“Wait! Do not go! I have more to ask you!” Breaker raced after the fleeting breeze, clutching at grey wisps even as they thinned to nothing. His sprint carried him to the edge of a cliff, which seemed to appear from nowhere. He skidded to a halt, nearly sliding off the edge of the precipice.

A hawk-like scream tore from the purple heavens, followed by the swooping figure of a woman-sized bird of prey. Y’edda settled on the cliff next to Cronen and preened her coat of feathers as she took her humanesque form. Her plumage became a fine feathery cloak overlaid by locks of red hair, and her pale eyes bored into him like twin augers.

Breaker spoke first.

“Tell me not; I stand accused of dire things.” He shook his head in jest, but Y’edda could only frown.

“You are accused of wicked things indeed,” she said,
“You stole the heart of my sister, Am’aleh.”

Within a moment Breaker matched her frown. Once again, he stood accused of a crime he could not deny. Once again, he would have to find a means to defend himself… without lifting a hand.

“I stole nothing, Am’aleh toyed with me.
I know I never could claim her true love.”

Y’edda shook her crimson mane, feathered cloak flapping in the wind, and stepped closer.

“You misread me Breaker. You performed well.
Now that you have taken her heart, have mine.”

She stepped ever closer, arms rising up to encircle him. Her lips pursed as she leaned forward, as beautiful as a woman could be, ready for a kiss.

Tearing himself away from the sky mother made leaving the green beach behind seem a simple task. She was a powerful lodestone, drawing him like a lump of forged iron. Breaker gritted his teeth and steeled himself away from the temptation of the endless pleasure he knew waited in a Thayne’s embrace.

“Do not tempt me, O Mother of the Sky;
I would hate to ruin you for others.”

A wry smile lit his lips.

“Ha! You cannot break what is endless, dear.” She reached out again.
“But you are a handsome man. I see what
Both of my sisters saw in your young eyes.”

“Both of your… of whom do you speak? I nev-” and then he remembered. It was so long ago, when Am’aleh had first accepted him as a worshiper. She had sent him to Fallien with a nigh impossible mission. He had completed it, lying with the Fallieni Goddess of the Moon in the process. Suravani had shown him as much rapture as Am’aleh, but he had seldom heard from her since. He had yet to return to the sandy shores of her homeland.

“You see? You have not always been faithful.
How can we trust you to join our ranks when
You cannot stay true to a single Thayne.”

Breaker grimaced, but slowly the expression grew into a smile.

“I am true to no God. I stand alone
On Althanas, but I would stand with you.”

Y’edda cocked her head to one side, a modest breeze ruffling her downy cloak. As the feathers settled they became plumage once more, and the massive bird of prey gave Josh a final glare and then leaped off the cliff.