CHAPTER 5 #3
That had always been Bex’s wish, and the moment she embraced it—not as the Sword of Ishtar, but as a demon in her own right—the fire stopped burning her skin.
It was still overwhelming but not in a way that was scary or painful.
The flames were more like hands lifting her up, pushing Bex higher than she ever could have managed on her own with a single, united wish.
Fix this, they begged. Stop this. Let us go home.
“I will,” Bex promised the fire. “I swear it on my—”
She stopped in a panic. She still didn’t have a name.
Ishtar had tried to use her old one and failed, but she couldn’t be a queen without a name.
She was still trying to figure out what to do about that when she heard voices beyond the flames.
Not the whispered plea from the heart she’d answered earlier.
These were actual throats yelling audible words.
One word, specifically, being chanted over and over by hundreds of thousands of voices.
“Bex!” they cried. “Bex, Bex, Bex, Bex!”
And just like that, Bex realized she was overcomplicating things.
She didn’t need a new name from some outside authority figure.
She already had a name given to her by people she respected.
The ones she was actually fighting for, because Iggs’s voice was in there, as was Lys’s and Desh’s and even Nemini’s.
Just as the Morrigan had promised, their pleas were the ones that mattered, the ones she’d been born to answer, and the moment Bex accepted that, the crown landed on her head like an anvil.
It hurt more than anything ever had. The new horns seared their way out of her skull like red-hot pokers, and not just her normal two.
She was crowned with six horns now just like Ishtar, and as soon as they finished growing, a gleaming black sword appeared in her hand, followed by a familiar voice in her head.
My queen, said Drox, sounding very confused. What has… What did… Why do you have a different name now?
“It’s a long story,” Bex said, hugging her sword to her chest. “I’ll have to tell you later, but I am so glad to see you!”
I am overjoyed to see you as well, Drox said warmly. Then his voice dropped. But you don’t have to tell me. I can see what happened in your memories, though I’m not sure I want to believe it. Is it true that Ishtar abandoned us?
“It is,” Bex admitted, clenching his hilt. “But I won’t. I’m seeing this through to the end, but you don’t have to go down with me. You’ve always been loyal to the gods. If you don’t want to be dragged into treason with me, you can—”
Don’t insult me by finishing that sentence, Drox interrupted with a growl. I am the Blade of Wrath, forged for your hand alone. The only thing I have to say is that I apologize for leaving your service. It will not happen again. I am yours until I shatter. Now, what do you wish me to cut?
Bex broke into a grateful smile. Straight and to the point, that was her Drox. He was already raring to go, but the voices were still chanting outside, which meant Bex still work to do.
With that, she lifted her head and waved her hand.
The roaring pillar of fire pulled back like a curtain at the motion, revealing the square far below, which was a shock.
Bex had felt the flames pushing her up, but she hadn’t realized she’d been literally lifted into the air.
That said, being high up actually made things much easier.
If she’d been low enough to actually see people’s reactions for this next part, she might have been too self-conscious to say it.
They were the ones who’d put her on this path, though.
It was only right that they hear the result from her own lips, so Bex took a deep breath and lifted her gleaming blade high over her head.
“Demons of the Riverlands,” she cried in a queen’s booming voice that filled the city. “Your anger has been answered. I am Bex of the Bonfire, sword of my people! By my new name, I swear I will fight for all the children of the Riverlands until Gilgamesh is dead and we are all set free!”
The words flowed out like a torrent, but it was the answering roar that Bex felt most. As soon as she spoke her new name for the first time, the crowd of demons shouted back so loud that the ground trembled.
The sound crashed into her like a wave, surrounding Bex in a pillar of raging fire as they hung their hopes and prayers upon her.
I never realized worship was so potent, Drox said as the power flooded over them. This is a force far greater than mere wrath. No wonder Ishtar was so mad at you for taking her place.
“Then let’s not waste what we’ve been given,” Bex replied, gathering the storm of flames tight around her as she raised her blade. “Ready?”
Always, her sword said as his hilt settled firmly into her palm. Forever.
Bex grinned at her partner and swung with everything she had.
She swung with her own wrath plus the wrath of her people.
She swung with their sorrow, swung with their pride.
Swung with the fear left behind by five thousand years of oppression and the desperate desire that it was almost over.
Everything that had brought them to this point, Bex channeled into her sword, lashing out in a sky-splitting strike that roared like a river of fire through the empty air above the part of the White City that was not yet covered in trees and straight into the fortress of the enemy.