Chapter 29 Creed
Creed
I crane my neck back, running my hands down my face as I look up at the stars.
These are different than the ones we see in the Godsdawn.
They’re even smaller than the ones we saw in Darlander.
Lights beaming from structures across Edistoia interfere with how bright they shine. It’s like the beings here believed that if they built their buildings high enough, it’d get them closer to the Valories.
All they did was block their access even more.
There was a time I could confidently say I wanted to be anywhere but Godsden.
Whether it be the Godsdawn, the heart of the region, Hellveilious, or the Abandon.
Four days in the lower regions, and I can honestly say I’m ready to go the fuck back home.
Oddian was the most monumental shit show and waste of time.
It was an awful reminder to Thayla and a one-time chance for the rest of us to see a foreign barrier that none of us clearly understand or care to ever see again.
Something about that blast of power, though, changed Thayla and Riven, and the fucking tension can be cut with a sword.
I don’t know if it’s good tension or bad.
The last three days were spent in Darlander, which was uneventful for this particular quest but eye-opening and fucking confusing for whatever the hell is going on in the realm.
We met three more half god, half ungodly couples who had a child each. They were all nervous to be around us, obviously, but we swore to them we wouldn’t go back to Godsden and say anything. We just wanted to know what was going on.
They basically told us the same thing the first god we met told Lambrit.
The gods are liars.
Something we already know, but there’s a meaning to their words we aren’t understanding and it’s driving Amick fucking insane.
Today was the first full day spent in Edistoia, where we’ll spend the next four days searching. The remaining six days of Amick’s hopeful two-week timeline, in Abernie.
That’s not only the region with the largest godly reports, it has the least amount of natural environment. It’s going to be harder, if not impossible, to search inconspicuously.
I’m fucking dreading it.
Edistoia is already too crowded for me.
Lambrit was able to mark on his map very few locations in this region and the next where there are small stretches of forest we can park the carriage and sleep for the night.
The Veilatara need a place to stay hidden from the gawking and the last thing I want is to be smack-dab in the middle of the fucking overpopulated areas.
A grunt sounds behind me, and I peer over my shoulder, huffing as Sevryn stands in front of the carriage doors.
“What?” I ask.
“Didn’t realize you were out here.”
“Now you do.” He scoffs, walking a few feet away from me, and tilts his head back the same as I do. “Can I fucking help you?”
“Doubtful.”
I roll my eyes and stare into the darkest part of the forest I can find now that he’s come out here and fucked up the five minutes of silence I was searching for.
I don’t have an issue with anyone with us, except for him, but I’m used to my solitude. So are my brothers. This shit is draining, constantly being around people and having to be mindful of how I act around them.
“So what’s Amick’s aim here?”
“What the hell does that mean?’
“I mean, we’re seriously just going to scour the streets, hoping our Amethysts light up in our pockets or our awareness to power just leads our way to this thing? He doesn’t think it’s in some cave, hidden from anyone to find?”
“What else would you have him do, Sevryn? It’s not like anyone drew a circle on the map and said, the Binding that’s been lost for fuck knows how long is somewhere here. Go get it.”
“Yeah, I guess but—”
“But what? He’s doing and has done everything he can and we’re only on day four.”
My body heats and my fists clench at my sides with the desire to lay his ass out for questioning Amick.
Yeah, the method behind searching for the Binding is hard. It was always going to fucking be. It’s a creation that even the Beginning Gods themselves haven’t been able to find.
“Look, I’m not talking shit. I get he’s done everything within his power. I’m just saying, it comes off as an impossible task.”
My throat bobs as he speaks the truth I’ve avoided with all my might.
We’ve all avoided the thought.
The doubt became even clearer on all our faces when Darlander was a major disappointment, followed by today the only thing we sensed was some shit made by gods once upon a time when they bartered blessings.
“It can’t be impossible. If we fail, war will break out in the Abandon and we’re not ready for that.”
He scoffs. “Didn’t stop you twenty years ago.”
My head slowly pivots toward him. “Don’t fucking go there. You know, as well as I, war was not our intention. You’re just as much at fault for what happened as we are.”
“Me? Are you serious right now?”
“Deadly. Drop this conversation now. I’m tolerating you at best because of Yemi, but that will wear thin if you push me.”
“You selfish fucking asshole. Your tolerance will wear thin? How the hell do you think I feel being trapped in a carriage with the fuckers who left me for dead not once but twice. Fuck you, Creed. Seriously.”
My eyes blaze white as his flare red.
“We left you for dead?”
My punch cracks across his jaw as soon as the words leave my lips. I put years of betrayal behind that swing.
“You were the single soul we told our plan to, and you told your fucking father.”
He staggers back, spitting out a wad of blood before charging me. My back hits the ground and I use my feet to flip him over me.
We jump up, breathing heavily before we lunge at each other again.
“I didn’t tell my father shit,” he roars, and his fist collides with my shoulder as I duck out of the way. “You sent me a fucking letter changing the meeting location. You left me behind.”
My fist freezes mid-swing, and confusion flickers across my mind. I dodge his incoming strike again, drop down, and swipe his legs from underneath him.
He hits the ground, ready to jump back up, but I back away, staring at him in disbelief.
“I didn’t send you anything. Our plan never changed.”
“Taurnshit,” he shouts, wiping his mouth across his arm.
“The night before we were to leave, a note from you appeared under my pillow, just as our messages always did. It told me the plans changed and to meet you all at the outskirts, a mile away from the Godsdawn stronghold. I showed up and fucking waited. My father and a small army arrived instead.”
“And that’s when you told him where we were.”
The accusation drips from my mouth. My chest tightens unbearably as years of betrayal, what-ifs, and the replaying of everything that could’ve gone differently run through my mind.
The air between us grows suffocating as our powers thrum to be set free. Our hands rise toward one another at the same time.
“Creed, stop.”
Thayla’s palms cup my cheeks as her eyes widen and her back bows. The small whimper that leaves her lips blocks out Yemi’s and Sevryn’s shout.
My power dissolves in thin air as I stare at the brightening in her eyes. Her soul alights with pain, either caused by him or me, and I can’t ignore it.
I cup the back of her neck, slamming my mouth to hers.
The power starting to pulse off her fucking rocks me to my core.
It vibrates through every inch of me, and my soul surrounds hers, cocooning it as tightly as it possibly can.
I tug it, soothe it, caress it. I do everything I can to settle it down.
A shiver passes through her as Riven’s harmony glides over both of us. His hand is gripping my shoulder with bruising strength, and I don’t know if it’s because it’s taking a lot to settle her down or because he’s trying to help both of us.
I don’t have to open my eyes to know Kyzen and Amick have taken a side on each of hers. They no doubt sensed the call of her soul.
I pull her closer to me, even as I sense her pain and power ease.
With every stroke of my tongue, I try to tell her I’ve got her. I’ve got her soul, and everything is okay.
I slowly pull away, laying small, soft kisses on her lips as she gasps for air.
“Are you okay?” she croaks.
I shake my forehead against hers. “Was it his power or mine?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. I’m fine.”
I grunt, holding her tighter when she tries to pull away. “Tell me.”
“Thayla, I’m so sorry,” Sevryn calls from a few steps away, and my brothers whip toward him.
“Did you hit her with your fucking power?” Riven’s low tone is nothing shy of deadly.
I peer over at Sevryn and watch his eyes shatter. His own soul shivers in pain and Yemi’s trembling where she stands in front of him.
“No. I said I didn’t know who did what. Drop it now. I jumped in between them because they aren’t listening to each other. They were just ready to beat the hell out of one another before bothering to get to the truth.”
“What are you talking about?” Amick asks.
I sigh, laying a kiss to Thayla’s forehead before stepping away. I pinch the bridge of my nose as I attempt to recall what all we shared while throwing punches that she obviously witnessed.
“Creed is blaming Sevryn for telling his father your escape plans, but Sevryn is claiming Creed sent him a letter changing your meeting spots and that he didn’t tell his father anything.”
“Yeah, oh-fucking-kay.” Riven snorts.
Sevryn grunts loudly, gripping his hair before letting his hands slap down to his thighs.
“I didn’t tell him anything. I slit my own fucking throat to keep from telling him about your plan.”
Silence.
All of us fall deadly quiet and we turn toward him as though we’re in slow motion. My eyes trace the scar on his neck that I’ve noticed countless times but assumed it was from a fight in Hellveilious.
My own throat clogs.
“If you didn’t tell your father, then how the fuck did ours, and an entire army show up, waiting at our exact meeting location?” Riven asks, staring Sevryn down.