Page 35 of Call of the Ride
This must be what family feels like...
“You did fuck up, V-man. Royally,” he chuckled, gazing up at me with hazel eyes, just like his mother’s. “But it doesn’t mean you can’t make things right—not just with me and mum, but withMarenaas well. You do that, and I’ll consider not bringing the vengeful wrath of a demigod down on your horned head.”
Chapter 27
Vasilisa
It’s official. I want Ulysses’ head on my fence post.
I glowered at the Fae leaning against a tree, smirking at me. Clearly,hehad known where we needed to end up, yet instead of guiding me, he’d watched me flounder, chasing my own tail.
“Well, then,” I growled. “I suppose we need to get back in my mortar and head 11 miles to the north before either this night ends or I run out of patience.”
“Aye, that won’t do you any good, love, asthisis the Thames Head source.” Ulysses was examining his fingernails as if they were the most interesting thing in the world, uncaring that I was considering disemboweling him for speaking in circles.
As I now had no patience left of my own, I did my best to mirror Tan’s unending supply before I spoke. “So, just to confirm, we are at the right location, but at the wrong time of year?”
“Correct again!“ Ulysses crowed, gracefully leaping to sit atop the stone marker before staring at me expectantly.
This is why I never leave my hut.
Too frustrated to reply, I sat heavily on the ground, next to the gravel depression of the dry well—dry because itwasn’tthe rainy season, of course.
I absently pulled on the tether again. This time, I didn’t even get a reply from Tan, so he was indisposed or had been whisked away to where I could no longer reach him, along with the others. I trusted Ulysses when he swore my men would be returned to me, but I wished they were here now, if only for moral support.
All at once, I regretted how often I insisted on handling everything myself. While I took pride in being self-sufficient, I now realized, allowing others to help wasnota sign of weakness—in fact, it was the opposite. The irony was that this revelation would appear to me now when I couldn’t connect with my men at all.
How will I solve this?
“Haven’t you ever gone on a spirit journey before?” The Fae abruptly asked, now standing on top of the marker, causing the stone to further sink into the knoll and tilt alarmingly.
I scoffed. “As a matter of fact, I just completed quite an extensive one, so I’d hoped that would be it for a while.”
Ulysses chortled in return. “You of all people should know,Yaga,that the lessons are never truly over and the journey has always just begun.”
Flopping onto my back, I gazed at the half moon above, wishing my powers also controlled the tides so I could simply bring water to the surface. My thoughts drifted to how the moon had appeared in oddly different phases during my various stops in the Nav. When we’d visited the village of Toska, to relive my horrid childhood, the moon had been just a sliver. During our stop at the Tsar's palace to witness my wedding, consummation, and loss of my child, the moon was full. And when I’d battled my former mentor in the sacred grove, there’d been no moonlight at all.
What does it all mean?
“Why do you think your men have horns, Vasilisa?” Ulysses mused, changing the subject yet again. “Besides the obvious…demigod…thing…” he trailed off, waving his fingers dismissively.
I turned my head to shoot him a confused look. “Oh, I thought thatwasthe reason,” I muttered, wondering where he was going with this.
The Fae leaped from his perch, descending the knoll to absently poke at the gravel pit with his boot. “Perhaps. Or, perhaps it’s related to the Horned God of modern day pagans, who is—of course—based on a long history of horned deities.” He gestured around his own head, causing me to briefly wonder if he was hiding a pair himself. “They say his horns represent the union of the divine and the animal—the latter of which includes humanity—which seems quite fitting for your half-human men.”
When I simply gaped at him, he continued, “This god is dualistic, possessing two-fold aspects. Light and dark, night and day, summer and winter, and so on. There could be something there...or not. Either way, the Horned God has long been seen as the consort of the Triple-Goddess, so it seemed worth mentioning.”
I frowned. The various powers my Riders possessedwereopposing aspects of light and dark—and different times of day—so the Horned God comparison was valid. And I couldn’t forget that Marena had sent us on our journey through the Nav with instructions to reconcile the three-fold stages of my human existence. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, perhaps that part of my journey was still only just beginning.
It appears the Fae is guiding me…albeit, in a maddeningly roundabout way.
Deciding to see where the bread crumbs led, I mused aloud, “Yes...the specific chapters of my life we revisited in the Nav corresponded with the aspects of maiden, mother, and crone. And thus being reminded of these experiences showed me how far I’d come.” I puzzled onward, more for my own benefit than for the man standing over me. “However, it appears that I am still quite lost and most definitely on my own at the moment.”
Ulysses raised his gaze skyward just as the moon was revealed from behind a drifting cloud. “Do you truly feel alone at this moment, Vasilisa of Toska, daughter of a priestess and a warrior, descendant of this earth?“
His words hit me with the force of a freight train. Although I couldn’t feel my physical connection with my men, I still knew they were out there, supporting me from afar. I thought back to the few but vital people who had offered me love and kindness during my early years; my mother and father and shifters like Misha and Anthia. Then there were the mysterious patrons who’d only existed in the shadows until recently—Marena and Mokosh—both of whom had saved and blessed me in this life.
Focusing on the Mother Goddess, I contemplated how she’d guided my purpose as Yaga—to protect the sacred forest and all its inhabitants. It felt like an overwhelming responsibility, but Mokosh herself was not only the mother of her own children—gods and demigods alike—but ofallliving things.
