Songs

of

Ruin

A The Witches of Thyana Novella

A.G. Porter

Songs of Ruin © 2021 by A.G. Porter

This is a work of fiction. All events portrayed in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form without the express permission of the publisher.

Cover by RFK Cover Design

Edited by Reanna Guthrie

Dragonfire Press

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Acknowledgements

Dear Reader

Other Books

SONGS OF RUIN

Songs of ruin,

Melodies of life.

Lyrics of suffering,

Chords of light.

Symphonies of hate,

Lullabies of love.

Hymns of hurt,

Composers of desire.

Songs of ruin,

Songs of faith,

Songs of love,

Songs of hate.

Chapter 1

Before the darkness became light, before the warmth of the sun took the coolness from the land, I stood amongst the wet soil and brought forth life. Creatures and vegetation emerged from the earth as I whispered their names. They came to the sound of my voice, clinging to my essence, knowing that I was the giver of life.

For millennia, we lived in peace, my children and me. I would lie upon the wet mud and feel the tiny legs of centipedes move across my abdomen and earthworms wrap around my toes. I would taste the mushrooms and rest my head on the moss.

The first ray of sunlight that came crashing into my world was both frightening and mesmerizing. My creatures flinched, burrowing their way into the ground. I made shelter for them out of the rocks, building tall mountains and caves for them to hide from the light.

I was curious then, and at this point, the light did not harm me. I wanted to know what it was. More than that, I wanted to know who had created it. Leaving my children with the promise that I would return, I set out to look for the source. After all, the light was warm and gentle because it was so new.

I traveled for days, searching for the warmth and comfort of those rays. When at last I found them, I found something I did not expect. It was a being, like me, yet unlike me.

Humans look the way they do because we look the way we do, the gods and goddesses. This being was not like me, yet I could see the similarities. I was not afraid. Fear, emotion, was not something I had yet experienced. Love perhaps. I loved my creations. I was curious about life and wanted to learn more.

This being stirred something else within me. I reached out to it with my mind, my thoughts. Calling to it.

“I feel you there, Thyana,” a voice whispered through the air.

“You know me?” I asked out loud. “Who are you?”

“I am what was here before and shall be here after,” the being replied.

I stared at it, but realized I could not see it properly. It stood before me, and while it was in my direct line of sight, a hazy prism-like shine encased its body.

“You have been alone for a long time,” the being spoke.

“I am not alone,” I said.

“Your creatures and moss are not loyal companions, my daughter of night.” It moved closer, bringing the warm light with it.

“Daughter?” I asked it. “Who are you?”

“Mother of the Moon,” it said, moving closer. “Mother of the Sun. Queen of the Stars. Rajni. I have created all that you see. I have created you.”

“No,” I shook my head. “I have always been.” She was close enough now that I could feel the warmth from her golden rays dancing on my skin.

“It must feel that way,” she said, her warmth retreating as she moved past me.

The more Rajni moved, the clearer she became. Her silky black hair cascading down her back reached the middle of her calves, and her shapely, full figure was the color of the rich soil from which I had birthed my creatures. Bright, star-like jewels hung from her shoulders and wrapped around her body in intricate patterns. She looked like the moon itself.

“The truth, Thyana, is that you and I have both been alone,” she said, an emotion I didn’t understand tingeing her words.

Rajni moved around me, looking at the earth. Each place her feet touched seemed to illuminate beneath her. When I looked back up, her face was clear. Her dark skin was flawless and shone like the light from the stars. The darkness of her eyes was that of the universe that encased our world, endless and all-knowing.

For the first time, I felt it then, Fear. I knew my creator, and I knew the power behind those dark eyes. Still, behind that fear was something else: betrayal.

“If you are my creator,” I began, “then why did you leave me?”

“Questions,” she nearly whispered. “If I am being honest, Thyana, I did not think my creation of you had worked. I formed you—it took all of my power and strength to do so—out of the very soil that we now stand upon. I gave you breath, and lungs, and a heart that beat upon your breast, and still you did not move.”