Kalona’s Fall (5 page)

“Beloved Changing Woman!”

“Save us from Kalona of the Silver Wings!”

Kalona coughed once more and then hastily tried to explain, “I did not know it was
their tree.”

Nyx walked toward him and took his hand, though her attention, and her beautiful dark
eyes, were focused entirely on the humans.

“My people, do not fear. Kalona of the Silver Wings is not a destroyer, nor is he
a god. He is my—” Nyx paused, flicking her gaze to him. Kalona was sure he saw amusement
in her eyes, though she hid her smile well. “My Warrior, my Monster Slayer and my
Killer of Enemies,” she concluded.

“Did the Great Spirit Tree offend you, Estsanatlehi, so that you sent your Killer
of Enemies against it?” asked the feathered, painted man.

“No, Shaman. My Warrior was only making way for a new Great Spirit Tree, one that
bears fruit. Behold my gift to you!” Nyx loosed Kalona’s hand and turned to face the
empty black hole where the tree used to stand. She began moving her bare feet in a
dance that had the rhythm of a heartbeat, accompanied by the music of the ropes of
shells that decorated her ankles. “Hear me, oh Earth Mother. I am Estsanatlehi, Changing
Woman, Speaker for the People. I ask that the Great Spirit Tree be reborn to bear
fruit to feed the People. Hear me, oh Earth Mother. I am Estsanatlehi, Changing Woman,
Speaker for the People…” Nyx repeated her song over and over, until she had danced
around the black hole three full times. With the triple circle completed, she broke
off one round red bead from her dress and threw it into the hole with a victorious
shout.

Kalona gasped along with the humans when a tree instantly sprouted from the center
of the hole, growing up and up, limbs stretching, budding, flowering, then filling
out with simple leaves, bright green on the top side and silver on the underside.
Kalona blinked, and the entire tree was laden with plump, red fruit.

“Harvest and share this fruit, and remember that your Goddess is not destructive or
vengeful,” Nyx said, moving back to Kalona’s side. “As always, I wish you to blessed
be,” she concluded. Then she slid her arms up around Kalona’s neck and whispered into
his ear, “You should take me away from here now.”

Hardly able to breathe, Kalona lifted his Goddess into his arms and leaped into the
air, holding her tightly as his mighty wings bore them skyward.

*   *   *

“There,” Nyx said,
pointing down. The land had changed beneath them. It had begun to roll gently and
was covered with clusters of tall trees. The Goddess motioned beyond the trees, toward
a wide, dark river dotted with sandbanks and lined with scrub. “You may put me down
there.”

Kalona circled until he found a gently sloping bank free of weeds and brush. He landed
gently.

“You do not have to hold me now,” she said. Nyx’s head was resting against his shoulder,
as it had for most of their journey. He could not see her face, but he could hear
the smile in her voice. It gave him courage.

“I like holding you,” he said.

“You
are
very strong,” she said, laughing softly.

“Does it please you that I am strong?”

“It does when you have to carry me quickly away from a tricky situation.”

Kalona did put her down, then, though he stayed close to her, taking both of her hands
in his. “Forgive me for that. My intention was not to frighten those mortals. I was—
I was trying to…” His voice trailed off, and Kalona felt his face flame in embarrassment.

Nyx smiled and cupped his cheek with her soft hand. “You were trying to what?”

“Please you!” he said in a rush of honesty.

“You thought destroying a tree would please me?”

He shook his head and tree dust fell from his hair into her face. Nyx sneezed violently
three times and rubbed at her watering eyes.

“Forgive me again!” He lifted his hands impotently, trying to help her, and as if
it had just been waiting for that movement of his hands, more dust rained from his
arms onto her face. She sneezed again and, unable to speak, motioned for him to step
back. Frustration blazed through him, attracting wisps of Divine power. With a sudden
idea, Kalona blurted, “Air, help create a soothing peace for Nyx!”

He held his breath while air whirled around his Goddess, carrying the luminous fragments
of his power so that they gently brushed against her skin, blowing the dust from her
face and leaving her blinking away the last of her tears and smiling at him.

“Now,
that
pleased me. Thank you, Kalona.”

“Then you forgive me for the tree? And frightening those humans? And the dust?”

“Of course I do. You meant no harm with any of it. Though I still do not understand
what you intended to create back there.”

“Something you could view from the Otherworld,” Kalona said. Then he added, “My invocation
was flawed, my intent muddled. I am not sure what I expected to happen, but I am sure
I failed.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say it was a total failure. You did get my attention, though it was
because I felt the fear of the People.”

“Truly, I meant them no harm,” he said.

“I believe you, but I must also tell you what Mother Earth did not fully explain to
you or Erebus. Many of her humans are childlike in their beliefs. They are easily
frightened and tell elaborate stories to make sense of that which they cannot fully
understand. However, I am especially fond of the race of mortals you met today. They
have a deep love and respect for the earth, and a loyalty that touches my heart. I
probably appear to them more than I should, but I do enjoy the stories they tell about
me.”

“Is that why you look like this today? Because they wouldn’t recognize you if they
saw you as you were earlier?”

“Yes, partially. I find the different races of humanity are more comfortable if I
appear to them looking as much like them as possible.” Nyx smiled, suddenly girlish
again. “And I enjoy taking on different visages. I find beauty in all of them. Just
as I find beauty in so much of the earth and the mortals who inhabit it.” She gestured
at the wide, sandy river. “I love the water of this world, everything from rivers
like this, to the great lakes that are north of here, and the sapphire and turquoise
oceans that separate continents. Their beauty intrigues me. There is one lake in the
northwest of this land that is so blue and deep and cold that it dazzles me each time
I visit it.”

“Are there no bodies of water in the Otherworld?”

“Of course! But not like here—not as deep and mysterious and seemingly endless.
And
here they are not filled with merefolk and naiads. The Fey rarely allow me to enjoy
the tranquillity of floating, free of worries and responsibilities, on a cool, clear
lake.” Her expression was dreamy and she swayed toward him. “May I tell you a secret?”

“You may tell me many secrets. I would guard them for eternity.”

“I believe you would. Thank you for that,” she said, and leaned forward, kissing him
chastely on the cheek. “My secret is that sometimes I alter my appearance and visit
earth, pretending to be mortal. I sit and gaze out across a lake or a river or an
ocean, and I dream.”

“Of what do you dream, Goddess?” Kalona asked, the skin of his cheek still tingling
from her kiss.

“I dream of love and happiness and peace. I dream that there is no Darkness in this
world or in mine. I dream that mortals would stop struggling against one another and
unite instead. And I dream that I am not eternally alone.”

“But you are a Goddess, immortal, divine, and powerful. Could you not force the mortals
to be peaceful, to shun Darkness?”

Nyx’s smile was sad. “I could if I wanted to take free will from them. I wouldn’t
like that, though. And I promise you, they wouldn’t, either. And I am beginning to
understand that even the absence of strife would not rid this world or mine of Darkness.”

“Explain this Darkness of which you speak,” Kalona said.

“I don’t think I can—or at least not well. I am inexperienced with it. So far I have
only sensed its malevolence and witnessed what those under its influence will do.
Humans can be very cruel when incited. Did you know that?”

Kalona did not, but he realized he did not because he had not been paying much attention
to the mortals that inhabited earth. His only focus had been on winning his place
at Nyx’s side. He was just beginning to understand he might need to be by her side
for more reasons than the desire he felt for her.

“Are you in danger, Nyx?”

The Goddess met his gaze. “I do not know.”

“These ridiculous tests! They keep me from you. I should be beside you, protecting
you!”

She studied him carefully, not reacting to his outburst. Eventually he felt foolish,
and he stared out at the lazily flowing river.

“You are eager to speak about human strife and the dangers of Darkness. You are quick
to leap to my defense.”

“Always!” he assured her, wondering why she suddenly looked so sad.

“But you say nothing of my eternal loneliness.”

“I thought I need say nothing—that you understood that if I was your protector, I
would be by your side, your lover and mate, eternally watching over you.”

“Kalona, perhaps a good lesson for you to learn is to never presume you know what
a Goddess, or any woman, is thinking,” Nyx said. With a smile she motioned for him
to join her as she settled on a smooth driftwood log and began to pick through the
pebbles by her bare feet, choosing some and discarding others.

Kalona sat and, not knowing what to say next, blurted, “Is earth really like the Otherworld?”

“Yes and no,” she explained. “The earth is to the Otherworld as the People’s Great
Spirit Tree is to a Goddess.”

“Then the earth is only a wan reflection of the Otherworld,” Kalona said, unable to
keep the relief from his voice.

Nyx’s gaze flicked up to meet his briefly before she went back to choosing rocks.
She continued, “Though only a reflection of the Otherworld, there is a unique beauty
on earth that is made even more special and precious because nothing remains the same
here. Humanity lives and dies and then lives again. The seasons change. The continents
shift. Human life happens here, love happens here, birth and death happen here. Humanity’s
time is brief but fascinating and heartbreaking and exquisite. I hope that someday
you will come to value humans, and the earth, as I do.”

“I value you, above all things,” Kalona said.

Nyx met his gaze. “I know you do. I could feel our connection when first I looked
into your amber eyes. Since then I believe you have intoxicated me.”

Kalona went to his knees before her. “Tell me what I can create that would please
you most! I want only to make you happy and to be by your side always as your protector
and mate.”

“Kalona, son of the Mighty Moon I love so well, I cannot tell you what to create for
me. That would be unfair to my friend, Mother Earth. It is she who is responsible
for you coming into being. It is she who has devised the tests you must endure. I
cannot, will not, usurp her responsibilities. What I can tell you is that I wish only
for you to be yourself—strong, honest, and unique—in these tests, and during the eternity
I hope we might share together.” She took his hand then and stood, pulling him up
with her. “Now I’d like to share something with you about this world, this changing,
funny, fabulous world. Come with me!”

As lithe as a maiden, Nyx skipped away toward the sandy edge of the riverbank. Willingly,
Kalona followed the music of shells she left in her wake. They reached the riverbank,
and Kalona noticed she was holding up the skirt of her buckskin dress so that a pouch
had been created in which she carried a pile of stones she had chosen.

“This is what you do. You pick a rock, the smoother, rounder, and flatter the better.
Then you throw it thus!” With a deft flick of her wrist, the Goddess let loose a rock,
tossing it into the slowly moving river.

Kalona laughed aloud in surprise as her stone didn’t sink. Instead it skipped over
the top of the water, as gracefully as Nyx had skipped to the edge of the bank. Then
the Goddess jumped up and down in happiness. “Five times! It skipped five times! That
one was special. Here, you try.”

Hesitantly, Kalona chose a rock, hoping it was smooth and round and flat enough. He
furrowed his brow in concentration. He tried to aim. He flicked his wrist several
times in practice, not letting the rock go yet, intent on getting it as perfect as
possible.

“Kalona.”

Nyx’s voice was soft. He turned to her questioningly.

She leaned into him, lifted up onto her bare toes, and kissed him gently, gently on
his lips. His arms went around her and he drank in the unique scent of her skin. What
was it? Something sweet and something earthy that drew him to her and made him want
nothing more than to be close to her forever. “This is fun, not a test,” she whispered.
“Relax, mighty Killer of my Enemies. I believe you can be playmate
and
warrior.” Obviously reluctant to leave his arms, she pulled free slowly, letting
her hand linger on his chest. “Now, have fun!” she said, shoving him backward so that
his wings had to unfurl to keep him from falling on his firm behind.

Nyx giggled, then clamped her hand over her mouth and giggled some more.

Kalona thought her laughter was as infectious as her scent was alluring. He righted
himself, strode to the edge of the water, and without aiming at all, tossed the rock
into the river, where it landed with a liquid
plop
and sank immediately.

He looked at Nyx, who was trying, unsuccessfully, to stifle more giggles. “Well,”
he said with mock seriousness. “It appears that unlike you, I can only do one thing
well at a time.”

Nyx swallowed another giggle and cocked her head at him. “What one thing are you doing
well?”

“I am being intoxicating,” he said, and reached up to brush a patch of lingering wood
dust from his chest.