Chapter 75
Solace
The long road to Vespera—my throne—was nearly at an end; the blue haze of manufactured light from Mage Orbs washed over the wall that surrounded the city and illuminated the lush green grass that surrounded the base.
We were still too far to see Vespera clearly, but we would be attacking by nightfall tomorrow.
I scoffed at Kaos’ last descendant’s folly—to think that a wall would keep me from claiming what should be mine was foolish at best.
I itched to bring the black stone monstrosity down, to expose Vespera’s innards and take what I wanted.
Soon.
Growling in frustration and anticipation, I turned from the wall to gaze at my army’s makeshift camp.
I’d amassed quite a following since we first left the Stepstones, and the majority of my newest soldiers were men that were either impressed into servitude or those wanted to see if they could fuck a goddess.
After I publicly beheaded the second one that tried, I’d been left blissfully alone.
Most of my army slept on the ground using spare clothes for bedding; a lucky few remembered to bring tents from the Stepstones or were some of the newer recruits who had killed a more seasoned member for their shelter.
I didn’t involve myself in their petty squabbles—besides, it was better for my army if the strong eliminated the weak.
“Solace,” a soft voice intoned from near my shoulder.
If I were a mere mortal, the sudden intrusion would have spooked me.
But I’m not a mortal. I’m a goddess.
I held in the startle that wanted to work through my body before pivoting slowly on my bare feet, my toes sinking into the soft ground with the movement.
“Do you not bow before your goddess?” I asked the small, brown-haired man. He was entirely plain, even for a mortal. He was slightly dumpy with ill-fitting trousers and tunic, all in a drab khaki.
I wrinkled my nose as he peered at me with slightly watery brown eyes.
So plain.
“I bow before no one but Fate,” he intoned quietly.
I scoffed with a roll of my eyes, closing the distance between myself and the little man. It was a move that was meant to intimidate, but he stood his ground, simply shifting his eyes as I drew closer.
“One of my father’s followers, I presume?” I spat. The man simply blinked.
“Yes.”
“I assume he wants to tell me something but refuses to do it himself?”
“Yes.”
I sighed, glancing quickly at Vespera once more before gesturing for the man to continue.
“He warns you to leave this path. To turn back now while you still have the chance. That continuing this way is folly. That—”
I didn’t wait to hear what other diatribes my father wanted to spit at me before reaching out with my stolen Air Magic and ripping the air from the lungs of the acolyte.
I watched in fascination as his face turned a deep shade of crimson before purpling, his tongue lolling from his mouth as he suffocated.
His hands grasped loosely at his neck as he slumped to his knees before his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the ground with a thump, his hands twitching uselessly.
Nothing would hinder my plans, not my brother, not Kaos’ last descendant, and certainly not my father’s pitiful acolytes. I would flatten Vespera tomorrow, take my place as the rightful ruler of Elyria, then I would take my battle to Fate.
After all, the cosmos were calling.