40. Rodan

40

Rodan

B eing in the presence of not one or two, but four gods of creation was beyond anything Rodan had ever experienced on the power scale before. The air was thick and difficult to pull into his lungs.

All of them, save for himself, Maeve, and Lydia were caught in the web of Ninack. Rodan could not see the threads of the universe in the way the gods could, in the way Maeve was able to when she had her godhead, but he had the feeling if he could? There would be a fine black net over them, tying their wills to the god of darkness.

The Ascension. Ninack had spoken the word before and now, watching the rippling lightning in those deep fissures in the sky, ever-spreading toward the city, Rodan had a feeling he knew exactly what the god meant to do.

He wanted to absorb them all, to become an all-in-one, a god of everything.

He wants to become like the other one. Eros , he thought, trying to keep the words tucked deep inside his mind.

But Rodan could see, too, with his making, there was something intrinsically wrong with that chain. Those forces were not meant to commingle in such a way, to be forged and forced into one. The thing inside him that catalogued and weighed everything around him focused in on those glowing links and knew them as wrong.

Was that why Ninack had wanted him so much? So far, Icarus had not made an appearance, and Rodan wondered if his binding had been so thorough even the god could not break it.

At least, not yet. And Rodan had the sense that though the chain was poor-forged, it could still wreck unimaginable damage before it shattered.

And those blue links. Those are from Maeve's godhead.

If the chain shattered, would the powers within be lost forever?

Some part of him distantly wondered if that might not be a good thing but, no. He wanted his bondmate as strong as she could be. There were too many powers in the worlds that wanted her for one reason or another. She had to be able to properly defend herself and her people.

Rodan slid further in front of Lydia, his instincts roaring to protect her and Maeve and the others in this room who were held by the god. The ones he had brought into this.

Ninack was trying to circle them, to see Lydia better, but Rodan kept between them, as did Maeve, both of them with that singular intent running through the bond, linking them in purpose.

"Tegal, why does this one have your mark?" The god of darkness asked.

The god of life laughed a little, his voice like cool showers and the warmth of a summers day. "Why, Apep, do you not have all the pieces yet?" There was a reckless, maniacal sort of mockery in that voice. "Surely someone who wishes what you do would have put everything together by now. Surely you understand when you look at her."

It was hard to tell what Ninack felt, thought, or saw. That void made shape twisted, facing Tegal. Whatever the life god saw there made him cackle with glee. "Silence," Ninack hissed, and silence there was. Even Rodan felt his tongue freeze.

And with a twist of his finger, countered the spellwork, releasing himself with no noticeable acknowledgement from the god.

Interesting , he thought. Then, down the bond, he send a query, can you hear me?

There was an affirmative response, just as soft a brush as his own touch had been. Ninack was still pacing the room, looking between all the assembled peoples and seeming to scowl.

I think he can tell when we use the bond, perhaps, but not what we say, Rodan explained quickly, sending a series of images and thoughts toward his bondmate.

Maeve was silent from the other side, her gaze still fixed on Ninack, just as unwilling as Rodan to let him out of her sight. But she gave a stilted nod.

He was glad he had armored her, at the least, as Maeve peeled off from the group and crept to her father's side. She looked diminutive next to the towering figuring, who was taller than her even while kneeling.

When he noticed her, Ankou settled back a little on his heels, head slightly cocked so he could keep an eye on his sibling and progeny at the same time.

Rifts continued to spread across the sky, and even though they should not have been able to, Rodan could swear he heard screaming from far below. Cries of pain and horror. From his vantage point, he could only see the rifts on the parallel, but as they widened, what horrors could be witnessed from below?

Shadows and coils of darkness were starting to descend, reaching.

Quickly, my love, please.

Maeve placed a hand on her father's shoulder and whatever she tried to do, however she attempted to communicate, Ninack jerked, whirling on them, shadows and gloom growing.

"You're too late," he snarled. "Do not try my patience."

There was a shower of some new, familiar power, however, and Titania appeared before them, standing to the other side of Ankou. Her consort and bondmate, Oberon, beside her.

Ninack tilted back his head and howled with laughter. "You think to beat me with a pair of Fae? That is who you called to? Why," he purred. "How would that work, when I already own one of them?"

Oberon stepped forward, closer to the god, and then it was Titania, clothed in gold and silver shimmering over every inch of her body, who was laughing. "Did you think we did not know? That we did not find out?"

High Queen Titania pulled at the belt slung low on her hips, where a blade waited. Twisting and flipping the dagger in a semi-casual manner, she let fly within a heartbeat, before anyone could take a breath.

The blade twisted and spun as it went, and sunk deep into Oberon's back, the hilt jutting between his shoulder blades.

"I've wanted to do that for years," Titania breathed, though it sounded pained.

"What are you doing?" Maeve cried. "You'll die!" Through the bond Rodan felt the roar of her panic.

In response, Titania reached into the air between her and her bondmate, who had crashed to his knees, blood spewing from him as he coughed, frothy pink at his lips.

For a moment it looked as though Maeve would go to his side, but Ankou put a hand in front of her, staying her movements. There must have been some communication between the two of them, for Maeve went bloodless, and he saw rage kindle suddenly in her amber eyes.

Oberon laughed, wheezed, then laughed again, as much as he could through the coughing blood. "Foolish bitch. I should never have tied myself to you."

"I could say the same thing," Titania said mildly, and made a slight grunt of effort?—

The room filled with a momentary light like midday, illuminating even some of the lines of Ninack's face, the god shielding himself from the blast.

Oberon was on the ground, blood in a spreading pool beneath him, his eyes one the same stormy blue, but the other a pale gray. They went glassy as Rodan watched, the life dying.

Those eyes were no longer the twin of Titania, who turned a brown and pale gaze toward Ankou, extending her hand to him.

"No!" Ninack cried.

But Ankou, not bound physically like the humans in the room, clasped Titania's hand in his own.

Rodan had seen several bonding processes, but never one between a Fae and a god of such consequence.

Ankou's eyes did not change at all, but Titania's amber eye lightened to a blazing yellow like a falcon. She went rigid, her hand clasped with his, and the power overflow hit the room like a tsunami.

Rodan shielded himself and the others, especially Lydia, the best he could. He found Maeve doing the same and focusing in on Jen.

Ankou rose, shrinking as he did so he was more of a size with the Fae Queen, though he was still a full head taller than her.

Rodan saw pale hands tilt a head back, and then they were crashing together, and Maeve was stumbling back, looking shocked between them.

"Balance, brother," Rizor said from his position on the ground. "Will you offer the rest of us a Fae Queen to bond with?"

Ankou broke from Titania and then waved a hand, and the thing holding all of them under Ninack's power slackened. A moment later, and Rodan heard the god of death's voice in his mind, and knew it echoed through at least a few others from the reaction around him. The bond strips away enchantment and spellwork. This can only happen once.

Rodan understood. They had kept this option a secret, last resort, but?—

From instinct alone, Rodan could tell the transfer and sharing of power here had been far more one-sided than any other bonding process. Titania had gained exponentially, but he doubted Ankou had received much aside from memories and the slackening of the thing holding him bound.

His brother did not know this, however.

Ninack raged. He howled, the noise shaking the foundations of the mountain. "This changes nothing!" he screamed, so loud Rodan and many others covered their ears. Maeve, Titania, and the gods stood firm, however. They did not even flinch.

Rizor and Tegal had moved to Ankou's side, and now there they were arrayed in three rows against Ninack. The gods and Titania, Maeve and Rodan, then Lydia and the rest. Troy moved up beside Rodan, an arrow nocked in their bow, protecting their mate.

"Consider the consequences of your actions," Rizor said, now in a size and shape of a normal human, albeit a tall one, still glowing so, like Ninack's darkness, it was difficult to pick out his precise features. "You will doom us all."

"Bro, you got to listen," Tegal said. "If we tip too far, you know what will happen."

"We will have no choice," Ankou warned. "You are our brother, but that will only extend you so much leniency."

"What would you do?" Ninack sneered. "I still have this," he lifted the chain, the glow of the links reduced, pale seeming compared to what they were before. If the god of darkness noticed this, he said nothing.

Rodan willed Maeve to act quickly, but she was still far from the links of that chain, and his hope that she could, maybe, absorb the power back into herself. He believed he could unmake the rest.

Ninack turned to Rodan, and his voice crackled. "I told you what would happen, if you denied me. I think it's time I showed you."

Thoughts turned from protecting Lydia to realizing that Maeve was in imminent danger. Rodan lunged for her, but Ninack was quicker, snapping his fingers.

Maeve disappeared in shadow.