INTRODUCTION

Foxdown
By Willow S. Sedam

INTRODUCTION

    “It’s his fault my brother died! Shot by a human, the worst way to die! He ought to pay dearly as well!” Daien looked up, the dark blue clouds behind and all around him churning as lightning flared behind him.
    “Ragen was …a… risk taker. He went to the mortal realms to experience the joys of life on earth, but he did not pay heed enough to the dangers, either,” the golden-furred lynx goddess, Liru said.
    “He should pay!” The black-furred fox god shouted, as the clouds lit up with lightning and thunder rumbled above. “I say, we take that… that horrid nephew he always coos over,” Daien said, a murderous glare in his eyes.
    “Not kill him! He is only a boy! Barely thirteen!” Liru burst out, eyes flashing yellow.
    “Stop, you two,” the giant elk god Starig said, stepping between lynx and fox. “Death is too high a penalty.”
    “An eye for an eye!” Daien snarled, hunching himself over and glaring angrily at Liru from the side.
    The other gods watched from a distance, as fights between Daien and Liru where common but fierce.
    “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, though, Daien,” Starig said in a low, knowing tone. “Taking the life of another who has done nothing wrong, though? Really, Daien? Would you stoop this low? He is barely the equivalent of a calf.”
    “Well, let us see who does the killing then,” Daien said, an evil grin on his face.
    “You better not be thinking of some even more horrid plan!” Liru warned, unsheathing onyx claws.
    Daien leaned over to whisper into Liru’s ear.
    “Never!” Liru snarled, as Daien backed away and Starig stepped between them once more.
    “Don’t you say, Starig? Would it be fair?” Daien asked.
    “I still am not in favor of punishing one who has done no wrong,” Starig said. “And talk if you must say something, It displeases me when you talk from mind to mind.”
    “So then?” Daien asked.
    Starig took a deep breath, then said with a sigh, “I suppose it is… ” He trailed off.
    “It is settled then,” Liru growled, sounding displeased.
    “Yes.” Starig said, stepping back as Liru stalked through the black, stormy clouds.
    “Kira…” The lynx muttered, once she was well out of earshot of the other gods. “You’re one of my most trusted guardians, no?” she asked, as the tan-furred fox trotted up, “Then do me a favor, would you?” Liru asked, bending over to whisper into Kira’s ear.