February - 3,390 BC
Earth: Crash site
Ninsianna
Ninsianna crawled over the rubble which blocked the crack out of the great sky canoe and worked her way down to the stream which tumbled down from the hill into the bowl-shaped oasis where Mikhail's sky canoe had partially buried itself. As she walked, she spoke aloud her thoughts the way one might speak to her closest friend.
“He's so emotionless, Mother, as though he possesses no fear!”
Free! She was free! Her gait turned into a girlish skip as she saw the goddess had brought the sky canoe down into an oasis. A small shadow fell across her path, its outstretched silhouette indicating which animal cast it. Ninsianna glanced up, just in time to see an enormous golden eagle swoop into the stream which widened out in front of her. It was a positive omen, for eagles were sacred to her people. The eagle dove beneath the surface, wings splashing water as it came up carrying a nice, fat fish. Ninsianna laughed as the eagle effortlessly carried its squirming dinner up into the sky.
"Yes, mother! I agree! He must be a formidable warrior! Now if only he could remember his own name!"
Ninsianna wracked her brains for what little she knew about amnesia. Mama had spoken of such amnesia after a warrior had suffered a blow to the head. Usually a few hours passed and then the memories would return, although Mikhail (she said his name several times and decided she liked the way it rolled across her tongue) appeared to be unusually lucid for someone who couldn't remember his own name. Perhaps he'd misunderstood her question? Or was he withholding information? She reached the brook, swollen with water from the late winter rains, and kneeled.
“Thank you, Mother, for giving me this pure water,” she sang, for in a land with scant rainfall, all water was considered sacred. She scooped up a handful, faced the east, and offered her first drink to the earth as an offer of gratitude before filling her water skin.
Her own reflection shone back at her from the pool, her face and shawl smeared crimson with Mikhail's blood. Leaving on her shawl so it would get clean, she waded waist-deep into the stream and kneeled in the spot where the eagle had snatched the fish only moments before. Swollen with the winter rains, the stream was just deep enough to sink up to her neck if she sat down. Ducking beneath the surface to wash her hair, she did not hear the sound of approaching feet.
“Ninsianna … come here!"
She flipped back her wet hair and frowned at the sight of Jamin and his entourage of warriors. So … her jilted fiancé had found her at last? Well … it was too late! The goddess herself had sent someone better to take his place! She jutted out her chin with defiance.
“I will not marry you!" Ninsianna said. "So leave me alone and I shall take up residence here!" The will of the goddess filled her with bravery. She luxuriated in his wounded expression as she turned her back on him as no other woman would dare do to the chief's son, signaling she wished to have nothing more to do with him.
Jamin made a sound like a duck who was having his neck wrung.
“I don't think she likes you anymore,” Dadbeh teased him.
Firouz began to slurp like a dog. Ninsianna didn't know what the gesture meant, but it made Jamin shake with anger. He pointed at her, his expression grim.
“I'll show you, woman, who is in charge of this tribe!" Jamin waded into the water after her, he the hunter and she the prey.
Ninsianna trembled, but stood her ground. The goddess would not allow herself to be bullied by a man, so neither would she! The power of the goddess surged through her veins like a bolt of lightning as she imagined she was like She-who-is. Never before had she felt so powerful, so bold.
“You are NOT the chief of this tribe, yet!” Ninsianna shouted. “And I will not obey you!”
The other warriors cat-called and made jokes about recalcitrant goats. Jamin splashed towards her; a tall, dark god; his black eyes filled with anger as she crossed her arms and glowered right back at him.
“You will come away from this accursed fallen star before you get yourself hurt!" Jamin grabbed her arm and tugged her towards the shore.
Ninsianna slapped him.
The warriors burst out laughing.
Jamin grabbed her by the hair.
"How dare y…."
Her words were cut short as he shoved her face beneath the water. Ninsianna fought to break his grip, but he kept his fingers wrapped securely in her hair. With an ungentle yank, he pulled her back above the surface. Ninsianna gasped for breath.
“Do you yield?”
“How dare you!" Ninsianna sputtered. Her blood boiling, she hit him as hard as she could. The other warriors laughed as Jamin shoved her face beneath the water a second time. Water came rushing up her nose. She kicked and hit with all of her might, but Jamin was taller and more than twice her weight. She gasped for breath as he pulled her head back above the surface a second time.
“Do you yield?”
"Never!"
Ninsianna kicked backwards and landed her heel in Jamin's testicles. Jamin yowled in pain.
“I will teach you some respect, woman!"
He shoved her head beneath the water a third time. This time, he held her there until she had no choice but to breathe the water into her lungs. The sound of her own heart pounding in her ears muffled the sound of Jamin's voice filtering through the water.
'Help me…' she prayed to She-who-is. 'Help me, please. I am not strong enough to fight him on my own…'
Jamin suddenly loosened his grip. She popped back above the surface, vomiting water until she realized the warriors all gaped at something on the shore. Walking towards them from the shattered sky canoe, one wing outstretched, the other dragging uselessly behind him, came Mikhail.
'Thank you, Mother…'
“He is my protector,” she shouted aloud, hoping to panic them before they noticed how badly injured Mikhail was. “Run, before he smites you where you stand!”
A bolt of blue lightning erupted from Mikhail's hand and exploded the rocks at the warrior's feet, tossing them backwards as though they'd just been rammed. Smoke and a scent like a thunderstorm wafted up from the place where the lightning had struck. With a shout, the warriors ran away.
Jamin, however, had never been one to back away from a fight, especially when it was over something he viewed to be his. He grabbed her arm and shoved her behind his back, his dark eyes flashing with defiance.
“Stay behind me and I'll protect you from the demon," Jamin hissed. He stood frozen between her and Mikhail, eyeing the spear he'd left on the banks of the stream, no doubt calculating his best chance to regain the high ground.
"Níor mhaith liom a dhéanamh má bhí tú mé," Mikhail gestured towards them with the strange, black firestick he held in his hands.
A second bolt of lightning landed perilously close to Jamin’s side, showering them both with water and also a strange sensation as though they'd both been stung. Jamin yelped, but he did not let her go. Mikhail pointed the firestick at Jamin’s chest and gestured for her to come to shore.
"Ninsianna, teacht anseo!”
“Over my dead body!"
Jamin broadened his stance so he appeared as threatening as a man could possibly appear whilst standing waist deep in water with no weapon and nowhere to run. His grip tightened, twisting her arm as he stood between her and Mikhail. Ninsianna realized he thought he was protecting her! His possessiveness was about to get him killed!
The two alpha-predators stared one another down, both of them eager to claim her to be their prize. Mikhail had the higher ground, but he was badly wounded, while Jamin was in top physical form. She needed to break his grip and distract him before he realized the dark coloring of Mikhail's shirt was not dye, but dried blood. Making a fist, she punched Jamin in the face and yanked away.
"Get away from me!" Ninsianna shrieked.
Jamin's look of surprise as she broke free was precious!
"Ninsianna?"
Splashing water everywhere, she skitter
ed up the banks of the stream and froze as she recognized Mikhail's grip on consciousness was tenuous at best. If he passed out now, Jamin would positively kill him. She ran into his arms and snaked her arms around his waist as though she embraced her lover to prevent Mikhail from toppling over, wedging her shoulder under his broken arm so his firestick remained free.
“Téigh ar!” Mikhail growled. “Faigh an ifreann as anseo!”
“Leave!!!” she shouted. “Before he smites you for your insolence!”
Jamin looked from her to Mikhail, his black eyes filled first with dismay, and then hatred as he jumped to the conclusion Ninsianna intended for him to jump to.
“You told me that you loved me," Jamin shouted at her, "and now you betray me for a demon?"
The chief's son stepped towards her, his hand outstretched as though he was a common beggar. Ninsianna lifted her chin and hugged Mikhail, a universal, feminine symbol of mine. Jamin stiffened, pride subsuming hurt as he finally understood what she'd been trying to tell him for the last three days. She did not want him. She wanted somebody better.
His fists clenched, Jamin bolted out of the opposite side of the stream and grabbed his spear. He stalked off in the same direction his more cowardly compatriots had just gone, his expression so dark it gave Ninsianna chills.
As soon as Jamin climbed out of the bowl of the valley, Mikhail collapsed, dragging her down along with him, for he was so heavy there was little she could do but slow his descent. Wiggling to extricate herself from beneath his enormous wings, she spat out a mouthful of black-brown feathers. The ground here was hard and rocky, so she sat back down and cradled his head upon her lap.
She touched the base of his throat. Although Mikhail was deathly pale, a steady throb greeted her sensitive fingertips. With a sigh, Ninsianna shut her eyes as the energy she'd felt earlier suddenly abandoned her, leaving her feeling tired and weak.
“You're too large for me to drag back to your sky canoe,” Ninsianna said. “I'm afraid I would reopen your wounds if I even tried. We shall just have to wait until you wake up so we can do it together."
In the dim confines of the shattered sky canoe, there had not been enough light to get a good look at her patient, but out here in the daylight, she could see how enormous Mikhail truly was. Ninsianna was average height, while Jamin, who was tall for her people, stood two hand-spans taller than the top of her head, but when she'd stood next to Mikhail, her head didn't even reach his chin.
She studied his magnificent, twenty-cubit wings, even bigger than the mated pair of golden eagles who circled above the Hiddekel River. His plumage was brownish-black, with golden sable stripes the closer you got to his skin. She ran her fingers through his feathers, relishing the contrast between the stiff primary feathers and his soft downy under feathers with a smattering of grey speckled feathers on the underside of one wing, but not the other.
Wings! The goddess had sent her a man with wings! Ninsianna could not help but giggle like a little girl.
She ran her fingers through hair the color of roasted acorns, a sharp contrast to his flesh which was as pale and pink as the clouds which trailed across a morning sky, not the light brown complexion that graced all but a few of her own people. Her fingers memorized each exquisite detail of the creature the goddess had placed into her care. Mikhail's chiseled features were not those of the Ubaid, but the flint warriors shaped to adorn their spears: sharp, beautiful and deadly. She ran her fingers over his muscular chest and relished each striation, the body of a warrior in peak condition.
Her very own demi-god!
“Thank you for rescuing me." Ninsianna touched the hairless skin above his lips and wondered about the absence of a beard. “I don't know how you even heard me, much less got up and walked with all of your injuries. No wonder the goddess wanted me to save your life!"
She closed her eyes and focused the healing light of She-who-is through her hands to speed his recovery the way that Mama had taught her to do. Her hands tingled; warmer, even, than when she had prayed to heal the Chief's son. Thankful. Oh, goddess, how very thankful she was! Mikhail was the answer to her prayer!
“Can I keep him?” Ninsianna slipped her fingers through the soft under-feathers of his wings and lifted her face up towards the sun. “Please, Mother? I'd really like to keep him!”
Chapter 9