Read Kalona’s Fall for Free Online

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