Excerpt: The Warrior Without

Down the hill, Tinthae still hadn’t gotten up her courage to walk through the gates. Her hand was tight on the reins of Rosalka’s horse, which would be coming with them to bear all the baggage, but her legs weren’t moving.
“The shock of it can be overwhelming,” Aisa said sympathetically, and put a hand quickly to her throat. Her voice was light and pleasant, but undeniably human. The bell-like tinkle and odd hollowness were gone, replaced by the timbre and tone of vocal chords. “Oh. Hmm. That’s interesting.” She hummed a little tune, then laughed. “That’s very interesting!”
Tinthae watched this strange behavior for a moment. A sneaking suspicion was occurring to her. “My lady?” she asked hesitantly. “Have you...done this before?”
“Hmm?” Aisa blinked, startled out of her humming, and met Tinthae’s eyes. “You mean have I ever put my power in a human before and walked as one of you?” She frowned, considering. “No, I don’t believe I have. But I’m very old. It’s possible I just forgot.” The possibility didn’t seem to bother her, and she turned to walk up the path, instantly tripping on her skirts and falling flat on her face.
Tinthae quickly smothered a laugh, turning it into a cough that she hoped sounded more convincing to other ears. “I’m sorry, my lady,” she said as she tried to hide a grin. “Let me help you up.”
Confusion was rampant on Aisa’s face as she got slowly to her feet. “This is more difficult than you make it seem,” she said, and the frown on her face deepened. “I’m not certain I like this very much.”
“I thought you were supposed to become incorporeal.” Tinthae surveyed the goddess’s scraped knee and dirt-smudged face, neither of which gave a very ethereal impression. “You look pretty corporeal to me.”
Aisa checked her hands for any sign of damage, pronounced them safe, and began brushing off her skirts. “Well, I thought that was what would happen,” she confided. “As I said, I haven’t done it before.” She stared down at her skirts for a moment until an idea occurred to her, whereupon she carefully picked up her skirts in her hand. She gave Tinthae a look of pride as if to say, “Ingenious, no?” and began walking up the hill.