An Abyss of Light (The Light Trilogy) by Kathleen M. O'Neal Read Free Book Online Page B

laid her head on the warm red earth and tried to sleep.
    In the darkness before morning, she awoke, her strength partly renewed, and eased her head up to peer around a corpse’s arm at the walls. The desert-scented winds carried the pungency of blood as they brushed her face. In the distance, the moon rose through a dusty haze, a luminous fagot of orange that cast a foreboding light across the peaks. No guards seemed to be present. Perhaps they’d massed somewhere else. Gently, she shook her daughter.
    “Sybil? Can you crawl, baby?”
    The girl nodded weakly. “Yes, where are we going?”
    “To the gate.”
    Rachel wove her arms between bodies and thrust upward, creating an opening in the black blanket of dead, then quietly, slowly, edged out and pulled Sybil up. The coolness of the night bathed her.
    Sybil trembled as she looked around. Her voice came out a hoarse and dreadful whisper. “I—I can’t! I don’t want to touch any … anybody—”
    “You have to, sweetheart. If we don’t get out of here, they’ll be back to kill us.”
    “No, Mommy! NO!” she screamed wildly, scratching to get in her mother’s lap. Her frantic fingernails tore Rachel’s neck and shoulders as she climbed up to hug her neck frantically.
    “Listen to me,” Rachel said sternly, hugging her close. “Listen to me! Do you want to wait for the guards to come back with their rifles?”
    “Mommy, don’t make me. Please! I—I can’t touch … them.”
    Rachel followed Sybil’s gaze to the terrified faces frozen in death. Mouths gaped hideously, arms and legs twisting in pleading gestures from the butchery. She patted Sybil’s back, trying to soothe her fears. Dear God, had she forgotten what her daughter had been through? “I’m sorry, baby. Mommy’s sorry. I’ll try to carry you while I crawl. Can you climb on my back and close your eyes?”
    “Yes,” Sybil whimpered. “Hurry, let’s go.”
    Rachel got to her hands and knees and Sybil scrambled on top, wrapping her arms tightly around Rachel’s shoulders. Other people moved in the tangled mass of dead, all heading in the same direction. Feebly, Rachel crawled after them, knees squishing in the bloody clothing she crossed.
    Sybil sobbed over and over into her hair, “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy …”
    “Don’t cry, Sybil,” she tried to soothe, but her voice came out harsh, gravelly. “We’re all right.”
    “What about Daddy? I saw other people from the temple here. Maybe he’s home waiting for us?’
    Rachel felt as though her heart would burst. Cold sorrow drowned her. “Maybe, sweetheart.”
    She braced one hand against the grisly leg of a dead woman who’d been cut in half by the beams, and scanned the square. Why were the guards gone? Had the Mashiah decided to let those still alive escape? To tell the story? To frighten others into submitting to his demonic rule?
    Hatred welled up to choke her. She concentrated on it—encouraged it—hoping it would mask her terrible grief. Adom was a mad genius. An actor playing a role to perfection. She’d stood before him a dozen times to receive his soft words of castigation regarding her rebel activities. He’d always been kind, so kind, and gentle, forgiving. Or so it seemed, until the next day when he ordered the murder of hundreds of her followers. Punishing her … yes, he knew how to punish. Just as he did now. What would he do? Let them mass at the gate before he opened fire again?
    Rachel’s weak arms gave out suddenly and she slumped down onto the blasted chest of a young girl. Maybe twelve, the dead child’s horrified expression seemed to beg her for mercy.
    Sybil choked, “Don’t stop, Mommy. Don’t stop!”
    Rachel pushed painfully up, forcing her trembling body to move. “Shhh, sweetheart. I’m not.”
    CHAPTER 4
     
    Mist rolled down the tree-covered slopes of Kayan in visible undulating waves, sticking to the pea green leaves of spring like diamonds. Dark clouds billowed on the horizon, roiling over