Sosondowah was trying to calm the soldiers standing before the gate of the palisade that protected Onondaga. The Iroquois god leaned over the palisade as he faced them. The soldiers wore armor that looked as though it were made of bronze, consisting only of breastplates and helmets, and they were armed with clubs shaped like enormous blades, as well as bows.
“Don't you know what it means to oppose the will of the great sun god, Heshuka?” replied one of the soldiers, who appeared to be the leader of the detachment.
“The former leader of this tribe has fallen. We are no longer bound to any alliance that none of us ever agreed to forge,” said the Iroquois archer god. “So if you want war, then war you shall have.”
All the soldiers burst into laughter.
“Can flies truly hope to challenge a bear?” said the man speaking for the troop.
Sosondowah swiftly seized his bow, drew an arrow of air from his quiver, and fired at once, piercing the man straight through the heart. The soldier fell backward to the ground, vomiting blood.
“The humans of Mississippi behave in a very conceited manner; they do not know how to respect their superiors, the gods,” Sosondowah said with a laugh. “I believe it is time I teach them a very important lesson.”
Yet none of the soldiers looked frightened or concerned. All of them maintained the same grim, steady expressions. Then the soldier Sosondowah had struck rose back to his feet and tore the arrow from his heart, whereupon it vanished instantly.
The archer god stared in shock at what was happening.
“The gods of other lands are but flies before our great Sun, Heshuka,” said the man with a haughty look. “So long as the sun shines upon the men of his people, our lord—the almighty hawk—shall grant us his power, which far surpasses yours, you filthy and wretched little lizards.”
Sosondowah, now nervous, unleashed a flurry of arrows, but every single man repelled them with his bare hands. That only deepened the Iroquois god’s astonishment.
“Then we may safely assume the men are indeed here, and your attack may serve as a casus belli against our authority,” said the leader of the Mississippi soldiers.
The soldiers then began to form circles, tracing geometric patterns in the earth with their weapons while chanting in the divine tongue, some sort of mantra.
“What is this? Can mere soldiers truly speak the divine language and perform invocations?” the Iroquois archer god wondered in disbelief.
Light then poured from the geometric figures, and monstrous creatures began to appear. They were gigantic beings covered entirely in golden scales, with enormous claws. They had human faces, stag antlers, massive beards, and eagle wings. Hatred and fury blazed in their eyes, making them a terrifying sight.
There were five such creatures in all. The soldiers began to shout, “Payiihsa!”
The monsters then took to the air and began flying toward Onondaga. Sosondowah tried to attack them, but his arrows merely bounced off their scaled hides.
Seeing the enormous beasts drawing near the palisade, Rodrigo and the others prepared to fight, but Hé-no stopped them.
“No. You have already helped us more than enough,” he said. “You must flee from here and continue south. We shall protect ourselves from this threat.”
“But those creatures are incredibly powerful,” Rodrigo said in alarm.
Then Hé-no darkened the sky, and, pointing his bow at one of the creatures that had entered, he fired a mighty thunderbolt that blew the monster apart, its pieces falling across Onondaga.
“Do not underestimate us. We are a warrior people,” Hé-no said. “I am only ashamed that I cannot spare any soldiers to accompany you south. But if ever you need aid in the future, our alliance shall always stand.”
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Rodrigo tried once more to object, but Anpiel stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
“Sir Rodrigo,” he said, “we must respect the will of our hosts.”
The Iroquois gods then appeared and began fighting the enormous monstrous birds assailing them. The creatures spat fire and lightning from their mouths, while the gods attacked them as best they could. In the end, they managed to bring down two more, though the beasts crashed onto the already battered city of Onondaga.
“Go, flee now—and may the Great Spirit go with you! If the enemy sees you, all shall be lost!” Hé-no shouted, and Rodrigo, much against his will, gave in.
One of the women gestured to Rodrigo and the others and signaled for them to follow her. They did so.
All of them ran until they reached the ruins of what remained of the lodge where Sawiskera had ruled, and there the woman indicated they should enter. But at that very moment, one of the flying creatures landed violently and tried to crush the girl. Rodrigo, using his wind powers, teleported and saved her.
“I do not believe it intends to let us pass,” said Anpiel.
Tania then tried to transform into her manticore form, but failed. Even so, with one of her burning claws, she managed to slash the enormous creature across the cheek.
The monster immediately seized the Punic goddess in its jaws and began mauling her. Susanoo quickly tried to cut through the creature’s neck, but his blade rebounded.
Rodrigo set the girl down and teleported beneath the monster, striking it with all his might using his sacred fists, but the damage was, for all practical purposes, useless.
“It worked against the serpent because that was its weakness, but these behemoths are not tannin!” Anpiel cried as he watched Tania being ground between the beast’s fangs.
Then Rodrigo shouted, “Open—Fourth Chakra!”
At once, he hurled himself at the monster like a whirlwind of fire, crying, “Ejekauakki (Dry Wind)!”
With a rapid succession of punches, he forced the creature backward and made it release the Punic goddess from its maw.
Tania was in terrible condition. Her internal organs had been crushed by the beast’s powerful jaws. Anpiel quickly hurried to bring her ambrosia, while Rodrigo continued battling the enormous monster.
Anpiel poured the mead into the goddess’s mouth, and her body recovered. She immediately got back to her feet.
“If even a single behemoth from that kingdom is this strong, what awaits us if we travel farther south?” she wondered in frustration.
Rodrigo kept hammering at the creature when he saw Susanoo join him, striking the monster as well, his sword wrapped in air. His attacks did wound it, but many of them were absorbed by its powerful scales.
Tania then formed a crescent moon of fire while praying, “Yareh Edom (Red Moon).”
The goddess swiftly seized it and hurled it like a discus at one of the monster’s eyes. Fortunately, the moon buried itself deep within the creature’s left eye socket and immediately exploded with tremendous force. The creature fell backward onto the ground from Tania’s overwhelming attack.
“If we cannot pierce its scales, then we must strike it from within!” Tania shouted, while Rodrigo and Susanoo withdrew from the beast.
The monster rose again and stood back up, though its face had suffered catastrophic damage. Half of it had been blown away, leaving behind only a mass of pus and blood. The beast shrieked in rage and began spewing lightning in every direction from what remained of its mouth.
“It hath lost all control!” Susanoo cried.
“But Tania blew a huge hole through its face—now we can attack it there!” Rodrigo shouted excitedly.
Anpiel immediately shielded the girl who had been guiding them, while Tania, igniting her claws, threw herself into the monster’s wound and plunged inside its body. Rodrigo and Susanoo stared in utter disbelief at the goddess’s action.
In the next instant, the monster burst open from its chest, as if a massive explosion had gone off within its throat. The creature finally collapsed to the ground dead, while Tania emerged from its belly, drenched in blood and fat.
“Tania-san, thou art mad!” the eastern god cried in horror.
“There was no other way to kill it,” Tania said as she brushed bits of the monster’s organs from her body. Then the goddess turned and saw that the Iroquois gods had the situation under control.
“We must press onward and grow stronger,” Susanoo said shamefacedly, sheathing his katana once more.
Rodrigo felt he had failed in his duty to protect Tania.
“If I am stronger, what use is it if she still had to fight again to protect us?” he asked himself.
The girl thanked the gods in her own language, bowing respectfully. Then she again gestured toward the lodge. The gods followed her to what had once been Sawiskera’s throne room.
Behind the throne there was a hidden door with stairs leading downward. The girl signaled for the gods to enter, and they agreed, not before thanking her once more.
Beneath the throne stretched a long, damp, mold-ridden passage built of wood. The gods moved quickly through it and reached the other end. The corridor must have been ten kilometers long, yet the gods crossed it in mere minutes.
On the far side were stairs that opened into a cave hidden among the forests of the region. The gods emerged and, from afar, saw the battlefield in Onondaga still raging. Unable to do anything more, they decided to continue south, toward the lands of Mississippi.