20. Amma

Chapter 20

Amma

S eeing a village for the first time was nothing like Amma had pictured it. In her head, she had imagined the minotaurs' homes would be similar to human houses. That turned out to be far from the truth. The clearing they walked through to enter turned out to be where the warriors trained. Males and females of all ages engaged in hand-to-hand or weapon-to-weapon training. The sparring was loud, and no one held anything back. She wondered how many had to visit the doctor after a practice session. Zuberi and his males joined the fray as Ru led Suni and her further down the path. She was just about to ask about her cousins when she heard her name screamed.

"Amma!"

Amma spun around just in time to catch Shelly as she flew into her arms. "Shelly. Oh, baby girl, how are you?" She buried her face in her cousin's hair and took deep breaths, inhaling her scent.

"I'm great," Shelly said. She kissed Amma's cheek and tightened her arms. "I'm so glad to see you. I thought Jo and I were the only survivors from our home."

"Not even close." Amma didn't try to stop the tears flowing down her cheeks. "Let me get a look at you." She held Shelly out at arm's length. "You have grown so much! What are they feeding you?"

"Lots of meat," Shelly answered. "And I mean a lot of meat."

"Whatever it is, I like it. You look good." She pulled Shelly back into her arms.

"Okay, okay, enough." Shelly pushed until she let go. "I missed you too. Hey, is that Mike? Is Sam here too?"

"Yes, they jumped through the portal with me."

"What are you?" Shelly asked, turning to the third little animal. "You're beautiful."

I'm Astro. Astro tried to climb on Amma's head, but she caught him and held him out to Shelly. You smell nice.

"Thank you. Can I hold you?"

Without hesitation, Astro jumped from Amma's hands to Shelly's. Amma has too many friends. Want to be my friend?

"Astro," Amma laughed. "Are you abandoning me?"

Shelly needs me. Astro answered.

Amma didn't argue. She knew sometimes that's how things happened. "Shelly, I guess you have your first animal friend."

"He's so adorable." Shelly hugged him to her chest.

"He should be able to keep you out of trouble," Amma said. "I've heard you have the warriors on their toes."

Shelly waved a hand in dismissal. "No need to worry. I am not thinking about them right now."

"Good. You are too young anyway and need to concentrate on controlling your magic. Where's Jo?"

"She's been feeling too sick to leave the house," Shelly answered. "I just left her place, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind more guests. Just keep all your hands and feet to yourself."

"So, she's acting like every other pregnant woman in our family?" Amma groaned.

Shelly laughed. "Yup."

Amma turned to find Suni looking at her with a little smile. "Suni, meet my cousin Shelly. Shelly, this is my mate, Suni."

"Amma," Shelly dropped her voice to an exaggerated whisper. "He's massive. Can you two… you know…?"

" Shelly! " Amma yelped, covered her mouth, and shrugged at Suni. "She's still young. She has always tended to speak before thinking."

"That has not changed," Ru chimed in.

"I talk a lot less than when I first got here." Shelly muttered, and rolled her eyes. "I think I'm doing well."

"You are, little sister," Ru said. "You two go have fun with my mate. I want to see if Suni is the warrior his scars boast of."

"Be safe my mate," Suni said. He pulled her close and gave her a kiss with the merest spark of heat. "I will come find you soon."

"Yuck," Shelly gagged. "Can't anyone stop kissing long enough for things to get done around here?"

Amma ignored her cousin. "There is no rush to come find me. We have a lot to catch up on, and I doubt you want to be in the middle of that."

"I do not like being away from you for too long," Suni said.

"I bet you are going to have a lot of fun knocking warriors around." Amma said. She doubted Suni would resist the challenges he would get.

Suni shrugged one shoulder. "I may test a few of the warriors of this village. It is the way we are."

"Well, have fun." Amma pulled him down for another kiss and whispered, "I don't think I can handle you getting more scars."

"You like my scars," Suni whispered. "You have licked many of them."

Amma covered his mouth and pushed him away. "Hush. What am I going to do with you?"

"Keep me. That's all I ask. Keep me."

Amma wished they were alone, so she could reassure him that he was hers. "Tonight, I will show you just how much I want to keep you."

Suni gave her a gentle kiss. "Until tonight."

Amma left Suni to do whatever warriors did when they had free time and followed Shelly toward where the housing was located. She could see the structure of the village coming together.

"How do you like this world so far?" Shelly asked.

"I love it," Amma admitted. "To be honest, I have only seen a little of it, but the warriors I've met say what they mean. It's refreshing."

"I learned that the hard way."

"Want to explain that one?" Amma could imagine what trouble her younger cousin had gotten into.

"Well, there is no flirting here with someone you aren't thinking of entering into a matehood with." Shelly shook her head. "I don't know how I'm going to learn to flirt if I can't practice."

"You don't need to be thinking about flirting," Amma scolded.

"I'm seventeen. I think I'm allowed to think about guys now."

"Yes, but you are no longer on Earth. The males here don't think like human men. They're looking for permanent relationships right off the bat. You'll have to pick and choose carefully."

Shelly shoulders slumped. "I know. I'll behave."

Amma doubted Shelly would stop being herself, and she didn't want her to. There was something refreshing about being around someone who still viewed the world through young eyes. While they walked, Amma noticed the housing area was set up much like a human neighborhood. The homes were longer than they were wide and had domed roofs. They reminded her of a Viking settlement. Each home had a yard clearly marked, and she could see the personality of each homeowner shining through the way they were decorated.

"I like how this Ykot is set up. I mean, it has room to grow, yet feels fully developed," Amma said. "Are all their homes built the same way? Even outside of this village?"

"I've only been in two so far, but yes, I think so," Shelly answered. "Ru's place back in his old village was sad looking. Jo has really made this one a home."

"I don't know if I want to see Suni's," Amma said. "He's older than Ru and has been a bachelor this whole time. All I imagine is dirty socks and underwear everywhere."

Shelly giggled. "Good news! they don't wear either." When Amma choked on a laugh, Shelly giggled more. "Didn't you notice the hooves? And their pants are so tight, I don't think there is room for underwear."

"Little girl, stop looking at their tight pants," Amma said with her eyebrows raised. When she was seventeen, she was constantly flipping through magazines, dreaming of a man who would give her the sweetest daughters. It was only natural.

"Here we are." Shelly said and stopped in front of the cutest house. If Amma didn't know better, she would think her mother Lily lived there. "As you can see, Jo has been nesting a lot."

" Jo did this?" Amma was surprised.

"Pregnancy is turning her into a hearth witch." She banged on the door. "Jo, I have a visitor for you."

"The visitor better have a nice juicy hotdog," Jo yelled. "With ketchup, mustard, and relish."

Amma pushed open the door and walked in. "Really, cousin, that's what you want? A hotdog?"

"Amma!" Jo shrieked and raced into her arms. "I never thought I would see you again."

"It has been a long journey." Amma hugged her cousin but was surprised by the show of affection. "You hadn't left the house when I left. I worried something had happened to you."

"I was the last of the cousins to leave." Jo pulled away and wiped her tears. "Our house was burning. All those generations of blessings, gone."

"What about the willow tree?" Amma's heart broke hearing her childhood home had been burnt to the ground. "Please tell me it survived."

"I don't know," Jo said. "I hope that it's protected by the celebration and all the protection we gave it, but there was dark magic working that night."

"What do you mean?" Amma asked. "Wait, you need to sit down."

Jo grinned and patted her belly. "I am treated like a queen here. They don't understand morning sickness. Even though it doesn't always happen in the morning." She sat down. "If I didn't force Ru to leave me alone now and then, I wouldn't have to do anything for myself."

"You're getting lazy is what I'm hearing," Amma teased. Shelly laughed.

"I'll show you ‘lazy.'" Jo held up her hand and purple flames danced along her fingers.

Amma rolled her eyes. "Always showing off. On that note, I saw what you did to the yard. My mom would be proud."

"You think so?" Jo asked. "I think my baby is going to be a hearth witch. I'm cleaning and decorating like crazy."

"Have you spoken to her yet?" Amma asked. "I remember one of the other cousins saying one of the perks of being a witch was the ability to communicate with their daughters in the womb."

"Not yet." Jo rubbed her stomach. "I think she needs to develop a little more." She laughed. "Ru is confident we are having a male."

"Not a chance." Amma sat in a much larger chair while Shelly dropped cross-legged on the floor. "You know we have never had a man in our bloodline."

"I tried telling him that. He said we are breaking the mold."

Jo laughed. "I want to see his face when a daughter pops out screaming her lungs out."

Shelly leaned back on her hands and said, "Unless…Do you think we will start having males now that we are here?"

"I doubt it. This is something that has survived over centuries. What would we do with a male witch? Would the power even be passed down to a boy?"

"It will be fun to see what happens as we start to find our family, as scattered as we are," Amma said. "I wonder how many others are going to show up with a mate in tow."

"Hopefully all of them are of age." Jo said. She glanced over at Shelly. "Although I think most of our cousins and sisters and nieces have more sense than to get seriously involved with someone when they themselves are still too young." Shelly blushed at that. Jo continued, "There is so much about this world that we need to learn to survive. By the way, I saw Mia and her daughter Julian. They are happy in a different village, named Lnuuk."

"I heard," Amma said. "It makes me wonder if some of the family who had already left our property were able to escape to this world when shit hit the fan."

"I hope so. We keep looking for them," Jo answered. "Ru and I send out search parties every few days to check our borders."

Amma leaned forward with a grin. "I also heard you kicked butt in a fight. I want to know everything."

"There's not much to tell." Jo shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I just did what any of us would do if a black witch tried to act like a bitch."

"A real black witch?" Amma's eyes widened.

"Yes," Jo said with a nod. "I faced off against two of them. One when I dropped into this world, and another once we reached Ru's home village, Qunic."

"Come on! Tell me everything, every detail."

The time flew by as Amma listened to Jo recount her adventures. They laughed, cried, and drank tea like they were back in their family home. For the first time since dropping into the strange world, Amma felt like she had come home.