Chapter Seven

CHAPTER SEVEN

    Simon was nervous as he watched the sun slowly climb up through the sky; once it was in the middle, he and Kira walked down to the field which Liru had mentioned. It was a wide field and its long grasses aided Simon as he would be able to stay relatively unseen. On three sides of the field were trees; the other side it was guarded by faraway mountains.
    Simon took a deep breath and surveyed his surroundings once more, as it was all he could do to keep calm. Then, in three flashes, one of black, one of gold and one of deep blue, out appeared Liru, Daien, and in the middle, the vulture Silra, with the beast, Cerberus, bound in a whir of black magic to keep it from wreaking havoc.
    “This will either be very exciting or very disappointing,” Daien sneered as Silra started to lift the binding spell on Cerberus.
    “My hope is a slow death, a fast one would just be too boring,” Daien continued, purposefully poking and prodding at Liru.
    Silra bowed, nodding her white beak and quickly flying off as the rest of her spell faded away from Cerberus. Simon quivered with fear as the huge, black beast stood before him. Its skin was glossy and shining, it looked wet and covered in some sort of black sludge. It had three, huge misshapen heads, with huge, jagged black teeth. And down either side of its massive body, fourteen glowing red eyes ran from throat to tail. It had four, strong legs, feet misshapen with long, razor-sharp claws, and blood dripped from it’s maws.
    Simon was stricken by fear, but Kira’s shout snapped him away, and he leapt at the unsuspecting beast. He saw it lean to one side and aimed at the other, but to his surprise it wasn’t feigning.
    It mustn’t be very bright, he thought as he tumbled over and over in the dust behind Cerberus. The big, black beast turned, but Simon had already dashed into the long, yellow grasses, keeping hidden. He crept around Cerberus’s back, and leapt at it from out of the blue. It turned and swiped at him, but Simon was already on its back, metal claws slicing through its thin, glistening black skin.
    Simon kicked at the creatures eyes, Kira cheering him on. But Cerberus writhed, and it managed to buck him off, Simon’s metal claws carving deep grooves in its soft skin as he clung on for dear life. But despite his attempts to hang on, and the creature’s wounds, he was thrown off, thudding down onto the dusty ground, groaning.
    “Watch out!” Kira alerted him, as Cerberus lunged in towards him. Simon jumped away, still winded from his landing, he desperately scrambled away into the grasses, where Cerberus could not find him.
    “Get him, Cerberus!” Daien cheered.
    Simon gasped, coughing as he tried to regain his breath, giving away his hiding spot. Cerberus’s huge paw crashed down just where Simon had been as he dodged away, slicing Cerberus’s huge, mangled forepaw with it’s long, curved black claws.
    Ruby-red blood welled from Cerberus’s wound, as the huge demon roared with rage, its pupils turning to slits and its eyes glowing brighter with anger. Simon still panted, but he managed to swipe once more at the creature’s paw before he had to dodge away.
    He prepared to leap at Cerberus, the creature’s stupidity giving away his next move. Simon hit him full on even as the beast tried to dodge. Simon’s claws dug into the creature’s face as he clung onto Cerberus’s middle head, the two others snapping and writhing. Simon clawed his way up until he was on top of the beast’s middle head, and he leapt off onto it’s back just as Cerberus’s other heads snapped at him, missing by barely an inch.
    “What?!” Daien roared as he became more and more agitated. “You’re supposed to win!” He yelled at the huge black beast, as if anyone could hear over Cerberus’s roars and screeches of rage and pain.
    Simon was panting heavily, and had only a moment to rest before he had to leap away as Cerberus’s heads twisted around to snap at the air where he had just been.
    Simon tried to claw at the creature’s eyes, taking out three as the creature snapped and roared in pain. Simon slashed again at its many eyes as the creature writhed, bucking him off onto the ground.
    Simon managed to catch himself this time, slightly winded but still fast enough to avoid the creature’s blind slashes as Cerberus’ claws dug deep grooves into the soil.     Simon slashed out every time, little orange sparks coming off every time he hit one of Cerberus’s claws rather than his paw. Simon jumped at Cerberus once more, not needing to worry about the half-blind creature dodging. He slashed at its black skin, taking out five more of it’s fourteen eyes. Cerberus roared in pain and rage, and with a final wild, writhing, twisting movement, it disappeared into curls of black smoke, back to where it came from.
    Simon panted, dazed from what had happened, Daien’s roars of rage echoing through his mind.
    Suddenly the two spirits, the hare and the wolf, descended from the skies, as Simon was engulfed in smoke as time twisted backwards, and the sun set in the east and rose in the west, and as birds flew backwards and stars twinkled against time, he found himself back in his bed, in his uncles cabin.
    He looked down at his paws, but they weren’t paws -- they were hands. He glanced in the mirror at the foot of his bed. He was a human again. He looked at the farmer’s almanac on the wall, and not a day had passed since he was last human.
    A thought struck him then, and in the dim, pre-dawn light, he slipped out of bed and quietly walked over to the wall, taking the red and orange fur of Ragen from the wall. He quietly opened the door, and buried the pelt in the soft earth. Where did  that pelt go? That would be something none would ever know.

Chapter Six

 

CHAPTER SIX

    Simon, awoke, the sun just barely peeking over the mountains to the east. He had spent two full days training, and his muscles ached.
    As each day turned to night, he found himself thinking and worrying more and more about Cerberus. Would he be able to defeat it? Just thinking about it he got more and more worried. He couldn’t do it, he was too small, too young, too inexperienced!
    “Awake already?” Kira asked as she padded up behind him.
    “Yeah,” Simon said, “I’m worried.”
    “You either win or lose, what’s to be worried about?”
    “Losing.” Simon said dully.
    “Then we’ll not let you lose.” Kira said confidently.
    “But I --” Simon started, before being interrupted by Kira, “Look, I’ve got something for you.”
    Kira led him into a small clearing, a little off from where they were. “Look!” Kira pointed to ten sharp, claw-shaped pieces of metal. “Since you’re no cat with sharp claws or anything, I thought you could use these as weapons.”
    “What are they? How did you make them?” Simon asked.
    “They should fit on your claws, like those fake fingernail things you humans think make you look good. I made them out of some scraps of metal and… well, a bit of magic, but don’t tell Daien or Liru.”
    “How do I put them on, seeing as I don’t have thumbs?” Simon asked bitterly.
    “I’ll help, they should just slide on.” Kira helped get the metal claw tips on, using a bit of magic to blend them in with his real claws.
    “There, and none will be the wiser!” she said triumphantly.
    “They seem pretty sharp,” Simon said, testing them on a rock, small sparks flying off. “Very sharp.”
    “Yup” Kira said proudly, “Cerberus won’t stand a chance.”
    “Well, I’ll have less of a chance of dying at least.”

Chapter Five

 

 

CHAPTER FIVE

    Simon crept low on his belly, his enhanced sense of smell and hearing letting him pick up the faintest of sounds. He heard scuffling ahead; some small prey creature was rustling around in the bushes. He tried to pinpoint his target, scanning the ground, eyes flicking back and forth, trying to make out his prey. Spotting it, he leapt, landing on top of the mouse and flicking it in to the air with his paw. It landed, stunned, and he quickly leapt to it and killed it with a swift bite.
    He was exhilarated; he had caught his first prey! He had expected his first time hunting to be with a gun, maybe a bow, but as a fox? But he also felt sorry for the creature, wishing it well in the afterlife.
    “Nice job!” Kira said, trotting up to him.
    “Maybe, but how does this help me kill this ‘Cerberus’ thing?” Simon asked.
    “Well, you’ve got to know how to hunt,” Kira said.
    “Yes, but killing a mouse is easier than killing this demon creature!” Simon protested.
    “Look, if you’re so intent on actually fighting, fine, but you have to know how to be stealthy and stuff, too!” Kira said grumpily.
    “I can be stealthy, I just want to learn how to fight.”
    “Alright, alright…”

    Simon angled to the left as he saw Kira sway slightly, hitting her full on as she tried to dodge. They wrestled and rolled around on the soft, mossy ground. Kira relaxed, panting as Simon pinned her down with a forepaw.
    “Alright, you win that one, but that’s nothing compared to defeating Cerberus.”
    “Why must you put a negative spin on everything?” Simon asked impatiently. “You’re just upset because I won.”
    “You shouldn’t fool yourself when it’s a matter of life or death.” Kira said, getting up and shaking the dust from her fur.
    “Well let’s not waste time talking, then.” Simon said, running at Kira, his paws kicking up chunks of brown and green earth as he skidded and turned to the side as Kira dodged. He ran after her as she turned, taking him by surprise and kicking him away as he jumped at her. Simon got up, spinning around in time to meet her as she leapt at him.     Simon twisted out from under her paws, tripping her and standing over her, panting.
    “Good,” Kira said, panting, “But not good enough!” she cried, kicking at Simon and twisting out from under him.

Chapter Four

 

 CHAPTER FOUR

    “You could at least stop moping around and help me hunt!” Kira said crossly, trotting up to Simon with a snake in her mouth.
    “I’m not hungry…” Simon said, turning away.
    Kira sighed, “Look, you can make the best of it or mope around all day--”.
Just then a flash of golden light emerged from a clearing, and as the light faded, Simon could see the form of a lynx, golden fur glowing brightly. Wherever the lynx stepped, a golden glow emanated, and plants and flowers sprung up in her wake.
    “Liru!” Kira gasped, bowing down as the lynx approached.
    Liru sighed gravely, “Daien wishes me to ask you, Simon -- a battle to the death with the demon creature, Cerberus. To lose -- the curse is broken by death. To win -- the curse is lifted by Daien. I should not let my pleading bias you, but I urge you to say no.”
    “Cerberus!” Kira gasped, still bowing.
    “I…” Simon gulped, intimidated by the god standing before him, “I….”
    What should he do? Whatever this Cerberus was, it sounded bad. But then, he thought, is staying alive worth it if you were destined to be killed by your uncle or live the rest of your life as a fox? But maybe it was. Life as a human, death as a human, life as a fox, death as a fox. What should he do?
    He thought back to when he was a human and he missed those days, even though he had been a fox for a very short time. Even though he still hesitated, he knew what his answer would be.
    “I,” He looked around nervously, then said, in a low voice, “I accept.”
    “What?!” Kira burst out, disbelief in her voice.
    The lynx goddess just looked down with a sigh. “Three days at noon, in the field to the east of here,” she said, before disappearing into thin air in a flash of light.
    “What?! ARE YOU INSANE?!” Kira shouted. “That beast would crush you in an instant! You’d be dead before it even touched you.”
    “Either way, this curse is lifted.”
    “But,  but, you don’t even know how to hunt! You’re barely more than a kit,” she spluttered.
    “I’ll learn how to hunt. I’ll learn how to fight. I’d die anyway, if my uncle shoots me or not - this way I have a chance of dying as a human -- at a reasonable age, seventy or eighty years old, not thirteen.”
    Kira groaned, “you are mad,  you are suicidal, you are foolish,  you are rash, you are stupid and you are idiotic! And damn it! Now my lunch has slithered away.” She sat down, growling grouchily.
    “Well, I liked it as a human better than as a stupid fox out here! Eating mice and frogs” He grumbled. “Now you could help or sit there whining all day!”
    “How would I help?” Kira asked, “I’m not stupid!”
    “Well just help me learn how to fight and hunt or something!” Simon said, swishing his blue-grey

Chapter Three

CHAPTER THREE

    “You shouldn’t have done it!” Liru growled at Daien. “The poor creature, depressed, sad.”
    “And his uncle, too.” Daien said, “That is the point.”
    “Break the curse! Don’t make him suffer!” Liru pleaded.
    “If he is worthy.” Daien replied, the black fox looking down at Simon.
    “If he is worthy of what?” Liru asked.
    “If he can de-- What?!” Daien spluttered, outraged, “You sent that little rat Kira down there, didn’t you?!” He turned towards Liru, as, far down below, Kira walked up to Simon, a snake dangling from her mouth.
    “You shouldn’t mess with the lives of mortals, Daien.” Liru said calmly.
    “Neither should you!” Daien spat.
    “You were saying? Worthy of what?” Liru asked, changing the subject
    “If he can defeat Cerberus…” Daien said softly.
    “What? Never! That horrid beast should be locked up forever and never fed or let out - ever!” Liru said,  “None could defeat it!”
    “Tut tut, never say never, my dear,” Daien scolded in a teasing tone. “Anyway, it would grant him his wish. Go to the Other Realms as a human if he loses - or live as a human if he wins.”
    “If he accepts the challenge. If he doesn’t I don’t care, it’ll let him live and spoil your fun,” Liru glared.
    “If he lives I will lift the curse,” Daien said. “I’m not completely acting in self-interest.”
    “Pha!” Liru said, “But if he does accept, though only a fool would,” she added in a mutter, “you must promise to break the curse. Promise by your honor and place as a god.”
    Daien looked slightly worried, but he hid it well, as he nodded. Strands of gold and blue magic wound around both of them.

Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

    Simon yawned and opened his eyes.
    “I had the weirdest dream,” he muttered, still half asleep. But instead of seeing the walls of his uncle’s cabin, or the furs on the walls, or even his uncle sitting there beside him, he saw giant trees and leaves crumpled underneath him as he got up.
    “Wha…?” Maybe he was still in a dream.
    Simon looked up and a magpie took flight above him. Everything seemed… huge! He looked down, but instead of feet….
    Simon yelled in surprise, but it sounded more like a yelp. This must be a dream! This has to be a dream! He turned around, looking all around.
    “What? I….?” He was confused. He looked up in the trees as a squirrel threw a branch at him, chattering all the while. Missing him, the twig splashed down next to him in a puddle.
    Simon instinctively leapt back, as the squirrel ran off through the treetops, chattering and swearing at him until he couldn‘t hear it anymore. Simon leaned over the puddle, to see what the squirrel had thrown at him, but instead he saw himself … but it wasn’t him! Simon gaped.
    “I can’t be,” he said, looking back at his feet. But they weren’t feet or hands, they were paws. Blue-black paws, with long black claws. He dared to look back into the puddle, but staring out at him, like before, was the face of a fox. Blue-black fur and yellow eyes.
    Simon panicked a little then; this had to be a dream, what else would it be? He backed away from the puddle. He was scared, but he was also fascinated. He could hear better, and smell things better.
    “So Liru couldn’t change his mind.”
    Simon swung around, heart thumping.
    A yellowish tan fox sat behind him, watching him calmly with pale yellow eyes.
    “Who?  What? Where am I?!” Simon asked, ears flattening.
    “Shush. You’re name is Simon, am I right? I’m Kira.”
    “How did you-,” he asked, but was cut off.
    “I will explain,” The fox said. “But right now you must eat.” The fox motioned to two dead mice by her paws.
    “What?! I’m not eating that!” Simon said in disgust.
    “You’ll go hungry then,” Kira said, picking up one of the mice and flipping it into her mouth, eating it whole.
    Simon had to try and not vomit. “Please just tell me what is going on,” he gasped.
    “Eat the mouse.” Kira said, licking her chops. “It’s not really that bad.”
    Simon stepped forward, and took a small bite of the mouse, chewing it carefully.
    “It’s kinda gamey… and stringy… and furry!” he said with disgust.
    “You get used to it. It’s about the only thing you can catch out here as a fox. Aside from the occasional rabbit or sparrow, but they’re much more furry.” Kira mused.
    “Just tell me where I am, what I am and why, please!” Simon begged, almost gagging as he tried to swallow his bite of mouse.
    “Well, where and what is easy. Why -- not so much,” Kira said. “Eat the rest of that mouse and I’ll try to explain.
    “First of all, your in a  forest and you’re a fox. A kit could have guessed that.” Kira paused as Simon glared at her angrily while chewing unhappily on the mouse.     “But, why? That’s harder. Well, Daien, the fox god, had a brother who was killed while living in the mortal realms. His brother was, in fact, killed by your uncle. Daien mourned his brother and wanted revenge; he decided not to kill Quill but to kill you, but Liru protested, and Starig said it was unjust and unfair. So Daien got an even better plan, to curse you to be a fox. The curse would only break once Daien wanted it to -- which would be never -- or when you where killed. His hope was that your uncle would shoot you. Either way, Quill would mourn as his favorite nephew was either lost in the woods or killed by his own gun.”
    “Wait, what!? Slow down!” Simon protested, “Starig, Liru, Gods, Daien, Killed, Curse? What?”
    Kira let out an impatient sigh, “There are five gods that rule the woods -  Daien, the black-furred fox god, Liru, the golden-furred lynx goddess, Starig, the oak-furred elk god, Rinna, the black-and-white feathered magpie goddess, and Cela, the grey furred rabbit goddess. Daien’s brother, a demi-god, was foolish and often spent time in the mortal realms, but he wasn‘t careful enough of the dangers. Quill shot him; you’ve no doubt seen Ragen’s pelt hanging on your uncle’s walls.”
    “He, he showed it to me, he was proud of it,” Simon said, eyes wide, forgetting his fear and displeasure for a moment. “But, why me? And who are you?”
    “Daien wanted Quill to suffer, he wanted to kill you, but Liru and Starig forbade it -- you had done no wrong, and you are only a pup. Liru sent me to help you, not wanting Quill to kill you but not being able to convince Daien to change his mind. And that is it.” Kira said.
    “So you’re a demi-god then?” Simon asked.
    “No, I am a guardian. Weaker than a demi-god, stronger than a mortal.”
    “And… I’m stuck like this forever?”
    “Unless there is another way to break the curse, yes,” she said gravely as Simon tried to make sense of it all.

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

     Simon opened the car door, slamming it shut behind him and jumping down onto his uncle’s driveway.
    “Have a good week at your uncle’s!” his mother called from behind him before driving away down the cracked, asphalt road.
     Simon took a deep breath, relishing the frosty, foresty smell of fall. Leaves crackled under his feet as he walked up the driveway to his uncle’s house.
    “Simon!” His uncle exclaimed as he went down the path to meet him, “Nice to see you again! My, how you’ve grown.”
    “Uncle Quill!” Simon said in delight.
    The man’s hair was grizzled and grey, with a short, bristly beard and a long scar running across one side of his long, pointed, pale face.
    “So, how have you been?” Quill asked, ruffling Simon’s short, black hair.
    “Good!” Simon said, grinning as they walked into Quill’s old, log-cabin like house.
    The walls and floor were made of planks of wood, and Quill switched the light on as they walked in.
    In the main room, there was a chandelier made of antlers, with an old bearskin rug underneath. There were deer, fox, bear, elk, rabbit and mink furs hanging all over the walls. Quill lead Simon into the dining room, where a polished oak table sat with several chairs surrounding it.
    “Simon, I want to show you something,” Quill said, taking a beautiful red and orange fox pelt from the wall. “This,” He said proudly, holding the fur up, “was my latest catch! A real beauty.”
    “Wow…” Simon said, petting the soft fur.
    “So then,” Quill said, putting the fur back up on the wall, “What’ll it be for dinner?”
    Simon shrugged.
    “Venison and spinach sound good?” Quill asked, taking a can from the freezer.
    “Sure.” Simon said, still looking around and marveling at all the furs on the walls.

    They ate dinner, Quill asking Simon how his summer had been all the while.
After they were finished, Simon crawled into bed, slipping under the soft rabbit furs and yawned. It had been a while since he had visited his uncle. He liked it here. Tomorrow they would go fishing and then exploring. He thought as he drifted slowly off to sleep.
But tomorrow would be much different then he had expected.

    Daien watched, smiling wickedly as the two spirits - the white hare and black wolf - descended towards the wooden-shingled house below. Curls of smoke, black and white, trailed behind the spirits and melded together forming a stream of grey in their wake. The hare and wolf looked at each other silently and began to weave around each other and around Simon.

Broken by death…
Broken by word…
Unbroken forever….

    And as wisps of grey smoke ascended and hare and wolf were gone, so was Simon.

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.