Goddess Rising

by Alisha Ashton

  She unsheathed her sword and got to her feet, wiping sweat and hair from her face before setting out. It only took a moment before she was fighting again. She had to hand it to Taran, this was pretty damned realistic. She knew this had been going on for hours already. She was tiring, but she refused to slow her pace. Thanks to Ciaran’s unexpected arrival, she was now honing her power-enhanced vision, using it while she fought to simultaneously track a multitude of opponents within the vast cave. This skill would prove crucial, she knew. It would help her avoid walking into an ambush or stealth attack. Over the course of Taran’s expertly crafted drill, Skye grew steadily surer of her abilities to fight off numerous opponents in human form using only the sword.

  By sunset, she emerged from the cave victorious. She smiled and thanked each of her brothers for their help as they exited, some looking a bit worse for wear than others. She apologized to a few for unintentionally severe wounds and excess blood that had been spilt, but all was as easily forgiven as it had healed.

  Ciaran exited with a proud smile, pulling on clothing as he made his way over to her.

  “Nice surprise,” she said appreciatively.

  “Nice grip,” he griped, rubbing his throat and giving her a playful scowl.

  “Aww, I will make it up to you later,” she assured with a wink.

  Ciaran’s eyes flashed as his brow arched high in interest. “Careful, my darling. If you reward the behavior, I may make it a habit,” he teased in a low tone. He leaned down to capture her mouth in a quick, hungry kiss. Skye smiled against his lips and gave a pleased sigh.

  Off to the side, Taran averted his eyes and worked to tamp down his lingering jealousy over the pair’s easy connection.

  She laughed as they pulled apart. Gripping Ciaran’s chin, she shook her head. “Go on ahead, troublemaker. I will meet you there,” she instructed before giving his full lips another quick peck. She swatted his ass when he turned to leave, and he grinned back at her in reply.

  She watched Ciaran join the others heading back home for the night. She was sweaty, exhausted, sore, and – encouragingly – far more confident in her chances of surviving the coming battle. Her eyes went out of focus briefly as she recalled that she was not the slightest bit confident in her ability to reach said battle…

  “Nice to see you willing to train hard for once,” Taran teased.

  Skye turned to find him pulling his shirt down over his sweat-slicked chest and abs as he stepped up beside her. With her eyes going out of focus again for an entirely different reason, she cleared her throat and averted her gaze. She gave herself a mental shake and thanked her lucky stars that she had once again avoided the sight of him nude. She supposed she could ask him – or even order him – to stay covered up around her, but she held her tongue. Maybe she was just a glutton for punishment. Maybe she was not willing to lose the brief glimpses she got of her future husband’s exquisite physique. They were motivation to get back home.

  “Not like I had any other choice,” Skye laughed.

  Taran nodded and added in a quiet, sincere tone, “Well done today, Sgitheanach. Very well done.”

  “Thanks to you,” she insisted. “That was brilliant. Truly.”

  He took a moment to revel in her praise before asking knowingly, “So, then… what is troubling you?”

  Skye quirked a brow at the seemingly out-of-place question. She shook her head as if to say ‘nothing,’ but when she glanced over at him, she saw it. Taran’s eyes were passing over her features in that old, familiar way. He was reading her, she realized, just as he always did in her time. She sighed and abandoned the pointless effort to avoid the subject.

  “I am growing more certain that I will survive a battle I do not yet have the ability to reach. I need to practice traveling through time soon and… I am anxious. I am trying to work out the safest way to do it,” she admitted.

  Taran exhaled slowly as he considered it. “I am completely out of my element when it comes to your magic, Sgitheanach. I simply have no advice to offer on its use. But… for training purposes, I would think… a short distance at first? Perhaps a day to start, traveling to a predetermined time and place we know will be safe.”

  Skye nodded. “My thoughts, as well.”

  Taran frowned and gave her an appraising look. “Have you not discussed this with Sorcha?”

  At the mention of her celestial ancestor, Skye quickly focused on the handle of the sword in her hand, unaware of the scrutiny her behavior was receiving from her future mate.

  “Yes,” she answered tersely. The word came out far sharper than she intended, and she rolled her eyes at her slip. Clearing her throat, she schooled her features and relaxed her posture in an attempt to conceal her tension. “Yes,” she answered again, softer this time. “We have discussed it, but I… I am working out the details on my own. I cannot travel from within the forest. Sorcha’s protective spell prevents it. It is designed to keep those with our magic INSIDE its boundaries. And it goes without saying that she cannot exit the forest to assist.”

  Taran grunted in displeasure at the thought of Skye wandering the surrounding area after Brandubh had already shown such an interest. “You must stay as close as possible,” he insisted. “You must remain where we can do all in our power to protect you from harm.”

  “Of course, Taran. Trust me, that rule will still be the same in f–” She caught herself before she could say ‘4,000 years’ and winced.

  Taran’s jaw clenched at the look in her eyes. He hated the unspoken, unbearable number he could see dancing there. The fear of revealing to him just how long he must wait for their future together.

  Skye cleared her throat. A moment later she offered, “Well, let’s just say it will not change.”

  Taran considered things before speaking again. “I know of a place,” he said as his gaze fell on a point off in the distance. His eyes narrowed, and he drew a hand over his beard thoughtfully. “It is close to the edge of the forest – a good, defendable location. It will make for an easy retreat, should there be any sign of danger to you.”

  Skye nodded and said thoughtfully, “I suppose I could try to travel from tomorrow morning to the following morning… I will not put myself within reach of the wicked druids’ spell if I stay so close to this time.”

  Her expression grew concerned as she began mentally tallying how many hours she had before the moment of truth.

  “You will do just fine, Sgitheanach,” Taran assured.

  “Do you really think so?” she asked anxiously.

  Taran gave her an incredulous look. “Considering the amount of time you managed to traverse by accident whilst flying blindly, I am sure you will be able to accomplish such a brief, intentional journey.”

  Skye gave a humorless laugh. “Well, at least one of us is sure.”

  Taran sighed and turned to face her fully. The action made Skye instantly aware of the constant efforts he had been making to avoid standing in a manner that could be deemed intimate. Just having him standing in front of her like this caused her chest to constrict terribly with longing. She wanted to hug him at least. Just dive into his massive arms and hold on tight for a little while. She swallowed with a great deal of effort and fought off the desperate urge, instead holding his gaze and tilting her head to the side curiously.

  “If I must believe in you enough for the both of us, so be it,” Taran declared. “I am certain that you can cross the seas of time and return to your home. And I am certain that I will help you to prepare for your journey in any way that I can.”

  32: Giving Myself a Headache

  Dawn broke on a cold and quiet morning. Frost coated the long grass, glittering in the early sunlight as soft, white fog slowly receded. Skye was tensed up tighter than a coiled spring where she sat at the center of a large gathering of her clansmen. They had formed a protective ring around her, roughly 200 feet in diameter. It was a greater distance than they would have preferred, but Skye was adamant that they not come closer. It wa
s an effort to ensure their safety.

  Taran, Ciaran, Drostan, and Faolan were all standing close to her within the ring. Conversation had died down a moment prior. All words and well wishes had been spoken. Now, they simply awaited her signal that they needed to get to safety. Each gave her looks of calm encouragement, yet they were all radiating their own unique brand of anxiety and uncertainty. Feeling like she was jumping off a cliff into the unknown, she nodded to them that she was ready. She watched as they reluctantly moved to the border of her requested space.

  Taking a deep breath in hopes of calming herself, Skye closed her eyes and took on a meditative posture. She rolled her neck and shoulders in hopes of easing some of the deep-seated tension. Sitting up tall, she straightened her back and draped her hands over her knees. She focused on the task at hand and tried to think things through logically – tried to lay it all out in her mind, step by step.

  First, she needed to dissolve into light. Abandon her physical form and all its constraints before attempting to travel. She had no intention of repeating her original mistake of trying to force her body to travel through the ethereal world as a solid mass. The two were not compatible. It was the reason she had scorched herself so horrifically.

  The all-too fresh memory of her eyes being burned from her skull played out in her mind in vivid detail then, causing her to whimper involuntarily and temporarily lose her nerve. Her posture failed, and her body slouched. Just that quickly, she heard several of her men taking steps across the icy grass in her direction. She held up her hand, pleading for them not to interrupt. If it were at all possible for retreating footsteps to sound grudging, theirs did.

  She winced and shook her head to escape the gruesome memory. Taking another deep breath through her nose, she exhaled through her trembling lips, then refocused her mind. Okay, so step one was not dissolving into light. Step one was letting go of the FEAR she thought she had already overcome, because, at that moment, it was weighing her down like a ton of bricks. She would never be able to do this with such a horrific trauma replaying in her thoughts. She needed to focus on something calming. Something that made her feel safe.

  There was only one place that ever made her feel the epitome of calm and safe. A smile came to her lips as she recalled all the sensations of being nestled between Taran and Ciaran as they slept. She took time to remember every detail. Their intermingled scents. The way Taran’s warm, heavy arm would wrap around her middle. The way he would hold her tighter while he dreamt, needing constant reassurance of her safety in order to truly rest. The way Ciaran would hold her hand against his chest. The contented sighs he gave in his sleep. The reassuring solidity and warmth of their bodies shielding her from the world. The combined sounds of their quiet, shallow breathing. Home.

  Skye could feel the tension drain away from her body. Her face took on an expression of pure serenity. Even the ever-tensed ‘WTF’ muscle of her right eyebrow fully relaxed for once.

  There. One step down. That brought her to step two – releasing her ties to the physical world. When she felt her instinctive fear attempt to rear its ugly head again, she repeated step one. She recalled the feeling of her King nuzzling her neck. His arm drawing her closer against his chest. The feel of his lips brushing her earlobe and sound of his rumbling whisper as he drowsily urged, “Rest now, my wee Queen.”

  Skye exhaled and let go.

  It was alarming how easily she melted away, but she fought hard to remain calm. In the place where she had stood just seconds before, an orb of ethereal white light now hovered. Across the field, her men attempted to muffle their startled gasps, but their concern was palpable.

  Skye gradually realized that she could not see them as she had in physical form – yet she was somehow intimately aware of everything about them. It took her a moment to decipher how she possessed this knowledge, and to realize that she was within each of them to a degree. She could feel their emotions and physical sensations and see through their eyes because she was an integral part of them all. In this form, she connected fluidly with the magic sustaining her clansmen – and even her Wolf Father. It was Sorcha’s magic. As she had briefly been so aware of on the night of her Return, she truly was connected to all of them.

  A niggling concern blossomed within her. A sense that – in this form – she was far more vulnerable to outside influences. Namely divine outside influences… Was it her own concern? Was it the concern of one of her men? Of Faolan? She sought out any hint of danger and was alarmed to find it. She could almost feel curious fingers reaching out for her, testing her awareness of their presence.

  Tomorrow. Skye commanded suddenly, eager to escape. The world abruptly faded away, sending her spiraling through an abyss of impossible darkness and blinding light.

  Just as quickly as she went, she was dumped back into the corporeal world. Evidently, it took a lot less time to travel across… well, a lot less time. Lying face-down in the exact location from which she had just departed, Skye gasped and gripped handfuls of the icy, wet grass beneath her. She made a note to self that she really needed to learn how to stick the landings on these journeys. With a groan, she pushed herself upright to look at her surroundings. For a moment, she thought she had failed to accomplish anything. The morning sun was in the same position. The temperature had not changed. The men were in similar positions to the ones she had seen them in last. It was not until she turned to find her men, that she got a surprising confirmation of her success.

  “Oh, wow,” she breathed in astonishment.

  There, standing between Taran and Ciaran, was… herself. Other-Skye smiled and waved before walking out across the field to reach her.

  “Uhh… hey there, good lookin’,” Skye greeted anxiously as she got up onto her feet and watched her approach. Her mind was in chaos. Was this really her from later in her own timeline? Or was it someone or something dangerous? What if it was really…?

  “Relax. I’m not an imposter,” Other-Skye declared as she came to a halt just a few feet away. She pointed to each of their faces and added with a wink, “Trust me, no sneaky celestial being is running around rocking this mean mug.”

  Skye’s brow arched at having her unspoken concerns put to words.

  “Huh,” Other-Skye said, walking around her slowly while looking her over appraisingly. When she had come back around in front of her again, she grimaced and declared, “Nope – it’s still weird as shit from this perspective. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this.”

  Skye struggled to wrap her head around what she was seeing. She worried briefly over the many fictional depictions she had seen of this scenario. Sharing space with another version of yourself was supposed to be seriously bad juju, right? She looked around warily. Everything seemed fine. Reality was not collapsing in on itself or anything. So, it was safe… She noted in amusement that no matter how safe it was, this knowledge would be dangerous for future-Ciaran. Two Skyes at once? His pervy little mind would burst with all the possibilities.

  “Oh, no. We absolutely cannot tell Ciaran that this is an option. He really would bang us – and quite possibly himself – to death,” Other-Skye joked knowingly. “By the way, I was right. I really do need to learn to stick those landings. Your arrival just now? Not pretty,” she commented with a wince.

  “Yeah, well, it sure as shit didn’t feel pretty,” Skye assured. Biting her lip, she squinted thoughtfully. She studied her other self for a moment before finally asking, “So… what made you… me… decide to have this little face to face? Why didn’t we – I – just stick to the plan? I’m assuming this means I keep time jumping from here?”

  Other-Skye nodded and smiled. “For the sake of easing my own mind, I wanted to come here and tell me – you – that it worked.”

  Skye tilted her head to the side. “It worked? What worked?”

  Other-Skye waited in silence for Skye’s features to go slack in understanding.

  “Oh, you mean it-it worked?” Skye asked in surprise. “I hadn�
�t even made up my mind about whether I should try yet.”

  “If I had to guess, that’s precisely the reason I – we – decided the first time around to come back here for this meetup,” Other-Skye offered. “Trust me – you – us: it all works out just fine.”

  “So… Drostan?” Skye asked curiously as her eyes wandered out across the field to her Maker.

  Other-Skye nodded.

  “Is it far?” Skye asked.

  Other-Skye shook her head. “Only about an hour’s walk. I’d imagine that’s why Taran knew to recommend this spot.”

  “Will I run into any trouble along the way?” Skye asked.

  “None,” Other-Skye assured. “I barely used any powers while I was there, so I didn’t attract any unwanted attention. I’m sure my arrival and exit were noticed, but it would have been just confusing blips on the radar. I did need to warn myself of one thing, and I’m glad I did, because it kept me from panicking: You are going to arrive weakened. Not completely helpless, but it takes a fuck-ton more power to travel across a century than it did to jump a single day. You will arrive the morning before a full moon. Wait to return until after you have recovered all your strength. You will be safe there.”

  Skye swallowed hard. “Guess this confirms how royally screwed I’ll be when I go back home.”

  Other-Skye nodded grimly. “But at least I won’t be wounded. And hey, it’s a good thing Thumper over there moonlights as our personal Energizer bunny, right?”

  Skye laughed at her own dumb joke, imagining Ciaran with a battery on his back and bunny ears. She wondered a second later whether it should concern her that the thoughts inside her head made her laugh like this on a regular basis… Eh well, she had bigger concerns.