Page 53 of Fate

The pain is like lightning this time, arcing through my body, leaving no part in peace. Except this time, between the screams, I feel something else. Like a wine skin uncorked, spilling precious liquid everywhere, my power pours away. No, not away; absorbed, taken, stolen. I writhe as Lunos scours my soul, drinking every drop.

“Stop.” Solon’s voice is a deep, rumbling quake. The god of the sun and flame floats behind Lunos, showering us in glorious radiance. While Lunos is ethereal and lofty, Solon seems real; a normal human wearing the guise of divinity. Minus the fact that tiny licks of flame run across his bare arms sticking out from a simple vest. That, and his golden eyes, full of the same power in Lunos’s; the same power in mine. The draining pain stops as Lunos faces Solon with a mask of serenity, an abrupt change from the rage she showed me.

“Solon. Why do you trespass in my domain? A peace was negotiated once we realized it was Keppilo pitting us against each other. I recall agreeing to stay out of each other’s way.”

Solon nods, face betraying nothing. He goes to speak, when a void coalesces next to him, two pinpricks of light creating the only real form.

A calming, crystalline voice emerges from somewhere in that absence. “That was before we understood your intentions. Lunos, why are you doing this? Every cycle is a chance to do better. You said those words long ago, and we all trusted you.” The eye-like lights twinkle, perhaps mimicking some long-lost human emotion. “I trusted you.” Nia!

“I have been proven wrong across the eons. Would you join me again, dearest Nia? Partners, as we once were?” Nia shudders, if a void of darkness could shudder, their answer evident. Lunos drops her mask of calm, revealing the tempest underneath. “So be it.”

Lunos flicks her wrist, shooting me down to the isolated lake and crashing onto the sand. It pillows out, softening my landing. Despite being Lunos’s creation, perhaps this place has a mind of its own. Blinking away the suddenness of it all, I realize the power holding me in place is gone. I look up at the night, awe pulling my eyes wide as I watch gods try to kill each other.

The sky is painted with ribbons of light, sparking, twisting, exploding with no sense of order or reason. Each arcing ray of light shifts in hue, impossible colors spreading across the heavens. There are stories and legends, myths really, of battles between the gods, but all are told in some metaphoric form. None come close to the true deadly beauty of it all, but how can they? How can a poet write a ballad of gods hurling cosmic energy across the stars at each other? How could they ever imagine such a sight?

A large spiral explosion of light and energy fills the sky, hurling all three gods into the sand nearby. Solon and Nia struggle to their feet, though I’m not sure a blob of darkness can truly be said to have feet. Their weariness is apparent; Solon’s flames sputter along his frame and the edges of Nia’s void droop, almost dripping onto the ground. Lunos struggles to her feet as well, though her breathing is measured and more controlled than the others. She is the oldest and strongest, even before taking my power; they can’t hope to defeat her. Not here, in her domain.

That’s it! I look inward one last time, hoping against all hope that some drop of power remains. An infinite abyss stares back at me, stretching out forever. My shoulders fall. I failed. Lunos will only grow in power and kill all the gods, ruling over existence as she alone sees fit, assuming she doesn’t end it all.

Helia’s face flickers across that dark expanse. Her smile, radiant and glowing; the one she only shares with me. Damn it! I can’t let her go like this. My soul streaks across the void inside, searching, seeking, leaving no infinite edge unchecked.

Drip.

I hear it! A single drop of water on a still lake. And there it is, an oasis in the desert, in the deepest reaches a small and final bastion of strength. It will have to be enough.

My eyes fly open, only mere heartbeats having passed despite searching for what seemed like ages. I start crafting what I need, deep in the water of the lake hoping Lunos is too weakened and busy to notice.

Nia however, does, their twinkling eyes of light flickering toward me, as if realizing I found a measure of power. They look out across the lake, clearly seeing what I am doing. A tingle itches the back of my mind, questing, asking. I let them see what I aim to do, in turn pleading for their help.

“Are you sure little godling? You risk more than you know.” Nia’s crystalline words seep into my mind, a gentle caress that should scare me more than it does. I nod; what else is there to say? “The young always rush. When you are ready, run and do not look back. We will do our part.”

Summoning every last piece of strength, I finish the portal at the bottom of the lake, blue light starting to fade from my eyes as the last bit of divine power leaves my body. Lunos turns abruptly, exhaustion doing nothing to simmer her anger.

“RUN!” Nia surges forward, yelling at me to go, all while latching herself onto Lunos, binding and constricting. Solon matches my speed easily, grabbing my arm and launching me into the air, high above the lake.

I plummet toward the swirling whirlpool in the middle of the lake, air furiously rushing past my ears. As I move to cross into it, I cast one final look at the beach. Lunos is fighting off the gods to try and reach me, unable to let go until she’s devoured every drop of my power. The vortex swallows me whole as I smile.

***

The obsidian stone in the temple of Askepollo is unforgiving. Ejected from the spring, I slam into the wall, cracking my head. Ringing blares in my ears and everything is out of focus as I feel a wetness sliding down my neck. A figure stands over me, grabbing my shoulders, shaking and checking on me. How is it raining inside? Oh, wait. It’s tears; salty and full of fear.

“Itho! Gods, Itho! You’re alive!” Helia’s face slowly comes into focus as the world resumes in my ears.

“Not for long if you keep shaking me like that.” Helia croaks a laugh, wet and pained. I cast about the room, taking stock of everyone. They’re all milling about the spring; clearly not much time has passed. Olena is perched along some fallen stone, as though she was about dive into the waters after me. “How long was I gone?” Helia wipes her tears briefly, trying to regain composure.

“A few minutes. Where did you go?” A few minutes?! The aching exhaustion and pain in my body tells a different story. I pull myself up on Helia’s arm as she easily takes my weight. Gods, I hope this works.

“Everyone get away from the water!” The words barely leave my mouth when Lunos blasts forth from the water, splashing waves across the entire domed room. She lands at the edge of the pool with more control than my attempt. However, gone is the haughty and ethereal elegance; her body trembles with strain and exhaustion. She sees Helia guarding me and seethes.

“No gods can save you now! I will make your pain, and all of theirs, last a long time.” Lunos takes a weary step forward, before crying out in pain and falling to her knees, spearhead piercing her back as Olena pins Lunos to the edge of the spring. Light spirals along the spear, revealing the intricate pattern I weaved along it a week ago. A pattern weaved with intention; the intention to kill a goddess.

The pattern begins to fuse with Lunos’s body eliciting a howl of horror; horror at the knowledge of a true death. Then another voice joins Lunos’s wailing. Olena’s hands are etched with the pattern of light, spreading across her arms, swiftly consuming her; just like Lunos. She looks over to me, tears in her eyes yet smiling brighter than the sun. No strength left in me to stop time, reverse the spell, or do anything other than watch as their bodies glow in brilliant blue-white light. Nothing else to do but watch my dearest sister pay the price of true power. Nothing else, but to etch the memory of her smile into my soul. The room quakes, rattling everyone’s teeth, the radiance of energy forcing shut my eyes.

Helia shifts, putting her body in the way, protective until the end. In a single breath, everything stops. The rooms settles, quiet as stone. The light is gone too, as are Lunos and Olena, now returned to the universe. Regardless of intent, all power has its cost.

CHAPTER FORTY

THE JOURNEY BACK to Hecalon is a blur of pine trees and meadows, grief and melancholy. The first days are the hardest; hearing the crackle of the campfire and expecting Olena’s voice to follow. I saw Menna in everything for a while before eventually fading, and Olena will be no different. Of course, knowing that does absolutely nothing to blunt the sharp edge of the grief. I lost a sister, lost someone who gave me unconditional acceptance; unconditional love.