around her calves, sealing her in place. Lenore bent her knees slightly, arms at her sides with her palms facing downward. Very slowly she flipped her palms over and started to raise her hands, only bending at the elbows. The ground shook gently as it started to bubble up before her, hard black stone pilling upon itself until it stood just a head over her. Then her fingers started to make small, derisive movements. In time with Lenore's hands, the black stone began to take shape, first the big stuff: arms, torso, and legs; but then the smaller details too: hair, clothing, fingers. She was halfway done when Mathieu realized she was carving a stone Nathan, standing on the edge of the cliff, watching them all.
Mathieu got up and went over to her, watching her work. The attention to detail was astounding: the raised scar that ran along his jaw, the deep set of his eyes, even the direction that his stubble went. He didn't say anything as she finished and started on the next thing, creating it next to Nathan, only this out of sand.
He marveled at the expressive pull of muscles in the smiling stone face. Nathan had one hand on his hip in a framilar pose, the other hanging at his side. There was even a low ball glass in his hand. Mathieu switched his attention to the other statue. He couldn't tell what it was through the sand.
"Fire..." Lenore mumbled as she worked.
"I'll get Avanon." He turned and waved her over. She ran over, multicolored hair streaming behind her.
She looked at the Nathan before asking Lenore what she needed. At being instructed to do so, she put her hands onto the sand and fired it up, turning the sand into glass. And then Mathieu could tell what it was. The features were a bit too delicate, but the caring look in her face was dead on. Avian's glass face was turned up slightly to the sky, seeming far away. One arm crossed over her body to hold the other.
Panting, Lenore stepped back. "Is it close? I've only seen holographic crystals of her, but..."
"It's dead on. Thank you." Mathieu said. That was something he was always thankful for, no one had forgotten about Avian.
"You're welcome.” Lenore said, patting his shoulders, “They may not be here anymore, but they're still watching over us." She turned to look in the direction that the statues were.
He did, too. "Our land. This one and beyond."
"Exactly. You're doing a good job of being in charge. It's not easy, and we all get it. None of us would be willing to do it, but it's always easier to complain than admit someone is doing well."
"Thanks, Lenore."
"Anytime." She walked away, leaving him to stand with his predecessor and his best friend. Avanon bumped him lightly before smiling at him. Content, he returned to where Enak sat.
"Oh, Mathieu. You should practice summoning my power," said the boy god. "Sit." He nodded to the open spot, smiling.
Mathieu sighed, but sat facing the god. "Okay, so you said I just need to focus on this thing?" He wiggled his hand, causing the chain of his phoenix to rattle. At first it had been uncomfortable and a bit annoying, but slowly he had gotten use to it. Now, he hardly even noticed it.
Enak nodded, hands clasped in his lap. "Pretty much. Then a piece of my power will flow from Erik and I into you."
He looked at the permanent fixture to his arm with a look, focusing on the way it conformed to his wrist, the way each feather was individually carved from the metal. Slowly, it started to glow with a faint red under the gold. Mathieu's tongue peeked out as his stare became more intense, eyes tracing the face of the phoenix. The harder he looked at it, the more it glowed until looking at it was like staring into the sun. He began to worry when the glow was as bright as ever, but he felt no different, exactly as he had when he'd started. "Is it working?"
"You'd know if it was. Give it a moment and try again." Enak said, brow furrowed.
And he did. Mathieu waited and tried four more times before giving up. "This is pointless. Nothing is changing."
The boy god's hair was puffed up at the power he was channeling, eyes bright with frustration. "It has to be Erik. For some reason, his subconscious isn't releasing the power to you. Mathieu, you