Epilogue
Kasik stood over the devastation at the top of the mountain, the jagged shards of the achilla altar at his feet and the gods’
will filling his head.
He had died, and they had revived his soul, sliced him apart, searing and demanding, until he was cold and empty.
A vessel waiting to be filled.
Time had no meaning. Bodies covered in snow littered the ground, blood frozen beneath them. One by one, he wiped their faces.
He saw the victims of Nina’s wrath. The victims of his tayta’s failure, but the man was nowhere to be found.
It mattered little now. Nothing had ever been so clear.
There was who he was before, a mortal filled with mortal longings that weakened him to the truth of the world. The insignificance of their lives was
like a weight lifted from his shoulders. No longer was he concerned about his own desires. No longer did they cloud his judgment.
And there was who he was now, remade in the gods’ image. Filled to bursting with their will, until his own ceased to exist. Finally, he was who he was
always meant to be. All he could see was the gods’ plan for his life, all their lives, and it was good.
Nina would destroy their world. She would usher them into chaos and destruction, and it was Kasik who would stop her. Through
him, the people of Tawantinsuyu would be led to victory.
And the gods would finally return home.