Bloodline: Godseed (Pt. II)

“He” had been a “she.” The little warrior was instead a little princess… though an edgy little dart of energy she was. Akana loved her to death. At last, in a house of boys, she had an ally. Of course… she hadn’t been an ally at first. She’d just been a normal little suckling of an infant, needing care and regular changing.

But now, at six summers, Irisi was everywhere. Taking care of chickens, weaving, sweeping the hard-packed clay of the floor, and occasionally participating in quick and vicious wrestling matches with her older brothers.

It was uncanny how many she won.

Akana could see the strangeness in her eyes, however, and wondered if Djal would notice. If he did, he said nothing. He was a hard-working man, a good man, and, in a time where all infrastructure had been destroyed, a life saver.

As far as they knew, there were only two other families left in the land - those saved by the hands of Ra. They had banded tightly together, forming exploratory parties and sharing their limited resources – but as of yet, they seemed very much alone. Ra rose and Ra set, every day without fail; yet the world of the glorious past was gone forever.

Akana sat weaving and humming to herself, loose threads in her mouth. She missed the fine, dyed stuff she used to own and wished they’d have been able to pack more in the salvation machine.

The smell of bread filled their mud house. Food, shelter, clothing… all the important needs were met.

Suddenly, Irisi crashed through the door.

Akana grinned. “How’s my little woman?”

“Fine.”

“Fine? Are your brothers still with Papa?”

Irisi nodded.

“But you didn’t want to help?”

Irisi shrugged. Akana noticed her hair was getting long. Deep brown curls rolled down her bare sun-browned back. “Are they almost done?”

Irisi shrugged again. She was often like this… so quiet as to be a bit irritating. “Why don’t you talk to your mama, daughter?”

“I don’t have anything to say, mama.”

Akana realized with irritation that she’d cross-threaded a portion of her weaving. She started tugging it right and then noticed something strange.

“Irisi?”

The girl looked up at her from where she sat on the bare floor.

“What’s that mark on your arm?”

Irisi feigned ignorance. “What mark?”

“That one, darling. It looks like… a bite?”

The girl cocked her arm at an angle and studied the small red and purple imprint. She looked at her mom and shrugged yet again.

“Irisi… what happened? Tell me or you’ll not get dinner!”

The girl sighed, crossing her legs under her and putting her head in her hands.

Akana sat silently, waiting for the explanation. Finally, the girl talked, looking out the door as if in another world.

“It was a dog, mama.”

“A dog?”

“One of the yellow ones that Papa chases away from the pens. Scrap dog.”

Akana looked at her with concern. “It just bit you?”

Irisi shook her head. “No, not at first. At first they came close.”

“They?”

“A… flock of them.”

“Pack of them,” Akana corrected, then kicked herself for interrupting. If there really were dangerous dogs about, Djal needed to know. And they needed to keep a much closer eye on the children. Usually the “scrap dogs,” as the children called them, were the furthest thing from aggressive. And wait…

“So – more than one? A group of dogs?”

Irisi continued her tale. “Yes, mama. A flo… a… pack of them came to me when I was picking flowers. By the little pond outside the wheat field.”

Akana had quit her weaving and focused her attention completely on her daughter.

“What happened?”

Irisi looked at her intently. “I think... they came to worship me.”

“Worship???”

“That’s what it looked like. They came in a bunch and made a circle, then came up and were sort of kneeling on their front legs, like we do at the altars. One even put a little animal bone at my feet. It was like a little dog party or something. I was their goddess. It was fun! But then when the mean falcons came, the dogs got upset.”

“What? Falcons? And how did they get upset?”

“They were trying to keep the falcons away from my hair. They kept diving and diving at me. I lost my flowers. The dogs tried to bite the falcons and then they went away. But one bit my arm.”

“A falcon?”

“No, a scrap dog. But it was a mistake. It was trying to get a falcon. That’s when I dropped my flowers in the pond.”

Akana was completely bemused. As far as she knew, falcons didn’t attack people and dogs didn’t worship little girls. But, then again, much in the world had changed. The animals no longer communicated like before the waters of chaos… and there was no longer any energy bubbles to keep the harsher elements of Geb at bay.

Akana pondered the story for a long time, and often asked Irisi if she’d had more contact with dogs or falcons… but the answer was always no.

That is, until Irisi turned thirteen.