Goddess by Liv Savell (books for 6 year olds to read themselves txt) 📗

up into the canopy overhead, relishing the feel of the other woman’s fingers combing through her hair. Something shifted in Alphonse’s heart, and she realized this was real. Somehow, this was real. Whatever this was. Wherever this was. 

Not like the dizzying array of images she got from Enyoand Va'al. Not the foggy recesses of memory she often walked through, simply to have something to do in the darkness. 

She could feel. She could see what she chose to look at. She had a choice. 

So somehow, this was real. Real. Real. Real.

Time was impossible to track, and so they lay together in silence, arms wrapped about each other for minutes or hours. Finally, some thoughts ordered themselves in her mind, and Alphonse realized she needed to tell Delyth some things. Because this was real, and it would end. And Delyth needed to know. 

“Del?” she asked, voice gravelly with lack of use. She could feel Delyth shift beneath her in response. Awake. “Enyo has my body. And she has been hunting down ways to bring back the other Gods.”

Delyth stiffened,  tightening her arm around the healer. “We know that she’s been gathering their artifacts. Do you know why?”

“Yes.” Alphonse responded quietly, sifting through all the jumbled memories she had of peering out those portals. Into Enyo’s life. Was this what it had felt like for Enyo when Alphonse had been “in control?” “Va'al—her mate, Tristan—They want their bodies back. Their original bodies. I think they will become full Gods again when that happens—But it will take a great deal of magic, so they are summoning the others, the Old Ones. With enough collective power, they can resurrect their forms.” Alphonse frowned, watching as a butterfly floated on a phantom breeze to light on the leaves overhead. She hadn’t spent much time thinking or caring about Enyo’s plan. It seemed so far away, in a world she didn’t belong to anymore. 

But if Enyo got her absolute power back—What would she do to Delyth and the others? To the wildlands? 

༄

Delyth stilled, her fingers stopping in their motion through Alphonse’s hair. Enyo back at full power.

What would that mean for Alphonse? Would she be gone then? Would she have her body back?

If so, it would almost be worth it, though it would mean the loss of Delyth’s freedom. Because if Enyo reached her full power, Delyth’s vow would come into play. She would be a slave to the Goddess.

Banishing the Gods was still their best chance of getting Alphonse back, of ending this.

Of being free.

“Tristan is Va'al? A God? When did she even find his artifact? We thought there were only two of them after we found the horn.”

“He was Va'al the entire time. I do not know when Tristan found Va'al’s artifact, and they merged. The way he speaks, it’s been a long time—He loves Enyo very much.” Alphonse sounded distracted, and when Delyth looked at her face, the healer’s expression was uncomfortable. 

Nearly guilty.

Delyth pressed a kiss to Alphonse’s forehead, holding her close. “The things you see are not you, aderyn bak.”

Still, the idea that they had traveled with two Gods the entire journey to Thlonandras was disconcerting, though it explained Tristan’s strange knowledge of the old ways. And perhaps, his harassment of Etienne, the only one of them with the power to really hinder Enyo.

A tremor of guilt passed through her. If they had better protected Etienne, would things have ever come to this? The boy was practically a different person without Tristan’s—Va'al’s influence.

With a sigh, Delyth shook her head. There was no purpose in bemoaning the past. They could only move forward.

“Do you know where the next artifact is? We could beat them to it, stop them from waking another God.”

“It’s difficult to remember… I only watch sometimes. She’s very—well. Sometimes I hide. It’s better that way.” Alphonse explained, turning onto her side and craning her neck to see Delyth’s face more clearly. “Va'al was talking about Esha. Do you know who she is?” 

Delyth sighed in relief. So many of the Old Gods must have been forgotten over the years, like Va'al, whose name she had never heard before. But Esha was still worshipped by many in Thloegr, and her temple in Gwynhafan was well kept.

“Yes,” the warrior said, taking a deep breath. “We’ll make for her temple and get the artifact before Enyo. I think we’re traveling faster than the Gods are. We’ve already caught up once.”

There was just the hurdle of getting the others to believe her, though Delyth knew she would carry on alone if she had to. “Is there something I can tell Etienne, so he knows that this came from you?”

❀

Alphonse was quiet for a long time but then smiled. “Make him breakfast and tea, and make him drink it. Tell him he forgets to take care of himself. He’ll remember.” Alphonse felt her throat tightening, reliving the childhood she had shared with Etienne. Her brother. Her best friend. He had come back, in the very end. He hadn’t given up on her. 

She remembered him appearing on the mountainside after Enyo grasped her basin. He had tried to fight the Goddess for her. 

Something sharp yanked through Alphonse’s mind and down into her arm. She winced and sat up suddenly, looking down at her hand. It seemed fine, but it felt heavy and numb. 

The pain lanced through her again. 

“I have to go.” 

“No, Alphonse…” Delyth’s voice broke again, and she gathered the healer against her chest. “Can’t we just stay here? Lie in each other’s arms until we fall asleep?”

“We are asleep, dear one.” Alphonse turned to cup Delyth’s cheek with her good hand. The pain was growing in intensity. Soon Enyo would wake, and so would Alphonse. She understood now. This was a communal dream world. Some connection she and Delyth shared, for whatever reason. A gift, a curse. 

“Don’t forget to ward your tent at night,” Alphonse murmured, leaning closer to kiss Delyth’s lips. “Enyo thinks of you often. She doesn’t understand why you matter so much, but—”