4. The Gigagushers

When the gods closed the gates of the Throne of Tomorrow, some time ago, most animals shrugged. Everyone had grown to dislike the gods. If they had a question, or a problem, they went to see Eeris in the woods instead.

But Dilova had always found it a shame. She would have liked to walk up those big stairs and ask the gods … anything. About why she had to lose her foot, why it was so unfair, if there was no way to get it back, if the Supreme God couldn’t heal her.

And now she unexpectedly got a new chance. The great staircase was so high it hovered above the Throne. Fiante held his daughter tightly as he looked down.

“One well-aimed jump and you’ll land right in the gods’ home. And they can’t do anything to stop you!”

“Wow wow wow. And then they have to listen to you?”

He laughed at her. “They will, if they’re smart. See how powerful you are when you hover above the rest? The Supreme God hovers above everything, and that’s why he never comes down to show his face.”

“Are we really gonna do that?”

Her father glanced sideways. A rabbit nearly fell off the stairs, but was caught just in time by six other creatures. “No, we have to stay here, and build as fast as we can.”

Dilova looked down once more. They were getting close to the first clouds, so everything below her was not just small, but also increasingly hard to see clearly.

The stairs were built at such speed that they lacked any plan. It zigzagged. Sometimes they went left for a few days, sometimes right for a few days. There was even a bit where it went back down because a Gosti was smart enough to build upside down.

Because of that, the stairs didn’t look man-made. It looked more like a giant stone plant slowly growing out of the world and towering over everything. A wonderful achievement of nature. A sort of dinosaur plant. But if we’re this high, she thought, then I should be able to see the Gigagushers.

Dilova turned around. She was right. In the distance, grey-white streams shot from the earth. A few heartbeats after she saw the air currents, the sound reached her ears. Softly, as if someone quickly exhaled.

Cosmo just left his throne. He flew south, towards Atheeni, a wondrous place that looked like a paradise full of rainbows. Every time a new season began, gods and animals came together in that spot to celebrate it.

This is my chance.

She alternated jumping and flying to rapidly get to the ground. Once there, she wished the dinosaurs still existed and she could ride on their backs. The way to the Gigagushers was long. Too long for her one foot.

The Nightriver flowed enthusiastically today, heading east. Dilova jumped in, spread her wings like a raft, and let her body be carried away.

She zoomed over the churning river for hours, until it was time to get out of the watery train. Dilova wanted to spread her wings, but they got sucked into the water. Her little foot sought purchase on the bottom, but found nothing. The gushers were already next to her. If she didn’t brake now, she would soon end up in the Sultry Sea.

“Help! Help!”

Opening her beak let water in. She coughed and sputtered, spinning in the current, while she grasped for a branch along the side.

“Help!”

A wingbeat. A wave lifted her up and threw her onto the river bank. Overhead, Dilova barely saw the tail of the Ghostbird disappearing into clouds again.

“Thank you, protector!” she called after it.

A gusher exploded, less than a treelength away. She felt the heat on her wings, even from here. Should I really be doing this? It nearly went wrong already.

With Dilova, though, curiosity always won. She limped towards the gusher, then realized it had already finished spurting. I’m learning to fly, one step at a time. How long until this happens again?

The answer came immediately. The next gusher, much further away, released its breath. Dilova decided to wait by this one.

In the meantime she looked around. Cosmo’s Throne was … peculiar. The thrones of the other gods were beautiful, graceful, full of nature and colors. His throne was a large piece of stone with holes for the gushers.

But of course, she thought. His real throne is not on land, but in the air.

Then she caught a glimpse of something white between the grey stone. And by now you know, dear reader, what curiosity does to Dilova.

She left her gusher and flew a small stretch towards the white spot. After circling a large rock, the white shapes turned into a familiar sight: eggs. Wow wow wow. Cosmo’s children, she thought. Maybe that’s where those Ghostbirds come from!

Her wings carefully picked up an egg. They didn’t feel strange. Not magical, or heavy, or unnecessarily large.

Wingbeats reached her ears, but the skies were still empty. Not smart to mess with a god’s children. Need to get out of here before he comes home!

The gusher next to her went off. The sudden gust of wind blew her further away. She quickly scrambled upright and ran back to the stream.

With more speed than a fast-flowing Nightriver, she was pushed up, further and further, until she saw the Great Stairs in the distance. She didn’t go straight up, however. The gusher was just as unpredictable as the wind. It spun, became stronger and weaker as if it had a heartbeat, throwing her from left to right, until she flew out of the gusher’s trajectory.

But she flew.

Wow wow wow! Her feathers felt endless air beneath them. She plunged down, until she spread her wings to descend more slowly and steer.

She circled around the Gigagushers, giggling and gawking. She tried to draw figures with her flight and sang with joy. Every time a new gusher started, she tried to use it as a new staircase.

Until she lost control. The next gusher sprang so suddenly, and so violently, that she tumbled towards the stone floor, upside down. Before she could call for help, she hit her head against a piece of rock.

Gushers are unpredictable, she thought. Her feathers hung limp. I’m never going to be able to fly. This is hopeless.

While her wings rubbed the sore spot on her head, she saw a stain in the sky. Her eyes were teary and blurred her vision—but that was surely Cosmo coming back!

Crawling, as if her wings were two front paws, she shuffled away from the Gigagushers. She came by a pile of eggs again.

But wait a minute, she thought. Cosmo is a male. There are no other birds like him.

She stumbled over a rock she could no longer see.

These eggs aren’t his. He’s the egg thief!

In a panic, she hid from Cosmo, behind a pile of rocks that uncomfortably poked her back.