The God in the Field: Finale (special preview)

I walked again, just as I had before. I knew I had to go further and further through the field, until my legs gave out, until my body ached. As it grew dark, I felt an end coming. The path would open and I would find somewhere safe for me. Either at the house or with the god again.

My raven appeared over head, guiding me until the path went into the mouth of a hole. The hole went down and, in the shadows, I saw bone and rotting flesh. I saw the people who had become meals to the god. My raven rested above the opening and shouted out my name.

“Come in,” it was Joey’s voice that beckoned me. “It’s safe for you down here.”

I stepped closer and looked inside. I saw darkness for ages, but in the far off distance, there was a warm glow. “What waits for me?” I whispered.

“You’ll be safe,” Joey’s voice said again. “I promise.”

I stepped into the mouth, sitting down so I did not hit my head. My legs dangled over a ledge and, before I could stop myself, I fell. I clawed at the ground to try and save myself, but all I did was get dirt under the nails. I toppled through the darkness, screaming my throat raw. The fall felt as endless as the field, but the field I knew, the darkness was nothing but unknowing. It went on and on before me with nothing but my screams to fill the void. I couldn’t stop, I couldn’t breathe. I just went through and over and beyond, not understanding at all where I was. 

Eyes lit up in the shadows and I realized the darkness was ravens. The darkness was full of angels.

I was plucked from the air, grabbed by a large, strong hand. I sagged in its grip, sobbing and wheezing. My throat felt like an open wound, and my body was useless from terror. The god pulled me in, closer and closer towards the warm glow.

“I’m scared,” I sobbed to it.

“That is normal.” The god spoke with Joey’s voice. “Fear is the first sensation you had coming into this world, and it will be your last.”

The god placed its hands around me, cupping me between its mighty palms. I sank in its grasp, wanting to be taken away. The warm glow came closer, and like the fire last night, I wished to bathe in its warmth. 

“Please, let me rest,” I cried. 

The god set me down and I felt something soft and warm beneath me. “Is that what you want now?” It was Joey’s voice it spoke with, but that low, wet rumble returned to the back of its throat.

My body felt warm and responsive. “It’s been so long.”

The god touched my cheek and brushed away my hair. “You have nothing to be afraid of.” Joey’s voice began to change and it turned into another familiar cadence. “You are the True Mate, the mother of the new god.” My mother spoke to me with that hint of gravel at the back of her throat. “You are always safe, always protected. The field embraces you, it does not wish to banish you like the rest.”

I look up at the god with tears still in my eyes. It was a world of difference to hear my mother again. I had accepted our fate early on and that there would come a time I would be alone. There was always a selfish part of me that wanted my mother back, when I was sad or lonely. Hearing her voice, even from the god, was a relief.

“May I ask you something?” I whisper to it.

The god’s fingers rub against my temple. “Anything, my love.”

“Why are we here?” I whisper. “The field, you, all of us-” My voice echoes through the dark and I hear the flutter of wings vibrate the dark walls. “Is there a reason for all of this? Like, are we on a path towards heaven or hell?”