Scorn of the Sky Goddess Read online

  Table of Contents

  Scorn of the Sky Goddess | Keepers of the Stones, Book Three | Tara West

  Dedications

  Foreword

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Books by Tara West

  GLOSSARY

  Books by Tara West

  ABOUT TARA WEST

  Scorn of the Sky Goddess

  Keepers of the Stones, Book Three

  Tara West

  Copyright © 2018 by Tara West

  Published by Shifting Sands Publishing

  First edition, published May, 2018

  All rights reserved.

  This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited.

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogue are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.

  Edited by Theo Fenraven.

  Artwork by Bob Kehl.

  Scorn of the Sky Goddess

  With the balance of power shifting, the young witch Dianna must destroy the Sky Goddess, Madhea, before the world turns into a frozen tomb. First, she’ll need to convince the Ice People to give her their goddess stones, making them vulnerable to Madhea’s wrath. Next, she must confront an army of dwarves and giants to retrieve the final and most powerful stone. Only then will her magic be strong enough to take on the Sky Goddess. But even with all the stones, she can’t fight Madhea alone. Forced to rely on the two men competing for her love, she has to convince her rivals to work together while ignoring her pining heart.

  Dedications

  Theo, God of Grammar, blessed by the Elements with the magic of the red pen, you rock!

  Shéa MacLeod. Thanks for catching my last minute oopsies!

  Ginelle and Suanne, thanks so much for your valuable feedback. You’ve helped make this book so much better.

  Bob, another amazing cover! You’ve captured Dianna and Tan’yi’na perfectly!

  To my husband, thanks for reading my books, giving me archery feedback, and having faith in me. Your support means more than anything.

  Foreword

  “Wise and beautiful goddess, thank you for sparing my life.” Kneeling before the Sky Goddess, Rowlen couldn’t believe he’d ascended to the top of Madhea’s impenetrable Ice Mountain, which would’ve been an impossible task if it hadn’t been for the pixies. He’d briefly wondered why the reclusive goddess had sent them to help him. Was it compassion or curiosity? Either way, he thanked the Elements for this opportunity.

  The deity’s wings fluttered as she leaned forward on her throne carved of jagged ice columns that resembled menacing dragon fangs. Steepling her fingers, she regarded Rowlen for a long moment, a cascade of pale hair falling over her shoulder, her green eyes shining like twin gems against skin as white as snow.

  Rowlen couldn’t help but be captivated by her beauty. She was far prettier than any human woman he’d ever seen, even more so than his fair wife. Thoughts of her sweet smile and red-rimmed eyes just before he’d set out on his quest filled his heart with shame, that he would admire the beauty of another.

  Madhea’s wings slapped the back of her throne as she crossed one leg over the other. “What is your name?”

  Keeping his head bent, he peered up at her. “Rowlen, My Deity. Rowlen Jägerrson.” He felt like a thick strip of venison as her gaze raked his body. Why was she looking at him so?

  “You are bigger than most mortals.” The deity shifted again, licking her bottom lip. “Why did you try to scale my mountain? Did my sister send you to kill me?”

  “Nay, My Deity.” He vehemently shook his head, shifting weight from one sore knee to the other. “I have come to plead for your help. My son is very ill.”

  She stiffened, her eyes narrowing. “You have a wife?”

  “Aye, and a young son. He can scarcely draw breath.” He fought to keep the pleading note out of his voice, knowing from tales of old that the goddess had little compassion for human weakness.

  She leaned back, carefully examining her smooth fingernails. “And what do you expect me to do about it?”

  “You are our only hope. Please show my child mercy. He is barely two winters old and such a sweet boy.” His voice cracked as the memory of Alec’s pitiful whimpers resonated in his mind. He cursed his foolish emotions, biting down on his knuckles to keep from crying out.

  “So you want me to heal him?”

  “Please, My Deity,” he begged, a tremor involuntarily rattling his chest. He sucked in a sharp breath as he awaited her answer, feeling like a hapless climber in that space between the crack of the mountain and the avalanche that ensued.

  She regarded him with eyes as cold as a serpent’s. “And what will you do for me in return?”

  “I will build a shrine in your honor and pay homage to you the rest of my life.” Though he meant what he said, he feared this wouldn’t be enough.

  “You should be honoring me anyway.” She waved with a disinterested flick and draped one leg over the armrest of her throne. “If I save your boy, every mortal with a sick child will be clawing at my mountain.”

  He wanted to tell the cold-hearted ice shrew that as the people’s goddess, she should be helping them, but he bit his tongue, forcing back words he knew would bring Madhea’s wrath upon his head.

  “I will tell no one. You have my word.” He placed a hand on his heart. “What would you have me do, My Deity? I will do anything for my boy.”

  One pale brow arched, and her lip curled up in a feral smile. “Anything?”

  Rowlen’s heart hit his stomach when he realized he’d just placed his fate in the hands of a madwoman. Elements save him.

  ROWLEN HURRIED ACROSS the thick rugs of Madhea’s bedchamber, pulling his tunic over his head. As he slipped on a vest, he cringed at the shrill scream that echoed off the walls, the sound licking at his heels like dragon flames.

  The Sky Goddess advanced behind him, her toenails scraping the ice floor as she wrapped a white robe around her lithe body. “Must I beg you to stay, Rowlen? Is that what you wish? To bring a goddess to her knees?”

  “Nay.” He spun around, heat flaming his face when he recalled the feel of Madhea’s cool flesh beneath him. Though he purposely avoided making eye contact, he saw that her once smooth hair resembled a bird’s nest, unkempt and wild. He hated himself even more. How he wished he could take back that night. The memory of his adultery would haunt him forever. “I wish you to let me go.” He still had a wife and child, though he deserved neither of them.

  She crossed her arms, pouting like a child, her wings angrily buzzing like a swarm of hornets. “What does your mortal wife have that I do not?”

  He stifled a groan, doing his best to keep a straight face. “I have already broken one vow to my wife. I wil
l not break another. I have honored our agreement. You had me for one night.” He held out a shaky hand. “Now please honor your blood oath and give me the potion.”

  The goddess’s cheeks colored to a deep crimson as she fell upon an ivory dresser covered with glass bottles. With a roar, she swept all but one of them to the floor. They shattered in a cacophony of light and smoke. She grabbed the remaining bottle and flew at Rowlen with such speed, he braced for impact.

  “Take it!” She threw it at him, laughing when it bounced off his chest. She screeched when he caught it and deftly slipped the delicate vial in his pocket.

  He didn’t wait for the ice shrew’s next action. He grabbed his fur cape off a nearby chair and hurried out the door.

  He didn’t know if he should have felt relief or worry when he saw one of Madhea’s magical daughters waiting for him.

  She held out a hand, her eyes wide with fright. “The Elementals are waiting. Come. You must hurry.”

  He took her hand and raced alongside her as she fluttered through a maze of ice halls. He was nearly out of breath by the time they’d reached the coven of sisters. They stood along the cavern’s ledge, a swarm of pixies flying above them. He saw nothing of the outside, for a thick mist of clouds obscured his vision. An icy wind blew into the cave, burning his face and neck. He pulled his fur hat tightly over his head, steeling himself for the descent. He felt the vial in his pocket, relieved to find it still intact.

  “I’m afraid this potion will not heal my son. I fear your mother has gone back on her word,” he said to the girls, not knowing who was who, for they all looked too much like Madhea.

  One of the sisters fluttered forward. “She can’t. She made a blood oath, but that doesn’t mean she won’t seek revenge. You should never have come.”

  He shrank back when Madhea’s violent scream echoed through the cavern. “What was I to do? Let my son die?”

  “Yes,” the girl said. “The Elements would have been far more merciful than my mother.”

  Fear numbed his limbs, and his heart thudded heavily against his ribs. “What do you mean? What will she do to him?”

  Another sister cast a furtive glance over her shoulder. “Do not worry about your son. It is your own soul you must fear for.”

  He stiffened. He already knew his soul had been lost the moment Madhea had tumbled into his arms. “She can do her worst. I care not for myself so long as my son is safe.”

  Madhea swooped toward him. “You may live to regret those words.”

  Rowlen sucked in a hiss. Before he could shield himself, she struck him hard in the chest with a bolt of green light.

  The air around him electrified as he struggled against an invisible bond that squeezed his chest like a vice. He pounded on a translucent barrier that resembled frosted glass. Madhea hovered above him, laughing and ignoring her daughters’ cries for mercy.

  Her shrill voice echoed around him and through him, penetrating the very marrow of his bones. When she pierced him with cold green eyes, he was paralyzed with terror. She spun around him like a cyclone.

  “Elements of flame and fury

  Show this man no mercy

  Crush his heart to dust

  Wither his soul to bones and rust

  Elements of ice and fire

  Grant me this desire

  That Rowlen may only know hatred and pain

  When he looks upon his son again”

  The barrier disappeared in a puff of smoke. He reached for his boning knife. Before he could plunge it into Madhea’s chest, the pixies swarmed him, their little claws digging into his clothes and exposed flesh. He tried swatting them away, but they only dug deeper. They lifted him off his feet and carried him down the mountain so fast, he thought he was falling. The goddess’s ugly cries punctured the thick air around them.

  As he spiraled faster, the echo of Madhea’s screams faded. When the clouds broke, he saw the smoke from his family’s hearth, rising beneath his feet. What would he say to his wife? A hard shell formed around his heart. Why had he risked his soul and sanity for one sick child? Damn the boy for ruining his life!

  “MOTHER, DO YOU WISH to hold your daughter?” Kia sat beside Madhea on her bed of soft furs, cradling the crimson-faced infant in her arms. The child fussed and squealed, waving her arms like an impatient pixie.

  Madhea scowled at the babe before turning up her nose. “No.”

  Why had her Elemental daughters brought her Rowlen’s child, other than to taunt her? Despite being born of a goddess, the infant had absolutely no magic. Even worse, she had thick black curls, too reminiscent of Rowlen.

  “Well, will you at least pick a name for her?” Ariette sat beside Kia, cooing at the babe and stroking her chin.

  “I already told you her name,” Madhea said curtly, her patience wearing thin.

  “But Jae is a cruel name.” Ariette’s hand flew to her throat, her dazzling green eyes muting to a soft heather. “It means ‘without light’ in Elemental tongue.”

  “I know perfectly well what it means. Why do you think I picked it?” Madhea turned up her nose at her daughters, despising them for their beautiful, youthful faces, like hers had been before she’d used dark magic to curse Rowlen. Now her skin was wrinkled and her hair a scraggly gray, like that of an old woman. No wonder her babe had come out lacking magic. Madhea felt her magic slowly slipping away, too, flowing from her fingertips like melting ice.

  “Come, Mother.” Kia tried to thrust the babe into Madhea’s arms. “You can’t deny your child.”

  “She has no magic.” Madhea pushed the offending infant away.

  “No.” Kia frowned. “But my sister will be special in her own way.”

  Special? Was that what her daughters called weak and infirm mortals? Though Madhea’s Elemental daughters looked like her and had powerful magic, that was where their similarities ended, for their hearts were as soft as runny porridge. They were weak and useless goddesses, and Madhea wondered more than once why she’d kept their Council.

  “She will die a mortal death.” Madhea scooted away from the child. “She will leave me, just like her father.” How she hated herself for sending her pixies after Rowlen. She should have let him perish trying to reach her, but she’d been so taken by his broad shoulders and dark eyes.

  Ariette’s wings drooped. “What should we do with her then?”

  The censure in their eyes made her chest swell with fury. “Feed her to the pixies for all I care.” She waved them away.

  The babe’s cries intensified.

  “Mother! We’re not feeding an innocent to the pixies.” Kia clutched the babe to her chest.

  “Come, sister.” Ariette placed a hand on Kia’s arm. “We will take care of her. Do not cry. I’m sure Mother’s heart will change.”

  Kia and Ariette quickly fluttered out of the bedchamber, and Madhea heard Kia whisper to her sister, “Our mother has no heart.”

  Their censure shouldn’t have bothered her. After all, she had heard worse from her children. Still, she couldn’t help but resent her daughters for thrusting a mortal babe upon her bosom. Most of all, she resented the babe for being born.

  “GIRLS, GIRLS, COME quick!” Madhea’s cries echoed through the icy cavern. Eighteen long years it had been since the birth of the child she’d conceived with Rowlen. Far too long for her to have been fooled by her deceptive Elemental daughters. Now they would pay for their treachery.

  Her six daughters fluttered into the cavern, not knowing they were flying into a trap. Once they were in the center of the stone circle, Madhea blasted the seventh stone into place, sealing their prison. She hit the pyres with a bolt, lighting the tops of the stones with a ring of impenetrable fire. She fluttered to the top of the cavern, smiling.

  “Mother,” Ariette screeched, jumping into the air only to be struck down by the invisible magic barrier. “What have you done?”

  Madhea’s lips twisted as she repressed the emotion that welled in her throat. She would not take pity
on them, not after their betrayal. “No, deceitful daughters, what have you done?”

  Kia jumped next, her head smacking against the magical barrier. She fluttered to the ground like an ember cast from the fire, landing in her sisters’ arms with a groan.

  “We’re trapped!” Ariette said to her sisters. “This is a heptacircle.”

  Madhea’s wings angrily buzzed as she jutted a finger at her daughters. “Do you know what my swirling mists revealed to me? The missing ice dragon you said was still buried under an avalanche was flying across the ocean with a witch girl on her back. Who is this witch, daughters, for she looks far too familiar?”

  Ariette turned up her chin, her shoulders and wings stiffening like blocks of ice. “She is Dianna, our sister.”

  Magic crackled in her palms as she fought the urge to strike her daughters down. “And Jae was—”

  “The mortal child we traded Dianna with at birth.” Ariette didn’t even blink. Her sisters cowered behind her like whimpering mongrels. Ariette had always been the most powerful and persuasive of her daughters.

  Madhea suspected they were secretly plotting to overthrow her and install Ariette as the new goddess. “Why?”

  Ariette crossed her arms, leveling Madhea with a challenging glare. “Because we knew you’d use Dianna’s powers for evil.”

  The insolent shrews! How dare they trick her with a weak mortal babe and deny Madhea the right to raise her child! “Why has she taken my dragon?”

  Lydra’s disappearance was most troubling. Her ice dragon had served her for over a thousand years. Not even the Elementals could control the beast, and yet this half-mortal girl was able to ride astride the dragon’s back?

  Ariette shared a knowing look with her sisters before turning back to Madhea. “To stop you from setting Lydra on innocents.”

  Madhea could perish, thanks to them. Red hot anger blurred her vision. “The swirling mists showed me Dianna has defeated my sister. How do you suppose a half-mortal witch defeated Eris, a powerful goddess?”