Free Blind Faith by CJ Lyons Page A

go at that, releasing herself to Sam's passion. But she knew the truth: most of the legends had no happy ending for either of the lovers.
    The ancient myth played through Sarah's mind now as she spread out her tarp and drank some water. Her mouth was parched, her muscles shaking as she sat on the ledge, looking south over the gorge. Hopewell's lights were out of sight, beyond a fold in the mountain ridge and too far to the west of where she sat.
    Her only companions were an owl whose hunting silhouette flitted across the moon, the granite boulders lining the ledge, a few hardy oak and hemlock trees that dared to bury roots into the rock face, and the legend of a dead Iroquois maiden.
    Like many heroes, Ahweyoh had not been well-received after saving her people's lives. Their village, their homes were destroyed and they blamed her. After all, their lives had been peaceful before she had involved them in the battles between gods and monsters.
    Caught between two worlds, unable to return to her lover after refusing the gods' gift of immortality, Ahweyoh placed all her hope in one thing: her love for He-noh.
    Late one night, under a full moon, she paddled her canoe through the rapids that now churned her once peaceful river. Then she calmly set her paddle aside, raising her arms out as the powerful current carried her over the Upper Falls. She called out her lover's name, certain he would descend from the mists and carry her to safety. There, in the mist that came nightly to the mountain, they could live forever, between the cloud-world of the gods and the rocks and soil of the mortals.
    Sarah stretched out, allowing the tendrils of fog that spread out from the forest behind her to engulf her, wishing they were as warm and solid as Sam's arms had been. The moon winked in and out. The owl called out in victory, a whoosh of wings humming through the air over the gorge. Her body went still, the hard earth and cool night air disappearing into the mist. As if she were leaving her body behind, entering the in-between world, the limbo that was the only place where Ahweyoh and He-noh could be together.
    There were several versions of the legend. One ended with the two lovers together, their spirits destined for immortality, coming to life nightly through the mountain mists even though their bodies died a mortal death, crushed by the rocks below the falls. That one emphasized the Thundergod's sacrifice of his own immortality to be with his one true love.
    Another ended with the Thundergod being trapped by his brother gods before he could reach Ahweyoh. They captured him, chained him to the clouds, refusing to allow him to steal away to Earth, leaving them without his strength and protection. His cries echoing through the gorge, deafening all creatures who heard him, he watched in horror as Ahweyoh and her canoe flew through the air only to crash to earth again, battered and beaten by the rapids and rocks.
    A shiver ran through Sarah's body, reminding her that she was only human. She blinked, stretched and reached for her pack. She wouldn't bother with a fire, not tonight. Instead she munched on a Powerbar and wrapped herself in her fleece jacket.
    While she taught all the versions of the ancient legend to her students, Sarah much preferred the third ending. Had ever since she'd first heard it as a little girl.
    In this one, the gods recognized Ahweyoh's courage in helping them defeat the serpent demon. When she launched herself off the Upper falls, the mist parted and a shaft of moonlight shimmered through the night, creating a path back up to the cloud world and her Thundergod. He waited for her on the moonbeam, reaching a hand out to catch her when she faltered and would fall.
    And of course, together they lived happily ever after.
    Sarah wadded up the wrapper from her makeshift dinner and shoved it back into her pack. She rolled herself up in her tarp so that she wouldn't wake up covered with dew and closed her eyes on the mystical