Jerell places a palm on his burning cheek while trying to focus his gaze anywhere but Xui.
"MEN!" Xui huffed in disgust.
"I didn't mean to look at it. It's just a reaction."
"Give me your clothes. This doesn't fit me anymore and I need to find out why."
Jerell hands her some clothes and she quickly covers herself.
"You can't just leave here through the front door like nothing. There is a hoard of Ma'iingan out there. You are a foreigner. You know what they could do to you?" Jerell scolded in a low whisper.
Xui rebuked back in a whisper, "Do you know who powerful I am? Zaa clan is the most powerful skin changer in the world, you think I'll be scared of a few wolves?" Xui tries to leave, and Jerell tugged her arm, pulling her into his arms.
"Bloody hell, woman!" He encapsulates Xui into his arms, "Listen to me, will you?" He looked down at her face and noticed that she seemed dazed. "Hey, hey?" Jerell shakes her a little, but she doesn't respond.
"I will listen." She replies in a monotone response.
"What? Snap out of it, Xui!" Jerell shakes her again and she comes out of her daze.
"Oh no." Panic rises in Xui's face. "Shit!"
"What, woman, what?"
"You unsheath my sword."
"So what?"
"And you kissed me…"
"So what?"
"You forced a bonding oath on me. My sword can only be unsheathed by the person I must devote my whole life to. As a Zaa Warrior, I must abide this oath and never in exchange to never wed. It almost never happens that a Zaa Warrior gets their sword unsheathed by another. That is why my body changed…It's shaped into the way YOU like your WOMEN!"
Jerell releases Xui from his brace. "Uh, what?"
"You like your woman slim with big annoying bosoms and… wait, my strength, am I weak now?" Xui throws a punch at Jerell and sends him flying through the wall of his shed.
The chattering outside seizes and all that was heard was Jerell's voice moaning in pain and the wood pieces falling onto the ground.
"Oh, great! You like your women strong! Even better!" Xui exclaimed in excitement. But her excitement was short-lived.
Xui's body was abruptly paralyzed, as if she was being crushed or suffocated by a large invisible snake. She was hoisted through the ceiling and above Gichi-Ziibi, displayed for all Ma'iingan to see.
I watched below, my arms reaching out into her direction and gripping her from afar.
"Sereen! Stop, you might kill her." Giken rushed to my side.
"I won't kill her. But she hurt Jerell, I'm just showing her what we could do to someone like her." All of Ma'iingan watched as I expressed new powers.
Slowly, I set her down onto the ground. "You have a moment to speak. If I don't like what you have to say, I will kill you right here, right now." I realize my grip on her and she breaths.
Fighting to catch her breath she says, " I am General Xui of the Zaa Clan. I am here to bring you back with me. The ocean is where you truly belong and we are dying without our Dragon Star to guide us, you are our Dragon Star, our alpha."
"Lies!" I grip her throat, "Everyone knows that each land has one alpha. No alpha can reign two places."
"err…I'm…not…lying…" Xui struggled to say.
I push her onto the ground, "I don't like what I am hearing." using my powers I grip her throat again and lift her.
An arrow flies from the woods into my direction, I make it dissipate before it reaches me. Men jump out of the woods in heavy armor and swords.
"See, I knew you had back up." I said to Xui and tossed her onto the floor again.
"Weapons DOWN!" Xui roared. "But they kept charging towards me.
"WEAPONS DOWN!" I shouted, a surge of energy blew through me and all of Xui's men halted, dropping their weapons in place. I turned to Xui, "Just testing your theory about me possible being the Dragon Star."
The Zaa warrior were bewildered and confused as inspecting themselves and then peered at one another, before turning their gaze to search for Xui.
"I have been bonded! My sword has been unsheathed." Xui shouted to her men.
"YIELD!" I demanded and all of the Zaa warriors were involuntarily forced to bend their knees. All except one. He walked slowly from the rear of the platoon towards me, until he was nearly three meters away.
"Leifae and his people are in the woods. They need food, water and medicine. I will leave them here with you, but I will be taking Leifae with me. He has a debt to pay."
"Why aren't you yielding like the rest of them?" I asked the strange man.
"I don't yield because I'm human. I am committed to work with the Zaa Clan by oath but not by choice." He replied. "Any more questions for me?"
"What is your name?" I asked.
"I have been stripped of my human name. I have no name to offer you."
"What was your human name?"
"My name, my title, it is meaningless now. But if you should know, it is Ansel Lovesworth Joreston."
"Can you take off your helmet please?" The words croaked out of my dry throat like a toad. Slowly, Ansel removes his helmet and reveals his scarred face.
"I can see me in you." I whispered.
"And I can see Emily in you." He replied.
"Father?"
"Emilia…"
Silence captivates everyone around us as unspoken words between Ansel and I grew like a ball of emptiness and yearinging in the space between us.
How should I feel in this situation?
How can I expect anything from this man that I have never known?
What should I say to him?
"Yield, Ansel!" Xui commanded nearby.
"Xui, your legions have been compromised. Your titles mean nothing now. It seems there is a new leader at play here. I am free from your oath, and in my replacement I give to the Zaa Clan, Leifae Arkson."
Ansel turns his attention to me and frowns. "I've always been watching you, Emilia. I've never stopped loving you and your mother. I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to help you two, but I had sacrificed everything for her so that you two may live. I don't have anything to offer you, Emilia, but I can offer you my allegiance." Ansel kneels. "I will be by your side from this day forth."
*
(3 months later)
My power has grown exponentially, allowing me to change skin as often as I wanted. But as I grew in power, so has my belly. Wawa thinks I'm way too big for my own good and that I'm at a point where it may be hard to birth my baby. However, Mooji reassures me that there is nothing to be concerned about, since I'm on my eighth moon and the baby should be coming soon. I am conflicted that at this point, I'd like to listen to Wawa, but also know Mooji is also a great healer.
The Ma'iingan of Gichi-Ziibi have been preparing for weeks to reclaim Ma'iingan territory. With Minaam and her pact the Waagbigwan, we have renewed our strength. The fall of Riverway gave us bountiful steel to forge into weapons and armor. Underground tunnels were built to hide our children and elderly, while boobytraps were placed around fake sheds.
The big day of our attack is soon to come and we are ready. I've announced the attack on Ma'iingan campground, knowing that there may be a Niiganii follower among us. Other precautions were made in case they decided to attack first or attack our base.
"Asin, any new news to tell?" Giken summoned.
"Beta, we found some tracks on the outskirts of Gichi-Ziibi. Jerell and Xui are on parameter duties, I will notify them to keep an eye out. Also, we were able to rescue seven more refugees from Jeko. Apparently, Jeko is one of Manji-Manidoo's head men now. They have been killing anyone and everyone who tries to leave Ma'iingan territories for treason." Asin replied.
"Seven more survivors. All from Ma'iingan?" Giken asked.
"Yes, Beta."
"Asin, when it's just the two of us, please call me by my birth name."
"I cannot do that, Beta. It is tradition and I hold you more important than my own life. I will always address you with honors."
"Giken, you need to see this." Gimiti shouted from afar as she ran towards them.
By the north western borders wolf tracks tracked it's way straight to Gichi-Ziibi.
"They may be planning an attack soon." Gimiti assessed the paw prints on the muddy ground. " Bizikaw, see this bump on this paw print? I gave him that when we were kids. Totally kicked his ass after we had a little dispute about what girls can do versus boys. He was strangling me on the ground… It was the first time I've ever transfigured. I bit his wrist and nearly took his hand off. See that indentation there?" Gimiti touched the indentation on the paw print then turned around and flashed her canine tooth, "See? It was me and that paw print right there, is definitely Bizikaw."
"Looks like twenty wolves." Giken said.
"Look again," Asin points to the grassy path, "muddy footprints. There may be fifty or evenmore. We have to let Alpha know."
"Alpha is with Mooji. She's been having a lot of tightening and cramping. Mooji thinks it could be any day now." Giken said.
"Beta, what should we do?" Asin asked.
"I will ask Minaam and her pact to watch the northern borders. Asin, you and your followers stay close to the west to northwest borders. Giken, you keep an eye on Gichi-Ziibi's central point. I will watch the eastern borders and Ansel along with the humans will stay at southern borders after Ansel's return from, uh…. from…."
" The Deep Sea, my Queen." Ansel answered.
"...The Deep Sea." I repeated, as I shot an irritated glance at Ansel right before whispering to him with frustration, "Ansel, I am NOT a queen nor am I anyone's queen, so stop calling me that!"
"I need to be on the northern borders in case of an attack." Giken insisted.
"No, Giken… Beta, you need to be with her. She will need you if the baby does come. Besides, we are more than ready." Gimiti reminded Giken.
Giken looks up at the cloudy sky and sees frosty flakes feathering it way down and sighs, "Hmm. The first signs of winter. We must alert the others. It's going to be a cold winter."