Kalona's Fall (House of Night Novellas #4)(20)

Joining them, Mother Earth said, “And this is what I intended when I set you to these tests. I wanted only to be sure that worthy companions had been created for our Goddess. I am well pleased today, too. Tell me, Kalona and Erebus, what element will you choose for your final test?”

Nyx nodded to Erebus. “As Kalona chose Water, this next choice is yours.”

“If my brother is in agreement, I defer my choice and ask that you decide for me instead.”

“I am in agreement with my brother,” Kalona said.

Nyx’s smile was radiant. “Then I choose Spirit as the element for your final test.”

“Very well, then. Until you each call into being your creation, I grant you dominion over Spirit. So I have spoken; so mote it be,” said Mother Earth.

“And now I must leave you,” Erebus said.

“Leave me?” Nyx smiled questioningly at him.

“Oh, only for now. I do believe the Great Mother and I need to return to Old Faithful,” Erebus said, glancing from Kalona to Nyx, and then sending Mother Earth a pointed look. “We seem to be missing several of the Fey. I think they must still be at the geyser. You know how distracted they can be by sparkling colors.”

“We should go collect them, poor dears,” Mother Earth readily agreed with him. As Erebus lifted her carefully into his arms, she called, “Come, dryads, let us go back and find your sisters.”

Before he leaped skyward, Nyx touched Erebus’s arm. “Thank you. You are precious to me.”

“As you are to me, my Goddess,” he said. “Good-bye, brother. If you need help with your next test you can find me by following the rising sun.” The chattering dryads in tow, Erebus took to the sky, leaving Kalona and Nyx completely alone.

“He’s smarter than I thought he was, though his height still surprises me,” Kalona said.

“His height? The two of you are almost identical.”

“He is shorter and younger than me,” Kalona said. “Though, as you mentioned the similarity in our appearance, I will admit that he is exceedingly handsome.”

“You are incorrigible!” Nyx pushed playfully at his chest.

Laughing, Kalona grabbed her, and fell backward. As Nyx shrieked he unfurled his wings and they floated slowly down to land on a ledge just above the basin that was now filled with crystal water. Still holding her in his arms, Kalona murmured into her ear, “I told you I would never let you fall.”

“And have I told you how cold mountain waters are?” Nyx retorted, looking uncertainly below them at the sparkling pool.

“I cannot command Fire, but you, my Goddess, can,” he said.

Nyx grinned. “Yes, I can!” Stepping out of his embrace, she faced the waterfall and lifted her hands, invoking: I summon you, Fire. Your warmth in these waters I do truly desire.

Instantly the rocks surrounding the waterfall and pool began to glow like embers, and warm mist lifted from the basin.

“Shall we?” Kalona asked.

“You already know my answer. I am very fond of Water,” she said. “I am also very fond of you.” Deliberately, the Goddess reached behind her and pulled a silver ribbon, loosening her dress. With a shake of her shoulders, it fell from her body to form a sky-colored puddle at her feet. Wearing only her headdress of stars, she said, “Will you join me?”

“Always,” he said, and took her in his arms.

Their attention consumed by the pleasure they found in each other, neither noticed the skeeaed. With eyes narrowed in envy, L’ota watched the immortals’ lovemaking before she soundlessly slithered away to disappear into the darkest of shadows.

8.

WHERE THERE IS LIGHT, THERE, TOO, MUST BE DARKNESS …

“Why is this so difficult?” Kalona’s frustration boiled over and he threw the rock away from him, causing the ever-watching ravens to flutter and squawk. He had been attempting to breathe Spirit into inanimate objects to create a new type of creature for his Goddess and had thus far failed miserably.

First Kalona had tried to insert consciousness within a tree, one of the gnarled oaks that proliferated the cross-timber area bordering the grassy prairie.

Apparently, trees already contained a living spirit that did not appreciate company. When he had flung spirit into it, the craggy oak had shivered like a horse shaking off a swarm of biting flies, and had hurled Kalona’s magick back at him. The immortal had been knocked off his feet with the backlash—and he had had to endure the whoops and chants of the local Shaman who, witnessing the debacle, promptly lit sage and danced all around Kalona’s campsite, wafting smoke everywhere. Kalona had no idea what the mortal believed he was doing. He only knew for sure that the smoking sage made his eyes water and his nose tickle, and this annoyed him almost as utterly as did the noisy birds. Rather than smite the human and arouse pesky Mother Earth, Kalona had flown away to Nyx’s falls, meaning to wash himself in the crystal shower, hoping cleansing his body would likewise clear his mind.

The Goddess had been there, sunning herself on the moss-covered boulder. As he landed lightly beside her, she’d opened her eyes and smiled joyfully up at him.

“Is it really you, or am I having a wonderful waking dream?”

He’d taken her in his arms and shown her how very real he was.

Kalona had found contentment in Nyx’s arms, but that contentment lasted only as long as they were together. When she left him, returning to the Otherworld alone but satisfied, and Kalona had flown back to his campsite, the happiness he’d found in her arms only intensified the frustration he felt at their separation.