Chapter 35

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

D ecision made, Rose walked through the next door—the one Aiden had come through. This room wasn’t what she pictured. A cell with metal bars stood in the corner, and someone was behind them. Though disheveled, she could only be one being. Her skin was golden brown, and her tangled hair was black as night—she was the Norden goddess, Aurora.

“This looks too easy,” Rose said, mostly to herself as she looked around. No barred cage could hold a goddess. What was she missing?

“Are you the Norden Point?” an exhausted voice came from the sparse bed against the wall in the cell.

“I am.” Rose nodded as the others filed in behind her. “These are the rest of the Compass Points, though I believe you already met Luc.” Her gaze fastened on the cell door. “We don’t have a lot of time. Do you know?—”

She lost Aurora’s attention the moment Arie walked through the door. Silence filled the room as the Compass Points realized their irrelevance in this reunion. Aurora’s entire person lit up when she locked eyes with him. It was a light brighter than Arie’s biggest flame. And it was entirely for him.

“Arie,” Aurora whispered.

He was on his knees at the metal bars instantly, reaching his hand through…

An explosion shook the room.

Arie’s human form flew backward from where he knelt. His body arced backward and crashed next to the door they had just entered.

“Well,” Aiden said smugly. “I tried to warn him.”

Rose needn’t have worried. It was a cage to hold a god, not kill one. Arie sat up and glared at Aiden.

“You should have said it louder,” Arie grumbled, rubbing the back of his head.

“It wouldn’t have stopped you,” Luc said.

Arie had a glare for Luc as well. Turning back to Aiden, he asked, “What magic holds her? Tell us how to get her out.”

“I can speak for myself, love,” Aurora said. “The magic that holds me here is Aterra’s and the amplification of the wild magic in this place.”

“The wild…” Arie couldn’t even finish his curse. He seemed enraged that a natural power helped Aterra. “I still don’t understand. The magic of this place…the amplification—it shouldn’t take sides in this,” he said instead of stringing together a sentence of curses. His face still looked like he would prefer that route.

“And it hasn’t, Arie.” She looked at him so patiently. “You know as well as I. It latches on to one magic at a time.”

Aiden gestured to the cell that was holding her, ignoring her words. “It certainly looks like it has.”

Arie glared at him. He scratched his head as he stood. “When I was here with Zrak. The wild magic only affected me. And when we took the test, it clearly latched on to Aterra.”

“We always thought its wildness was drawn to the most volatile magic,” Aurora said.

Arie balled his fists at his sides in frustration.

“The why doesn’t really matter.” She shrugged. “The wild magic still supports Aterra. And I can’t escape while his magic holds me here.”

“Let’s move on to how we can get past it then, shall we?” Juliette asked.

“Shouldn’t Aterra’s magic be able to get you out?” Rose said.

“Yes,” Aurora replied, her eyes darting to Luc. “But I don’t think the Suden Point alone is enough.” She tilted her head.

Luc took over the conversation, taking a step forward. “Is there a key?”

Rose’s gaze searched the room, her eyes landing on Aiden. “I think the best key would be the one on Aiden’s finger.”

The Compass Points and two gods turned to Aiden. He looked down at his hand. The gold triangle ring with the onyx center was still on his middle finger. “This ring?”

Rose couldn’t believe she’d missed it earlier. Of course he would be wearing it.

“Yes, Aterra’s artifact on the continent. This could strengthen Luc enough to break the lock.”

Aiden, to his credit, didn’t hesitate. He pulled the ring off and handed it to Luc. Rose noted the lack of objection from the other Compass Points. If they weren’t pressed for time, she’d take a moment to enjoy it. Only days ago, Juliette would certainly have objected, loudly, to offering Luc more power. He seemed to earn more of their trust by coming clean about his suspicions of his lineage.

“Won’t me putting it on strengthen Aterra?” Luc asked.

“We’ve proved it depends on your choices once wearing it,” Arie said.

Luc shook off the comment. His shoulders straightened as he resigned himself to whatever happened next. Slipping the ring on his finger, he stepped toward the cell.

A chill swept through the room.

“What do we have here?” came a cold and ageless voice from Aiden’s body. His eyes flashed gray as he spoke. Aterra had arrived.

“Aiden, you disappoint me,” Aterra said. This sounded odd coming from Aiden’s lips. “Just leading our guests to the one room in the heart of the mountain where we happen to be keeping a goddess as a long-term guest. Tsk, tsk.”

Rose rolled her eyes at the phrasing, but her mind worked quickly behind them. They needed more time. Luc needed a chance to get Aurora out. He knew what to try. He just needed to be able to get to the cell lock. Unfortunately, the only thing she could think of to give Luc time was to attack Aterra—as the Compass Points. That, however, also required Luc’s magic.

His power spun a tight circle around her as she thought. A protective bubble ready to defend. He had more than proved his power could do two things at once. She would have to trust that. She would also try old-fashioned distraction first, to see how long it bought them.

“Why him, Aterra?” Rose challenged since Aiden was saying nothing to defend himself. Could he speak while he was inhabited?

“He is irrelevant,” Aterra said, his power pulsing as it flooded into the room. The ground shook, and steam rose through the created cracks. This room was too small to fight the earth god. He could wipe them all out with one well-placed quake. The only positive was that he had worked so hard to create Luc. Surely, he wouldn’t wipe him out of existence so easily. When the steam cleared and she could see again, another being stood beside Aiden. His olive-colored skin, dark hair, and sharp features looked so much like Luc that she couldn’t believe Arie hadn’t questioned Luc’s parentage sooner.

Aiden opened and closed his mouth next to the god of earth. When was the last time he had seen the god instead of being inhabited? Aterra’s true gray gaze evaluated every person in the room, lingering longest on Luc.

“Ready to put that power to better use?” he asked.

Luc glared at his father. “You already have one puppet. I’m not sure why you need another.”

“He had power, though not enough,” Aterra responded, sounding bored. “He was desperate for attention and validation. And he was in a prime position to take the Norden seat and overrun the other Compass Points.”

Carter and Juliette blanched at the statement, though it seemed accurate from where Rose stood, though Aterra failed to mention that included blackmailing each of them with secrets of their courts—secrets only godly power could unearth.

“What did you even get out of it?” she asked as Luc’s hand palmed the dagger in hers. She needed to keep Aterra talking and focused on her. He pulled back on the blade, and she didn’t hear a hiss of pain as he wordlessly added his blood—Aterra’s blood—to the Suden artifact on his finger.

“Isn’t it obvious? The continent’s imbalance. A prime seat to watch the show. The best position to see if my plans for further power proved successful.” Aterra’s gaze fell again on Luc.

His body tensed next to her and angled slightly toward the cell that held Aurora. His power thrummed through the room like Aterra’s had moments earlier. Except his magic’s scent was infinitely more comforting than that of the god’s decrepit forest. Luc seemed intent on hurling the artifact into the lock. His earth magic would guide the needle point of the ring to enter the lock mechanism.

She hoped it worked. If Aterra got his hands on the artifact with Luc’s freely given blood on it… She didn’t want to wonder if that counted as Luc giving his will.

“But you didn’t even tell Luc your plan,” Rose challenged, drawing Aterra’s attention again. “How could you gain the power you sought if you didn’t ask for it?”

“He wasn’t ready.” Aterra glanced at Aiden. “And this one was serving his purpose well enough.”

Rose rolled her eyes.

“Aiden was well positioned to further the imbalance in a different way,” Aterra continued. “Through the affairs of fae and humans.” He paused to glare at Arie. “And imagine my delight when I realized using Aiden also displaced the rightful Norden Point for Aurora, further depreciating her power.” He flashed a feral grin.

Arie’s control snapped, and he lunged at Aterra.

The Suden god must have been waiting for Arie’s attack, intentionally provoking him. Aterra didn’t even move as he tossed Arie, much the same as touching the metal bars around Aurora’s cage had. Arie’s human form once again flew across the room. This wasn’t going well for him.

“What do you hope to gain here?” Luc’s cold voice broke in. “We know where you are. The Compass Points are here to stop you, to do our duty, and to rein in the imbalance you’ve created. You’ve lost. Why can’t we all acknowledge that?”

“I acknowledge nothing. You still have so much to learn, but I can teach you.”

Rose side-stepped in front of Luc, putting herself between him and Aterra’s stare. “He’s not yours.” Her voice was steadier than she felt, and her magic hummed in agreement.

“Some might debate that point, but to address the Suden Point’s question, you may know where I am.” He glared at Arie as he started to pick himself up off the floor. “But stopping me is another story. The Compass Points are incapable of holding a god. You are Zrak’s failed experiment. There is nothing left for the continent but another Flood.”

Rose startled at that. Aterra wanted to destroy the continent again? She thought this was about power.

“No one wins with another Flood, Aterra,” Arie said, spitting blood from his mouth as he stood.

“That’s what you think. With a cleansing Flood of all the magic on the continent and with the strength of my Suden Point, I would be the uncontested power. We could start again without the requirement of balance.”

Rose had only moments to finalize her strategy. Carter and Juliette’s gazes were locked on her. She had their attention, and she would use it. They would unite their magic for an attack. “You’re right, Aterra. The Compass Points haven’t proven they could keep a god in check. But you had your hand in that too, didn’t you?”

She let out a breath as she readied to strike at Aterra. As each element made itself known, she dipped down to her lake of magic to open the channels. Luc’s gaze kept darting toward the cell in the corner of the room. Rose could feel his magic rising, preparing to throw the ring and guide it into place.

A familiar voice in her head offered precisely what she needed. His appearance may have changed, but at least this was the same. “ Luc, throw me the artifact, then do what you need to do.”

Luc dipped his head next to her. Arie spoke to them both, taking on the problem of freeing Aurora so that she and Luc could focus on Aterra.

“You ensured the Compass Points were too weak, too divided to stand against you. Well, that ended with Aiden’s term as Norden Point.”

Luc tossed the ring to Arie, and that was her cue. She wanted to pray for luck to some higher power, but looking around this room, she didn’t like her options. All the gods were on her shit list. The Compass Points were the only option to defend the balance.

Earth, wind, water, and fire flared in the small room. Reproducing their successful pattern, Rose shot a stream of the elements, layering them around one another, straight at Aterra. The strength sent by the most powerful fae on the continent. This had to work.

Her body shook as their magic raged through her. They had all listened to Aterra’s plan—the destruction of their way of life, of their continent. She thought the power that flowed through her during their tests had been substantial, but it paled compared to what surged in her now. Their magic wanted to defend the continent.

She wanted to let it.

In the seconds it took the Compass Points to send her their magic, Rose smelled the dreadful, older scent—Aterra’s considerable magic was rising.

The ground shook, the earth splitting below them, sending each Compass Point flailing for balance. The shaking and splitting floor was only his opening move. Rose felt the earth rattle and break on her left, where Carter and Juliette stood. Turning quickly, she heard Luc’s shout. He jumped clear of the collapsing ground and onto a stalagmite that he shot up from the cave floor.

Their joined magic faded as Juliette held herself and the others up with her wind, and Luc built a plateau for them through the wreckage. The other Compass Points’ magic left her as they used it to defend themselves. Unlike Luc, they couldn’t do two things at once with their power.

This would be problematic. Aterra would spend his energy making sure they were defending against his magic instead of attacking with theirs. Red lava bubbled up through the cracks Aterra forced into the earth. Apparently, the volcano below them wasn’t exactly dormant—one more thing to worry about as this battle escalated.

Luc lifted himself with his earth magic as Aterra attempted to impale him with jagged rock spikes from the floor.

This was not going to work. Rose had only taken a single shot at Aterra in the seconds she led the magic of all four Compass Points, and he’d defended. She sent a blast of wind at Aterra in her frustration as she tried fruitlessly to distract him, to bring his attention back towards her.

The telltale creak of unused metal joints swinging open indicated things might be going their way. Arie must have been able to free Aurora.

Now that he wasn’t distracted, Arie sent a stream of lava boiling and bubbling around the ground where Aterra stood, encircling him and drawing his focus, if only for moments. He gave the Compass Points a second to regroup.

“We have to get to the heart of the mountain,” Rose yelled. The Compass Points joined her, running for the door. They would never win against him here. His power was too absolute in the confined space. He could destroy everything on which they stood in one swoop. They needed to be able to spread out to make themselves more challenging targets.

They sprinted down the hallway with Aiden in tow, returning to the initial cavern, the heart of the mountain, a room Rose knew from her journey through Arie’s memories was where this all began for Aurora, Aterra, and Arie.

In seconds, they split up, each spreading as far as they could, positioning themselves by the other various hallways that led out of the main cavern before Aterra came crashing through the hallway behind them.

It was incorrect to say that he used the hallway. More accurately, Arie and Aurora seemed to have thrown him through the wall, his earth magic helping to break apart the tunnel and guide him through it as rock burst from the new hole his body formed.

Arie and Aurora were right behind him. As soon as Aterra landed, he spun his fist, creating a sandstorm. The crushed rock, silt, and sand flying through the cavern made it difficult for them to aim.

Rose was determined to try. The Compass Points were with her, sending their power back through the open connections. The elements layered to strike.

She hadn’t released the stream when the tunnel cracked. “Arie, look out!” But her warning was too late as the hallway fell on top of him and Aurora.

She sucked in a breath. No tunnel collapse could kill a god. Arie and Aurora would be fine—if a little delayed in assisting in this battle. She hadn’t counted on their help anyway. Her own magic rose again and snaked around the power gathering within her. She rolled her neck. The Compass Points had to do this alone.

She would make this one count.