Chapter 42

Karys

Two days after my meeting with the God of the Shade, I stood at the edge of the Hollowlands, my sights once again set on Ederis.

The heart of the elven rebellion.

In a matter of minutes, I would be driving my way toward that heart.

And my sister—fully healed thanks to the magic of Armaros—was coming with me this time.

I would be taking on her appearance with the help of Mairu's magic, and we would both be traveling into the hornet's nest that was Ederis with the same goal in mind.

We had mapped out our exact routes, our precise targets, and made certain we wouldn't overlap one another. It would still be dangerous. Incredibly dangerous.

But it was the only plan we could all agree on.

Savna still had followers within Ederis. As many as Andrel, at least. And could maybe gain more, once she returned and revealed that she had survived an assassination attempt—an act of violence that hadn't surprised me , but which might surprise others and turn them away from Andrel's leadership.

My original plan had been to go alone, but Savna refused to be left behind.

She would be better at winning over any extra supporters and getting them to do as she commanded, she had argued—and I couldn't disagree. So I would focus on alerting the ones who already followed her, letting them know of our plan to refuse to continue to fight under Andrel's banner.

Together, we would turn enough against him that he would have no choice but to rethink his goal of launching a full-scale war against the human kingdoms.

That was the first part of the plan.

Once it was in motion—and most of our enemies were moving out of the city, away from me—I would focus on making my way to the place I believed to be the ‘heart' of the rebellion.

And there I would unleash Antaeum, which was currently quietly tucked away against my back, hidden beneath my coat.

I kept expecting Dravyn or the others to pick up on the dagger's energy. To spot it, at least. To ask where I'd gotten it. But it went entirely unnoticed; whatever Malaphar had done to cloak its power from them, it was working.

I only hoped it proved as powerful as he claimed whenever the time to wield it arrived—a time that would have to come sooner rather than later.

Because while we stood there, plotting and preparing to sneak our way inside Ederis, the forces at Mindoth and the surrounding posts of the Galithian Army continued to mobilize and march toward us. Help was coming from neighboring kingdoms, as well—a rare alliance of human-kind all converging toward a single goal: To eliminate the elves before they could declare their full war.

As my sister and I finished finalizing our routes and reciting our goals, Valas returned from his mission of scouting out the moving human troops.

He soared down in the form of a serpentine dragon that looked remarkably similar to the shape Mairu often shifted into.

"How many?" Dravyn asked in place of a greeting.

"Two-thousand strong, at least," Valas said, shaking away the last of the scales from his arms. "They're marching through the Naudren Pass."

"Approaching from the west," Dravyn muttered. "They'll likely set up in a blockade formation along the Hollowlands' edge."

"There's a nearly permanent encampment along the west-facing edge of those lands, stretching for miles up from the human's territory," my sister informed us. "So they'll be well prepared to defend themselves and outlast any siege."

"It could end up an indefinite stalemate," Mairu said, almost hopefully.

But Savna shook her head. "It will be too tempting—all of those humans sitting so close to our protected lands? Andrel will order an attack before long."

"The numbers are greater than we hoped," Dravyn said solemnly, "but that doesn't change our plans. The three of us still have our work to do, and Karys and her sister have theirs."

While my sister and I infiltrated and disbanded the elves' forces from inside Ederis, the three of them would do what they could to slow the oncoming storm of human soldiers.

There was little time to second guess this plan, and even less to say goodbye.

Valas moved first, sprouting ice-glazed wings with a roll of his shoulders before striding toward me, cupping my cheek, and leaning his forehead against mine in a conspiratorial kind of way.

"I would tell you to be careful," he said, "but I don't think it would do any good."

"I'll be exactly as careful as the situation allows for," I told him.

"Exactly the sort of less-than-reassuring doublespeak I'd expect from a divine being," he said, grinning. "I'm so proud of how much you've learned, and how horribly I've managed to influence you."

"I have a long way to go to reach your level of horribleness."

"That's very true," he said, stepping back and giving me a wink. "You still have plenty to learn." With that, he leapt into the air, summoning an icy blast of wind and unfurling his wings fully to catch that gust, letting it carry him into the bright morning sky and nearly out of sight.

I felt Dravyn's eyes settling on me. The ring on my finger warmed as I looked over and met his gaze.

"You need to go," I said, even as I walked toward him, fighting the urge to grab his arm and hold him close. "Stay with Valas so he can't do anything foolish."

"He'll still manage to do that, either way," Dravyn pointed out.

I laughed as I brought my lips to his, partly to hide the true, more painful surge of emotion that overcame me as I kissed him goodbye.

"I love you," I whispered, hoping with everything in me that this would not be the last time I got to say that to him.

"I'll see you soon," he replied, pointedly.

This is not our ending.

I wasn't sure who thought the words—me or him—but there they were in my head, and I held to them as tightly as I could as I watched him take to the skies alongside Valas. His wings were even more impressive than the God of Winter's had been, the fiery span of them stretching no less than ten feet, with each beat summoning more embers that built upon their solidness.

My sister was still staring at the display, eyes wide and lips parted in awe, when Mairu stepped in front of her.

"Hold still," the goddess commanded, golden threads of magic sprouting from her fingertips as she pressed them to my sister's face.

Savna flinched, but ultimately managed not to flee, even as the Serpent Goddess's power swelled.

The ribbons of gold lengthened and completely wrapped around my sister's body, where they held for a breath until Mairu snapped her fingers and unraveled them all in a blink.

They flew toward her outstretched palm, twisting into a neat ball of shining gold as if wrapping around an invisible spool.

She beckoned me toward her, guiding that ball of energy into me as I approached. It sank, warm and heavy, into my chest. As the magic settled and spread through my body, I felt myself changing. It seemed different than other transformation spells she'd used—deeper. More powerful.

"Well, this is incredibly unsettling," Savna said, peering around the goddess and watching just as I felt the magic tickling around my eyes—shifting them from green to blue.

"It's not the most unsettling thing I've witnessed during my time among the gods," I assured her.

We shared a nervous laugh over that, and then I closed my eyes as the last parts of Mairu's spell finished washing over me.

Within moments, I had finally become the person I'd always wanted to be—but only so I could finish the task of becoming who I was truly meant to be.

The irony was not lost on me.

"I've left a temporary mark on your sister as well," Mairu told me. "You'll be able to track her by its divine energy if you find yourself in a desperate situation." She grimaced as she shook the last threads of gold from her palm. "Well, more desperate than our present situation."

I tried to give her a reassuring smile. "Thank you."

She wrapped me in a quick hug in response. Then she looked to the sky and, after an encouraging nod from me, she followed Valas and Dravyn's examples, unleashing dragon-like wings that carried her swiftly away.

Once she had disappeared from view, my sister drew closer to me, gaze darting back and forth between my transformed appearance and the sky.

"The details of what we're going to do to settle things after we scatter and disarm Andrel's loyalists…couldn't help but notice those plans were scarcely discussed," she said, staring at the spot where Mairu's winged body had faded from view. "Is this lack of details common with these gods and their plans?"

"Yes," I said with a snort, thinking of all the poor communication I'd witnessed among the divine. "But this time, it's not their fault."

She fixed me with an expectant look.

"They don't know the extent of what I'm planning, because I…I couldn't tell them."

"Do you even know what you're planning?"

"I know…enough."

"That's terribly reassuring."

I sighed, my hand slipping under my coat and finding the hilt of the dagger Malaphar had given me.

I couldn't keep this secret solely to myself any longer—and the Dark God had said nothing against sharing it with a mortal being.

My sister had always been my secret keeper…so maybe she could be that again, at least one last time.

"My plan revolves around this," I said, slipping the dagger from its sheath and holding it out to her. "It's a gift from one of the Creator Gods."

She slowly took it, studying the blade's etchings with the same cautious wonder I had.

"The magic it yields will replace the wards around Ederis," I told her, "and render all of the anti-divine magic in the area useless. It's meant to become a point that will establish a new age of elves."

She stared at me. "It will undo our protections, you mean."

"And replace them with something better."

"So they claim." She shoved the dagger back at me as though it had suddenly grown hot to the touch. "How can you be sure the gods aren't playing games with you? Or just using you to finish wiping out our race?"

I snatched the weapon from her hold. As my hand closed around the grip, the etchings on the black blade pulsed with silvery light for a fraction of a moment. An incredible sense of power overtook me in the same instant.

I settled myself within that power and answered my sister in a calm, decisive voice: "Because I am too powerful to be played with, now," I said. "And they wouldn't need me if they truly wanted to finish killing off the elves. What they need is a divine being who can help restore order. Someone who can navigate the various realms and races. Don't you understand? If I don't succeed in doing this, then they likely will simply swoop in and finish the job of killing you all off. It's simpler, after all. This is my— our —last chance at restoring balance."

She considered me and Antaeum for a long moment before carefully reaching for it again, giving it a closer look.

No matter how she twisted and turned it, the blade never reacted to her touch—only to mine.

"It's tied to me," I said quietly. "I'm meant to wield it. To fix things with it." I took the dagger and sheathed it, averting my eyes, avoiding the concerned look she watched me with. "And I'm stronger than I used to be."

"I know you are."

"Then trust me."

Trust me.

The same plea I'd made to Dravyn the other night. It was asking a lot of both of them, I knew.

But I would not let them down.

"Fine," my sister said, after a long pause. "The Hollows await—lead the way."

I moved much more quickly through said Hollows—more confidently—than last time. Because I was stronger than I used to be, yes—but I also had all the insider information my sister had provided me with, in addition to the disguise of her appearance.

As we passed through the wards meant to keep divine magic out, Antaeum provided help, too.

A shimmer went through the air so quickly I would have missed it if I'd blinked. I didn't understand what was happening at first, not until I took a moment to stop and catch my breath…and I realized how easily I could do so.

The unbearable pressure I'd fought against during my last trip through this place was no longer a problem.

The dagger had negated it.

A positive sign of greater things to come, I hoped.

As we approached Ederis, my sister and I went in opposite directions. She would stick to the outskirts of the city—areas I was less familiar with, anyway. We wouldn't cross paths again until Mairu's magic wore off, and we both had plenty to do between now and then.

I had a map in my mind—one Savna had helped me construct; that was all I needed from this point. It guided me to the places where she thought I was most likely to run into the targets we'd chosen. Many of the ones I sought were rebels I'd known, at least in passing, from my younger years. And I rarely forgot faces.

My disturbingly exact memory, along with my sister's instructions, provided enough guidance; within the first two hours spent darting from one point to another along my mental map, I managed to speak to seven of our targets.

From these chosen leaders, ripples began to spread.

Soon I was beginning to sense it—the stirrings of movement, the whispers of possible change. A nervous yet determined sort of energy was soon rising all around me.

I hoped my sister was having similar luck.

And I hoped she was safe.

But I couldn't help but wonder…

What if we'd miscalculated?

What if there were far more rebels who wanted her dead than we realized? We'd assumed Andrel was the one responsible for ordering the attack in Altis. That no one else would act so brazenly, so brutally against Savna.

But what if we were wrong?

What if they tried again while she was here, and I wasn't there to save her this time?

"You're alive," came a sudden voice, just as I started to duck into the shadows of a building to collect myself and calm my racing thoughts.

I turned toward Andrel with the same cool, unhurried confidence my sister would have used. "Surprised, are you?"

His face split into the wide, charismatic grin he usually reserved for winning over the more reluctant rebels. " Thrilled , more like. I heard what happened in Altis. I thought you were finished, for sure."

Of course you heard, I wanted to snap. You're the one who ordered it to happen .

But he would only deny it, and I would risk revealing too much before I was ready to reveal it.

So instead, I calmly recited the words my sister had suggested I use if and when I encountered him.

"We have traitors in our midst, as we feared," I said. "I spotted a member of Lensa's inner circle leading my assassination party—the one who shot the first arrow, as a matter of fact."

"An arrow she'll sorely regret before the end."

"I plan to make her regret it," I agreed.

Andrel started to walk, indicating for me to follow him.

The divine dagger at my waist shivered with power.

I wanted so badly to plant it in Andrel's back.

But I knew how divine trials worked. And the Moraki who had handed me this trial had been clear that the dagger I held was meant for greater things than the filthy blood of this traitor before me.

I would have my revenge before the end.

But not yet.

Not yet, not yet, not yet…

Every inch of my body rebelled against the idea of following him anywhere, but I made myself keep up appearances, trailing a short distance behind him.

He summited a hill and gazed into the distance, toward the Hollowlands, which were covered with a light veil of mist.

"Any and all potential traitors and cowards…" he said as I caught up to him, "they'll all be crawling back to us soon enough."

The confidence in his voice chilled me to the bone, but I didn't let my fear show. I only agreed with him, mirroring that confidence as best I could.

His gaze slid toward me, appraising me a little too closely, so I quickly changed the subject.

"There's an army marching toward us, coming from the Naudren Pass—I encountered them on my way back to you." I offered up this information freely—information he likely already knew—just to further convince him we were still on the same side.

He dismissed it with a chuckle. "We're more than prepared for them."

"They number at least two-thousand strong," I said, still calmly. "An alliance from multiple kingdoms."

"And we number more than double that."

I tried to twist my tone into one of curiosity rather than horror. "…How?"

He chuckled to himself, as if enjoying some private joke.

I continued to stare at him, until he finally answered me. "I took the liberty of making a few changes to our strategies while you were away. Switching from a defensive to offensive posture, to begin with. As soon as we learned of that marching army of allied humans, we mobilized our own.

"I knew we'd eventually lure them toward our lands—and they have no idea how many we are actually hiding within the darkness of the Hollows, or what sort of alliances we've formed for ourselves. They are vain, indeed, to think we couldn't match whatever forces they conjured up."

It took everything in me to swallow the bile in the back of my throat and say, "I always said vanity would be their downfall, didn't I?"

The space between where we stood and where Dravyn and the others were was vast, impossible to see across even if it hadn't been covered in fog.

I stared into the distance anyway, as if I might see some flash of fire or glint of ice—some powerful display that would give me hope that things were not as dismal or impossible as they were starting to seem.

"It should be an easy enough victory," Andrel said, sounding almost bored.

"…It should be a massacre."

"Exactly. One that is likely beginning right about now . " He turned to me with a smile. "Shall we go enjoy it together?"