Thayla #3
“Left…no. Lost them in a card game with a strange magical fellow. There were pockets of communities in the nonmagical realm where all of us other-realmly beings got together. The mortals weren’t clueless about our existence but too afraid of the unknown to truly acknowledge the vast majority.
I had every intention of eventually hunting down the Bindings and getting them back, but a little over two hundred and twenty-five years ago, Val showed up and dragged me back home. ”
He laughs like it’s a fond memory before taking another drag of his drink. I sit here stunned, staring at him in disbelief.
“I’m sorry. Come again. The God of Boundaries came and got you?”
“Oh,” he says, wide-eyed, wiping the stream of liquid off his chin. “I was supposed to leave that part out.”
“Well, you didn’t, so clarify.”
He huffs, shrugging like he doesn’t really give a fuck.
“Yes, yes. Val dragged me back kicking and screaming. Told me to pull myself together. A prophecy that was going to change the realm had just been told.”
He points, wiggling his finger and giggling at me.
“Got any guesses who the prophecy was about, little troublling?”
“No fucking clue,” I scoff, tearing my attention from him.
“Let me tell you, it’s a fucking story.” A boisterous laugh belts out of him and tapers off as he smiles down at his bottle. “The tale of five gods that could bring the ultimate obliteration or the ultimate salvation.”
My fist balls in my lap and I stare at my white knuckles.
Stupid-ass prophecy.
“Shortly after my return, all the portals closed, leaving me trapped here. I thought coming back after hundreds of years, Rella would look at me a little different,” he breathes, and my scowl softens as I take in his distant gaze.
“She didn’t. If anything, there was even more coldness in her eyes.
Val had warned me she couldn’t be informed of the prophecy, but I had every intention of telling her the truth.
Until I spent more time around her and realized how much she had changed.
How…agreeable she was with Kira, Sabe, and Creation. ”
“Why do you call her Creation and not a nickname like Kira, Sabe, Rella, Val, Suma? You all shorten each other’s names except for hers.”
“Because names have power, of course. They can’t hear me speak their nicknames, but Creation never allowed us to give her one.
She was created in perfection, so she’d be addressed as such.
Ridiculous. Just like everyone in the Veil thinks if they give themselves a name that starts with a V, the Valories will give a fuck about them a little more.
Preposterous mindset. The Valories named Val, the Vedarya, and the Veilatara after themselves because they’re favored.
That’s it. They couldn’t care less about the rest, but families have yet to let go of the naming tradition. So stupid. Egotistic.”
He shakes his head, and I mine. That’s the last time I’m going to get off subject. Although his ramblings are insightful, he’s far too drunk to carry on more than one line of conversation.
He’s now smirking down at his bottle, stroking it lovingly.
“So…Rella was more agreeable with them once you returned than when you left. You didn’t tell her about the prophecy?” I press.
“No,” he groans like he’s over talking at this point.
“Their closeness made the rage inside of me harden, and my revenge plan blossomed. I was going to play both sides, be a middleman just as I always was prior to my disownment. When the time was right, I’d kill Seduction and the realm could fall for all I cared.
That all changed when I was once again betrayed. ”
I blink.
“Who betrayed you?”
“Ev-everyone.” The crack in his voice guts me.
“It was a betrayal that blindsided me in the worst way. Both sides worked against me. The Valories, Val, the Messenger, Suma, they all stood on the side of salvation and withheld the whole truth about how the prophecy would come to fruition. While the other, Kira, Sabe, Creation, and Rella were scheming their own plans that didn’t include any of us.
“They figured out a way to procreate and had decided they were going to create the ultimate Valtrue. Rella and Creation believed they were doing this as a way to finally replicate the power we once received from Elementra. They—we, I suppose—fucked so much up in the matching of gods since we took the power from the realm. The four of them thought they figured out the perfect solution.”
“The guys,” I mutter.
“Yeah,” he hums.
“Do…do they know the story of how they came to be?”
“No. Not entirely anyways. They obviously know Kira had sex with Creation and Rella, but not the powerful details.” He squeezes his eyes shut and shakes his head. His deep yawn tumbles into a small chuckle. “Would you like to know so you can be the bearer of bad news rather than me?”
No. Not at fucking all.
“Is that what you need?”
A sleepy smile splits across his face as his eyes shut.
“No. I’m used to my role as the realm’s most notorious bad news giver. I’ll hold the torch a little while longer. Plus, I could use a little more time to build up the courage to tell them my plan was to kill them the moment they were born.”
“What?”
All the air in my lungs rushes out of me.
“Uh-huh.” He nods as he slouches down in his chair.
“I was going to kill the five gods foretold. Especially the four made between Creation and Rella. That was the plan for the duration of Creation’s seven-month pregnancy.
I spent all that time doting on Rella. Taking care of her every need despite the hatred I held in my heart over how the baby in her belly came to be.
“When Creation went into labor early, they forcefully induced Rella. I was fucking petrified. There was no telling how the delivery of babies never meant to be would go, and I refused to lose her.
“I was ready, though. Plan concocted and solidifying as I paced the halls of the healing villa in the Abandon. Then…I looked into their eyes. One pair was the color of ash. A beautiful balance between the bright white light of life and the black void of death. My hatred cracked.”
Creed.
“The next was a stunning yellow like a sunrise breaking through a boundless stretch of clouds. The armor around my heart split open. The third set was a navy blue that reminded me of the moment before night turns to day and the realm takes its first breath of clean morning air. My lungs filled with my inhale.”
I brush away the slow tear that slides down my cheek.
Amick and Kyzen.
“They introduced the fourth to me last, although he was born first. They called him the singleton. I thought I’d suffocate when I stared down at baby blue eyes that matched my own.
The only difference was the streaks of burgundy through one that we assumed was busted blood vessels due to his difficult, early delivery. Those eyes shattered my grief.”
Riven.
His Chaos pushes against my stomach, beckoning and mixing with my own, and I strangle back a sob. The pressure is devastating.
The slur in his words can’t come close to masking how much he’s both hurting but also how much he loves them.
“There was so much innocence in those four sets of eyes. They were created with the purpose of being nothing more than monsters. My stance changed once again because of those four boys never meant to be. I chose them. My life would be meaningless at this point without them. The invisible restraints wrapped around me would’ve sent me into madness by now if they weren’t here to motivate me.
They weigh more than my need for revenge. ”
Gods…
I wipe my eyes on my shoulders and clear my throat several times before I can get my voice to work.
“Then came me.”
He lets out a loud laugh.
“Then came a little troublling!” he cheers, throwing his hands in the air, but they fall fast right back to his lap.
The bottle he barely had a grip on tumbles to the ground. He doesn’t pay it any attention. He doesn’t even open his eyes.
“The only warning given about when she’d come was that we’d know once she was here.
And that proved true. Her birth breathed life back into this realm.
It sent a pulse—a shift that signaled another change was upon us.
One that’s going to right the wrongs. Not to restore, but to reshape. She was who they were missing.