Eyes of the Alchemist Read Online Free PDF Page A

the wilderness. He was a young man seeking wisdom. His body was full of the vigor of his manhood and I needed a mate. He was affected by the scent of the desert flowers and so was I.”
    “The effect is potent,” Tiana murmured. “Indeed, I know not whether this be dream or truth.”
     Lynx gave a gurgle of laughter. “I’d heard that gods sometimes mated with mortals. As your sire coveted wisdom so I craved a child. So I revealed my face to him, and when he was fevered with lust I offered him wisdom in return for his seed. He could not resist the temptation. Thus, I stole his youth and his manhood from him, for only then could he have true wisdom. My punishment was to bear you in my body then to lose you. I discovered that the child of a mortal cannot journey with the gods, and a god cannot live the life of a mortal for more than a short time, unless he is cursed.”
    A great melancholy filled Tiana’s heart. “That must have been a hard lesson to learn. Why are you here?”
    “I needed to see you again, to tell you of the great love I feel for you.” From around her neck she took a silver cord. A stone as green and glowing as her eyes hung from it. “This is my gift of love,” she said, fastening it around Tiana’s neck. “Guard it well since it’s the key to your future. Now I must go for I am forbidden the company of night.”
    “Will we meet again?”
    “Perhaps.” A kiss brushed against her cheek, as light as the air but twice as sweet. “Your spirit will never quite be earth-bound, Tiana. Sleep now, daughter of my heart, for the time of change is nearly come.”
    Tiana’s mind filled with the overpowering scent of the flowers and she was pulled down into the velvety darkness of petals.
    She woke to the sound of a howling wind and semi-darkness. The Cabrilan world was swinging low in the sky, so it blotted out the sun. She’d never seen it so close. Alarmed and disorientated, she sat up, and rubbing grit from her eyes gazed around her. The horizon was a haze of pulsing darkness. Her heart began to pound and she looked around for her Pitilan.
    The beast was stretched out on his side, a satisfied look on his face.
    “Sybilla?” she said quietly, her sense of unease almost overwhelming.
     Her mentor opened one eye and then hastily shut it against the flying dust. “What troubles you, child?”
    “I’ve never seen Cabrilan’s orbit this low, and there’s a storm on the horizon.” Even as she spoke sand stung her face. Dry storms were common when Cabrilan was low, but this one promised to be savage. “There is lightning.”
    Sybilla was on her feet in an instant and rolling up her blanket. Her voice was calm. “We will find shelter at the cave if we hurry. The last time this happened was when the God Beltane was angered. He roared so loudly that Cabrilan was blown off course.”
    Her glance fell on the fruit basket and her eyes began to shine. “Ah . . . I have not seen cherries since I was a girl . . . and what are those? Grapes, I think.” She popped one in her mouth, bit down on it and gave a smile as she savored the sweet juices. “I’ve only seen a pictures of them before. The seeds were brought from Earth by our ancestors, and flourished until the split occurred. They used to make sweet, white wine with the grapes.” Juice ran from the corner of her mouth and she gave a blissful sigh. “Ah . . . delicious.”
    “But the split was thousands of generations ago. How –”
    “You think you’re the only one who can conjure up images, even ones such as this that don’t disappear in the blink of an eye? I must have dreamed of them. Quickly girl, put them in your sack before the wind dries the juices from them,” she said with a show of unusual brusqueness. “We shall feast well this day, even if it is an illusion.”
    “But it’s not an illusion. Last night -”
     But Sybilla was shoving her blanket into her sack. “Stop your babbling and grab your blanket before the wind takes