In the Shadow of the Goddess (Book 1 of The Fallen Gods Trilogy)

CHAPTER NINE

Kachine waited for her.

The goddess stood on a path of illuminated white brick. Each brick was a light and formed a path that meandered its way through the void of black space around them; a space dotted with tiny stars. It felt to Jill that if she stepped off the path, she would fall into eternity.

Tall and magnificent, Kachine watched her progress. Even in dream, the goddess posed an imposing figure. Her gorgeous black hair was thick with its ever tumbling and renewing flowers that fell to the ground at her bare feet. Her white gown, clasped at the shoulders and flowing over a perfectly proportioned body, gleamed like a captured sun. And her eyes—still piercing green and still frightening, gazed at Jill from beneath half-lowered lids. Her face was expressionless, but Jill couldn't help but feel the goddess sneered at her. Obviously she hasn't mellowed at all since our first meeting.

"I have been appointed to this against my wishes and will not do it well or with grace," Kachine said without preamble. "The task belongs to the lord of dreams, but you will find time and again how dismal a failure he is. You will ask for his help and always be disappointed."

Jill swallowed. There was no reason to be intimidated. This was just a dream. "I want you to send me back to my own world. I'm not part of this."

The goddess smiled and Jill nearly wet her pants—not at the sight, but because in the dream, she could sense the yawning, chaotic magnitude of Kachine's power. "Oh but you are, Arianie's Chosen. And now that you've had a taste of both the light and the dark in this world, you must determine what side you will choose."

That made Jill pause. "I felt the decay. You think I'd chose that?"

"You are mortal, and as such, can be exceptionally stupid and easily led. Without guidance, mortals are capable of the most abysmal failure this world has ever known."

"If you think mortals are so useless, send me back to my world. I'm not choosing anything!"

The smile widened. "You will."

And with a tiny wave of Kachine's hand, Jill was pushed off the path.

The fall tumbled her through the black space and into the void of stars. The stars became sweeping arcs of light that blundered into her and saturated her mind with images. Brexten with his sky-blue eyes and golden hair. Wherever he went, whatever he did, she had to follow. Had to. Another man with piercing violet eyes who wove rays of threaded red light with his hands. An old woman dressed in faded tattoos and voluminous red robes sitting before a dying fire. Chess pieces carved in marble of fabulous colors. A dagger of silver and gold. A woman who looked like Kachine, but gentler, who danced and laughed as she whirled about, spinning the world with her. A man chained to a mountain, his left hand unbound and beseeching her to free him. Lastly a shadowy man with inky-black hair. She could see into him, see his internal organs—heart, lungs, stomach, liver, all covered with maggots and rot. He reached out to her with claw-like hands that threatened to tear the skin from her bones until she screamed for mercy.

More images came. Like a cup, they filled her subconscious until she thought she might burst. She didn't. She slept and dreamed and tried to retain it all because she had to. Some vague urge demanded she must remember this. But the depth of it...The scope...This was much more than the Forest and the black marble. Too much really for a single mind and some inevitably had to spill.

Morning dawned with stark immediacy. Sunlight streamed through open drapes, beaming like a spotlight. Groaning, Jill open her eyes and stared at the ceiling. She felt as if she'd run a marathon. More like crawled it—on rusty nails and broken glass while someone beat me with a stick. God, that Kachine is a bitch.