37. Put to Rest

Naia was dropped a mile from the Kahale residence, off the coast she first washed up on.

The cove was a scene of devastation, as if the tide had mercilessly swept through the woods, leaving a trail of uprooted trees in its wake. Down the beach, the sand was littered with the remnants of twisted trunks and broken branches.

The sight of the peak above the cove brought a smile to her face.

She turned towards the choppy sea. Underneath the layers was Mira, most likely turning up tables and slashing throats with her whip. Without Naia, she was condemned to an eternal curse without a means of escape.

Naia examined her hand, reassured by the absence of any markings.

Her curse was finally broken, and her family awaited her.

She took off into a sprint through the carnage of the woods. Locals were already scouring the area. Naia passed by an electric truck repairing the lines. The workers waved politely as she passed by. Her feet carried her along the sodden, decayed leaves covering the forest floor. After all her walks with Ronin, she'd memorized the forest like the lines running across her palm.

Through a grove of plantain trees and across a clearing, the Kahale house came into view.

They were all as she had left them in the backyard. Akane sobbed with Ash in her arms. Avi and Yuki consoled Ronin as he produced the most tragic sounds she had ever heard. Sobbing into his hands, he pulled away from Yuki and Avi. They were no longer holding him back but trying to hold him up.

The effects of Ronin's blood left Solaris paralyzed. He laid in the grass, peering up at the bright, blue sky.

Theon sat away from everyone with the wound in his abdomen slowly mending.

Sadness pricked Naia's heart as they grieved her, but something else quickly took its place—gratitude, peace, joy. For she never thought she would receive affection to this degree.

Naia sprinted through the muddy terrain, creating a sloshing sound with her footfalls. Eager to reach them, her pulse raced in sync with her pace.

Theon's head turned towards her first.

Yuki was the second person to spot her.

Too stunned to tear her eyes away, she smacked Ronin's shoulder. "Ronin. Ronin!"

Ronin's body trembled as he wept, his face hidden in his hands.

"Uncle Ronin, look!" Akane beamed, the buoyancy in her tone too apparent to ignore.

Naia was halfway to him when he raised his head.

His eyes widened.

Naia ran faster.

He blinked. Rubbed his eyes, convinced they were playing tricks on him. Then he climbed up to his feet. Mouth parted, he took a step towards her.

"Naia?" It wasn't audible enough for her to hear, but she knew what the sound of her name looked like upon his lips.

Almost there.

A broad smile engulfed her face, longing to hold him in her arms, to hold her child for as long as she wished?—

From the tree line shadows, the grotesque figure levitated above Ronin, transforming the fleeting relief on his face into a searing agony.

Naia nearly tripped over her feet. Her heart sank through her as the wraith-like creature rammed its arm straight through Ronin's sternum from behind.

Naia's world tilted.

Flashes of Kaleo's final moments flashed in her mind.

The nightrazer disintegrated at the touch of Ronin's blood, like the formation of smoke carrying in a breeze.

Ronin collapsed onto the ground.

Naia shot off towards him.

A shadowy mass dropped before Naia, and Marina stepped out of its churning darkness.

Marina's palm collided in the center of Naia's chest, propelling her backwards. Her feet slid in the mud, and she could barely register the impact of the hit from the adrenaline pulsing through her bloodstream.

She rolled through the grass and swiftly lifted up on her hands. The pain throbbing in her chest went numb. Without a second thought, her eyes jumped ahead to assess the circumstances beyond Marina.

"Akane!" Yuki shouted.

Theon's form flitted as he transported to Akane and Ash.

Naia's eyes jumped onto the little girl holding Ash, balancing an orb of fire in the middle of her palm. She slung the flame at the nightrazers, their writhing, inky bodies bleeding into the shadows the trees provided.

"I've got them!" Theon called back. A thick wall of ice lifted around their children.

Yuki was on her knees, arms working fast as she tore Ronin's shirt apart and bunched up the material to staunch the bleeding. "Avi, cover us!"

"Fuck!" Avi threw a potion down on the ground, and the nightrazers flocking them were forced back by an invisible barrier.

Marina's figure fizzled into a swirling, obsidian haze.

Naia's muscles tensed in her arms as she squeezed her hands into fists.

I've had enough.

A ferocious scream tore from Naia as she matched Marina's god-like speed. She threw her arm out and drove her forearm into Marina's porcelain nose. Her hit blew a powerful gust through the land, rustling the treetops. Marina sailed through the clearing, upright and digging her heels into the earth. She used the momentum to propel forward with the velocity of a falling star.

What had Naia done to ever deserve Marina's hatred?

She gritted her teeth and swerved before Marina could grab her by the throat. Catching the collar of Marina's velvet cloak, she fisted the material and slammed her head into Marina's skull.

A bone-cracking sound echoed in Naia's ears. Marina stumbled. Warm liquid trickled over Naia's eyelid. Before Marina could react, Naia lifted her leg to deliver a solid kick into Marina's gut. It threw her back several yards.

Naia fled towards Ronin. Her breath went short and her lips trembled as she ran. He wasn't moving. He lay flat. The blades of grass beneath him were a swamp of blood.

"Avi, hand it to me!" Yuki's voice was urgent as it shook.

Avi dug in his blazer with one hand, his other waving in the air to cast spells to ward off the nightrazers.

Theon's figure was a blur as he worked around the ice dome protecting Ash and Yuki.

Beneath all the chaos, the high-pitched wailing of Ash activated a new level of hysteria in Naia's bones she'd never experienced. A violent protectiveness. She needed to get to him. To the others. To Ronin.

Marina ran at Naia, her movements leaving behind jet-black tendrils. Naia locked her heel into the ground and twisted her torso, drawing her fist up and meeting Marina's in a dramatic clash.

They rolled across the drenched grass. Mud smeared in Naia's eyes. Marina ripped Naia's hair from the scalp. Naia seized Marina's forearm and pushed her down, straddling her abdomen and squeezing the insides of her thighs.

Naia drove her fist towards Marina's face. She moved her head sideways with the perfect timing, and Naia's knuckles crashed into the earth. The ground beneath them cracked, resounding loudly. The rattling of a small earthquake quickly followed.

Marina wiggled her arms free from beneath Naia's knees. She shoved Naia's shoulder, throwing her off balance. Naia's tailbone splashed in the mud. Some of it oozed down her leggings.

Marina was on her feet, towering over Naia. "You are still a weak, pathetic excuse of a goddess."

Naia's vision went red. "What have I ever done to you, Marina?" she shouted.

Like a frightening apparition, Marina snapped forward and wrapped her fingers around Naia's throat. Purple blotches blossomed in her vision.

"All you ever did was give him a reason to leave!" Marina screamed venomously."A reason to hate me!"

Naia was stunned, unable to comprehend the envy devouring Marina's tear-filled eyes.

"He loved you." She wasn't sure what made her say it. After everything Marina had done, Naia did not owe her anything. But she recognized the dissonance, the longing for an affection out of reach. Naia had been too blind to ever understand it was regarding their father.

Marina's breath hitched, momentarily releasing her hold on Naia's throat.

"Wren!" Naia called out.

Marina's eyes grew round.

The hairpin came to life in Akane's pocket and bolted through the ice and into the air like an arrow, straight through the back of Marina's ribcage.

Marina recoiled her arm and stumbled back, gurgling as blood crammed up her esophagus. She clutched her chest, at the stiff fabric of her bodysuit. Long dribbles of scarlet spit leaked from her lips.Her arms flopped down to her sides, weakened by the dried remnants of Ronin's blood still on the pin. She went to speak, but her jaw went slack. And then, she fell to the ground.

Naia bounded over her sister to get to Ronin.

The nightrazers melted away amidst the grim aura. Avi's motionless hands were dyed a deep cranberry red as he stared blankly into the distance. Down on his knees, still at Ronin's side, frozen.

"I don't understand why my potion isn't working on him," he murmured in a manic, hushed tone. "It should work. Why isn't it working?"

"Dammit, Ronin!" Tears stained Yuki's cheeks. Both of her hands were joined on his chest, pumping aggressively over his heart. "Don't you fucking do this! Do you hear me? I promised them I'd keep you alive! Don't. You. Fucking. Make. Me. A. Liar."

The ice dome was a puddle surrounding Akane, holding Ash against her chest, her face buried in his blanket, both crying.

Naia's body felt paralyzed as she stood over Ronin. Theon filled the space beside her, his long sleeves tattered, his mask torn in places, staring down mournfully at Ronin.

Ronin's fair skin was the color of blue coral. His eyes were closed.

Naia's vision tunneled. Everything she'd done to prevent his death, on top of the glorious sacrifice Finnian made to trade places with her, was all for nothing.

Life was cruel. Hopeless. Full of anguish. The bleak heaviness Naia had run from her whole life settled in her bones yet again. It was too much to bear this time.

Not once had she ever considered turning to the hatred in the deepest corners of herself, but as she kneeled and clasped Ronin's icy hand, one consuming thought chilled her soul.

I want to kill them all.

Ronin had said the same to her without remorse. For the way the gods had treated her. She did not understand the full extent of his malice then. But now?She had every urge to stomp across the clearing and rip Marina's heart out. Drop beneath the sea and wreak havoc on Mira's kingdom. Rightfully wrong all of those who had pushed her to live up to this moment of despair.

Yuki let out a strangled cry and dropped her forehead down to Ronin's bloodied chest. "Goddammit Ronin!"

Naia brought her quivering lips to Ronin's knuckles. Beads of her tears rolled down the tendons of the back of his hand.

You can't leave me.

How could she raise her son without him? Having experienced his love twice in her lifetime, she couldn't imagine her world without him. To lay in bed alone after so many nights with him beside her. Without the sound of his voice. His presence behind her, always looking out for her. His love. She couldn't do it?—

Oh gods, she needed him?—

She squeezed Ronin's hand and raised her head skyward. "Take my life!" she snarled—spit and tears flew from her mouth. "Don't you dare take him again! I have lived through countless lifetimes! Let me be done! Give my life to him!"

Her fury grew and grew until it felt as if it had turned her into a beast. She wouldn't stop until she was heard. "High Goddess of Fate! Give him my?—"

Ronin's fingers twitched around her hand.

Naia gasped, and she dropped her head to look at him.

His eyes were on her, dark and crisp—alive.

"I am not…" His voice strained as his other hand fell onto the back of Yuki's head. "Going anywhere."

Yuki sprang up.

Everyone gaped down at him.

Naia withdrew her hand from his to cup his face. She measured the temperature of his skin and how it was no longer deathly cold.His cheeks had regained their color.

How?

She tore the bloodied piece of his shirt that Yuki had used to stop the bleeding from his wound and brushed her fingertips against the newly healed skin.

The injury was gone.

Her eyes flitted back up to his face as he slowly sat up, wincing.

Yuki looked back and forth between him and Naia, mouth hanging open in astonishment. "What?—"

A blinding white light eclipsed Ronin's silhouette, crashing down behind him and throwing Naia back.