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Wapi landed on the porch, mere feet in front of me. His head came up to my mid-thigh.
“Ellie…” David warned, standing next to the sofa.
I flexed my right hand, ready to blast the wind god away if necessary.
Wapi shook his head. “What do you know of the curse? You call yourself Curse Keeper, but you are ignorant. Just like thetosh-shontewho helped thenuppin.”
Mishiginebig had used those same words. What did they mean?
“I’m here to warn you as a favor to Okeus, but I will leave if you mock me.”
I crossed my arms. “I’m listening.”
Wapi cocked his head and turned one eye toward me. “Ukinim does as he pleases. He cannot be restrained. Do not presume the threat of Okeus’s wrath will protect you from him. Being locked up has changed him into something none of us recognize.”
“How can I defeat him?”
Wapi laughed. “Why would I tell you that?”
“To protect me.”
“I don’t care if you are protected. I only relay Okeus’s warning.” He bobbed his head toward my door. “Stay behind your fortress, but the day is coming when it will no longer be enough.”
That got my attention. “What does that mean?”
Wapi grinned and then flew away.
I stood gaping in the doorway as terror trickled through my body. Soon my door wouldn’t be enough. What would I do then?
“What in bloody hell was that?”
I turned back to face David. He was standing and holding onto the back of the sofa, his face a ghastly white.
“Wapi, the wind god of the north. He was particularly chatty tonight.”
“He was…a large bird with a man’s head.”
“And white hair. Don’t forget the white hair. That’s the most significant way to tell him apart from his brothers.”
His eyes widened. “His brothers?”
“The other wind gods, but I haven’t had the pleasure of getting to know them like I have Wapi.”
He stared at the still open door. “I have so many questions.”
I surveyed the marks on the front of the door and then shut it once I was satisfied. “It’s always hard to go back to sleep after one of them visits, so I’ve got nothing but time.” I sank onto the sofa and David sat next to me.
“You mentioned several things I’ve never heard of before. You said that Wapi and his brothers overthrew Ahone. How did that happen?”
“Ahone created humanity and put them into a bag.”
He shivered and tensed. “I’ve heard that, but in the story I’m familiar with, the creator was the Great Hare.”
“From the little information I can find, I suspect Ahone and the Great Hare are one in the same. The four wind gods were jealous of everything that the creator god made, but they were most jealous of humanity. They told Ahone he had until the morning of the seventh day to hand humanity over to them or lose his power. Ahone couldn’t bring himself to hand either over, so he tricked them. He split himself in two, creating his twin Okeus. Okeus got all the negative traits of Ahone, but he also got the majority of their power. So Ahone still kept his power, although in a much lower concentration,andhe saved humanity.”
“How do you know this? This isn’t recorded anywhere that I’m aware of.”
“I saw it happen. Like I told you, I was a witness to creation.” I twisted my neck to glance at him. “I saw the birth of the universe and the world.” The look of disbelief on his face wasn’t surprising. “I was clueless to any of this until Collin and I pressed our hands together while we were in the ocean. I saw it all then. The birth of the gods, and the wind gods’ threat to Ahone and humanity. The birth of Okeus and his children. I saw them all while they were locked behind the gate to Popogusso. And heard their threats. They vowed to make me suffer for what Ananias Dare and Manteo did.”
