Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Spectrum: Rainbow Collections, #2
Spectrum: Rainbow Collections, #2
Spectrum: Rainbow Collections, #2
Ebook425 pages6 hours

Spectrum: Rainbow Collections, #2

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

The spectrum has shades through all hues, just as this collection covers the spectrum of fictional possibilities.

From grief driving magic into new worlds in Another Path to Infinity to religion filling The Hole Inside and onwards to romance, cyberpunk and a darker version of our own world, this collection shows just how many colors can be found in the spectrum.

Meyari McFarland shows her mastery in this omnibus collection of her novellas.

Includes:

Another Path to Infinity

The Hole Inside

Mods

Waves of the Falling Moon

A Delicate Shade of Rust

An Unrepentant Bastard

Inina's Blessings of Joy

LanguageEnglish
Release dateFeb 8, 2018
ISBN9781386341963
Spectrum: Rainbow Collections, #2
Author

Meyari McFarland

Meyari McFarland has been telling stories since she was a small child. Her stories range from SF and Fantasy adventures to Romances but they always feature strong characters who do what they think is right no matter what gets in their way. Her series range from Space Opera Romance in the Drath series to Epic Fantasy in the Mages of Tindiere world. Other series include Matriarchies of Muirin, the Clockwork Rift Steampunk mysteries, and the Tales of Unification urban fantasy stories, plus many more. You can find all of her work on MDR Publishing's website at www.MDR-Publishing.com.

Read more from Meyari Mc Farland

Related to Spectrum

Titles in the series (2)

View More

Related ebooks

Fantasy For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Spectrum

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    Spectrum - Meyari McFarland

    Spectrum

    Spectrum

    Meyari McFarland

    MDR Publishing

    Contents

    Other Books by Meyari McFarland:

    Preface

    Author’s Note: Another Path to Infinity

    1. Loss

    2. Memories

    3. Sanctuary

    4. Family

    5. Return

    6. New Life

    Author’s Note: The Hole Inside

    1. Faith

    2. Friendship

    3. Love

    4. Gift

    5. Devotion

    Author’s Note: Mods

    1. Customer

    2. Travel

    3. Stats

    4. Materials

    5. Testing

    6. Confrontation

    7. Breakup

    8. Delivery

    Author’s Note: Waves of the Falling Moon

    Quiet Hour of the Night

    Legends of Doom and Stories of Destruction

    Tiny Temples for Family Pantheons

    Tea and Cake with Death and Destruction

    Map of the Heavens, Hells and Planes Between

    Terrible Paintings and Humble Homes

    Tracing Paper and Sacred Maps

    Death and Transformation Discuss History and Fate

    Evacuations in the Dark of Night

    Ancient Power and Shadows of Death Denied

    Transformation and Renewal at the Personal Level

    The Endless Dance of Life and Death

    Singing Birds and Crying Babies

    Author’s Note: A Delicate Shade of Rust

    A Delicate Shade of Rust

    Author’s Note: An Unrepentant Bastard

    1. Velvet Whip

    2. New Boss

    3. Claimed

    4. Stolen

    5. Hostage

    6. Bluff

    7. Revenge

    8. Safety

    Author’s Note: Inina's Blessings of Joy

    1. Home

    2. Inina's Celebration

    3. Growing Family

    4. Hand Fasting

    5. Attack in the Dark

    6. Blessed by Inina

    7. New Beginning

    Other Books by Meyari McFarland:

    Afterword

    Author Bio

    Other Books by Meyari McFarland:

    Repair and Rebuild

    Storm Over Archaelaos

    Coming Together

    Facing the Storm

    Following the Beacon

    The Solace of Her Clan

    Running Before the Storm

    Fighting the Morrigan's Hand

    Secrets in the Prayers


    Out of Disaster


    Artifacts of Awareness

    City of the Dead

    Running From the Immortals

    Hearts of Magic

    Triumph of the Artificer Mages


    Crumbling of the Soul


    The Shores of Twilight Bay


    You can find these and many other books at www.MDR-Publishing.com. We are a small independent publisher focusing on LGBT content. Please sign up for our mailing list to get regular updates on the latest preorders and new releases plus a free ebook!

    Copyright ©2018 by Mary Raichle


    Print ISBN: 978-1-944269-94-4


    Cover image


    x


    All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.


    Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be emailed to publisher@mdr-publishing.com.


    This book is also available in TPB format from all major retailers.

    Created with Vellum Created with Vellum

    This collection is dedicated to my mother, my father, my husband, and JC, Neme, Jessara, and Eija for all their support over the years.

    Preface

    While short stories are lovely, there's something about longer stories that I love. Not novels. No, those stories that require a slower pace to unfold. Six, seven, ten chapters worth of development, action, leading to a conclusion that makes you sigh with satisfaction.

    Novellas.

    They're an odd marketing group. Hard to sell because they're not short enough for magazines and not long enough generally to stand on their own. At least when you publish traditionally they're hard to sell.

    As an independent publisher, I get to do what I want. And what I decide to do on a fairly regular basis is sit down with one of my mid-length ideas to craft a novella that makes me smile.

    There are five novellas in this collection, each of which fits that criteria. They range from explorations of grief and how it affects you, to religion and onwards to helping those in need, battling dead gods that aren't quite dead and into finding a new future when every option seems to be gone.

    Each of these stories makes me smile. They were a joy to write and a pleasure to share. Sharing them in this collection makes me happy. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.


    Meyari McFarland

    Author’s Note: Another Path to Infinity

    Grief warps your world. When you lose someone dear to you it can take years to get over their absence. Longer, even. This novella started from the random idea of what would happen if a mage lost the love of their life? What would they do? And how long would it take for them to find their way back home again ?

    1. Loss

    I 'm sorry, Benella said as she dropped Exie's hands, the smell of distilling rose petals heavy in the air. I can't accept .

    Benella's kitchen was filled with roses from her garden, the heads coolly and methodically cut off at the peak of blossom so that Benella could distill rose water from their petals. Steam drifted around them, dripping down Exie's drooping curls and forming tiny pearls of water on Benella's cheeks. The steam only made Benella's dark hair shine as she looked at the worn floor. Her dark eyes picked out the boards that Exie had replaced for her before raising her eyes to Exie's again.

    Her expression was anything but apologetic. Her eyes were cold despite the regretful smile twisting her lips into an approximation of emotion. Exie swallowed down a surge of acid rage. Months. She had spent months with Benella, helping her fix her house, weeding the garden, laughing at all Benella's weak jokes about needing a real man in the house but oh well, Exie was close enough.

    Close enough to do the hard labor. Close enough to fix what had gone wrong through neglect and lack of money. Close enough to fill Benella's bed most nights. Not close enough to love, to cherish, or to keep. She'd failed again.

    I know you were expecting something more, Benella said as she rubbed her hands distastefully over her stained and spotted apron. Once it had been beautifully embroidered, apparently a gift of Benella's grandmother. Now it showed its years. You have helped me enormously. I might not have been able to survive the winter without you staying here. The leaks in the roof alone would have destroyed half the food in the pantry.

    It would have, Exie agreed, not bothering to hide the harshness of her tone. Not to mention last week.

    Benella winced at the reminder of Exie's battle with the local bully boys in her defense. She looked away, the set of her jaw and shoulders defiant. Bruises still dotted Exie's chest, back and stomach. Her knuckles were scraped and split. Exie had only just gotten sight back in her right eye. It had been ugly with broken blood vessels and bruising when Exie glanced into the water bucket this morning.

    They would have raped you, Exie said. The words came out casual, as if it was a comment on the weather.

    They wouldn't have, Benella replied. Her shudder made the words into a lie.

    I'm just to leave? Exie asked, said, demanded. Take my things and walk away. Near a full year I've been here for you and I'm just to walk out the door and not look back.

    She expected a denial, some weakening of Benella's expression. Instead she got a flat stare, a firm nod and a gesture towards the back door where Exie's traveling bag sat waiting. This time Exie was the one to look away. No matter how often this happened she never expected it. It always hurt to be turned out of a place that she had begun to consider home, even though it could never be her true home.

    Please go, Benella said.

    Fine.

    Exie went and knelt to check that she wasn't missing anything. Benella's sharp inhalation soothed a little of Exie's fury, her pain, but she didn't look at Benella to memorize her expression. It wouldn't be any different than the other times. No matter what changed, the rejection and fury were always the same.

    No matter how hard she tried, Exie never found someone who looked at her with love, humor. All of them glared when they turned Exie out, looked furious at Exie for daring to care about them. She'd sought each of them out, hunted through the paths to infinity for them, only to be thrown out in the end by every single one of them. Benella was only the most recent to discard Exie's heart as if it was garbage.

    Everything was there, her books and pens, carefully sealed ink and seals. The interior of her bag was much larger than the exterior, letting her bring ample clothes for the many different environments she'd found in her travels. Several pairs of spare boots were secured in one corner. A hidden interior flap that only Exie could open concealed several pounds of gold and silver coins. Exie rarely used them. Working her way was better.

    I'll want the ring back, Exie announced as she stood and took her coat off the peg by the back door. And the necklace and earrings.

    They were gifts! Benella objected. When Exie looked, Benella's hand was over the priceless sapphire pendant that Benella had always treated as if it were glass.

    Consider it payment for the work, Exie said. Either way, they're coming with me. I won't leave them with you, not after this.

    Outrage had Benella shaking as she jerked the ring off, tossing it at Exie. She nearly tore her ears taking off the earrings. Getting the necklace back took Exie stepping close and glaring down into Benella's eyes. Benella glared back up at her, one hand crooked as if she intended to throw the slowly simmering pot of water at Exie.

    You're horrid, Benella snapped as she dropped the necklace into Exie's hand.

    You're the one throwing me out, Exie replied. Good luck with Aleksey's boys. I'm sure that they'll be excited to hear you're alone again.

    I won't be, Benella said.

    There was enough defiance in her eyes for Exie to know that she'd finally gotten an offer from one of the men in town. Twenty-one year old unmarried women usually didn't find husbands but apparently Benella had done it. Exie wondered who she'd fucked into offering, wondered which of her trips into town had been for business and which for seduction. It didn't matter anymore.

    Exie could feel the sneer twisting her lip. When Benella raised a hand to slap her, Exie blocked, letting Benella feel the strength she'd always held back. Benella skittered backwards. There was fear in her eyes for the first time. She reached for her broom, holding it between them as if it could protect her.

    I would have stayed with you forever, Exie said.

    I don't want you to, Benella snapped. Get out of my house! You're not welcome here anymore!

    Was I ever? Exie asked, not expecting an answer.

    She took several meat buns, two apples and a niexi fruit, stuffing all of them into her bag despite Benella's infuriated glare. Exie had picked the apples, rooted out the niexi vine and nurtured its growth. Not to mention that Exie had been the one to catch the rabbit that filled the buns. Benella could deal with her outrage at food being taken.

    Rather than leave by the back door as Benella so obviously thought proper, Exie stomped through the house to the front door. She felt even more out place among Benella's worn furniture and patched cushions than before. It was the house of someone barely scraping by, a person who was desperate for any little scrap that she could get.

    Why did I stay? Exie asked, her hand resting on the brass doorknob. Most of the gold color had worn off, revealing the iron underneath.

    Because I let you, Benella snapped. Go!

    When Exie glanced at her, Benella still had the broom between them. The bent ends of straw were worn to the point that it was a bare nub, hardly able to do its job. Exie laughed, something like relief mixing with pain at the realization that this had been completely wrong from the very beginning.

    I wasn't asking you, Exie said.

    Her wry smile made Benella stare and hunch her shoulders, not that Exie cared anymore. This attempt at finding a new home was over. Exie should have admitted it was a failure months ago but desperation had driven her to keep trying long after the point of absurdity. Benella's expression was so puzzled that Exie laughed as she walked out of the sweltering house.

    Outside, the day felt so cool compared to Benella's steamy kitchen that Exie shivered. The porch creaked under her boots, the left side drooping down where the struts had rotted out. Exie had never gotten the time to rebuild the supports. Whoever Benella had seduced into marriage would have to fix it now. It wasn't Exie's problem anymore.

    Rather than turn left towards town, Exie turned right. The neighbor's fields had grown up over the summer to the point that they probably couldn't see Exie walking away. Benella certainly could. She stood on the front porch and glared at Exie's back. Exie didn't need to turn around to know that.

    How long has it been? Exie murmured as she rounded the corner that would lead her into the forest that surrounded the village's fields. Months? Nearly a year. Why did I stay?

    She knew why, of course. Benella's resemblance to Tivian had been too powerful for Exie to ignore. As the trees surrounded Exie, layers of green leaves filtering the heat of the sun enough that the heat of midsummer faded to pleasant warmth that let the sweat on Exie's skin finally dry. It had been in a forest much like this one that Exie had first met Tivian. Her first meeting with Benella had been on this very path, back when the leaves were gold and scarlet instead of emerald.

    Meeting Benella under such similar circumstances had given Exie entirely too much hope. She'd convinced herself over and over again that Benella would become a decent replacement for Tivian despite the many, many ways that they differed. Benella's short temper, harsh judgments and lack of a sense of humor should have sent Exie back out onto the paths of infinity almost immediately. Instead she'd tortured both herself and Benella by trying to make the relationship work.

    Stupid, Exie complained. That was just stupid.

    She'd seen within days that it wasn't going to work. Exie had just convinced herself that there had to be a way so that she didn't have to face the possibility of returning home again. Actually, she'd convinced herself to stay every morning and every night, so determined not to face her past that she'd blinded herself to what was happening around her.

    Exie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Benella's people were so religiously rigid that Exie had even given up her magic. That in itself should have told Exie that she was in the wrong place. Magic was a part of her heart and soul, just as it had been part of Tivian. Giving it up had been one of the hardest things she'd ever done, and for what?

    Nothing, Exie murmured as she walked slowly through the forest, her firm grip on her magic finally slipping free so that her mind moved with her body.

    She let her mind unfurl for the first time since meeting Benella. Dull green leaves became sparkling webs of light. The shafts of light spearing through the canopy vibrated with deadly power. Under her feet the hard-packed earth rumbled with the tread of thousands of feet, remembering the passage of every single person, animal and cart that had passed by.

    I missed this, Exie admitted as she stared at her right hand. The blood under her skin pulsed with purple and red sparks. Occasional flashes of gold showed the magic that Exie had put aside in the name of love. But it wasn't love, was it? I was clinging to something that vaguely looked like love. Tivian always said I was a fool. How many times am I going to prove her right?

    The path stretched ahead of Exie.

    She could call on her power and find a path through the infinity of time and space that led her back to her true home. It would be easy enough. No matter where Exie went she felt her home calling to her, tugging away at something deep inside that yearned for that particular shade of blue the sky got after a rainstorm. Exie could almost taste the dust that hung in the air as summer turned into fall and everything turned brown from the heat.

    But home also meant an empty house, hopefully still tended by Exie's little brother. It meant sympathy in people's eyes. Instead of Tivian's warm body filling Exie's bed, there would be a grave stone, dark stone split by two dates too close together to ever be borne. The thought of it made her heart ache.

    Five years ago that gravestone had been enough to make Exie scream until her voice gave out, to cry until her eyes were dry as sand. Now the pain of it throbbed inside of her but it was a dull ache instead of a stabbing agony. Time heals all ills, Exie thought, as she let her magic rise towards the surface. Maybe I could bear to go home now. Maybe it's been long enough to cope with Tivian being gone.

    After a moment spent pondering the idea, Exie shook her head.

    Not home, Exie murmured as the swirling flashes of gold inside her body rose up and outwards, creating a shroud of light around her. Not yet. I'll give it another try. There has to be a world where I can find another Tivian. I'll take another path into infinity. This time I'll find a woman who's close enough to Tivian to give me my heart back.

    Her mentor had said that Exie was insane to walk the paths between worlds looking for her lost lover. Dead was dead. No matter how many worlds Exie walked to she would never find another one that matched her home. There was no woman who had the same laughter and quick wit as Exie's dead Tivian.

    Exie shook her head at the memory of his desperate expression, the way he'd pleaded and clung to Exie's sleeve. She hadn't listened to him then and she wasn't going to listen to him now. Going home to an empty bed and an empty heart wasn't possible. There was only walking onwards between the worlds until she found something or someone that let her pain disappear.

    Motes of light swirled in front of her forming a chain of glowing spheres. Benella's people called them will-o-wisps and said that they were evil spirits that attempted to lure unwary travelers to their death. Exie knew better. For all that her people called them the aleya, they were actually worlds, an infinite chain of worlds that you could walk to if you only had the strength and will to do so.

    One more try, Exie said just as she had the last four times. I'll give it one more try and then I'll go home.

    She started walking, the web of shimmering lights that were the trees around her fading as she committed herself to the path. Exie allowed that world to fade from her mind, opening to the next world in the chain of aleya. It would be a near twin to Benella's world, only a few minor details different from what Exie had known in her months there. Given that, there was no reason to stop and check. Benella's sister in another world would be too similar to make it possible.

    Someone like my Tivian, Exie prayed as she walked the paths of infinity. Someone kind. Someone astute. Someone who can kick my ass when I'm being an idiot. Tivian was always so good at making me see my stupid mistakes.

    2. Memories

    On the day that Exie had met Tivian, it had been midsummer, the longest day of the year. She'd gone out of town to hunt for herbs and berries for potions. Her master had been busy with clients wanting blessings for the new year that Exie hadn't been trained in yet. Thus gathering herbs and making potions, salves, magically spelled creams, had been a better task than sitting useless in town .

    I was so young, Exie mused as her magic made the worlds slowly spin by around her. Such a little fool.

    The trees flickered from healthy green leaves to drought parched to blackened and burned from a fairly recent forest fire. Exie kept her steps slow and steady, not allowing herself to focus on any one world. The paths to infinity stretched ahead of her and behind, tugging her this way and that. Only her will kept her going away from home towards a world that hopefully would finally give Exie what she'd been seeking.

    Tivian's beautiful hair had been twisted up into a knot on the top of her head, bits of hair sticking out while sweat dripped down the curve of her neck. She'd been wearing a tunic so thin that Exie had easily seen her nipples and the dark patch of hair at her groin. It wasn't that different from what Exie had worn, though Exie had been in a loose wrap over a pair of her baggiest pants.

    Looking for somewhere cool? Tivian had asked when she had spotted Exie staring.

    Looking for spell components, Exie had answered. She'd grinned and eyed Tivian as openly as possible. Looks like I found something better.

    The ridiculous line had made Tivian laugh as she tucked a loose tendril of hair behind her ear. She had eyed Exie as openly, smiling as if she liked what she saw. Exie moaned. That had been the start. Three short years; that was all they'd had together. Their whirlwind courtship had been the joke of the town but no one had objected when they stood together in the town square, flower-chains binding their hands together.

    Tivian had been so beautiful, long dark hair as smooth as silk with skin as dark as night. She had never minded Exie's raw-boned build or the way she towered over everyone. Exie's lack of bust and hip had never been an issue to Tivian. So many times she'd praised Exie's looks as if Exie was half as beautiful as Tivian.

    I could smack the people who convinced you that you're ugly, Tivian had sighed on their wedding night as she straddled Exie's hips and leaned on her chest. You're gorgeous, Exie.

    You drank too much at the wedding, Exie had laughed, her hands resting on Tivian's hips. I'm anything but gorgeous. That's you.

    Tivian had sighed and shaken her head until Exie moved her hands to Tivian's groin. Then words had become useless as their bodies, minds and magic mingled together in ways that still made Exie shake. Their joining had made flowers bloom all across town. Cholan had told her the next day that everyone in town and for miles outside of it had felt the sort of bliss that made grown men cry and married couples retreat together to their beds for the night.

    Every coupling had been like that, though both Tivian and Exie had put spells on their bedroom to ensure that their pleasure did not go beyond those four walls. The coupling of mages was always a tricky thing but Exie and Tivian had only feared giving others too much joy, not causing death or madness. Nothing had ever come close to the joy of Tivian's touch against her mind. Her undying fear was that nothing ever would make her feel that way again.

    The memories and pain of losing Tivian drove Exie off the path far from any world that felt like a match for her long-gone home. She shuddered as the magic spell that she'd wrought rebounded, rippling through her body and mind. It was bad enough that for a dozen paces that might have equaled as many different worlds, Exie had no awareness of anything other than the pain wracking her body.

    Focus, Exie hissed through gritted teeth.

    She staggered, gasped for air, and hauled her rampaging magic in by sheer force of will. The battering magic blinded her, so bright that flashing lights were all that she could see. It took several moments before Exie's eyes cleared enough that she could see what was around her. Instead of forests and fields full of life, Exie had stumbled into a world that was hot and dry.

    Sand and rock surrounded her, baked orange by the sun. When Exie raised a hand to shade her eyes against the glare of the sun, she was surprised to find three suns overhead instead of one. How she'd traveled that far away from her home world Exie didn't know but she must have. The physical pain of spell failure and falling off the path made it hard to notice anything other than the most obvious details around her. Exie carefully shook her head before examining where she'd ended up.

    A dull red dome of sky vaulted overhead like the inside of an earthenware bowl. Moments later Exie thought that no, it was more like being inside of an oven. It was so hot that she immediately started panting and looking for shade. Cactus surrounded her. The only life she could feel was small, lizards, insects, a snake hiding in its cool burrow under the sand.

    When she turned to scan for anything that might promise shelter, a place to gather her wits and her concentration, Exie stumbled backwards in shock. A woman stood behind her, no shadow at her feet despite the three suns overhead. Exie gulped, blinking rapidly to make sure that her eyes were actually working. They were.

    Greetings, Tivian's near-twin said with a smile that was entirely too knowing. I have been expecting that you would end up here eventually.

    Her dress was the same color as the hard-baked orange sand, loose and enveloping. A scarf was draped over her head to keep the beating of the three suns off her head. Exie stared, wishing desperately that she wasn't so muddled by the spell failure and the heat. Something more was going on here and Exie was in no condition to figure it out. When Tivian's near-twin offered another scarf, this one with four red bands woven into the selvage, to Exie, she took it as it seemed to be the only refuge against the heat anywhere close by.

    Who are you? Exie asked as she cautiously took the scarf. She still couldn't feel the other woman even though their fingers brushed together.

    You may call me Jenika, the other Tivian said. Come. My home is this way. I was expecting you to come to my door in time. You showed up rather sooner than I thought was likely. I'm pleased. You have needed to visit for quite some time, my dear.

    She walked away without looking to see if Exie followed. To Exie's surprise, Jenika's feet appeared to be bare. The rocks, hot sand and thorns didn't seem to bother her at all. Exie frowned as a thorn bush caught her pants, tearing a small hole in the fabric before she freed herself. Jenika's much more fragile dress hadn't caught at all.

    What are you? Exie asked as she stumbled through the desert after Jenika.

    It was so hot, so incredibly hot, and her head throbbed so very badly that Exie lost track of where they were going almost immediately. Only by keeping her eyes locked on Jenika's back could Exie keep moving. No matter how slowly or quickly Exie went, Jenika stayed the exact same distance ahead of her. Despite the heat radiating off the sands making Exie's lungs feel as though they were being scorched by fire, Jenika showed no signs of distress. She might as well have been walking through a meadow on a cool spring morning.

    I think you know, Jenika replied, her eyes sparkling with amusement when she looked over her shoulder at Exie. Do be careful. The first step can be rather steep.

    What first step? Exie asked only to stop in her tracks.

    Where only endless sand and rock had been before, suddenly there was a gorge. Exie swallowed against a dry mouth that had nothing to do with the heat around her. Impossible suns, living beings she couldn't detect and a shifting landscape that said more about her heart's state than about a real world said only one thing.

    Goddess, I didn't ask for a boon, Exie said as she carefully followed the steep trail down into the gorge. It's resemblance to a woman's private parts wasn't lost on Exie, especially not given that the heat decreased with every step as green living things sprang up around her.

    Didn't you? Jenika asked. I seem to remember you asking for someone who could kick your ass when you were being an idiot.

    She chuckled and the sound of her laughter filled the gorge. It filled Exie's head as if her skull was a bell and Jenika's voice was the clapper striking sound out of her. Reality, or what little of it that Exie could perceive at this moment, wavered around them. The walls of the canyon wavered like heat-created mirages. For a moment Exie's hand pushed into the bolder she leaned against, leaving behind a smoking hand print only to have the boulder fade away a moment later.

    The temptation to curse at herself for being so foolish as to pray while walking the paths to infinity was there. Exie resisted it. She'd brought this on herself. If her mentor had been right about the aftermath of falling off the paths to infinity then Exie was delirious, stumbling through a mixture of worlds that vaguely resembled what she saw. No matter what she saw right now, she couldn't rely on it being real, any more than other people could rely on her being real.

    She was flickering between worlds, unaware of her own magic moving her about, bouncing her from world to world. If anyone chanced to be in the right place at the right time they might catch a glimpse of a ghostly figure that resembled Exie but the vision would fade almost as soon as they saw it. Until her strength ran out or the Goddess took pity on Exie, she was bouncing between worlds without control.

    Unfortunately, everything that Exie would experience as she walked the Goddess' path was every bit as real as anything else that Exie had ever been through. Snake bites would still kill. Poison would still sicken her. And water would still quench her thirst, which by this point was torturous. Her delirium must have affected her awareness of time because she couldn't remember how she got from the top of the canyon to the bottom, or how she'd made her way to the other end of it. The canyon seemed completely real to her but it couldn't be. Exie stared as they came to the end of the canyon, arriving at the Goddess' temple.

    A cave led the way deeper into the rock face that towered overhead. The entrance was dark with shadows that Exie's eyes couldn't see through. Her gifts couldn't pierce the darkness either. At the opening was a beautiful fountain with water cascading from the statue of a woman holding a vase. The woman looked exactly like Tivian before her death.

    Drink, Jenika offered. Refresh yourself. You are safe here for a time.

    And when that time is up? Exie asked warily.

    Then you shall go forth into your life once more, Jenika replied. I do not think you will linger here for long, Exie World-Walker. You are not one to let life come to you. You always must be the one to go capture it instead.

    The truth in that made Exie hesitate for a few moments before she drank from the fountain. Jenika's hand rested on Exie's shoulder, warm and real despite the fact that she was a goddess instead of a human being. Exie turned and looked, seeing wrinkles around Jenika's eyes. There were deep wrinkles alongside her mouth which was turned down with worry. The otherworldliness of Jenika's appearance was gone, replaced by a solidity that made Exie blink in confusion.

    Come inside where it's cooler, Jenika urged, her voice gentle despite the worry.

    Are you real? Exie asked.

    Of course I am, Jenika said. What else would I be?

    Her hand on Exie's shoulder was strong enough to compel Exie to go into the dark opening of the cave. Inside there were tiny oil lamps set along the

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1