Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31

" L evon and Amaro have escaped," Veles says to Asra and Cyra, though his worried gaze keeps veering to me.

"We'll deal with them later," Kestral says.

"The girls?" I ask, and they jump to answer my question, probably hoping that I will forget what I just saw. But there is no hope for that.

"Most are accounted for," Cyra says.

"Most?" My stomach drops as I look up at him from where I sit on the ground, my body completely drained of energy and spent after the Breaker's cruel search for the orb.

Cyra gives me a somber look and nods.

The last few hours were nothing but chaos and mayhem. No one could have predicted the outcome. But the guilt now seeping into my chest, making it hard to feel the air hit my lungs, does not want to listen.

I asked them to trust me to lead them out of the dark and help them find their light and strength, only to turn around and abandon them not a moment later.

A spear of dread shoots through me when I remember the reason I am here and not with them.

"Leora?" I ask, my body growing more and more stiff the longer they don't reply.

"Leora?" Kestral asks with a confused frown.

"Oryn's sister. She was here with me before, in the hall. Levon used her to lure me out."

Kestral's eyes grow cold and hard. "You knew he was luring you, and yet you still followed?"

"I had no choice. He was going to kill her." I stay calm. Too calm. Too quiet. Too empty. Too broken .

"We haven't found her, but I'm sure she is safe with the others," Asra says, giving Kestral a look, but he will not yield on this, his rage already starting to boil over.

"You—" Kestral starts, but I cut him off, already looking to Veles for the distraction I desperately seek. To think of anything other than my failed attempts to help those women and Leora. I can only hope that she and the others are safe and unharmed.

"Veles?" I know none of the other three males around me will tell me the truth of what I saw. They will try to cover it up somehow. The look they shared when I first asked about the shield told me just that.

But Veles cannot lie to me and feels the need to answer my questions because of our blood-bond vow. He will have to tell me. Whether he wants to or not.

"What happened when the shield cracked? I saw it. Tell me everything you know."

Veles sighs as he looks to the others. But I stay focused on his face as he slowly gives in to my request and nods.

"Let us move you someplace more comfortable first and away from here." He glances to the right of him, and I follow his line of sight to find the Breaker's body completely broken. It is as if someone has literally ripped him apart.

My eyes find Kestral's steely gaze.

"She needs a healer," he grits out.

"I will make sure she is looked after," Veles tells him with a wary expression.

Kestral clenches his fists but nods once. "We will not be far."

He heads back toward the palace, and Cyra follows him, but Asra stays for a moment, staring at me as if he wants to say something but is stopping himself, thinking better of it, before giving me a sad look and leaving.

I turn to Veles. "Veles?—"

He stops me with a look. "I will tell you everything. You have my word, and you know I will only tell you the truth. Let's see to your injuries first and take it from there."

Veles helps me up, practically carrying me inside to the palace, where a healer is already waiting. Once I'm healed, I move to the long hallway I first met Kestral in and gaze out at the view of the sunrise.

"It has something to do with the Fae, doesn't it?" I ask as Veles walks toward me and climbs onto the small wall between the columns, using one to lean against.

I climb up to the same wall and sit opposite him, and he gives me a small smile when I do.

"I'm hoping you won't hate me too much, because I'm only half. Whereas…" He pauses and glances out at the rising sun.

"Veles?"

He releases a harsh breath before looking at me, his face full of apprehension and concern, and it makes none of my already turbulent thoughts nor my churning stomach ease.

"In order for me to explain everything, I need to start at the beginning," he says before giving me a look.

"Were you ever told or taught anything about the gods?" he asks.

My mind flashes to the statues in the cavern beneath the palace.

"I have a little knowledge about them," I tell him. "I know that there were many gods long ago. They were revered and loved by all."

Veles winces. "What I must tell you is a lot of information to absorb, but also try to keep in mind that I cannot lie to you."

"I understand. Please, just tell me what you know," I plead.

He scans my face for something before nodding to himself and starting.

"Many millennia ago, eight gods were said to have been created by the goddess Danu to help the world grow and evolve. All were beloved and worshiped by many." He gives me that wince again before continuing.

"But over time, they grew in power. So much that it caused an imbalance and started to affect everything around them. An era of despair and misery began with sickness, war, death, and destruction following. But even then, some of the gods grew vengeful and hungered for more power. A restlessness came about, and they fought amongst one another. It was then decided that each god would take a piece of the world and rule it alone, staying apart from the others so as not to cause any more conflict. But the imbalance had already started. And their relentless need for power slowly became a taint that spread, corrupting everything they touched."

I already have so many questions and so many things I don't understand, but I fear he will stop if I interrupt him, so I push them to the back of my mind for now to listen.

"One night, a powerful prophecy arose. One that foretold the ending of all living things. A darkest night without moon and star and a world that would fall to chaos and destruction." He gazes out at the mountain with a heavy sigh.

"The gods were told that they must leave this world in order to stop this and take their taint and imbalance with them. But they did not listen. Seven gods stayed, and now their tainted essence has spread into every corner of the world and corrupted it."

But his words bring me no clarity, only further confusing me.

"And the world outside the shield?" I ask. Is that why they kept us in here? Because of this taint.

"It's not what you think or how I assume you are imagining it. The world is still habitable. There are cities, towns and many people, animals and beasts." He gives me a look full of unease.

"But there is also darkness because of this taint, corruption from its spreading, manipulation that creeps into everything it brushes up against, and cruelty and malice."

I frown at his words. "Isn't that in every world? How can you blame the gods for something us mortals do so easily?" I ask.

Veles glances out around him, and whatever he's thinking ages him in a moment. "The black sea was not always this dark mass of death. It was the gods and their presence in this world that did that. That is a small piece of their taint, along with the dark creatures." He turns to me with a pointed look, and I freeze.

Shock seeps into my body, making it cold. "The dark creatures were created by the gods?"

"Not on purpose. It's the imbalance, the corruption. They form from their essence and spread the taint farther."

"But they reached this kingdom through the black sea?" I ask, needing to know their origin.

He rubs a hand down his face. "They should not have been able to, but it seems they are drawn to the Sidus light, the very essence of the Sidus, because they are without it. You all are like a beacon to them."

"The Sidus are drawing the dark creatures to the kingdom?" I ask in a shaky, disbelieving voice.

"Yes, but it is the gods and their taint that are the cause of it. Those creatures seek you out only because of their darkness and lack of light. But know that the shield would have always protected you from them had Amaro and Levon not attempted to bring it down."

"Amaro and Levon. They're both Fae?" I ask, and he nods.

"No one knew they were corrupt and possibly siding with the gods. The shield does more than just cast an illusion; it stops the Fae from using most, if not all, of their abilities." He gives me a wary look. "Had you met Amaro or Levon outside the shield when they were at their full strength, you would not be alive right now."

"The Fae are that powerful?" I ask as ice trickles into my veins.

Veles nods and chooses his words carefully. "And dangerous. We investigated a little after the dark creature was released by Nevan." He gives me a worried look as if he is afraid I'm about to come apart at the seams and break once more. But my heart is too tired to think of my mistakes, my mind too full of questions that I need the answers to. I have later to fall apart and crumble.

With a small nod, I encourage him to continue.

"Amaro and Levon have been trying to take the shield down for as long as they have been here. They must have people on the outside helping them." He frowns. "They have been telling the Caligo guards that the Sidus are the ones who are tainted. And with the dark creatures being drawn to you all, it acted as proof to them that the gods must have chosen the creatures to rid you all from this world."

"So that is why they hate us? They think the Sidus are evil because of what Amaro and Levon told them?" I don't know whether to laugh or scream at the idea.

"The dark creatures aren't as drawn to the Caligo and their shadows, so this only plays into their story, making them believe that they are favored by the gods."

A small chuckle falls from my lips, but there is no amusement in it. The Caligo guards think the Sidus are the evil ones, and yet they have no objection to making us suffer, torturing us, or killing us.

It makes no sense how they can justify their actions to commit the evil they call us.

"I saw two other islands when the shield cracked open. Who is on them, and do they know about us?"

Veles gives me a look as if he was hoping I would forget about it. But knowing now that it is the gods who created the dark creatures and that there is a whole other world out beyond us just makes me want to know as much as possible.

"There are two other kingdoms of Caligo and Sidus. They are kept apart from each other and shielded just like this one."

"Why keep us hidden from one another? Why hide us at all?" It makes no sense. The entire world is unhidden, and yet the Caligo and Sidus are hidden from everyone and everything. Even each other, it seems. But why ?

"They thought it best," he says, too vague for me to understand.

" They ?" I look at him and quickly surmise who they are. The Fae.

"Why didn't they ask us what we wanted?" Maybe we didn't want to be hidden and caged off from the rest of the world.

"They wanted to protect you," he says with a sad sort of smile that makes my anger retreat for a moment.

"And what is it that they are protecting us from?"

"The gods," he says, and my eyes widen in shock as my stomach drops. "They want you all dead. They don't know where the Sidus and Caligo are. The Fae have kept this location a secret and protected it along with the other two kingdoms. The only way on and off any of the islands is through a portal and the land of the Fae. All of which are heavily guarded."

"Why do the gods want us dead?" Surely if the Fae are as strong as he says, they would see them as more of a threat than any of us.

"Your existence alone is a threat to them."

"How could any of us possibly be a threat against a god?" I doubt even the Fae would stand a chance.

"The gods must fall before all can rise," he whispers to himself before looking at me. "The prophecy spoke of their taint and corruption, yes, but it also foretold their ending. They thought killing the one who foretold the prophecy would end it completely. But a loophole is always created when fate is defied. The Sidus and Caligo are descendants of the original prophet and the one who foretold the prophecy. Which means you all are that loophole and the only thing standing in the way of the gods and their foretold ending."