The Way Into Darkness: Book Three of The Great Way by Harry Connolly Read Free Book Online

exception of Fury, but Kelvijinian’s voice was full of kindness. Did she have a question? Before she could put any thought into it, she blurted, “Where did you come from?”  
    Immediately, she knew she’d made a mistake. She was not supposed to be indulging her curiosity. She needed him to contact someone at Tempest Pass.  
    “Well!” the voice answered, echoing hollow through the earthen tunnel. “No. One. Has. Asked. Me. A. Question. Like. That. In. Many. Years! Thank. You. The. Truth. Is. That. I. Came. Here. Fleeing. A. War.”
    Whatever she had been expecting him to say, it wasn’t that. “A war?”  
    “Yes. Long. Long. Ago. I. Lived. Among. My. Own. Kind. Earth. Water. Fire. Air. Many. Others. As. Well. We. Were. Not. A. Peaceful. People. But. We. Had. Balance. Then. The. Enemy. Came.”
    Cazia glanced at the huge head. Its eyes seemed wider than before. It didn’t look like it was half-dreaming anymore. “Were they gods, too?”
    “Gods?” the voice asked. It paused even longer than usual, as though thinking very hard about what it should say next. “No. Invaders . Creatures. Of. Shallow. Waters. And. Muddy. Ground. They. Had. Potent. Magic. It. Was. A. Transformation. War. We. Had. No. Experience. With. Power. Like. That. No. Defenses. We. Were. Hunted. I. Escaped. Alone. Through. A. Hole. In. The. World. Arriving. Here.”  
    Cazia needed a moment to truly understand what he meant. Great Way, Kelvijinian was just another invader. Like The Blessing, like the Tilkilit, he had come to Kal-Maddum through a portal. What’s more, he had, in his way, conquered. “This was long ago?”  
    “Long. Before. Your. Kind. Arrived,” he answered. Cazia felt a sudden chill. No, we aren’t invaders. This is our land. Human beings belong here. “Old. Now,” the god continued. “I. Was. Here. When. The. Sweeps. Were. Burned. Into. Existence. I. Was. Here. When. Gol-Maddum. Broke. Away. I. Should. Have. Died. Years. Ago. But. I. Am. All. Alone. There. Is. No. One. To. Shatter. Me. So. I. Grow. Larger. And. Deeper. Every. Year. Until. The. Day. I. Sleep. And. Never. Awaken.”
    This was no god. Or if it was, then a “god” was much more like a living person than she had expected. “Is it painful? Is there something I can do to help you?”  
    “Ages. Ago. I. Would. Not. Have. Known. What. Pain. Is. I. Have. Learned. It. From. You. There. Is. Nothing. But. Weariness. Thank. You. For. Your. Kindness.”
    “You’re welcome. What about the portal that brought you here? Can’t it send you back home?”
    “Once. Perhaps. It. Has. Sunk. Below. The. Water. Now. And. I. Do. Not. Know. What. Happened. To. My. World. Perhaps. It. Is. A. Dead. Thing.”  
    “I’m sorry,” Cazia said. There was a genuine pang of pain and regret in her heart. “War destroyed my home, too.” There was more to say, but it all seemed to big to fit into words. The sun was setting, bathing the rocks in a beautiful golden glow, but the wind was growing more wet and more chilly, too. “Your story frightens me.”  
    “I. Have. Met. Many. Who. Were. Frightened. Of. Me. But. None. Who. Feared. My. Story. Why?”
    Cazia wasn’t even sure herself, but the words came out anyway. “Because the war you suffered is older than the mountains around us, but the damage it did lingers in you. It seems the harm we do to each other outlives us all. Worse, I think some of the people I love have been the cause of this pain.”  
    Kelvijinian was quiet for a time. The golden sunset light began to fade and the land grew dark. Gol-Maddum, he had said. The idea that there was another land mass out beyond the waves wasn’t a new one, but that this creature--this god--had seen it was astonishing.  
    And what had he called this own war? A “transformation” war? Great Way, but wasn’t that exactly what Peradain was going through?  
    “Ask. Of. Me. A. Boon,” Kelvijinian finally said. “You. Have. Asked. For. Nothing. You. Have. Only.