16. Nizuss

16

NIZUSS

Was a unification against Alefmir what my people and the Rebellion needed all along?

I felt the heavy weight of multiple pairs of eyes on me as I struggled to find my words. I'd sworn to myself as I laid on the battlefield thinking I was going to die that the secret would go with me. That I wouldn't put my people at risk, nor Kieran, at her knowing the truth about myself or the other wyverns..

Yet here I was, about to divulge it all. Was this a mistake?

My brow knitted together tightly, my eyes remaining firmly planted on the ground before me.

Fuck, maybe this wasn't?—

Soft footsteps sounded before Kieran's long legs came into my view, causing me to glance up at her. Without hesitation, she threaded her hand through mine, squeezing gently. It was like silence descended over my mind with that simple touch. How was it possible for one person to bring me so much peace?

"Are you okay?"

I sighed heavily, my brow raising at her question. "I just…There's so much riding on my decision right now. I don't know where to begin."

Her free hand found its way to my forearm before her fingers began to gently sweep along my skin in a soothing manner. "At the beginning is usually the best, if you can."

It was time to decide: could I trust Kieran and all these fallen angels to care about my people when the past made it crystal clear that angels held no love for wyverns?

My eyes ran along all the men waiting patiently for my answer, and as each of our gazes met, I received looks and nods of affirmation. Somewhere along the way, my wyvern had begun to accept them all as part of a pack, and so the beast within me lay dormant, content at the thought of sharing this side of our lives with them.

I had to trust that—I had to trust them .

"Well," I murmured before my lips pinched tightly together, thinking about exactly where the beginning started. "The genocide that resulted in the multitude of ‘dead' affinities we've learned about wasn't actually the first push by the Archangels and leaders in Alfemir to eradicate an enemy. The first was the wyverns."

My admission elicited gasps of shock, and I nodded. "My people faced their first attempt to wipe the history books clean, and then they did it again with the now dead affinity wielders. Once upon a time, our people coexisted with the angels in Alfemir. Many found their mate within the other species. During that period, the Dominions from the second triad even came down from Heaven to visit."

The room went still and unnaturally quiet. I swore, it seemed like everyone stopped breathing at that particular revelation.

Gabe was the first to come back to his senses as he spluttered, "That…that is literally unheard of. Even here in the Rebellion, with the history we've learned of. Dominions have never left the gates of Heaven."

"You have your history books here and we have ours that have been carefully guarded and preserved," I countered, shrugging. "Dominions frequently visited, they had their own tower to reside in during their visits. They were the true governing body of Alfemir. Not the Archangels. Although I'm not sure the accuracy of this piece of information, it was also stated that there was the occasional sighting of a Cherubim."

Steele cleared his throat before running a hand over his closely shaved head. "I'm struggling to wrap my head around this."

"Truly, this should be the least shocking part of what I have to say, considering you already know Alfemir to be capable of wiping out memories and histories of angels. With the second and first triad involved, their powers far exceed any Archangel from the third triad."

Kieran shook her head, her grip on my arm and hand tightening before looking into my eyes with confusion. "Why did they start a war against the wyverns, if they were such an integral part of the community and mating with angels?"

I tried to recall every little detail I could, reciting as I went.

"Though wyverns and angels found mates within one another's ranks, reproduction between the two was harder, with very low birthrates of hybrid children. The ones documented in history were said to be extraordinary, having the ability to shift as I do, and to also have an affinity from their angel side. This wasn't said to be a problem until a Dominion tried to claim an angel as his mate."

"And then what?" Kieran asked breathlessly as I paused.

"The angel was in the middle of being courted by a wyvern and she denied the Dominion's advances."

"Shit," Ronan breathed out, his brows dipping in concern. "I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that didn't go well."

We were quickly approaching the part of history that impacted my people and what we'd been hiding ever since. A nervous sweat broke out across my brow and my feet shuffled beneath me, despite Kieran's calming touch.

"The Dominion said that the structure of power had been disregarded with the wyvern's involvement in angels' lives, and that it went against the will of the triads and the Creator."

"Bullshit," Kieran spat. "That poor angel just simply went against that one Dominion's will."

I wet my lips with my tongue before I had to take a deep breath. "Please swear to me, that what I'm about to tell you will go with each of you to your graves, unless my people decide to make the change themselves."

Everyone quickly agreed, with Kieran leaning her head against me as she did. "Of course, Niz. We would never do anything to hurt you or your people."

Please don't let me be wrong about this decision.

"The Dominion came back after being denied, with droves of other Dominions and one Seraphim. The Dominions slaughtered the wyverns that resisted, and those that were captured alive had their power stripped from them. Forever cursed to have just the attachment to the beast within, banished to the Northern Forrest to live out their lives there."

I glanced down as a sniffle sounded at my side, finding Kieran staring up at me intently with tears misting her eyes.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered.

She had nothing to be sorry for, but I could see how hearing this hurt her deeply on our behalf. I didn't hesitate as I leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead, not caring that we were in front of the others.

I straightened to my full height and glanced around before my gaze landed on Ronan, hoping this would heal the final part of him that I could sense still didn't trust me or my reasons for keeping my shift private. "To this day, no one is supposed to know that not all wyverns were stripped and that some managed to escape. We've repopulated within the depths of the mountains, far away from prying eyes. If the triads knew they hadn't finished the job, there is no doubt in our minds that they would come to rectify that, and that this time, they wouldn't leave any of us alive."

Bash perked up, slapping his palms against the kitchen island. "Alright, it's settled! We're going to take down Alfemir, and then we're going to take down the second and first triads."

He said it so matter-of-factly, like he truly believed in this insane idea.

"You say that like it's as easy as snapping your fingers, but how are we supposed to do that?" Steele countered, the downturn of his lips and furrow between his eyebrows showing his annoyance with Bastian. "We can't take on anyone of that power! We're struggling to figure out how to even fight just the angels and Archangels within Alfemir, hence this entire discussion."

His chest rose and fell, like his breathing was growing irregular as he rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. Gabe spared him a glance before looking at Kieran, and suddenly I understood why Steele was getting so worked up. I was just surprised that his thoughts had so quickly turned to how this involved Kieran.

"If we even manage to take down Alfemir, what stops the first and second triads from descending to us and wiping us out?" Gabe asked. "The whole point of that was to ensure Kieran was safe and out of her father's hands, not to mention the other Archangels. We're running on the assumption that they still don't know about her affinity and the prophecy she's wrapped up in. If they, or the higher triads, actually knew how valuable she was…"

Bastian let out a rumble of discontentment, "Hence the reason I said we need to slaughter them all."

Kieran's soft voice stilled everyone., "Every time I think we take a step forward, it's like we get hit with another piece of information that makes it all feel so impossible to overcome. Is this world even worth saving if this type of brutality will just continue to happen? The humans, and even us in the third triad in Alfemir, have been conditioned to believe in the higher beings. If that's all a lie, and we're just puppets in their eyes to do with as they want, what's the point?"

Heaviness settled in the room at her words, and no one answered for a few minutes. Her words were laced with pain and confusion, and honestly had me wondering the same thing. The powers we were up against were beyond daunting.

A screech came from a chair being pushed back as Ronan stood, looking at each of us before his eyes landed on Kieran. "The point is to put a stop to it, in any capacity that we can. It's to spark the fire of the Rebellion not just here, but in Alfemir too. We can be the change we want to see. We might not be able to dismantle the higher triads, but I know you, Beauty…"

He trailed off until Kieran lifted her head to glance back at him. "Even if there was only one soul in the universe that you wanted to protect, you'd never lay down and give up on them, no matter the odds. We're fighting for the millions of humans who have no idea what's going on and the thousands of angels back home who have been conditioned by the bullshit Alfemir has fed them. We need to give them a chance to see the truth and make a decision on what side to fall on."

I felt my wyvern stirring with each of his words, feeling a call to battle. One we wouldn't back down from. Ronan was right—the time for hiding in fear was over. For too long, those arrogant, disgusting beings had gotten away with horrendous atrocities. History only continued to repeat itself.

"I know each of us believes in Kieran and her ability to save the stars," Gabe said, pushing to his feet as well. "But if we want there to be a future we're proud to be a part of after she does, we're going to have to face this new reality."

Bastian's face morphed with a blood-chilling, sinister smile. "So, we're going to save the stars and dismantle the throne of the Creator?"

Kieran took a deep, shaky breath at my side before pushing away to stand tall. I watched in utter fascination as resolve settled into her body. Her shoulders pulled back as her chin lifted and her eyes narrowed. Those beautiful lips of hers thinned as she nodded to Bastian.

"It sounds like that's exactly what we're going to have to do."

Instantly, I saw the same confidence and determination enter the eyes of everyone else in the room, and the fire within me grew. My wyvern let out a bellow in my mind.

"We have to fly back to Alfemir," I stated, quickly falling back into planning what had come to my mind earlier. "My parents are the rulers of the wyverns. We have to make a plea with them to understand the time is now to come out of hiding. There have been whispers of it for hundreds of years now, but no one has ever made the decision to actually fight back. I know I can convince them."

Gabe, ever the voice of reason, asked, "Will they be furious about you bonding to Ronan and now telling us the secret of your people, while also bringing us to their location? I don't have a good feeling about this."

Ronan let out a rumble as I admitted, "They allowed my bonding to Ronan as a means to spy on Alfemir. However, I will absolutely face backlash for the rest of that." I saw Ronan's lips purse as his mind began to whirl, and I knew I needed to nip that in the bud right here and now. "They would never have understood our bond, Ronan. I had to frame it in a way that they could accept. I'm the crown prince. I had to make it seem like this was a mission solely for our people."

He offered me a glance, our gazes clashing as I watched the wheels turn behind his eyes. Finally, he relented, giving me a nod. Relief washed over me, the tension from my shoulders loosening as I let out a breath.

"I've made it in and out of Alfemir many times," Gabe offered. "I can find the best path for us. I just need you to look at a map with me, Niz—I need to know exactly where we're going to be able to find the path of least resistance to your people. The goal is to get there without being spotted, but it's going to be a hell of a lot harder than me going in by myself."

Kieran quickly cut in as my mouth was opening to answer.

"If we're spotted even once while trying to get in and we can't quickly dispose of the angels, we won't move on with our plan to get to the wyverns. No matter what. I will not risk them being discovered."

If I wasn't already inexplicably drawn to Kieran, I would have said this was the moment I started to fall in love with her. The truth? I knew all of us in this room had started to fall for Kieran well before now.