk, we remember. The air weapon that Tatsuta-Hime wields is immense. But as I said – we have weapons too. Are we not Elementals?"

She stood taller and her eyes flashed yellow as she looked at each goddess in turn. She raised her arms. "Do we not command the air, the earth, the fire and the seas? We know no fear because the elements we consist of know none. If we are struck down mortally – we simply become entirely what we already were touched with before."

"You forget our greatest strength and weapons, sister," Cassie said, walking to her side. "We have love. We have our sisterhood." She touched Anya's arm gently.

Anya bowed her head, her eyes turning back to green when she raised it again. "It is so."

Nandi came to Kate's side then. "Drink deeply of the ambrosia, sister. Feel its power. Your transformation began on the night of Summer Solstice and it will culminate tonight. If you want it – full power. To become a Celestial. Near immortality."

"But if you don't," Gaia said, putting a hand on her shoulder, "You are fully free to return to your life as you lived it before."

Kate was paralyzed. She didn't want to go back to her old life. She couldn't now, could she? How do you return to life on the ground when you've touched the sky? But she didn't want to leave Adam. Or her family. Or the Earth for that matter. Her face fully betrayed her fears.

"I – I want to be more than I am, than I was. I want to be able to help humanity in some meaningful way. To be able to leave a mark. But – I don't think I can leave my family, and Adam. I am sorry." She hung her head.

"There is yet a third choice," Kitsune said, her voice soft. "Reserved for those not willing to extend their earthly lives into eternity. You may become a creature of the elements. Not a full Elemental; not a celestial. You may venture back to Earth, or even live there. You live among many Elemental creatures even now, unaware of their presence."