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“Says who?”

“We made a pact of secrecy, the other deities and me.”

I sighed. “We’re taking a huge risk by being here, and we need to understand what we’re facing. You said the black diamond was shattered into seven shards. We need to know how.”

She glanced away.

“Zayne, stop,” Ayla tugged at my shoulder. “She said they made a pact—”

“It’s fine.” Ninti shook out her fur, fire flickering. “For all of our safety, you should know.” After a long moment, she continued. “The black diamond was shattered at the same time the Rift was formed, separating the magic of the Isles from the mundane world of the humans.” She paused. “Long story short, the formation of the Riftcausedthe splintering of the black diamond.”

I settled on the floor at her eye level. “I thought the Rift was always there. There aren’t any stories of its formation.”

Her ears flattened. “That’s because the divine artifacts were never meant to exist. These objects—like the black diamond and my ruby—are our weak spot, a way to tap into the powers of divinities, even controlling them. They make us vulnerable. When Mother Sea and Father Sky created us, they never intended for us to be so exposed, but magic has a way of balancing, even for the divine.”

She took a deep breath. “It was the thrones that provided a pathway for the creation of the artifacts, each one forming at the base of a throne. My siblings and I didn’t know what had happened until Pyrian, the Shadow King of the time, unearthed the first stones, including Gloom’s black diamond.”

“Pyrian,” I echoed the name, searching my memory. “He was a necromancer, wasn’t he? He was the first to put the practice to paper. His journals are now missing, but others reference his work.”

Ninti nodded slowly, holding my gaze. “Pyrian was very powerful. And dangerous.”

My skin crawled. To think, Inarus had done so much damage with a single shard of Gloom. “What did Pyrian do with the black diamond?”

“He started a war,” the firewolf sighed. “Wielding Gloom like a weapon, he choked the other isles into submission. Upon discovering the existence of our divine artifacts, we retrieved those we could find. Soon we discovered we were more powerful when linked to a fae companion, like I am to Ayla. And as Pyrian’s power grew, we called upon the fae to protect us. Teyr’s white diamond was captured by the King of Dawn, and as for myself, I was bound to one of his generals.”

Ayla looked at the ruby ring and spun it nervously on her finger.

Ninti stared at it too. “The battles that followed were harrowing—Pyrian’s skeletons make the shades seem harmlessby comparison. It was a war on the scale I hope we never see again.”

“So how did it end?” Ayla whispered.

“Teyr begged us to transform his diamond. He believed that doing so would free his sister from Pyrian’s control. The process turned his diamond into the Rift, ensuring that magic would remain isolated to the Isles. It worked. The impact shattered the black diamond, and its shards pierced Pyrian’s heart. After, we scattered the seven pieces, believing that would keep her safe. But clearly, we were wrong.”

Ninti paused, clearing her throat. “After that, we erased what we could so the fae might forget the artifacts existed. Since so many had perished, it was all too easy. Most buried their artifacts. But as for me, I couldn’t completely leave the world behind. While I stayed with Leo, my companion kept the ruby, offering me a limited view of the world.

“Soon after, he traveled south of the Rift and married the widowed Valterran queen. Beyond the Rift, the artifact’s effects were dampened, and with my permission, he set the ruby in a ring and gifted it to his stepchildren. He never explained what it was, only insisting that it was a fae heirloom to be handed down through the generations.

“For centuries, I watched the world through the ruby, waiting for another threat. Ever since the Collapse, I had been wary, certain something had gone wrong. Discovering Inarus carried a black diamond shard confirmed my worst fears.”

Ayla looked up. “You looked out for me, even as a child.”

“I suspected you could be my companion, but you were hellbent on trouble since the day you were born. Some of it of your own making and the rest inevitable.”

She nodded slowly and returned to spinning the ring on her finger.

Ninti looked at the satchel containing the shattered shard and nosed it in my direction. “Take it, Zayne. As I trust Ayla with my ruby, Gloom trusts you to retrieve the shards. She needs your help, and hopefully this can show the way.”

Pyrian’s legacy shadowed over me, his abuse of the black diamond and necromancy forever changing the isles. Despite Ninti’s assurances, I felt unsuited to the task.

And still, it had been asked of me.

I wished I could vanish, taking Ayla into the shadows as we left all of this behind. Except there would be no future for us if we didn’t act.

The satchel feeling heavier than before, I buttoned it within the pocket of my cloak. “Very well—” I began, interrupted by a thumping at the door.

Chapter six

Pretense and Reception