42. Rodan

42

Rodan

T he moment that Maeve disappeared, panic was a roaring thing in Rodan's mind. He could not help but remember that vacant expression on her face, the shadows under her eyes and the hollowness of her voice when he had found her beneath the lake. Except this time he had no indication of where she had gone to. Only that he could still feel her, and she was still alive.

Lydia had come up behind him, closer to Ankou and Titania, her small hand resting on his shoulder.

Ninack sneered at Rodan. "Your bondmate will be consumed. One way or another."

Titania gave a laugh of her own, and Rodan could not tell if her confidence were feigned or genuine. "You underestimate our daughter."

Jen made a small sound behind him, but Troy had her covered, so Rodan kept his focus on the gods. All were unbound at this point, but none were moving against Ninack.

The god of darkness spotted Lydia again, and shook his chain. Rodan narrowed his eyes as the glow to those links strengthened. There was definitely something wrong with it. Unstable, the glow flickered even as Ninack demanded, "Why is Tegal's mark upon that one?"

Rodan heard Maeve's voice through the bond, distant and quiet. Can you hear me?

He sent an acknowledgment and short message back, then turned his focus back to the god approaching his daughter. No one had answered him, even though the compulsion beating out from the chain was especially strong. Rodan had the feeling that the only one who could supply the response would be Tegal himself, and the god merely grinned as he watched his brother stalk forward.

Rodan stayed between Ninack and Lydia, arms loose at his side and stance wide, ready for anything.

"A prince of darkness, you could have been," Ninack purred in that leonine voice of his. "What a pity. Brother Tegal. Tell me why your mark is upon this one," he thrust a long taloned finger toward Lydia.

"Nah, I'm good," the god of life said.

Ninack shook the chain, which flashed again, brilliant. "Tell me!"

Rodan could tell the god struggled against the compulsion, but soon the words were flowing from Tegal. "I found your plan, a long time ago. One of your creatures spoke of it, when they decided a life in my realm seemed far more compelling than one spent in perpetual darkness."

Ninack hissed at him but remained otherwise silent.

"This day was seen as an inevitability, by your creature and by me. So I ensured the person who could stop it would be here on that day. I gave her life, everlasting."

"Fool," Ankou said with barely-contained rage in his voice. "You tortured her. You created the very cracks in the worlds Ninack is exploiting."

Tegal continued as though his brother had not spoken, the surfer bro accent largely forgotten, replaced with a rich timbre that shook the room. "Because I knew what would happen would draw you to her. Would make this the staging arena. And I made sure to lay a few traps of my own."

Ninack's gaze fixed on Lydia, and Rodan strengthened the shield around them, gritting his teeth.

The Nyx are here , he heard from Maeve through the bond, and a moment later he saw something so terrifying that his knees nearly went out. A Nyx horde unlike any he had seen upon the Realms, millions strong.

But before he could say or ask a thing, Maeve had closed her end of the bond, leaving him with a brush of affection and an understanding that he could not be a distraction at the moment.

Swallowing hard, he focused in on the events unfolding around him.

So far as Rodan knew, his daughter had no magical acumen. She had an event happening to her, but otherwise—what could she possess that made Tegal think her the lynchpin?

Behind him, he heard his daughter breathe, "So this is the end."

His chest ached.

"I brought you to this city of millions, teeming with life," Tegal went on, and now he was growing, becoming of a size with Ninack. Surpassing him, until his head brushed the tall cathedral-like ceiling. "I ensured you started your work where I was strongest."

Ninack sneered, "You think to best me with raw strength? You forget I have this," he shook the links of the chain, his face turned upward to gaze at Tegal.

But the god of life only smiled, and attacked.

Rodan pressed Lydia back, for though the throne room was large, so were the gods, and their powerful blows were such that they seemed to shake the very foundations of the mountain.

Ankou similarly pulled Titania back, and Rizor joined with the group of them clustered near the door, watching the fisticuffs unfold in front of them. Ninack and Tegal fought like feral animals, snarling and snapping, biting and clawing, kicking, punching, and gauging wherever there was an opening. It did not hold finesse, but it was brutal.

"Ninack sent Maeve to the Nyx," Rodan informed Ankou when they were together, speaking quickly as the other two were distracted.

"She'll find her way back here," Titania said, the tone serene.

Rodan snarled at her, "How could you possibly know?—"

Ankou interrupted smoothly, "The High Queen has seen much, now that we are bonded."

That sent his mind to whirling, and Rodan shook himself, trying to focus on the conversation, protecting Lydia, and keep half an eye on the fight before them. "She's safe?"

"She will return, alive," Ankou responded enigmatically.

Jen was gazing at Titania, then asked, "You're Maeve's mom?"

A concussive boom interrupted what was next said, and when he turned his attention to the fight, he saw Tegal had Ninack in a headlock, while the darkness god attempted to pummel his brother with the length of chain, the links whipping around.

"—is mine, yes," he heard from behind him, Titania's acknowledgment to Jen's query.

And then the humans sharp-tongued reply, "You have a lot to answer for."

Lydia spoke coldly from behind him, "Agreed. Mama always came to me, once she knew. You abandoned her. How could you?"

"Not the time," Ankou said gently, but the tone was mild. Soft. As though he, too, were unhappy with the facts.

Jen was scowling at Titania, who ignored her.

There was a flash of shock and surprise through the bond, and Rodan tensed. "Maeve?—"

Appeared a moment later, clinging to Elias, who turned a black and silver gaze upon him.

Rodan drew in a shocked breath, the bond wide and Maeve's recent memories open for him to read. How had he forgotten Elias was with them? It bordered on madness. He whipped around to Titania. "You can remove a bond?"

"As you saw," she replied curtly, lips pulled tight. "Both parties must be present."

Ninack bellowed with rage, flipping so that Tegal was beneath him, the chain pressed against the god of life's throat. Tegal was wheezing a laugh, attempting to reach his brother's throat without success.

Maeve made her move, so fast yet casual that Rodan barely registered it.

Ninack had Tegal pinned, the links of the chain not being used to strangle fanning out in either direction across the floor. Maeve took hold of one of the blue links.

Rodan's breath caught, and he prayed to all the gods that ever were that this would work like he suspected?—

The link dissolved, trails of blue like veins of fire snaking across the backs of Maeve's exposed hands.

She reached for another link, and he could sense her elation through the bond. It was working! The power was returning to her.

But this next was several more up the chain, and when it dissolved, those belonging to Horus and Asher clinked to the ground.

Ninack stopped choking his brother, his head twisting to snarl at Maeve, his hand striking out.

Ankou was there, taking the blow, pushing Maeve back. The motion brought the other end of the chain close to her face and she grasped two blue links, one in either hand, fire burning down her arm.

Rodan worked at the rest, worked to unmake the powers binding all those forces together. Maeve had skipped back the moment the other two links dissolved. She had more than a dozen to go by Rodan's estimation, but now Ninack was aware of what she was attempting to do.

"Stop!" The god of darkness cried, power whipping through the room along with shadows, dimming their vision as though they stood in thick fog.

They did, the strain of the compulsion causing the glowing chain to dim even further.

Ninack got up, kicking his brother aside. "Do that again and I will kill you," he swore to Maeve.

Tegal coughed, curled and shrinking back to human size. Rodan could sense his power was diminished greatly, but then?—

He had fought Ninack long enough that the god of darkness was tiring.

Elias was trembling visibly against the god's order, and Rodan could sense that he was closest of anyone to breaking it. He could not believe his old friend had bonded at last, and to the Nyx!

As he was thinking of this, Elias jerked, stumbling forward a step before casting a wild grin at Ninack. "You didn't count on me, did you?"

"I don't even know who you are," the god replied, sounding bored. He lifted his chain.

Troy loosed an arrow, and it struck, hitting the god in the right shoulder. He howled, jerking the wooden shaft from his flesh. It oozed blood that shined silver like starlight.

Troy stepped behind Rodan, another arrow already in their bow, eyes reflective in the dim light. Though they said nothing, Rodan could feel the sense of triumph radiating from the elf.

They had proven a god could bleed.

That seemed to shift something in the room, Ninack breathing heavy as he surveyed the lot of them. "You're all dead," he wheezed. "You can't kill me, and do you think I'll stop? I never will."

Pale blue flame sprang to life between Maeve's fingers, and her hair, what had come loose from the braid, floated about her head. It's like a great lake, instead of an ocean, but it is mine, she said to him through the bond. He could sense her profound relief, and he wished he could go to her, but he would protect Lydia first.

Ninack disappeared when Elias lunged for him, appearing a moment later next to his throne. The fissures out in the sky beyond split wider, the screams—definitely, Rodan could hear screams—rising. Things were coming through those cracks in the sky, and as they began to descend upon the populace, spreading shadow in their wake, Rodan knew what they were.

Nyx.

There were only several dozen at this point, some of them with a pair or two of membranous bat wings. He sensed Maeve's rising horror and heard her cry out, "You can't do this! They're defenseless."

"Earth will die this day," the god of darkness intoned. "And you alongside it, Maeve Almeida. You and your mate were given a choice and you chose poorly."

Ankou let loose a growl.

Ninack ran the remaining chain—still as long as fifteen feet or so—through his hands.

Titania come out of the shadows behind him—how and where she had come from, Rodan was not sure—and sliced a cut down his back with the tip of her thin blade.

Ninack gasped, near dropping the chain. Maeve made to dart forward but Ankou held her restrained. "I am sorry, daughter," he said. "We have to call him."

She went pale, looking to Lydia.

"There is no other way. Not with the planet under siege." The death god said, speaking softly.

As Titania made another strike, cutting at the hand that held one end of the chain, Elias grasped the other end, yanking. Ninack snarled and turned to face both, but then Titania disappeared. Or moved so fast even Rodan's gaze could not track. The god seemed to be able to, however, for he whirled and struck out with his bloody fist, making contact with Titania's face.

She collapsed where she stood, but was still conscious, pushing back on the heels of her palms so she could reach her blade. Ninack yanked on the chain, causing Elias to go off-balance, crashing to his knees.

Rodan had been bound by so many vows to his High Queen. Vows that still had their echoes in his heart, which was why he looked to Troy, sending the elf a subtle nod.

They returned the gesture, and began rapid firing toward Ninack.

Elias unsheathed a short sword and went on the attack, steel sparking against whatever alloy the chain was made of. Rodan winced as it struck against the blue links, worried for Maeve's godhead.

Pike, who had been largely quiet and unnoticed, had gathered Gladys and the High Priestess behind him, Cedric at his side. When he made to join the fray, the guard put a hand on his arm. "We need you."

But Corra launched into the melee with a cry of, "The Realms!"

"Ankou—father, please," Maeve begged. "If he is as you say, he cannot know of her."

The death god looked crestfallen. "It is already done. Ninack near killed Tegal just now. This needs to be done. He is on his way."

Ninack was beset on several sides now, oblivious to the conversation happening before him, and soon it became clear his attachment to the chain was more a hindrance than a help, so reliant on the powers within he had forgone his own inherent strength and cunning.

Rodan looked to Lydia and found her gaze was not on the fight—but on a man that had not been there a breath before. He sat on one of the window ledges, feet kicking, his features striking. Long dark hair, and eyes so pale they were almost indistinguishable from the whites save for a dark ring around the edge of the iris.

Even with all of his senses on high alert, Rodan could not feel a thing from the man. He was like a null force. Something he could not access.

The male simply observed, for a while, the fight ongoing between elf, Fae, god, and human.

Ankou had noticed him, as had Rizor and Tegal. Everyone else was focused in on the fight, even Maeve. Rodan wanted to shout a warning, but there was something about this being which made a much larger part of him want to hide. To slide into some dark place where he could not be found.

Lydia whispered from behind him, "I've dreamed of those eyes."

They suddenly fixed on her, and his head tilted to the side, disconcertingly light gaze piercing, flicking now between Lydia, Rodan, Maeve, and the others.

"Interesting."

The word was soft-spoken, and yet the whole room came to attention. The fighting ceased, the only sound that of Corra's labored breathing and Ninack's slight hiss of surprise.

The man slid from the windowsill and strolled toward the center of the room. He wore pale gray slacks and a silk shirt in the same hue, his feet bare.

With every step, the darkness and shadows in the room dissipated, though through the transparent windows they could still see the world outside was boiling with charcoal clouds, and hideous creatures were tearing people apart, far below. Now that it was quiet in the mountain throne room, Rodan could hear the screams had faded. The Nyx had taken those in the park first, but they would be making their way into the rest of the city soon.

"What a mess," Eros said, for Rodan could not deny that must be who this was. Not with the way the gods were looking at him as though he were their only natural predator. "Lutem, Rizor, how could you have let this pass? You were always so good at tempering your brothers."

"My Lord," Ninack was saying, bowing low. "I was?—"

"Trying to become like me," Eros said, the words flat and simple. "Which is impossible. Even if you were to combine all the power of your brothers, and all of the rest of the creatures on this planet with any modicum of magic to them, you would not come close to being my equal."

Rodan felt his heart stutter. He backed up, closer to Lydia.

Eros glanced his way, and then away just as quick, dismissing him. Rodan let out a breath of relief. "If you had succeeded in turning that one, perhaps you would have accomplished more of your goal," He said, jerking his chin at Rodan. "But then I would have had to destroy him, too."

"My lord," Ankou rasped. "The balance?—"

"That's enough," Eros said, holding up a hand, and then reaching for Ninack. "Come now. You knew this would be the finale all along."

"No," the god of darkness said. "Please," he pleaded. "I beg of you, I can… I will do better. You have my word, I?—"

"Did you not just tell these assembled you would never stop? That they could never balance you? No, old friend," Eros said in whisper-soft tones. "Eventually you would grow too hungry again, reach for too much. You understood this once. Hopefully you will take the lesson to heart, this time."

Ninack shuddered, coming to a stand from where he had been kneeling in the defensive. He bled silver from several slashes to his back, his hand, and along one cheek. The rivulets of starlight blood allowed Rodan to see more of the figure than ever before, finding Ninack looked much as Tegal did, only in shades of onyx and midnight.

The god of darkness stood there, looking diminutive compared to the others, and though he flinched when the God reached for him again, he still placed a taloned hand in Eros's plain one.

There was a shudder that reverberated through the mountain, and then Ninack was simply gone.

There and a heartbeat later, no more.

If Rodan had not known better, he would have wondered if Ninack had escaped through the pathways, but no. No, there was a sense of wrongness to the air now. A palpable tang like aluminum that had not been there before.

The other gods looked ill, shifting restlessly when Eros turned his attention back to them. "Now, you—" he pointed to Cedric. "Come here."

The guardsman trembled visibly, but Thea put a steady hand on his back between his shoulder blades, and he blew out a breath. Approaching Eros, the guard looked even younger. Thea trailed a few steps behind him, stopping at the line of the other gods, nearer to Maeve.

Eros looked Cedric up and down, lingering on his face and feet. "You'll do."

"S-sir?" the man asked, still shaking.

"I see you, Cedric El Lackland. I know if you are given this gift and burden, you will not fall prey to the same impulses as your predecessor."

Eros extended his hand. "Become the new god of darkness."