CHAPTER II

GÆA, THE EARTH MOTHER

When Raphael woke, he was lying alone in the moonlight. Cassandra and the stranger had disappeared. The woods were very still. His head ached. Slowly the boy got to his feet and stumbled along the path which led to a small clearing at the top of the hill. Here he sat down on a large stone. Cassie was stolen!

Raphael was about to turn and run home when he heard the whistle of wings, and looking up saw a huge bird sail over the black tree-tops and light on the ground before him. Raphael was so astonished he could not move. He sat and stared in numb amazement.

‘Well,’ said the bird sharply, as he peered at him out of one yellow eye.

‘Who are you?’ asked Raphael faintly.

‘I am Empyrean, Chief of All the Eagles in the Sky, General of All the Armies of the Air.’

‘Oh,’ gasped Raphael. Then, because he felt powerless and lonely, he sniffled, ‘Cassie has been stolen. A sorcerer came and took her away.’

‘Stop crying!’ ordered the eagle fiercely.

Raphael dried his tears on an arm of his pajamas.

‘Tell me what happened,’ demanded the eagle.

‘Mechanus, the Giant Sorcerer, stole Cassie.’

‘Which way did they go?’ asked the eagle.

‘I don’t know. The Sorcerer knocked me down.’

The eagle said nothing for a moment, but stared straight at Raphael until he felt uncomfortable.

‘We shall find them. Come with me,’ the eagle commanded.

‘But how can I go?’ asked the boy.

‘I shall take you. Climb on my back. Hurry,’ ordered the bird when he saw that Raphael hesitated. ‘I won’t hurt you.’

He looked so fierce with his hooked yellow bill and curved talons that Raphael did not dare to disobey. He crawled clumsily astride the eagle’s neck and settled back between his great wings.

‘Are you ready?’ asked the bird.

‘Yes,’ answered Raphael breathlessly.

The eagle raised his wings and leapt into space. There was a slight shock as though they had jumped into a nest of down, and then with increasing speed the eagle forced his way higher and higher. Raphael could feel each upward surge as the wings rose and fell. The wind whistled in his ears a thin song.

Raphael thought of Cassandra and then of Aunt Mary. Would she cry when she learned that he and his sister had gone away? Would she blame him for letting the Giant Sorcerer steal Cassandra? He choked back the lump rising in his throat.

Suddenly he noticed that it was quite light, that it was morning. He looked ahead and saw the sun rising over a great mountain that stretched across the horizon. The night shadows were gathered like a curtain from a painting. When Raphael looked below, he could see great rolling forests laced by silver rivers. The eagle flew rapidly on.

Steadily they drew near the mountain, and Raphael noticed that they were rising higher and higher. Other great birds, eagles the boy supposed, swept down from the air and joined them, sailing round in great circles with fierce cries of welcome. It was cold flying so high in the air. Raphael shivered and leant back against the warm feathers of Empyrean.

They lit on the peak of the mountain just as the sun crowned the summit with light. One by one the other eagles swooped down and joined them on the bare rock.

Chief of All the Eagles turned to them and demanded, ‘Have you any news?’

‘We have news!’ screamed the eagles.

‘Quickly, then, let us make this boy one of us, in the name of Gæa!’ At this all the eagles raised their wings and bowed their heads reverently.

‘Are--are we going to save Cassie?’ asked Raphael nervously.

‘With the aid of Gæa she shall be saved,’ answered Chief of All the Eagles in the Sky.

‘Who is Gæa? Did she send you to help me? How did she know Cassie had been stolen?’

‘My son,’ said Empyrean sternly, ‘Gæa is the Earth Mother who knows all things. You shall learn more later.’

For a moment the eagle stared into the rising sun. Then, turning to Raphael, who did not dare to question further, he ordered him to take off his clothes. When Raphael stood naked upon the rock, the eagles solemnly bowed their heads as though in prayer. After which they presented Raphael with a magnificent suit of black feathers which buttoned up the front with clasps of luminous stone.

When Raphael had put on his new clothes, Chief of All the Eagles in the Sky spoke:

‘Comrades, I had a dream. And in my dream Gæa, the Earth Mother, the All-Powerful, appeared to me and told me of the Giant Sorcerer and of the great war between all nature and mechanics that is to be. Then She said, “A child shall save you, if it is written that you will be saved. Bless him with my power over land and sky and sea.” The dream changed and I saw a boy alone upon a hillside. I woke. And we are here!’

The eagles stirred uneasily, but said nothing. Empyrean continued, turning to Raphael, ‘In the name of Gæa I confer on you power over the Earth, the Air, and the Sea. Through Her you may command nature, the wind, the thunder, the lightning, the earthquake, and the volcano.

‘Already we have called upon all the people to help us, the animals, the birds, the fish, and the reptiles. In this way we shall crush the Giant Sorcerer, who is our enemy.’

The eagle, whose voice had grown louder and louder, strutted fiercely up and down. When he finished, all the eagles screamed together, and struck their breasts, and raised their wings. Anger flashed from their yellow eyes.

Then as at a signal they rose from the mountain on which they stood and flew in a circle above it. Faster and faster they flew, their wings sounding the thunder of flight.

‘Climb on my back quickly,’ commanded Chief of All the Eagles in the Sky.

When Raphael was seated, Empyrean darted into the air, and led his warriors up and up until the boy felt dizzy in the cold light air.

‘Behold!’ screamed the eagle suddenly.

Raphael looked down. Beyond the mountain lay the blue-white sea shimmering in the sunlight. Far below he noticed a black speck outlined against the ocean. It looked in the distance like a dragonfly. All the eagles cried out fiercely and beat their wings.

‘What’s the matter? What’s that?’ Raphael yelled, leaning along the eagle’s neck. ‘Is it an aeroplane?’

‘Yes,’ screamed the eagle.

‘Is it the Giant Sorcerer?’ gasped Raphael.

Chief of All the Eagles did not answer, but folding his wings dropped like a meteor toward the earth. Behind them swept the others like falling stars.