AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He reached over and pulled a blanket off a nearby bench and draped it over her. “Sleep. I’ll make sure nothing bothers you tonight.”
She hid her smile by pressing her face into his shoulder. “Thank you, for everything today. It’s been wonderful.”
He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead, and her world went spinning. She swore her world spun from the quick, innocent gesture. Inwardly she berated herself, it was an innocent forehead kiss, not a soul stealing make out session… Still, she would tuck that memory away and carry it with her when she left.
She started to flutter off to dreamland, but her brain refused to let her sleep. Her inner monologue made her restless and anxious, and she knew tonight would be one of those nights where she tossed and turned.
As the moon grew brighter, Ella yawned again and shifted restlessly in her spot. Adam stroked her hair and whispered, “Go to sleep, beautiful.”
She was grateful he couldn’t see her blush. “It’s been such a great day, I don’t want to miss anything that might happen.” Pushing the blanket off her leg, she pointed down at her injured leg. “Look, it’s getting better, I can bend my knee now.”
The grin he gave at the sight of her healing leg melted her. Adam nodded, but added, “there’s nothing to miss, the night is almost over, it’s time to relax and rest. Hopefully by tomorrow, you’ll be back to one hundred percent.”
“You’re probably right.” Yawn after yawn hit her, but she was still bogged down with anxiety. “I need something to send me off, something to keep my mind busy, so I can fall asleep.”
Adam laughed, and she loved the rumble she could hear in his chest. “I could tell you a story, that would be a definite way to bore you to sleep.”
She perked up. “I know you’re totally joking, but that might just work. Tell me some grand story.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not sure, I know any stories by heart.”
She glanced up at him through her lashes and asked, “What do you know by heart?”
“I guess I know history and lore, myths, that sort of thing.”
“Perfect, tell me one of those.”
He nodded and stretched out on the loungers, pulling her closer. “Okay, but remember, I’m not very good at this.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’ll be great.”
Ella snuggled into him, letting one more yawn escape and closing her eyes as she listened to him.
* * *
“Once upon a timethere was a man who wandered the desert waiting for death.” Adam paused for a moment. “His wife, his home, his sons. Everything he’s loved has either been lost, taken, or left him. So he rejected anything that remained of his old life and waited for his time to run out.”
“But a goddess appeared to him and asked one simple question, ‘are you happy with the life you’ve live in service of him?’ He answered truthfully, saying no. There were too many regrets to count over the years. He wanted a life of his own without the shackles that were placed on him.”
Ella snuggled closer and muttered as she dozed off. Adam continued. “The goddess said she could grant him freedom from his father, his creator. After living a very long life, he knew everything came with a cost. He cautiously asked what price he’d have to pay, and the answer was simple, the Goddess wanted him back, her husband had stolen him from her, and she had wanted so much more for him in life.
The man didn’t understand what the goddess was talking about, his creator had never mentioned a mother figure. He’d said he was the man’s creator. His puzzlement amused the goddess, and she explained everything to him. Her name was Asherah, and she was the wife of God, worshiped alongside him until the kingdom of men decided they would only worship her husband, they took everything from her. They destroyed her places of worship, burned her tree that stood as the symbol of her fertility and her control over the earth, they executed her children, the dragons, and they erased her from their books.
Adam could hear the anger brewing in his voice, but steadied it for fear of rustling Ella out of her fragile sleep. “Then Asherah’s husband grew more powerful, more possessive, and his greed grew. When the man was created they had done so together, but now with his kingdom of worshipers only praising him, he banished Asherah from the heavens and removed her from the man’s memories. The mother had been forgotten.
Asherah promised the man ‘I will give you life everlasting, power, and reunite you with your sons and all I ask is that you allow me to unlock your memories. But I warn you that you are not what you think you are, and knowledge is the price you pay.’
The man agreed, he desperately wanted to see his sons, one who’d been lost to him for centuries, the other who had left not long after that. And when she unlocked his mind, he thought he would die from the rush of information overflowing in his mind. And one incredible truth stood out among all others.
“What was that?” Ella asked sleepily.
He paused, startled by her sudden question. Nervously, he continued, “His mother had indeed had a hand in his creation. Hidden deep inside his soul, locked away from the world and her husband, Asherah had given him his own spark of life. She was the queen of fertility, the queen of creation, Mother of Earth, and queen of dragons.”
Ella gasped, “He was a dragon?”
Adam nodded. “He was and Asherah kept her word, knowledge was the only price he had to pay. The knowledge that his father betrayed and manipulated him. Yahweh, his creator, had played a cruel joke on his son, putting him in a prison of suffering just to use him as an example to his followers that suffering was a tenant of their faith.
Asherah hid the man in Egypt, where he learned to hone his dragon strengths and his new ability to shift between human and dragon. The man went on to form a deep alliance to the Egyptian deities and stayed there for several centuries. And in the end, he learned who he really was at heart and went on to look for contentment in his immortal life.”
