Chapter 54
Chapter Fifty-Four
The amphitheater thrums as the crowd chants, the stands packed with bodies as I head for the middle of the arena to start the fight.
Over the stands, throngs of Tirenese people fly and hover, waiting to see what will happen with their monarchs.
Alicorns dot the skies, and people from various kingdoms jostle for a good view.
The dragons are visibly absent. Though Lark sent them away because of Ziva’s threats, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re somewhere nearby but out of sight.
Through the roars of the crowd, Lark moves with the dignity of a queen and the resolve of a warrior, each step bringing her closer to our shared destiny. Her golden eyes lock onto mine with an intensity that steals my breath.
She’s fucking magnificent.
In this moment, with thousands of eyes upon us and deities looming from their crystal-lined dais, I can think only of how much has changed since we met.
How Lark has transformed from a sharp-tongued fledgling to a queen who faces gods without flinching.
A woman who stands toe-to-toe with the universe itself and refuses to bow.
The spark that once flickered inside her has spread into a raging inferno.
Pride that borders on pain swells in my chest.
I’ve known warriors, kings, men and women who commanded respect through fear or birthright. But Lark commands it through the sheer force of who she is.
And she chose me. Despite my betrayal. Despite our foundation being built on lies. Despite all my fuck ups. She still chose me.
We meet in the center of the arena where the weapon rack of beautiful blades forged by divine hands glints in the morning light, each imbued with power matching our magical affinities.
Tools of slaughter dressed as gifts.
A glaive of ice, a long swordlike blade attached to a pole as long as my wingspan and marked with Rivlan’s sigil, catches the sun, gleaming with deadly intent.
Its power calls to mine.
Repulsed and angry, my magic flares before I can control it. There’s a twitch along Lark’s jaw that lets me know she’s just as disgusted. She turns away from the weapons, raising her face to the gods.
I turn with her, ignoring the rack.
Zeru rises to his feet, sending the Devoted huddled on the stands below the gods into a fanatic frenzy of fawning. Stars dance around him in a dazzling display of power. The other gods lean forward, waiting for him to say or do something.
They have no idea what’s coming.
A strange sensation creeps over me, raising the hairs on the back of my neck. As if someone’s watching us. Which is weird, because everyone is watching us. We’re putting on a show for the entire world.
Goose bumps cover Lark’s arms, and she casts a subtle glance at me. She feels it too.
“We need to get Zeru to admit why we’re all here.” I hope the gods can’t hear me shouting over the roar of the crowd.
Lark’s lips curl into a smile that’s both beautiful and dangerous, her eyes alight with malicious intent. “Then let’s piss him off. Gods hate it when their toys don’t behave.”
We survey the stands, our hands clasped tightly together.
I feel the weight of divine attention pressing down on us from the raised dais.
Zeru’s starlight gaze burns with impatience.
Rivlan, dressed in a flowing white tunic and white breeches, tracks our every move, features so tense he could be chiseled from stone.
Ziva’s charcoal black eyes watch Lark with an emotion I can’t quite parse.
I lift my foot and kick the weapon rack over with a single decisive motion. Sacred weapons clatter across the dirt, their metallic song echoing through the now silent arena.
The crowd’s collective intake of breath feels like a physical force against my skin.
“We won’t be playing your game!” I point directly at Zeru, abandoning all pretense of reverence. “This spectacle is built on lies and threats.”
Zeru pulsates with anger, his form fluctuating between a golden human appearance and glimpses of his cosmic reality, a being of stars and void, ancient beyond comprehension. “The covenant dictates—”
“That covenant is between gods.” My nerves tingle with reckless satisfaction at the shock that flutters across his perfect features as I cut him off. “No human signed it. We’re not bound by your arrangements.”
“You came willingly.” Stars swirl around Zeru like a mane. “Champions must be willing participants. That is the law.”
“Willing, my ass.” Lark’s laugh is sharp enough to cut glass.
“You threatened to sink Tirene beneath the waves if we refused. You threatened to kill every man, woman, and child in the palace. Every animal, including my beloved dragons. You said you’d erase us from existence, including the island itself.
That’s the only reason we’re here today. ”
The gods glance at each other, but only Zeru and Rivlan, both angry and indignant, seem affected by her words. The others simply stare with open curiosity, like they’re eager to see how this plays out.
The crowd’s whispers grow louder while an undercurrent of unease spreads through the stands. Faces stamped with rising confusion and concern shift toward each other, seeking answers.
“Is that true?” An elderly Meridian nobleman with salt-and-pepper hair curled into perfect rings stands on shaky legs to address Zeru. “Did your gods threaten to destroy their kingdom? Their people? That’s genocide!”
Before Zeru can respond, I press further.
“We don’t know what the inter-deity conflict is or who’s fighting who.
Yet we’re supposed to be your champions?
How can I possibly choose a side when I don’t know what the sides are?
You have set it up so I might be fighting against my own best interests, against those of all mortals. ”
The murmurs in the crowd become louder.
Devotion, carefully cultivated over centuries, begins to waver in the face of uncomfortable questions. The invisible tributaries of faith that feed into the glittering formations beside the gods’ seats slow and thin.
Zeru’s perfect features contort with fury. “You speak of things you cannot understand. You stand on a precipice of knowledge not meant for your kind.”
“And yet here we are because you and your kind forced us.” Lark’s gesture encompasses us and the pile of discarded gifts. “Not as pawns, but as players. Not as champions, but as accusers.”
“We do so because we understand more than you wanted us to.” I lift my arm and my magic surges stronger than ever, as if my defiance of Rivlan somehow unlocked new channels of power.
Water rises from the ground in crystalline patterns, identical to the formations that started appearing in temples across the world. The same ones that began growing around the arena once the gods arrived. They stand on display, refracting sunlight into rainbow ribbons across the dirt.
Gasps rise from the crowd.
They’ve seen these formations before. In their places of worship, in sacred groves, beside altars where they’ve knelt in prayer.
“For too long, these crystals have been growing in your temples. They appear where prayer is strongest, where devotion flows most freely.” Lark’s eyes sweep across the amphitheater. “Perhaps you were told they were signs of divine favor.”
“They are harvesting equipment.” I scowl, my voice hard with certainty.
“The gods have been fighting each other, and that conflict is what caused the strange occurrences you’ve all witnessed.
Temples moving overnight, sacred waters transforming into crystal, divine animals attacking villages.
In order to stop those happenings, we agreed to fight in this match.
Until we learned that by doing so, we would be hosting a feast for the gods. ”
Lark’s wings shift, the gold streaks gleaming.
“They manufactured this battle to frighten you into praying harder, into devoting yourselves more completely. Because the gods gain power from your faith and fear. They feed on us. On our prayers. And by making things worse for us, they receive even more devotion, more food, more power.”
“Lies!” Zeru’s stars swirl in a violent path around him, mocking the human form he’s trying to maintain. “These misguided fools are trying to sway you from the proper path of devotion.”
Beside him, the other gods shift uncomfortably, some avoiding the direct gaze of the crowd, others staring defiantly back. Only Rivlan stares directly at me, his eyes unreadable.
“You are nothing without us.” I point at Zeru directly. “Divine parasites feeding on human devotion.”
“Preposterous!” Zeru’s voice booms across the arena. “We shaped this world. We granted you magic. We—”
“Look for yourselves!” I gesture at the crystalline formations situated near the gods’ section.
“Those crystals were growing and pulsing when you entered the arena, when the crowd gasped in awe at your divine presence. But they’ve been still since we began speaking.
Since the truth pushed your faithful audience toward doubt instead of devotion.
The harvest slowed, and so did the growth of the crystals. ”
Lark steps forward, her eyes flashing gold as her fire magic responds to her emotions.
“Let me demonstrate. Join me, people of Tirene and beyond, as I pray to Aletheia, Goddess of Light and Truth!” She points to the goddess in the stands whose porcelain skin contrasts with chestnut hair and bright green eyes.
A murmur runs through the crowd, and heads swivel to study the formations with anxious eyes.
Lark lifts her hands skyward. “Great Aletheia, reveal whether what we speak is truth. Show your faithful followers the reality of divine hunger!”
The people rise, lips moving as they pray.
The crystals beside Aletheia, a goddess who has remained silent throughout our confrontation, begin to pulse. Light trickles through them. Before the crowd’s astonished eyes, they grow, extending delicate, transparent branches that reach toward Lark and the spectators like hungry leeches.
The reaction is immediate.
Gasps of horror. Cries of betrayal.
Prayers die on trembling lips.
Aletheia herself says nothing, but her sad, serene expression speaks volumes. She does not deny our accusations. The Goddess of Light and Truth cannot lie, not through words or actions.
Instead, she sits still, her alabaster skin shining brighter as she’s fed.
“Enough! What does it matter if we draw strength from your devotion? It is the natural order. Gods rule. Humans serve. You exist to sustain us.” Zeru’s naked admission sends shock sweeping through the crowd.
Even the doubters gape in horror.
Time slows as the people process the deity’s words.
Zeru’s eyes become incandescent with rage.
Then his fury explodes.
The irate god slams his foot down, creating a forceful wave that crashes over everyone in the arena. The stands groan in protest. “We were here first. We shaped this world. You know nothing of what we are, what we’ve sacrificed!”
My own anger courses through me, heating my blood. “We know that you’ve pushed us too far by forcing us to kill each other.” I gesture between Lark and myself. “That’s too much to ask. We will not. Fucking. Do it.”
Zeru thrusts a finger in our direction. “You are bound by the covenant. You will fight.”
White-hot miniature stars spiral across the stadium.
The screaming crowd ducks in horror.
I cock my head to the side, sharing a look with Lark. “Are you a willing participant? Ready to fight as a champion in this death match?”
Lark lifts her chin, eyes burning gold with power and defiance. “I am most definitely not willing. I was pushed into this farce under threat of genocide against my people.”
“As was I.” I turn back to face Zeru. “The covenant requires willing champions. Since we don’t meet the criteria, can’t we withdraw our consent?”
Though I don’t know why I bother attempting to clarify. It’s not as if the gods are particularly trustworthy.
Zeru’s perfect face contorts with mounting fury. “If you will not fight for the gods, then you will fight the gods themselves.”
The crowd scrambles in terror, people pushing and shoving against each other in an attempt to flee. Children cry out, clinging to their parents. Wings flare in panic as some try to fly skyward only to hit an invisible barrier that now encases the entire arena.
“We expected as much.” Lark holds out her hand, slender fingers steady despite everything. “Ready to merge our powers and show them who they’re playing with?”
If this is a bluff to get the God of the Heavens to stand down, it’s a damn good one.
Zeru’s fury falters for a heartbeat, uncertainty flickering across his features. The gods shift nervously, exchanging glances that contain entire conversations.
Their sudden apprehension isn’t lost on the crowd.
The mortals pause their efforts to escape and watch with renewed interest.
“You cannot.” There’s a note in Zeru’s voice I’ve never heard before. Fear. “The convergence of opposing elements during a Champions Match is forbidden.”
“Oh, I assure you, we can.” Lark’s smile is lethal.
Our magics, more powerful than ever before, begin to mingle. The air around us shimmers with heat and moisture, creating a hazy aura that sparkles with possibility. This is what Bastian called our “long shot.” The loophole in the covenant he’d discovered in his research.
If Lark and I merge, we become one champion instead of two.
If one dies, we both die.
Neither can win…which means no gods can claim victory through us. Our union nullifies the covenant, rendering their divine game unplayable. It doesn’t solve the larger issue. They could still force us into a fight.
But our union buys us time.
It gives us leverage.
And keeps the lesser gods frozen in their seats, all eyeing Zeru.
Zeru raises his hand, comet-fueled fire gathering at his fingertips. “Stop this abomination!”
I pull Lark closer, feeling her wings unfurl against my own as we stand shoulder to shoulder, facing Zeru’s wrath. Water and fire rise around us in a spiraling vortex of elemental fury. Not as opposing forces, but as complementary ones stronger together than apart.
Just like us.
Zeru’s swirling ball of cosmic energy jets toward us, destroying everything in its wake.