Chapter 40
Chapter
Forty
“ F erren, wait!" Thea's voice calls after me as I start walking in the direction of the Temple of Divine Mothers.
"Go back to the service, Thea."
"Where are you going?" She reaches out to grab my arm.
I barely pause to lift the skirts of my gown in a messy wad to push myself faster, to run unencumbered. I cannot think or focus on anything other than getting to my sister.
There is no time to stop and explain. Thea would never believe me. She is bound to this place. Like her mother and her mother’s mother before her, she belongs. Convincing her of anything other than what she believes would cause such a dissonance, I don’t think she would be able to hold herself together.
"Everything is ok. I just want to check on Leema." I make my expression as calm as possible.
She has no idea that I know for certain Crixa is in the Temple of Divine Mothers and that if my sister is the woman in labor, Crixa will kill her today.
Thea nods, giving me the same look she did in the temple the day I left for Viathan—a cross between suspicion and not quite heartbreak, more complicated than that, like she wants me to just follow the rules so badly that she feels betrayed when I don't.
I turn away from her expression, one that reminds me that, to this place, I am broken and fractured, but I have never been more clear.
I do not belong here. I am not lost.
I know what they do here under the guise of faith and greater good and I will fight until the very last moment to make sure my sister does not fall victim to their twisted rituals.
Viathan commanders tense as I run by them, taking on defensive postures for just a moment and then relaxing when they see I am no threat to them, only frantically running by for an unknown reason.
"99!" I practically scream into our tether.
I can feel his panic matching mine the moment he opens to me, as if he stands straight up and starts running as well.
"Ferren?"
"Leema was not at the death ritual. She is still in the Temple of Divine Mothers."
"Tell me where you are."
"Crixa was not there either. Something is wrong, I know it."
I round another hall, my arm brushing up against a rough pillar, anxiety making my vision blurry with each pounding heartbeat.
"Try to stay calm. Show me where you are."
When I round another corner, I look out the open-air balcony to as much of my surroundings as I can. I can sense his relief when he knows what wing of the Estate I am in.
"Alright, good. I alerted the Viathan guards in that area. I will meet you at that temple, Ferren."
"I cannot wait." My voice cracks even in my mind's eye.
"I would not ask you to. If your sister is in danger, do what you must." His tone is so stern and definitive, it scares me.
I can hear him speaking to others around him, giving them hurried instructions, his voice projecting like he is giving orders as they move through the Estate.
My calves burn with each step I take, my long, wispy sleeves snagging and ripping on pillars, the sound of the Viathan guards behind me barely noticeable.
When I see the courtyard of her temple, I push myself so hard that my lungs sting with each breath.
Intrusive flashes shoot themselves to the front of my mind that I am too late, that they have already moved her down into the birthing rooms below, that Leema is sprawled out on a slab while Crixa and the elders close in on her.
A Viathan guard walks toward me as I enter the courtyard. The way he has his helmet fixed on me lets me know every Viathan posted here knows who I am and what I am here to do. Their 99th Commander has quickly informed them, and they stand at the ready until he arrives.
"High Priestess Ferren, I am Commander Ives," he says as he reaches me, ushering me to the side to speak in private, but I continue walking past him, pulled by my now clear view of the temple entrance. "There are Estate guards inside and elder priestesses. The 99th Commander is en route. I will escort you inside if required."
"No." I glance around at the guards posted at each pillar in the courtyard. Every few feet, a black figure stands perfectly still. "Do not enter the temple."
"Yes, ma'am," he says to my surprise and steps back.
My last few steps feel weighted, as if I’m sticking to thick mud to slow and hold me back from storming inside.
"Leema!" I say before I even reach the archway of the entrance.
An elder jumps from her chaise lounge, knocking over a tray of fruit in shock at my sudden entry.
Estate guards with white capes step out from their posts, but it does not stop my search.
A few women in white gasp, holding their bellies and moving to the side as if I am the threat.
Another elder with dark undereyes grabs me by the wrists and yanks me back.
I snarl on reflex and loom over her, my teeth gritted so hard my head throbs. "Where is my sister?"
"She is here, calm yourself." Her flat words send a shiver down my spine.
"Elder Priestess, is all well?" a guard asks, resting his palm on the butt end of his sword.
The elder nods and holds a palm out to pacify. "Please take the rest of the women to the temple. There will be no birth today. Let them enjoy the temple service with the others."
"99, Estate guards are exiting. They are taking some of the women to the temple, but I don't see Leema."
I can vaguely hear the words he says into his forearm comm echo in his head, letting the Viathan guards know who is coming out, to let them pass and to remain at their posts until he arrives.
I twist my arm out of the tight grip, and the elder squints her eyes in suspicion, like she saw a tiny crack in my ward and knows I am using my gift.
An elder priestess with a fragile looking frame shuts the door behind the last of the guards and women. She looks me over and locks the door tightly.
The pressure in the air changes, like my feet are attaching to the ground, my arms as solid as stone.
Someone is trying to hold me.
Moving my limbs feels like they are weighted, and swaying to get away makes me sick with nausea.
Four elders stand across from me, staring with intense inspection, moving slowly closer together in a tight group. The invisible restraints tighten, as if testing me for defiance, seeing if I will try to leave.
Even if I wanted to, these women would not let me now. They know something is off, sensing the panic I am desperately trying to keep at bay.
They watch me through heavily wrinkled eyes, a sign of their age and power. These women are not frail; they are dangerous and even more so because they are the ones who stayed behind when they thought someone was giving birth today.
They are complicit in the evils done here.
They are monsters.
"Elders, if I have to go through you, I will. You will not keep me from my sister." I summon my light. I will not be able to take all four by myself, but I have to try.
The very moment my hands illuminate green, I am thrust back into a pillar, pinned with my arms at my sides.
I gasp for the air that was stolen from me, the rounded surface of the stone crushing and conforming my shoulder blades around it.
"You will not make threats in this temple!" The elder with dark undereyes grits her cream-colored teeth at me.
Each inhale sends a sharp zap through me, the pressure so great my bones feel like they are on the verge of snapping in two.
An elder priestess’s gifts grow stronger with age, and I have no doubt they will try to kill me now, but I will level this temple in the process.
I pull at my ties, knowing more than one of them is holding me in place.
I have to call for help. I thought I could do this alone, but there are people, my family who want to help me.
"Calliape," I whisper into the tether I have shared with her before.
The connection is weak but it catches, and I can sense her body jolt at the energy I can't help but send her way.
"Leema is in danger. They are holding me at the Temple of Divine Mothers."
"I will tell the others."
"99 is almost here but I need you. Will you come?"
"Yes." Her answer is simple, confident, and ready.
"Leema is likely with Crixa. If you can only carry us one at a time, I will stay behind and deal with the aftermath."
"Selene is coming too," she says as if she is talking to her aloud.
If Calliape can take Leema out right away, then Selene can stay behind with me to finish this.
"Come." I close my eyes and call out across the ether, sending Calliape images of where I am, of the walls, the people around me, updating her on every detail I can possibly muster.
When I open my eyes again, Calliape stands beside me, Selene right next to her.
The elders’ faces are wild with fury, their grip tightening around me.
With Selene and Calliape now at my side, feeding me strength, I shake my hands and slide out of the sticky webs holding me. Like wet clothes, their restraints fall to the floor in a useless flop.
"We are sworn to protect this temple. You are all intruders and you will not leave here alive," the dark undereyed elder says, stepping forward as the leader among them.
My fingertips itch, begging me to release my light into this space and relieve some of the pressure. "You will step aside, elders."
The four of them seem to ignite at once, firing bolts of light and giant orbs of energy out of their hands toward us.
But I am ready. I cast a long line, wrapping around the bolt, crushing and strangling it before the elder sends another.
My tendrils snake up the floor to their feet, snagging one by the ankles and throwing her across the room.
Another elder yelps but pushes back as Selene shoots a puff of air toward her, enough to bring down a giant Frithian tree.
"Ferren, at your right!" Calliape calls out from somewhere in the chaos.
When I look to her, she is reappearing from folding the distance and snatching an elder who hid behind the others from across the room.
Calliape holds her on the ground, bracing and waiting for me to strike. But then she screams as the elder burns the skin on her arm with a flaming grip.
I dispatch a sharp, furious beam without remorse, the spike ripping through the old woman, rendering her limp and slack-jawed.
Calliape folds the distance again to get away from the onslaught between both sides.
I block another orb of light, shielding both Selene and me, letting it bounce off and dissipate, but I can feel my throat scratching and closing like one of them is attempting to choke me.
I touch my neck with my palm, feeling the vibration of divine gifts there.
They cannot penetrate my shield now, so one of them is focusing in on me, sending silk strands, manifesting within my body to choke me so they can finish the others.
The elder is strong, very gifted, but I reach in with my own green tendril, feeding it down until I pluck out her weak string and flick it to the side.
With that, the fragile framed elder runs off farther into the temple, leaving her sister priestesses to fight us alone. She has nothing to offer in this fight anymore, so now she is cowering away to find Crixa.
But as if she reached her destination, she lets out a terrible blood-chilling scream, her voice cracking with age and despair.
The scream is so loud, I can hear it over Selene’s gift that deafens the space with wind.
My gifts waver as I listen to the shrieking elder priestess wail and exclaim to . . . someone, demanding to know what they have done.
The last elder fighting us holds out both her palms, bracing with her own shield of light against mine, fighting for control.
"Go! I can hold it!" Selene's wind rushes over the sides of the wall of light, deafening and relentless.
The moment I let go, their gifts collide into each other, clashing in an ear-popping boom.
The fabric on the walls rips and falls in tatters, only to be swept up and pinned to the wall as Selene changes the angle, directing her force.
Again, I hear the deafening voice of the elder in a far-off room shouting, wildly pressing for answers. "What have you done? What have you done?"
But this time, a second scream from a familiar voice rings out with it.