Healed by Hope by Jim Melvin Read Free Book Online

in peculiar fashion. There were no hints of day or night, only darkness and increasing cold. But Torg was with her. And eventually they did kiss and make love—outside in the shivery wind, so as not to destroy the hut. The first time the wizard achieved orgasm inside her, she screamed out of fright that her baby would be killed. But she soon sensed that all was as before; whatever protected her from Torg’s outrageous bursts of energy also protected her unborn child. Afterward they had sex more and more frequently. Whenever the wizard climaxed, large areas of illumination sprang forth, and in the midst of her bliss Laylah caught glimpses of rolling lands and tall trees. Once he took her to a faraway place, and when his orgasm flashed outward, a line of white pines almost as tall as the behemoths of Dhutanga was revealed. The trees glowed like magical green spires. This amazed Laylah.
    Over time, the darkness began to dissipate; like all things, even it was impermanent. Laylah imagined that she could see faint touches of light in the sky. And then she no longer imagined it. There truly was light.
    One morning, they stepped out of the hut, and a sky that appeared heavily overcast but otherwise ordinary greeted them. A forest surrounded them, as beautiful as any she had seen in the more southerly portions of Mahaggata. Though it was late spring, the leaves on the trees were ablaze with color. Apparently the strange darkness and cold had tricked the trees into thinking it was autumn.
    That night, the sky was clear. Laylah was disappointed that it was the time of a new moon. It had been so long since she had reveled in the moon’s reflected light. Yet perhaps it was fitting. As the moon began to emerge from the darkness, so would she.
    The next morning, the sun rose bright and cheery, and the day grew comfortably warm. At first the abundance of light hurt their eyes, but they adjusted quickly. Laylah and Torg laughed and played, prancing naked through the woods like wild animals. Jord was nowhere to be seen, but Laylah didn’t care one way or the other. Why should she be embarrassed? She was beautiful, and so was he.
    Finally, she looked into her beloved’s eyes and said, “He’s really dead.”
    “Yes.”
    “We’re free?”
    “Yes, my love . . . we’re free.”
    She giggled, then burst into full-blown laughter. He joined her. They made love on a blanket of pine needles and nearly started the forest on fire. Torg had to extinguish the blaze with puffs of magic. His panicked expression was hysterical. She laughed until she cried.
    “What now, beloved?” she finally was able to say between intermittent recurrences of giggling.
    “My love . . . my queen . . . it’s time to go home.”
    Even as he spoke those words, Bhojja thundered out of the trees and knelt before them.

Seeing the light

8
    THE HIGHEST-RANKED black knight to have survived the wars was a husky commander named Sugati. Despite all the horrors that had so recently occurred, Sugati somehow managed to stay perpetually good-natured. And through sheer will, he inspired the defenders of Nissaya to remain calm, despite the suffocating darkness, by leading prayers to the creator and giving numerous less spiritual pep talks. The commander took a special liking to Elu, treating the Svakaran like a general while also encouraging his burgeoning relationship with Essīkka.
    Several hundred people had been lured to the fortress by the glowing Maōi on the battlements of Nissaya, and Sugati had asked Elu and Essīkka to assist in greeting them and making sure they were made comfortable. Among this new batch of refugees was a variety of Mahaggatan natives, several dozen Senasanans, and villagers from the Gray Plains.
    Though the Maōi spewed enough illumination to make the darkness tolerable, it still had been a spooky time. Ghosts now haunted the labyrinth of streets and courtyards within the city, shrieking and moaning. Some of the living—Sugati