Page 13 of Heart Shaped Wreckage (standalone)

HEATH

“Heath!” I heard Kevin whisper loudly in my ear, and his elbow slammed into my ribs.

I shot up as quickly as I could. Sleep was still making my brain groggy. Fucking human weakness. A large bird stared at us. I knew him. His green eyes told me exactly who he was, even if I hadn’t seen him in ages.

“Thoth, is that you?” I asked incredulously.

“Greetings, fallen one. It has been eons since I have seen Magnus of the…”

“Why are you here?” I cut him off. I was not ready to deal with trying to explain any of this to Kevin, yet. I didn’t even have coffee.

“I’m not the only being you’ve seen, am I?” Thoth bent his head lowly. “Denzu has also been here. I’m sure we will not be the last.”

“This is getting very weird. How do I understand bird?” Kevin wiped at his eyes.

“Human, I am no mere bird,” Thoth shook his feathers in a very birdlike way.

Kevin, this is Thoth. Once worshipped as a god of wisdom,” I chuckled. I had always thought it funny that a long-necked bird was wise. He was, though. I will give him that.

“I can still see that time hasn’t changed your ability to be arrogant. I should be glad some things never change, I suppose, but… I was also hoping time had humbled you.”

“I have been humbled from the moment I walked the Earth, don’t you think?” I couldn’t stop the anger from exploding.

“See? That’s what I’m… Oh, sorry. Go on.” Kevin put his hand over his mouth. “It’s just I have so many questions about that.”

“And this is our fire-headed witch. You are quite the adorable one. It’s a shame you prefer this beast to an elegant bird such as myself. The things I could teach you.”

“Are you a shifter?”

“Am I a…” Thoth barked birdlike. It had always been quite alarming. “I have never been human. I am as you see me in the form that Kauket gave me at the great birth.”

“Wait. Like the Egyptian god?”

“He and I are and always have been the same. They teach nothing in these American schools,” he scoffed in his own birdlike way.

“I… wow… Is there actually a Zeus?”

“That’s a different story for another time, young one. Let’s hope you never have to understand the strange dynamics of all the gods. But I came before almost all, as the great serpent gave birth to this world.”

“How does this work with angels and capital G God? I am so confused.”

“That would make your head hurt even more. Creation didn’t stem from one capital G God, young one.

It came from many. From Chaos and Jehovah and Kauket and Yimr and so many others, creation sprang forth, and the universe formed as it was always supposed to.

Each primordial god gave birth to those who would form the universe.

From Jehovah, we had angels. From the others, their pantheon came to fruition.

Why must one be true and the other a falsehood?

Sometimes in life, there is no easy answer. ”

“So speaks the great bird of wisdom. Why are you here?” I tensed. “You must have something to tell us, or are you here to watch us flounder?”

“I admit, watching the two of you so cozy did give me great relief. Only together can you complete this quest. The prophecy is old, and it has been waiting for the right moment to come into fruition.” He always sounded like he was giving a lecture.

“I think it had some help,” I growled.

“I had nothing to do with any of it.” He bent his beak under his wing and pecked at something. “I’m only here to guide you on the first step. The seeking stones and the swirling pool are near at hand. Denzu brought you to where you needed to be.”

“We’re in a desert,” Kevin looked at Thoth like he must be daft. “Where would a swirling pool be?”

“Ah… A pool doesn’t always mean water. Swirling sand can cause the same impression. You will find it much more difficult to do laps in, though.” He chortled – birdlike. Like I said, Thoth had always been quite strange.

“Where do we need to go?” I stretched my arms, and my back popped loudly.

“Around the mountain and down to the hidden valley. Remember that in the pool, sometimes it is best to give up the struggle. Chaos destroys and sometimes brings peace with that destruction.”

“That makes no sense,” Kevin sighed.

“But it will,” Thoth clicked his beak at him loudly.

“Are we being searched for?” I asked, afraid of the answer.

“Do you believe that Aurelius would ever give up?” He looked at me with his beady eyes.

“Will he find us again?” I bent my head. I didn’t want to have to do battle against my brother. He may hate me, but I hold no ill will for the choices we both made.

“What are the affairs of angels to me, Magnus? The three stones will glow when the witch gets near them. Three, you must find, and then into the swirling pool you must go. Only together can you ever beat the current of the shifting sands. Remember everything I said, or this will be our last conversation. No matter to me. It is what it is, as they say. Time would somehow go on without you.”

“Thanks for the compassion,” Kevin huffed.

“Witch boy, the gods have never had any.” He opened his wings and snorted as he lifted into the air and sailed away.

“I guess we should get going?” I ruffled his messy hair back into place.

“I’m still hungry, I think.”

“Maybe we’ll find a buffet on the way. Come on.

” We didn’t really have anything to carry except for the burned sword I had picked up and set aside.

Maybe it could come in handy. Once I had a sword just like this.

I still remember how to use it. I hoped.

Honestly, I hoped I wouldn’t have to find out.

If Aurelius were looking for us, he would not be able to track us easily since Moon Cat moved us through space and time.

But he could eventually find us. Kevin… Aurelius could use Kevin to find us.

He couldn’t track the fallen. Our blended essence would keep us hidden even from him.

How else did we survive during their hunt for us?

But Kevin, his soul… It was possible, but it would still be a difficult task for him. We just had to keep moving.

Did Aurelius know the prophecy? He hadn’t heard it, and it wasn’t about him, but… he was mentioned. If he had heard it, we were possibly fucked.

“How far do you think that mountain is?”

“Far enough. A few hours, maybe.” I shrugged. It didn’t matter how far it was; it was where we had to go.

“Stupid cat,” Kevin sighed. “He couldn’t have dropped us there?”

I reached down and took his small hand in mine. “Let’s go.”

We walked for quite some time, and the mountain seemed to keep moving further back.

Stupid mirages made the desert a hellscape of wind and sand.

Kevin found it difficult to keep up, and eventually, I grabbed him and threw him onto my back.

He wrapped his thin legs around my waist and his arms around my neck as I slowly kept my balance in the shifting sands.

Thoth’s words played in my mind.

I hated riddles, and the wise ones always loved to give you just enough of the truth to keep you confused. It was never a straight answer. Typically, that’s how all of the heroes of old died. The odds were not in our favor.

Finally, after the sun had started its descent, we made it to the base of the mountain.

“Now what?”

“You find the stones.”

“I… how?”

“Thoth said they would glow when you got near them.”

“That’s all I have to do? I walk around and hope we stumble on the right stones. Sure, Cher. Seems very easy to me.”

We made our way around the base of the mountain, and I sat Kevin back down on his feet. He reached down and took my hand, and we walked together. His hand in mine felt natural. It was an odd feeling for me. But it also felt right.

“What is that?” He pointed. Fire did not shoot out of his hand, but he pointed to a small cliff face in front of us that was pouring some sparkling substance.

“That looks like a waterfall, but it’s not.”

“No, that is sand. So what? Do we just walk through it?” He sounded frightened, and I didn’t blame him. It was freaky as shit.

“I suppose we do. The valley must be hidden behind it somehow.”

We stepped forward and stood in front of the sandfall. The tiny grains seemed to move off into nothing as they fell from the cliffs. We held our breath and together took the step through the falling grains of sand. It felt like having sandpaper rub against our bodies as we quickly moved through it.

I spat sand from my mouth and shook my hair as we stepped out of the sandfall and into a rocky garden filled with the strangest plants I had ever seen.

How did they grow here without any water?

A swirling pool of sand, almost like the top of an hourglass, sat in the middle.

Fucking magic... The sand even had a current that you could actually see.

I didn’t look forward to jumping into it.

“There are rocks everywhere.” He looked like he had already failed. “Do you know what the seeking stones are?”

“No clue. But to find them, we have to seek, I guess. I assume that they’ll do nothing for me and will only show themselves to you. They must have some kind of magic that’s akin to the power of human witches.”

“Hecate? They must belong to Hecate.”

“Thoth is also a god of magic in ancient Egypt. Perhaps all witch power comes from the great pantheon of all witch powers. I honestly don’t know.” I shrugged and let go of his hand. “I’ll walk with you, but I think you should go slow.”

Slow it was. Jesus, our feet hurt – Kevin never stopped complaining, but there was nothing I could do. He alone would awake the stones, so he must be looking. But he was right. There were stones everywhere. It was like looking for a single grain of rice in a field of rice.

“We are never going to find these stupid stones,” Kevin sounded exasperated.

“Well… Maybe you should look down,” I chuckled, feeling a great sense of relief. A blue stone glowed on the ground with a faint light.

Kevin bent down and held it in his hand. The stone’s light grew, and Kevin held it aloft as he tightened his hand around it.

“I can feel it.” He laughed loudly. “It’s like it’s trying to communicate with me, but I can’t understand what it means.”

He held the stone, and the blue light shone across the other rocks. A hundred feet away, a glimmer caught his eye, and he ran off quickly. I followed behind and stayed by his side. If a pissed off angel fell through the sky, I wanted to be there to protect him.

Kevin picked up another stone, and it turned pink in his hand. It’s light intermingled with the other, and the light changed to a bright purple. Kevin laughed happily as he held them out for me to see.

“They want to be found. I can feel them thrum with power, I just don’t know what it is they do, yet. But I will. I know I will. They have been waiting for me.” He jumped in glee. “Maybe this will unlock my memories?”

“Perhaps. But I think that will come at the end of the quest. Most things do.”

“Wait… I feel it.” He walked over to the edge of a cave and nodded to me. “I’m supposed to go inside. I think I’m supposed to go alone.”

“Are you sure?”

“No… But that’s what I feel. It’s like the rocks are guiding me somehow.”

“I don’t like this.” I put my hand on the small of his back.

“I’m scared too. But I think I have to.” He bit his bottom lip and looked up at me.

“If something happened to you, I’d…” I could feel the blush light my skin on fire.

“Ah… You care. I feel the same way. I think I have since the moment I met you.” He pressed his head into my shoulder.

His admission made me flush harder. It also made my cock jump in my pants. “Fine. I’ll be here to guard the entrance, and if you need me, yell. I’ll come running.”

“I know you will.”

He entered the small cavern carefully. Within a few steps, all I could see was the dull glow of his purple light. Within a few seconds, he completely disappeared.

All I could do was wait.

And worry. I was going to worry.