Chapter 14
DEATH
Nobus’ power vibrates through the throne room as the gods of the Golden Pantheon kneel before him. His magic grips them by the throat, wrapping around their necks like glimmering collars. Their immortal bodies, still coated in fresh blood and torn clothing, tremble under the weight.
Mikais lies unconscious on the dais. Nobus raises his foot, firmly planting it atop the barely rising chest of his brother as he further taunts the crowd.
“Did you think I could be so easily overthrown? That my brother could save you from me? What a joke.”
He pushes up, straightening his leg. A crunching sound echoes in the room as Mikais’ breast bone breaks under his weight. A day, maybe two, and the god will be as good as new. Damaging the Wolf God’s body is simply a display of power and control.
Several gods in the crowd wince at the noise, and one even cries out in agony for the public face of the rebellion.
But the true leader, the one who planned this battle and ensured a level head ruled over emotions, glares at the God King with flaming eyes.
I have no doubt that the dais would be fully engulfed in Nina’s fire if Nobus’ magic didn’t suppress it.
From the recesses, I watch, lurking in the shadows. The wound on my hand itches as it heals, the only evidence of my blood promise disappearing rapidly. I roll the sleeves of my black shirt up before shoving my hands into the pockets of my pants.
Look at ease. Don’t give yourself away.
I am here as a threat, an ominous presence meant to stoke their fear. And I am that to many of them, but I am not that to her. Selene’s head hangs in apparent resignation—all a part of the game still very much at play.
“This is the god you would elevate to king? This is the god you would sacrifice your immortal existence for?”
Nobus flicks his hand, causing Mikais’ body to tumble down the stairs like a bouncing ball.
The God King stomps forcefully after him, bending at the waist and gripping Mikais by the hair.
Nobus lifts the limp body of the Wolf God above his head.
A bloody, desecrated show of just how merciless he is, even toward his own brother.
“The price for his treason is your life in exile.”
Denial fills the room as the gods take in their sentence. I can taste their fear, their surprise, their disgust. I step out of the darkness, allowing myself to be seen.
Countless eyes flit in my direction, eyes that silently beg for me to claim their souls instead. Shimmering bands of dark magic roll through the crowd, twisting and turning around the gods but remaining just out of reach.
The first notes of a song follow alongside them. Lyra’s cracked voice squeaks out a haunting dirge around the magical collar that binds her. Every note is filled with a pensive sadness that settles deep in the bones of the pantheon.
The God King drops the Wolf God into a heap on the floor.
He wipes his brother’s blood on his white shirt, caring little for the cloth or the god who barely clings to life.
Nobus climbs the dais again, planting his ass on the obnoxiously large golden throne and leaning back with casual ease.
He loosens the magic that restrains the kneeling deities slightly.
“Now is when you beg,” he says with a prideful smirk.
Selene glances my way, cueing my exit. She will have to beg alongside the others, and we both know I can’t stomach watching it.
I make a show of drawing my magic back towards me. Shadows crack in the air like whips as they return to their wielder, a demonic smile painting my lips.
“Take me, Dark God!”
“Kill us, please!”
“DEATH!”
They scream for me as I slowly step backwards. Their pleas coat my tastebuds, my tongue salivating with their delicious distress. I want to stay, to consume it all as Nobus drags their bodies from his realm. To indulge, to savor every morsel until there is nothing left of them.
Darkness rises within me as their cries grow louder. I halt my exit, daring to sip from their emotions for a moment longer.
The hair on the back of my neck prickles as lightning flashes across the night sky. The tell-tale sign of approaching death pulls me from my feast.
The decision has been made and the goddess that awaits me on the beach now doesn’t have long left on this plane of existence.
Arcasia stands in the surf, the water washing over her bare feet. The prince, strapped to her back, peers over her shoulder. From their black hair to their gray eyes, they are a mirror of each other. Two souls fated to change the future of the gods.
The child babbles something incoherent, but his mother doesn’t comfort him.
“I always knew I would hand my son over to the Dark God of Death,” Arcasia says. “I just never imagined it would be willingly.”
“If it brings you any comfort, I won’t be keeping him.” I step out of the shadows and into the fading light of the two moons. “You, however, are a different story.”
“So he’s decided then? My husband will kill me now?”
A single dip of my head is the only response I offer her. Arcasia’s fate is sealed. The goddess that stands before me now will never again walk the shores of this realm or hold her child in her arms after tonight.
“Offer me a bargain, Dark God.”
Arcasia boldly steps toward me. She is frantic, yes, but there is no fear on her scent, nothing that I can drink in to temporarily satisfy the unfillable void within me.
“Who are you to demand such a thing from Death? What could you possibly offer me?” I scoff as the bands of my dark magic swirl around her in warning. Sunrise approaches, and with it, my last chance to see Selene.
“Give me the child.”
Arcasia unties the fabric that holds the princeling to her back, her tears coating his cheeks as she kisses him.
My magic wraps around the him and begins to carry the prince toward me. The Goddess of Protection reaches out, her finger tracing a serpentine path on his small chest.
“Alak ayo nora,” she whispers in the old language. Sparkling cerulean power envelopes him at her words, a final gift from his mother.
“I know she is yours,” the goddess says in a whispered breath as the child floats to my side.
“What did you say?” I demand, anger building in my veins at the implication of her words.
If she dares to threaten me, dares to try to blackmail me…whatever end Nobus has planned for her will pale in comparison to what I will do to her.
“The baby. Calaedon’s fated.” The goddess drops to her knees in the water, her storm cloud eyes locking onto mine. “I can still protect her. Offer me a bargain, Death.”
“I cannot save you, Arcasia. I am not your judge nor am I your executioner. Beg your husband for your life.”
“A favor,” she calls out. “No conditions.”
The shadows that swirl around my feet pause at her offer. It’s true I cannot save her, but I am intrigued enough to hear her out. Her desperation may yet offer something Selene can use to save the children.
“In exchange for what?”
“My beast form,” she starts. “Keep my beast form alive and I will grant you any favor. No questions, no conditions. Anything you want, it’s yours.”
A leviathan. A serpent. A dragon. The mortals call it various things in their realms, but each of them marvel at the beastial form of the Goddess of Protection.
I’ve watched her take down ships, eclipsing them with her massive scales, crushing their masts with nothing more than a casual flick of her tail. To have a creature like that under my control is tempting.
“If—and that is a very big if—if I am able to make that possible, you will never be able to shift back.”
“I know.”
Considering the offer, I toil over her words for any trick or deception and find nothing but hopeless anguish.
If she dies and exists only as some reanimated sea beast, confined to the watery depths, she won’t have access to her full power.
Any magic she will need to fulfill our deal must be used now.
“You will grant my daughter your protection now and it will come to her in preparation for the moment she will need it most.”
“Done.” The words have barely left my lips before the blue bands of Arcasia’s magic bursts forth from her body.
“I am not done.” I raise my palm, halting her. “You will grant my daughter your protection and you will be my creature. You will do my bidding for the rest of eternity.”
Pain flits across Arcasia’s face as she considers my counter offer. “Eternity is a long time.”
“So is death.”
The goddess bows her head in resignation as her magic flares to life again. “Get me to his realm and we have a deal.”
I step towards her, crouching down to grip her jaw. “How many bargains have you made tonight, goddess?”
Her eyes glow silver with a renewed fire. “None that I would not make a thousand times over to save my son.”
Dark magic joins with blue as our bargain seals.
“Shift,” I command. “Shift now and he will exile you with the rest of them.”
“And you will keep the beast alive?”
“You question me now, goddess?” I scoff. “It’s a little too late for that.”
Arcasia’s body shudders as my hold on her tightens. Dark magic wraps around her heart, squeezing until the goddess submits. I step back admiring the transformation.
Curls of dark hair shift into shimmering scales sharp enough to slice through muscle without thought. Her eyes grow large but keep their signature gray as she slithers backwards into the water never to surface again in this realm.