Chapter 16
There was a reason for all this death. There had to be.
I knew it in my bones. Temple Efysis was the epicenter of purity and holiness throughout the empyrean.
Manmi had warned me time and again, to become dissuaded by nothing.
To be shaken by nothing. Everything wasn’t as it seemed, and even if I didn’t understand, there was a purpose for it.
I trusted Manmi.
I trusted the Farasee Order.
I trusted the Infinite.
As the bodies of the Seraphim disintegrated into nothing, I made a personal note to be careful. Vigilant. Smart. Even when fatigue bowed my shoulders, I needed to keep watch.
I turned away from the carnage as gods started floating over. They began gathering fallen feathers. Bones that were scattered around. Goddesses came up behind them to scrub out the bloody stains from the pristine, golden stones. One of the goddesses looked up at me through her chainmail gown.
Hatred. Profound hatred swam in her pale eyes as she paid no mind to the sweat dripping down her deep brown arms baking beneath the suns. I masked my face into neutrality.
Looking at the gods and goddesses, I wondered what brought them to the temple. How they were kept here. Maybe it was a treaty they signed with the angels. A pact they made. Either way, this goddess looked ready to pluck my wings and burn them.
I turned away from her.
She had her plight and I had mine.
Floating back into the wingtower, I took a deep breath. My stomach grumbled.
“You sound like you could eat a pegasus.” Omarion chuckled. Kazemir snorted.
I leveled a flat stare at them both. “Because I actually could right now,” I grumbled. “I’m starved. I’d go home just to eat and come back if I could. The only thing is, I’d have to hear Papi. Again.”
“I take it Papi Cassandrel fussed at you,” Ellabeth cut in, flying to my side as she kicked off her sandals. “Before the Ascent. But why would he be grumpy? I thought he supported you Ascending? Through all of our endless cycles of training together, he never actually said no.”
I kicked off my sandals and floated down to rest on my feet.“Supported me,” I snorted. “Please. He tolerated my ambitions because of Manmi. Now he swears the temple is unsafe and that I’ll end up like Manmi.”
Isandra, Amayah, and Daelun all raised their brows.
“I mean,” Isandra shrugged, “Its not like he’s entirely wrong.”
I waved her off. “Listen, Manmi’s had me training to be here since before I could talk.”
“True,” Ellabeth agreed. “I got dragged into those lessons.”
“Also true,” I confirmed.
I looked at the rest of them.
“She prepared me for what I’ve been encountering here.” I folded my arms. “Yes, it’s been wild. But seriously, its Temple Efysis. They didn’t have us Ascend just to butcher us like cattle. There have been deaths but all things have their purpose, even when we don’t understand.”
“Agreed,” Ellabeth chimed in. “They only want the best of us remaining for a very specific reason.”
“That makes sense,” Omarion said. “I mean, if you can’t even discern through a scrollport, you probably shouldn’t be allowed into the Farasee Order.”
We all nodded.
“Exactly. Is it cruel for them to prepare us for the true work of the temple? It’s a lifelong commitment that must be kept by those who prove themselves worthy of it.”
“I don’t give a rot about worth. Fallen blood. That’s what I’m here for,” Kazemir mumbled.
“Well,” Ellabeth said, pointing to the other side of the wingtower. “Go get it.”
Kazemir’s honey eyes flashed, his lips pressing together. “I said Fallen, not Fallenspawn. There’s a difference.”
I glared at him. “Fallenspawn were raised by the fallen angels. What difference are you talking about?”
Kazemir leveled a weighty gaze at me. He said nothing for a long time. He stared at me as if he was looking straight into my soul. “Just because you’re raised by monsters doesn’t mean you are one.”
Then he spun away and padded off to his bedchamber, quietly closing the door behind him.
I stood there, dumbfounded.
“I disagree. Wholeheartedly.” Daelun rose his chin. “A Fallen’s a Fallen’s a Fallen.”
“Our point exactly. Anyway, I’m going to meander. My room is like a small palace.”
“Same,” Ellabeth chimed, clapping her hands excitedly.
“Hopefully we are allowed to eat at some point this dawn and we can all meet up here and go together?” I asked.
“Good with me,” Omarion said, starting to pull off his tunic while padding barefoot into his chamber. The amount of muscle that lined every inch of his back was startling. I found myself gawking, watching him go until he walked inside and closed his door.
“I’m definitely telling him you three were drooling.”
Ellabeth, Isandra, and I flinched, blinking away from Omarion’s door.
“Shut up,” Isandra said, before going to her own chambers.
I didn’t bother giving Daelun the satisfaction of a retort. I turned and found Quazar’s thick wall of shadows still effectively blocking us all out. I scoffed and went into my bedchamber, shutting the door.
My gaze fell on the platter of food that I couldn’t touch. My stomach grumbled. Loud. I tossed my head back, frustrated. How was I supposed to witness and process so much death on an empty stomach.
I spun around, deciding I’d prefer to meander around the tower instead and see what else was present outside of our collective chambers. When I pulled on my knob, the door wouldn’t budge. I raised a brow. Tugged on the knob again. Nothing.
I pulled the knob again, yanking it hard. It still wouldn’t move.
“What in the stars…”
I grabbed the knob with both hands. It refused to turn and open. I was locked inside.
“Is this some kind of trick? What is actually happening?”
I slapped the handle. No dice. I slammed a wing into it. It remained unmovable. Panic started filling my chest. The aroma of the food platter grew, filling my nostrils, sending my groaning stomach into overdrive. A small headache began pulsing at my temples.
No.
Somehow, this was some kind of trap.
If you choose to live by your stomach, we’re given no other choice. We will choose to let you die by it.
“No, no, no,” I squeaked.
The food aromas grew. My stomach growled. I banged on the door, slamming my shoulder into it. My foot. My wings again. The burning thing would not budge.
Spinning around, I ran toward the banister open to the outside of the wingtower.
I pushed the curtains back relieved to see the space between the archways open and clear.
I spread my wings and launched myself, flying out of the chamber.
I looked to my right and saw both Ellabeth and Isandra doing the same.
“My door won’t open!” I yelled over the distance.
“Neither will mine,” Ellabeth cried back.
A gust of wind surged out of the clouds, sweeping through her blonde hair. The gust spun her around, wrapping her in the cloud like a bedroll, then tossed her back over the banister, back into her bedchamber.
“What in the stars—”
Distracted by Ellabeth, I failed to see the same thing happening to me with the moving billows below me. Before I could fight it, I was wrapped entirely by cloud and flung back into my bedchamber.