Free The Darkness Comes (The Second Book of the Small Gods Series) by Bruce Blake Page B

songs of birds.
    When she resided at the temple and possessed the ability to see, she considered being alone in nature as being closer to the Goddess. Now, blind and lonely, lost and afraid, it seemed the Goddess had forsaken her.
    Ailyssa blinked hard, wishing for the thousandth time to reclaim her vision as her other senses had returned. The world remained a blur of light without shade or shape. Was this how it was for every woman cast out from the Goddess’ bosom? Had the woman once known as N’th Sylla Ra wandered blindly until the elements or an animal ended her existence?
    Ailyssa shuddered.
    She stopped, shoulders shaking with a sob she could no longer contain. Her hands covered her face. Tears moistened her palms—anguish at both her current situation and for having been forced to give up the only life she’d known.
    Without the Goddess, do I have any life at all?
    “No.” She sniffed, attempting to stem the flow of tears. “They took my children, and now my Goddess, too. There is no reason to go on.”
    A sigh filled her chest and she resumed her trek, finally with a destination in mind, but unsure how to reach it. Blind eyes kept her from finding a cliff to throw herself off, or from weaving a noose of vines and grasses. If she found a sharp rock, might she find the courage to open her veins?
    The soles of her bare feet rubbed on what she suspected was a carpet of dried needles, fallen from the trees that were so pungent in her nose. Her toe caught on a root, sending pain through her foot. She yelped and stopped again.
    “There’s no reason to go on,” she sobbed.
    “There’s always reason to go on, sister.”
    The voice held the timbre of a young woman, and it startled Ailyssa. She jumped back, hands extended in front of her, fingers splayed.
    “Who’s there?”
    A rustle of feet on the ground, the whisper of fabric. Ailyssa took another step away and her foot struck a rock; she tumbled to the dirt. Before righting herself, a hand touched her arm. She scrambled away.
    “Who are you?”
    Ailyssa wanted to be hopeful, to believe she’d been discovered by someone willing to help. In her heart, she wanted it to be a savior sent by the Goddess to rescue her, but after her expulsion, and being administered drugs that left her blind, faith failed her.
    The hands didn’t seek to touch her again.
    “My name is Creidra,” the voice said, and its tone gave Ailyssa the impression the woman might be smiling. “I won’t harm you.”
    Ailyssa blinked rapidly, attempting to discern a shape amongst the bright glow, a distortion to show where the woman was; she saw nothing but the blurred light. She shook her head, staring at blank whiteness.
    “Are you all right?” the voice asked.
    “I…I can’t see.”
    “Oh my.”
    Ailyssa heard cloth brush against cloth—the woman kneeling beside her. She still didn’t touch her again.
    “What happened to you?”
    “I…They…” Ailyssa’s words cracked with emotion, her throat clogged with the words she wanted to speak. Without knowing this woman, the urge to tell her everything nearly overtook her.
    “There, there.” This time, the woman patted the back of Ailyssa’s hand; she didn’t pull away. “Take a deep breath. Everything will be all right.”
    Nodding, Ailyssa did. She opened her mouth and inhaled, air shuddering into her chest. It tasted of the forest, and the threat of rain.
    “Better?”
    Ailyssa let one corner of her lips curl in an awkward thanks.
    “How do you come to be here?” Creidra asked.
    An insect buzzed past. “I was left here.”
    “Left? How awful. Who left you?”
    Ailyssa’s lips trembled, wanting to answer, but she found herself unable to. She shook her head; her chin dipped toward her chest.
    “You are of the Goddess, aren’t you?”
    The question surprised Ailyssa and she raised her head, directing her sightless gaze toward the voice.
    “Why…why do you say that?”
    “Your hair,” Creidra said, fingertips brushing