39. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

P reternatural stillness settled into Aya's bones as she stared at the Goddess of Death. In the corner of her gaze, Sabra stirred with a whimpering groan, barely moving on the stone. She wanted to run to her but with Akaria staring her down, she had to choose her steps carefully.

She straightened up, forcing the calm onto her face. A mask, one she'd worn for so many years, had crafted it meticulously.

"Care to elaborate?" Aya fought and clawed for every scrap of control as she uttered the words, but she sensed her control was slipping.

Akaria tilted her head. "A banshee has your witch, and they move for Aurora's prison."

"You know where it is?"

A flash of something—anger? Aya wasn't sure. An icy understanding was solidified with each terrible second clawing past.

"The exact location was… hidden from me," Akaria said tightly. "But as the barrier is nearly broken, I can see more. I can sense her ."

"So, you took over Zari and hurt Sabra?" Aya tilted her head, hunting for a way to sever the connection, reclaim some control of the situation that was rapidly slipping through her fingers. She cleared her throat, aiming—and perhaps failing to sound calm. "One would think helping would involve a little less violence to those you claim to be wanting to help."

"No one can hold the soul of a goddess within their form for too long." Akaria slanted a sharp look as Sabra started to rise. "Isn't that right, Sabra? Isn't that what Zari confessed to you? What I ordered them not to tell you? Did you honestly think I could not see?"

A broken cry, like an animal being torn apart, unleashed from Sabra. Aya had no time. Suddenly, Akaria grabbed her. Darkness spun up around them. Her gaze flew to Sabra, to the plea tearing across the room.

"NO!"

The room vanished in a blur, and a new scenery materialized. Damp, warm air greeted her first. Then the scent of the forest, of decomposing leaflitter and ash. Her vision cleared, taking in the sprawling woods around her.

Where was she? Her wings snapped wide.

"No need for that," Akaria said, setting off into the trees. "We're close. This way."

"You need to free Zari, Akaria. You—"

Cold ice slid into Akaria's dark eyes. "I am well aware of what I am doing, and what must be done. If we delay, this demon will die and so will your witch."

"Elaine's close?"

"Yes," Akaria snapped. "Now, are you going to keep asking questions or join me?"

Aware that this reeked of a trap, Aya carefully followed. She'd find a way to free Zari and get Elaine back. She just had to bide her time a little longer.

"Can you inhabit me?"

Akaria snorted. "This one and I have a special connection, so no." There was a pause before the goddess slanted her a curious look. "You barely know this demon. Why do you care what happens to her?"

"To them," Aya bit out. "They're family."

"You barely know them."

"I know enough."

Akaria stared for a few seconds, then pushed on, silent. What that single, lingering look had meant, she didn't know. Aya clenched her jaw. Zari didn't have time for games. Hell, none of them did, but Aya had to do something.

They trekked through the muddied ground, Aya's feet slipping several times as they picked their way down a small slope. Where they were, she had no idea. She'd trekked all over Purgatory but there were territories she kept her distance from. Now she wished that she had been a little more daring.

"You really don't care that you're going to kill Zari?" Aya idly picked at her nails. "And folks think I'm a monster."

"I'm not a monster. I simply am. "

As if that was meant to be comforting. Aya rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, very dramatic of you. Did you practice that in front of a mirror?"

Akaria said nothing.

The ground finally yielded to trees scattered among more ruins. Akaria stalked ahead, moving with single-minded focus, seemingly uncaring if Aya followed. Curses danced along her lips as she hurried after her reluctantly, wondering what they were doing, if they weren't pursuing Elaine. Hell, she had no time to deal with whatever this was. Elaine didn't have the time for her to be playing games.

The remnants of wooden homes appeared, nearly completely rotten away by time and consumed by tangles of ivy and dense undergrowth. With every step, the old echo of death cloyed at her skin. No souls wandered this place, no doubt already moved on. It felt empty, haunted by a past she didn't yet understand. Every so often, she spied the remnants of chimneys, constructed of roughly hewn stone jutting up from the greenery. The deeper they ventured into the ruins, the more Aya realized this had been the old human settlement. Perhaps the very home that Orion called his own was one of these.

"Are you going to keep me in the dark?" Aya mused. "Because this is boring, and I don't like being bored."

The remnants of homes fell away to a circular clearing. In the middle stood a statue, the stone woman nearly completely consumed by vines. Only her face remained exposed, staring back, unseeing and unyielding.

A statue of Akaria.

"Don't tell me we're here to stroke your ego. Surely these people didn't worship you?"

"Me? No. This isn't done in honor of me." As Akaria touched the vines, they withered away, exposing the rest of the statue—and the markings carved into her stony flesh. "They blamed me for Aurora's imprisonment."

"And were you? To blame?"

"I loved her," Akaria snapped.

"That's not an answer."

Akaria pinned with her a withering look. "It is all I will give."

She was no fool. Akaria was clearly deeply entangled in all of this—either she truly was the love-stricken goddess, desperate to be reunited with her beloved, or she held some other dark ambition. A scheme not yet unveiled.

"So, what does all of that say?"

"Curses, mostly." The edges of Akaria's smile twitched. "Perhaps this was a reminder to them in their eyes of what I am capable of. Fools, really, but I'm not surprised. Mortals always think so small. "

Aya cast her gaze back over the ruins. "As fun as this history lesson is, time is not necessarily on our side."

"Yes, yes, your loved ones and home at risk," said Akaria dismissively. "This is more important. I needed you here because, whilst I am possessing this body, I am not fully here. You are. As for the history lesson, you believe you know the story of how this all came to be. What you don't know is what happened after. These humans, for instance—" Akaria paused, gesturing to the remnants of the human village, "had no idea what happened to their people. Until one of their own found a babe in the woods and raised her, not knowing who she was."

"Aurora's child?"

My ancestor, she added.

"She told these people the truth—a foolish act, really. The spirits in charge of keeping this place secure, of hiding the truth, did their duty."

Aya's heart turned to ice. "They killed all of them?"

"Not at first. Their memories were altered, removing all traces of the girl and Aurora, but some, it seemed, began to remember." Akaria circled the statue, hunting for something among the markings. "That would not do."

"What did she do that was so terrible?"

Akaria stopped suddenly and touched the statue again. A shadow passed over the goddess, Zari's demonic eyes seeming to flick briefly to her, lingering with something unsaid between them. What it meant, Aya had no idea, but it sent chills rushing down her spine.

"She was growing powerful, and the other gods grew envious of her. They feared she would end them and so decided that it would be best to end her." Akaria released a shaky breath. "They were going to kill her but when it was discovered she was with child, their blows never touched her. As they discussed how they would deal with her, it was I who suggested this kind of prison. Problem is, it was all highly experimental, and the barrier proved too strong. We could not pass within it, even when we tried."

"Well, you did want the barrier strong enough to hold a goddess," Aya retorted dryly.

Akaria drove her fist into the statue. It shattered on impact, stone crumbling to the ground until what remained was the base.

And a dagger jutted from the base. Its hilt was wrapped in black leather, the blade itself cut of a red crystal, the edge still gleaming and sharp. Aya had never seen such fine craftmanship. It called her in, her feet moving before she even realized she'd taken a step, and suddenly she was kneeling, reaching for the blade. The second that her fingers brushed against the hilt; power exploded up her arm. She yanked her hand back with a startled cry, glowering at the blade.

"What the hell is that?"

"The blade you're going to need to kill Aurora. Do that, and I will bring your people back."