37. Thayla
Thayla
My eyes snap open and I stumble forward.
A sharp breath escapes me as I throw my arms out to catch my balance, and my legs wobble beneath me as though I’d been dropped onto my feet without warning.
What…
The battle. Mellcom. The sword.
My hand flies to my stomach.
Nothing. No pain. No blood. No tear through my armor.
My fingers press harder against the place where the blade had pierced me only moments ago.
“What the fuck?”
My question disappears into complete, unnerving silence. There’s no clashing steel, no screams, no…nothing. My heavy breathing is the only sound that exists, and I slowly turn in my spot, scanning this unfamiliar place.
The floor beneath my boots is impossibly smooth, polished white stone stretching farther than I can make sense of. I stand atop a circular dais. Its edges subtly rise from the rest of the floor, though there are no walls, no ceiling, no horizon.
Just…white. Endless white.
“Where in the realm—”
My spin stops when I spot another dais a few feet away. Before I can tell myself not to move, I take a cautious step toward it.
Then another.
My footsteps sound strangely muted, swallowed almost as soon as they leave my boots.
At the center of the second dais rests what looks almost like a shallow well.
Its smooth stone rim rises to my waist, and instead of water, soft white clouds drift lazily within it, rolling over one another in slow, lazy currents.
I smirk.
Clouds.
Leaning closer, I reach out. The moment my fingertips brush the surface, a ripple spreads through the mist, and the clouds peel apart, revealing a glass window that shows…
I stagger back. Then race right back to the edge.
“No, no, no.”
The battlefield.
It’s…below me. And it’s still raging on. More now than it was.
My palms splay across the glass as though I can get closer.
Healers are surrounding my body and Creed…
Oh, Creed.
His eyes blaze whiter than I’ve ever seen. His mouth moves frantically. Words I can’t hear spill from him one after another. My trembling finger traces over his face. A gasp tears through my throat as the view shifts.
My father and Yemi stand shoulder to shoulder, their arms stretched wide as a massive barrier surrounds everyone gathered around my body.
Oh no.
Kyzen, Amick, Riven, Seismet, Verlet, Dervivius, Meridamus, Mara, Fausta, her Valtrue, all of Yemi’s, Havar.
Every person I care about fights desperately to keep the enemy outside the shimmering wall.
Then…
Kirabaddon strolls toward the barrier as though the battle has become little more than entertainment. His slow smile makes my stomach twist. His gaze lingers on my body before roaming over my men, my father, Meridamus, and Derivius.
“What a shame.” He tilts his head. “After everything you all sacrificed to protect her…she still dies.”
No.
He glances around at everyone else.
“I wonder which of these beings will be the next to follow. Perhaps your son, Seveous.”
My heart lurches as he laughs.
“No!” I slam both hands against the glass. “You motherfucker!”
Nothing changes.
The battle continues as he turns around with Sabelline, Mellcom, and Seveous at his side and walks away. My hands continue to bash into the glass as my screams grow louder.
“They can’t hear you.”
That calm, ancient voice has my spine snapping straight and the words on my tongue silencing. I’m honestly not sure if I have a heartbeat right now, but if I do, there’s no doubt it’s thudding unbearably fast. I step back from the glass and turn. My breath catches in my throat.
Seven beings stand aligned with massive wings spreading from their backs. Behind them, a dazzling staircase glittered in white and gold ascends into clouds.
“Welcome to the Stargate, Thayla Godrun.”
The echo of all their voices at once has my head jerking. There’s not a single question or doubt about who the beings before me are.
“Valories.”
They dip their heads as one and float closer. I stagger back until I’m pressed firmly against the stone well. My gaze bounces over each of them, and I tense as they surround the…Stargate.
They don’t talk to me. They simply stare into the glass. The longer they watch, the more unsettled I become. They don’t seem threatening. I’d honestly be more comfortable if they did. I’d get an idea of what to expect.
Instead, they seem so…unconcerned with the battlefield below.
My body is still surrounded. Everyone is pushing their power through the barrier my father and Yemi hold strong.
And the beings who created this realm…are observing. Like this is nothing more than a passing moment in time.
“Are you just going to watch?”
My voice echoes across the empty space, and none of them acknowledge me. Too long a fucking moment passes before one finally speaks.
The one who resembles Accord.
“The outcome is already being determined.”
My brows pull together.
“Being determined?”
“The battle. The lives lost. The decisions made. The consequences that follow. All being weighed as we speak.”
Her voice holds no sadness, anger, or fear. Only fact. The detachment has a chill crawling over my skin.
“Those are beings with lives down there. Your creations.”
“I am aware.”
“No, you’re obviously not.”
The words leave my mouth before I can stop them, but her expression doesn’t change.
“You don’t understand them. Any of us,” I mumble.
Another Valorie tilts her head.
“Understanding is not required to create.”
Creation.
My stomach twists, and I huff out a breathless laugh.
“That’s your problem.”
For the first time, all seven of them look at me with genuine curiosity like I’ve suddenly become something worth studying.
“You believe we have failed as the creator.”
The one who carries Consequence.
“I know you have.”
The silence that follows should feel intimidating. Instead, it feels like standing before a wall that has never once been challenged.
One of them glances back down at the glass.
“The realm continues.”
“Because of them!” I shout, shoving my finger at the glass. “Because of every living being down there. Not because of you.”
“You are emotional,” the Accord Valorie says.
“Yes. I am.” I laugh and shake my head as I glare at each of them.
“That’s what makes us so painfully different.
You all created this realm, life, yet you’ve never lived.
You don’t live and when you watch all of us below, through your little Stargate, you simply can’t fucking fathom why we are the way we are.
You don’t understand, and you don’t try to.
You just shift all the pieces around until we resemble something that pleases all of you. ”
None of them make a single comment back to me. Their attention just drifts back to the glass. Their silence infuriates me. The way they study my family, the lives being lost, the fate that sits in the balance.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so disappointed in my life.
“Am I dead?”
My question comes out quieter than I expected it to. This time, the Valorie that clearly passed on Obliteration looks directly at me.
“Not yet.” My breath shudders at his simple answer. “Your vessel remains alive, and the God of Death is holding your soul strong. With a simple wave of our hand, though, that ends and you die.”
A cold feeling settles in my chest. It doesn’t completely chill the fire burning in me, though.
“Do it.”
My mumble has them all facing me.
“You want to die?” one of them asks.
“No,” I say immediately. “I want you all to learn a very valuable lesson.”
They continue to stare at me as if they can’t make sense of my words.
“Kill me. Then bear witness to your realm’s downfall.”
“The realm will not end with your death,” Consequence says.
I let out a low chuckle and meet his gaze.
“Then do it.”
The features on their faces don’t change. They don’t shift their wings. They fucking observe. I scoff and jab my thumb in the direction behind me.
“I assume I need to go that way?”
I don’t wait for a response. I march toward the ascending stairs.
“Wait.”
The ring of all seven of their voices has my feet slamming to a stop, and my body spins around without my fucking say-so. Apprehension flares in their eyes while pure hatred shines in mine.
I let a cruel smile split my lips.
“That’s what I thought. You can’t allow me to die.”
“What makes you think that?”
I don’t even bother paying attention to which one asked.
“I don’t think,” I say, stepping closer to them. “I know.”
They remain silent, watching me closely.
“I’ve been told I’m indispensable. My men and I. A being from a whole other realm who obviously despises you as a creator wouldn’t have told me that to boost my ego. She…Elementra knew something then that I didn’t know. Something I still don’t know.”
For the first time, they all shift. Their feathered wings flinch and I laugh at them.
“My mother told me the whole prophecy, which clearly displeased all of you even though you all were the ones who told it to her. You all knew who we each would become. You needed to be able to control and manipulate our decisions. You wouldn’t have allowed us to get this far if you were willing to allow me to die right at the end. ”
They don’t respond to me. Their eyes move between one another. Not dramatically or with panic, but with consideration. A conversation passes between them without a single word being spoken.
My gaze stays locked on them.
The beings who created everything.
The beings who have always had the answers.
Finally, Accord focuses back on me.
“You misunderstand.”
A bitter laugh escapes my throat.
“Do I?”
“Yes.” The calmness of her answer irritates me beyond belief.
“We did not shape every choice.”
“Then what did you do?” I ask.
“We observed.”
I raise a brow.
“That’s not all.”
“No.”
The single word hangs between us, then my attention flicks to Consequence as he pivots his body in my direction.
“The Gods Binding was created as a foundation. A means to preserve balance within the realm.”
“It’s a creation of order, I know. But?”
His eyes follow mine.