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Her thought turned back to his warning. Getting everyone out of the hills and valleys and into the mountains would be a challenge for so many reasons.

“I don’t know how many can even evacuate.” Despair sank into her gut.

“Please,” Pyetar begged. “Is there nothing else we can do? To help stop this war?”

He turned to them fully, and while there was a hint of apology in those unnaturally golden eyes, Thelbiz did not seem worried for them. “This is beyond you, beyond your people. This will be settled between me and the others. You have been warned now, as agreed. Now return to your people.”

But that wasn’t enough.

“You agreed to warn us.” Iryana stepped closer to Thelbiz. “But it’s not helpful without more information. Please let us ask a few more questions, or let us ask the others, if they’re more willing.”

Thelbiz tsked impatiently. “The others are playing catchup whereas I have had many years to prepare for this. They can’t waste time answering questions. I shouldn’t be either.” But he looked toward the other gods, almost as if communicating with them, and then turned back to Iryana and Pyetar with a disgruntled look on his face. “Very well, I will spare a few moments longer.”

“When will the war start again?” she asked first.

“It has already begun. But it will escalate quickly, I imagine.”

She had suspected as much.

“When is the war over… what exactly are you trying to stop Noshtiz from doing?” She wasn’t sure how it would help, but she hoped knowing would provide some advantage. She still didn’t fully understand Mhakiza’s memory.

“Noshtiz is… brilliant. Ambitious. But also rigid and a bit fanatical. He is misguided.” Thelbiz shook his head like Noshtiz was a misbehaving child and not, as he put it, trying to destroy the world. “He believes this world is at risk. I believe it started from something Voordiza saw. But he thinks the only way the world, and thus us, will survive is if the gods take full control. He wants to reshape Istri, and beyond, as his domain. Instill order.”

“How is he trying to do that?” Iryana asked weakly. She thought the gods had wielded immense power before they were lost, she couldn’t imagine more.

Pyetar came to her side, one arm around her shoulders. His presence was a small comfort amidst it all.

Thelbiz considered her for a long time before finally saying, “It would take too long and be beyond your understanding to fully explain. But there is a reason we’re contained within Istri. We’re bound to this place. The earth may be soaked in our blood right now, our magic running through it, but beneath that, there is a different kind of magic. It’s not something we can truly access unless we complete a… transformation of sorts. Noshtiz has discovered this ability. He has… Well, I think the best way for you to think about it is as if it were a key. I think that is sufficient for you.”

“So, he will use this key to access the deeper magic in Istri?” she repeated with suspicion. “To… become un-confined? How would that destroy Istri?”

“That deeper magic is…” Thelbiz worried his jaw and sighed heavily. “You could say it’s connected to the magic Istrins here are born with. There is a reason only those here have it. But if that magic were taken from Istri, none of you would survive it. Everything in this world would be destabilized. It’s hard to fully process how great the damage would spread. Perhaps there are places where life could continue, but in most places, it would be wiped out.”

Iryana’s head spun. The danger he spoke of was so impossible to comprehend. So great and terrible in its possibilities.

“How do you plan to stop him?” Pyetar asked, steadying Iryana with an arm around her waist.

“We must take away this key of his, and we don’t have long to do it. There is a cycle to the magic of Istri, and his opportunity to use this key goes away after the Lying Moon reaches full strength.”

Iryana blinked. The Lying Moon… this Lying Moon? Only the Bitter Moon stood between them and the Lying one. Two months exactly. It didn’t feel like much could happen in that little time. Surely Thelbiz would be successful, and there wouldn’t be much opportunity for the gods’ war to damage Istri too greatly. Everything would be fine.

“How long is this cycle? Could he just try again next year?” she asked urgently.

Thelbiz shook his head. “The cycle is much longer than that.”

“What gods fight on each side?” Pyetar asked, hand tightening somewhat on her arm.

“Mhakiza and Limhiz definitely fight with me. Noshtiz is alone so far.” He nodded, pleased by this, and clarifying which goddess sat in the cave. “I had worried about Mhakiza. She is a wildcard. She was on Noshtiz’s side at the start of the first war. She turned from him at the end, but that didn’t guarantee she’d still fight with us. She was unsure at first, sending out her spies to assess. But she came around.”

“Will you drain all the wells?” Pyetar asked, clearly thinking of the rumors they’d heard months prior.

“We’re siphoning some of our magic from the wells to help us fight Noshtiz.” He said this as if it were obvious.

“You’re not draining them, like Noshtiz?” Iryana asked, snapping out of her spiral.

“It was one of Mhakiza’s conditions. She sympathizes with you, respects your courage and defiance. I think she’s cross about what I’ve done to build my army. But we’ll need it. She demanded we avoid fully draining the wells so you humans can still use that magic to defend yourselves.”

Iryana wished they had found Mhakiza first, and not this indifferent god. Although if she sided with Noshtiz last time, perhaps her motivations were more complicated than Iryana understood.