The Eventide Child by C.A Hines Read Free Book Online Page B

The dense trees even disappeared as the dirt path below became more like broken and dilapidated stone than dirt. Wide open plains flanked either side of the path which stopped at a sudden incline, a set of marble stairs rose into the distant blue sky, beyond the clouds. On either side of the approach, statues of shrouded figures in thick robes, clutched spears and shields in homage to guardians long past.
    “What is this place?” Alexandra finally asked, examining the statues up and down. Cass seemed to have stopped moving all together.
    “A powerful cult resides at the top of this mountain, in a temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. My orders were to bring you here. Ya got to go on your own from here.”
    Alexandra stopped mid step, her eyes shooting toward Cass with a look of anxious curiosity.
    “...But why?”
    “Nothin’ for me up there, love.”
    She stopped mid-step, the sudden change in tone gave Alexandra concern. She shifted her glance first from Cass and then again to the stairs.
    “What’s up there?” Alexandra asked hesitantly, looking over to Cass one final time.
    “The only people that can answer your questions. You’ll not find them anywhere else.” The woman answered as Alexandra remained hesitant, glancing at the steep staircase. She stopped, eyes closing as she took in a deep breath before she forced herself forward.
     
     

Chapter V
    The first step seemed neigh insurmountable.
    Alexandra wondered how many other people had taken this steep path she now walked. Her body rising up slowly as the broken stairs climbed ever higher into the sky as she followed the mountain upwards. The brief moment she took to pause to look back revealed nothing in the distance but the small figure of Cass. She looked like nothing more than a crow on the horizon, waiting beside the two statue warriors. Every step felt as if she wore the weight of the entire world upon her shoulders, the staircase taunting her as the air grew colder the higher she ascended.
    “I can’t go on.” She sighed as her body simply collapsed on the side of the path, her chest heaving up and down, doubt besieged her mind on all sides. Perhaps it was the cold, or even the isolation of her ascent that made her feel so insignificant. Who knew what Cass was expecting, but Alexandra knew she couldn’t deliver. Tears welled in her eyes once again as her hands balled into fists, slamming them against her knees in frustration before she finally leaned back as a slew of profanity escaped her mouth. She cursed the Gods for all the trouble she’d experienced and for building this damned mountain in the first place. She cursed with all the impropriety that she could muster.
    For all her raging, she was met with naught but silence and a cold wind. No matter how she invoked the names of the Gods or cursed their existence she was given no reply. They neither smote nor spoke to her. She fell silent, her anger pattering out into grumblings now as she caught her breath. There was never a reply. Had there ever been? The Augurs claimed to speak to the Gods, claimed to represent them, and yet still their temples now lay in smoldering ruin. It was all pretty ironic to her as she forced herself back to her feet. She could rage against the Gods all she wanted, but she knew she would receive no reply. She began once again to ascend the stairs, muttering every foul curse she had ever heard Caius speak with each aching step she took.
    They never cared about you. The voice in the back of her head whispered again. Alexandra stopped midstride. It seemed clearer now, that strange voice she had heard on the night she fled Tripolis. The voice that had tempted her, egged her on to use its power. The voice that told her she need only ask for help to be saved when the city was burning and when she had been separated from father. She had ignored the promise of salvation then, had she been mistaken?
    “Even my mind turns against me.” She laughed, Gods how the entire situation