Halfway through watching The Sandman on Netflix and I have to physically restrain myself from yelling at anyone being mean to Dream, like he is just a sad little man, please stop bullying him, he just wants his things back! 😭

Chapter 3- a memoir

Hell, fuckin hell. My childhood I spent hoping for adventure, hoping for a journey, or my mark on the world. This, is just shit. Why did I have to ask for this again? Don’t get me wrong Mullen is enjoyable, hot, and gentle. I just don’t particularly enjoy being a target, after last night I realized that if he was chased out of his home by a god of darkness, how long would it be until they sensed he set his sights on a weak mortal? Hence my excessive internal cursing. Waking up today was the hardest it’s been in a year or so, on days I didn’t want to be existent I just sat and stared at the wall until my mom yelled at me, now I can’t even seem to find the motivation then. My mother’s footsteps echoed through the halls and into my room. “Hannah! Are you still asleep??” I looked over to her with apathy, “yeah, I just have a skull splitting migraine.” I wasn’t lying, the amount of information spinning in my head about Mullen was killing me emotionally. “I’m sorry Hannah, I don’t think you should miss school though, take some aspirin with you and don’t go to practice later.” She walked out and began her day. I got dressed as well as I could and made my way downstairs to already see coffee and breakfast, dad must have left a little later. Eating was hard, drinking was even harder. The feeling of apathy was washing through my veins and into my spirit. When I finally finished my morning routine and was ready to go, I dreaded seeing people I knew, blasting music might help. “You look exhausted dove, are you alright?” I jumped and looked over to see Mullen, he wasn’t wearing his trademark hide trench coat or his feather necklace, I then realized that I completely missed them laying in my back seat as I was packing my car. “Did you sleep in my car?” He blushed and shrugged, “I was afraid someone would notice me if I slept on the roof and I wanted to bid you a good school day before I went hunting.” “Hunting?” He nodded, “yes, although I’m a god I cannot go without food, the beast part of me prefers wild kill, plus, I picked up a foreign presence in the woods here in town, I need to check it out.” I nodded, so he’s becoming a guardian of the town too, that actually pretty cool. “Well good luck on your hunting then, don’t get killed.” He chuckled, “I should be bidding you good luck, you’re uneasy. People are stressing you out.” I widened my eyes and stared at the parking lot entrance, I sped into a parking space and aggressively put my car into park. “I’m not just stressed about that!” He looked taken back but lowered his head for me to continue so I did. “Everything has been so stressful recently, people abandoning me for some dumb ass rumor, a coach who barely goes to me for advice anymore, my teammates who barely speak to me, and now a god who’s attached his soul to me and I feel exposed again, like an open wound! I never wanted romance again and now the scar is fresher and I’m tense!” He curved his eyebrows in concern, and then lowered them in frustration, “I know people have been cruel, i cannot kill them, that would put me on Qions radar, but I can assure you that I’m here to protect you, I care for you and my soul is yours. I promise not to hurt you.” I lowered my head, “I’m not worried about you hurting me, I’m worried about me hurting you, I shouldn’t lash out on people but I’m always so angry.” He put a hand on my shoulder and I relaxed. “Dove, I vow to calm you.” I looked at him with watery eyes, then to the clock. “Don’t worry you still have 20 minutes, let me tell you a funny story.” He then proceeded to hand me a small amulet with a tiny wooden lion on the end, the size of a dime. He put it around my neck and smiled. “Well the story starts about 1,000 years ago....” The headache went away after lunch, my TA block was quieter this time. I stared out the library window, it had started raining about an hour ago, I toyed with the lion around my fingertips. So distracted by it I never sensed someone behind me, “hey you doing okay?” I looked over to see Grady, I smiled and motioned for him to sit down. “I guess, just a little stressed after everything.” He nodded,” people are dicks, no one likes when you speak your mind and maryville trusts a rumor more than the person itself.” “I guess so, can I tell you something? And you promise not to tell anyone?” He nodded and smiled, “even if you were hiding a dead body in your car I would still not talk.” I smiled, “I met someone.” “Woah, do I know him?” “That’s the hard part, it’s a really long story....” “HES A WHAT?!?!” I shushed Lauren as people headed to their cars began to stare, “he’s gotta be lying Hannah there’s no way he’s some ‘protection god’ he’s gotta be some pedo or something of the sort.” “She’s got a point Hannah, your story was good and all but there’s something he’s hiding.” I nodded feeling defeated but I knew this reaction would come, “fine, let me show you then.” “How?” I looked at Lauren and smiled, “Friday after school, clear your schedules and come hike with me on a trail not too far from here, he likes to reside in those parts.” Lauren squinted at me and smiled, “you’ve gone crazy, but you’re still the chaotic Hannah we remember. I’m in.” Grady spun his head and looked at her, “what if she’s planning on leading us to that killer?” “Cmon, Hannah doesn’t have an evil bone in her body, plus I trust her.” I smiled and hugged them both, “you’ll both be in for the shock of your life!” Grady groaned and muttered something about being in his grave. I didn’t listen and instead chose to drive home and get ready for Friday. Wednesday- “So what does he look like?” Lauren slid into a chair beside me at the lunch table. I rolled my eyes and thought for a moment. “Well, he’s got blue green eyes that are just beautiful, he’s not short but he’s not tall, very muscular build, brownish blonde hair, a nice beard, he’s got a deep British accent.” She smiled, “He a bad boy?” “Nah, he’s a gentle soul but I definitely feel like he’d get his hands dirty if it was necessary.” Grady stared us down before piping in,”getting his hands dirty like killing us in the woods?” “Oh please give it a break, he’s not gonna kill us.” “He does transform into a lion though.” Lauren and Grady looked at me before I smiled and continued,”big lion with shiny black fur, he’s the size of a grizzly bear and almost has the build of one while still keeping a lion shape, and the most beautiful eagle wings you could lay your eyes upon, it’s truly a sight to behold.” Lauren smiled, “yep, definitely gone crazy.” Friday- The day of was hectic, Lauren constantly reminded me of the hiking trip and Grady was too busy making a mental list of any weapon he needed to bring, I told him his best weapon was going to be a smile. The final bell rung and our group rushed out the door and into our respective cars, shooting a quick text to my mom letting her know I was going to the trail, I sped through the parking lot, a lion with Golden heavenly wings on my mind. We finally arrived to the trail and started to make our way to the trail head, “stop.” Grady said suddenly, “you’re sure that this is safe and we’re not going into some formulated death trap?” I smirked, “if I wanted to kill you so badly, I would have done it already.” Lauren laughed and continued walking into the trail Grady following closely behind. We stayed on the trail for a good mile or so. I began to get nervous that I would not see him, I had told him the night before that I wanted him to see my friends and that he could trust them. I hope he’s not hiding. “So does he disguise himself as a tree?” I looked back at Grady and raised an eyebrow, “no, he just hasn’t shown himself yet. MULLEN!!! MULLEN!!!” “Mullen is an odd name.” Lauren pinched him, “it’s Irish Gaelic for warrior.” She retorted. I stopped when I smelled it, the coppery flowery smell of him, over time he gained more musk but he was still unmistakable. It was getting stronger, I looked back at the distracted couple and stared for a few seconds at their banter, the air shifted and I felt a presence behind me. “Do couples always have to banter like that?” I chuckled, “we do too Mullen.” Lauren stopped mid sentence and whipped around to see Mullen, her jaw dropped and she stared very obviously at him. Grady studied his frame and wardrobe, “you were right about the crazy coat.” Lauren snapped out of her trance and pinched him again. “It’s nice to meet you Grady and Lauren, Hannah has spoken endlessly about you.” Lauren stepped up to Mullen and shook his hand and offered and kind smile, “I’m glad to finally meet you, you don’t look like a murderer at all.” She said pointedly at Grady. Grady rolled his eyes and weakly shook Mullen’s hand. “You must have questions and concerns?” “Do you change into some beast?” Grady said suddenly, Mullen winced at the word beast. He had never enjoyed other people calling him and beast although he called himself one often. “Yes I do, would you like to see?” Grady nodded hesitating slightly, Mullen smirked and turned around before erupting into a cloud of smoke and golden glitters, his eagle feather necklace floating up before popping into a cloud of feathers that took shape into two wings before flapping powerful gusts of air that knocked us off our feet, plowing away the smoke. A lion approached, his eyes still the same but his body changed. Grady exhaled and stood. “Jesus you were right Hannah.” The lion tilted his head and then turned to me and offered his mane for affection, I gladly gave him what he craved before grabbing my friends hands and letting them touch the mane. “We have so many questions, please change back and explain everything.” Lauren said almost in a begging tone. Mullen shifted quickly back into his man form and adjusted the feather on his neck and motioning us to sit on some logs and rocks. He guided me to sit on the same rock as him leaned against a tree and wrapped his arm around me protectively. “Well first, I’m a protection god. In the land of old there were 4 different classes of gods: the elites which ruled and shaped the land with their mighty powers, the mages which much like the elites kept a ruler ship on the land but on much more specific subjects, the protectors which is where I fall we fought all forms of monsters, killers, and evil, we were highly respected but often were left out due to our common lack of powers; and finally the halflings these were caused by the elites abusing their powers on humans and taking part in.....humanly pleasures. They were powerful enough to take down an elite as they had the will and emotion of a human but the strength and power of a god. Many halflings took down their parents, but in the social system they still were considered lesser than, later on however the world changed and more cultures were created, our godly kingdom expanded and we soon found more gods out there. A war broke out 5,000 years ago and 80% of the gods were killed. We only had four elites left. Huron, the god of weather, Iransha, the goddess of light, arayma, the goddess of the sea, and Qion, the god of darkness and the dead. Most mages were dead but the few who remained were the mages of war, wisdom, the arts, and fauna. Us protection gods soon became quite popular for protection of the mages as only 20 remained, Huron soon forbade gods to mate with humans as halflings caused the Great War that killed so many brothers and sisters. But soon, Qion grew bitter over Hurons rule, Huron was a wise ruler but was still boisterous and arrogant. He hid away monsters and let humans fight amongst themselves and even forget the gods existence, the mages no longer did their work and protection gods became greedy of temples and treasures. Qion was bitter, he knew protection gods were powerful enough to take down an elite. We protectors did not know that however. He began to kill us off slowly then gained speed after accidentally killing a mage. Once most of us were dead and the rest in hiding. He killed the mages, then the two elite goddesses, he battled Huron for 100 years until.....” Mullen choked on his words slightly. “I froze them in stone......I didn’t know I possessed the power to do it, but, I blasted them with something I honestly cannot remember. They froze and stayed in stone. Qions plans for the world were to turn the underworld into its own god system with monsters ruling the people and to return people to what he believed was the rightful state, slavery.” He lowered his head, I felt his arm go tense over my shoulder, “they unfroze recently and I had to flee, three mages are still alive. They helped trap Huron in a cage in the underworld, Qion will be looking for me. His monsters will find me eventually. I attached my soul to Hannah’s. Now my only purpose is to care for Hannah in any way she sees fit.” He looked up at us, he had tears in his eyes. Lauren covered her mouth slightly trying to hold back tears. “You’re going to protect her to the bitter end aren’t you?” He nodded and began to rub his thumb reassuringly into my shoulder. “So, can humans kill a god?” Grady said. Mullen chuckled, “I’ve seen it before, takes a special type of metal, and weapon with holy runes. You can’t put the runes on their without a ceremony though” Grady nodded, “you know the ceremony?” “Yes I do, but you’re not going to be able to kill Qion, or the mages, maybe a monster or two but I know if you two start fighting Hannah will want to join and I cannot allow that.” I sagged slightly, feeling defeated that he would not allow any adventure. He must have noticed my sadness and piped up. “I can however offer you three something better than fighting.” We leaned in to hear his answer, “flight.” I smiled, this would be the first time I rode him while he was a lion, Lauren got up excitedly and Grady followed hesitating. “So were gonna let you fly us around?” Mullen nodded before shifting into his beast form, he lowered himself for me and let the trio of us hop on. He began to trot and pick up speed until we were air born. I could hear Grady screaming in the back and Lauren whooping. The ride was exhilarating, looking down we saw the fiery colors of Tennessee autumn lining the forests and roads converging like river veins or roots in a plant. The sky was a blue with pink hue and the clouds smelled of crisp air and water. He flew higher until we collided with clouds and felt the cool comfort of heavens mattresses. The ride was short, the smell of rotting flesh invaded my sinuses and tainted the crisp smells. I looked over and gasped, flying beside us, was a dead bird. A raven, with rotting meat adorning its pale and dried bones, red eyes glowing, piercing into my soul. Mullen noticed it and growled while leaning us away from the raven. The raven stuttered and shook before turning and following us, “zombie bird is following us!” Grady yelled. Mullen picked up speed and roared, the raven shook and spurred away seeming scared by the deafening roar of Mullen. We landed shortly after and Mullen shifted into man, frustrated he paced the forest floor before stopping and looking at us. “You all need to go home now, it was stupid of me to expose you like that. That was a scout, Lauren and Grady, go home. I promise no danger to you if you leave as soon as possible. Try not to go into any forests for a while and if anything happens please call Hannah. Hannah, I am taking you home and keeping watch on you.” He stared me down with authority before we all headed to our vehicles. The ride home was tense, looking over to Mullen every few minutes, I could sense his anger. His jaw tensions obvious underneath his beard. My hands began to quiver slightly. He must have noticed as the wheel of the car shifted from my shaking. He put his hand slowly over the wheel to steady my hands. “Hannah, let me drive.” I shook my head and continued on the road, already a few minutes from home. “I’m concerned.” I looked at him and breathed a sigh. “I know you are.” I pulled into my drive way and went inside without sparing him another glance. My mom was sat where she usually was just writing away in her notebook. I said a quick hello and made up a story about hiking with Lauren and Grady and then made my way to my room to distract myself with homework.