Dinosaur Fantastic by Anthology

Author:Anthology [Anthology]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-01-04T00:00:00+00:00

Aithne found him at the water’s edge often after that, sitting a little closer to the flat, murky waves each time, as if gradually approaching the creatures who called to him from below. And each time, it was a little harder to coax him away, to bring him back to the village, where Columba’s new god was taking root and starting to change their world, as the world of the great monsters had once been changed so thoroughly.

“Columba has said be would like you to be at the ceremony this evening,” she told Curren one day, trying to pull his gaze away from the water.

“What has he planned for tonight?” Curren asked distractedly, attuned to the beckoning voices in the water.

“Some kind of ritual. It involves water and accepting the new god,” Aithne answered vaguely, wishing she could wipe that dreamy look off his face.

“I know why he wants me.” Curren’s voice was rich with contempt. “If he can silence the voices and blind my visions, he’ll be able to make everyone believe that his god is more powerful than any of the old gods, even the demons.”

“Curren . . .” She bit her lip, aware that this was dangerous territory. “Don’t you want the voices to stop?”

His face clouded. But he sounded more weary than angry when he said, “Go away, Aithne.”

“No!”

“Go home.”

“No! I want to stay with you.”

“No, you want to make me like the others. Why don’t you just settle for one of them?”

“No, I want you to be only like yourself. But I’m afraid for you, Curren! I have been ever since they started calling you to them.” She waved toward the water. “You think I don’t know how they’re tempting you? You wear the look on your face that my father wears before he mates with my mother. You wear the look of a man who wants to marry! But what will you marry, Curren?”

“Be quiet!”

“An ancient monster from a dead race of creatures that belonged to a world that disappeared long before the Old Ones built the stone circles?”

“Go away!”

“Curren! This is madness!”

He hit her. She had never thought he would do such a thing. No matter how his eyes glittered when he looked at his brothers or the king, they had always been soft when he looked at her. His hands, his voice, his smile had always been so gentle. But now he struck her with a fury that knocked her to the ground. She put a hand to her bloodied lips and turned away from him, curling herself into a little ball. She had never loved before, would never love again. How could be not see the gifts she offered him? What did he hear that drew him away from her?

She lay there for a long time, unwilling to leave him, unable to look at him. Finally, when the sun had passed over her shoulder and cheek and had begun to die softly against her back, she heard him gasp, a sound of mingled fear and joy.

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