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Ethereal wings were torn from spines, and divine screams echoed like thunder cracking through the bones of the universe.

Gods fell; some exploded into stardust, and others withered into ash as unseen, ravenous forces consumed their immortal essence.

‘The divinities are aligning, and factions are forming. Somayeh and Zavei want it all. They will not stop. If they win -.’

Zenas let the sentence dangle, his meaning implicit.

Ki’Remi’s jaw clenched. ‘Kidaya, let’s take some time to discuss options before we decide.Sawa?’

Issa and the Rider momentarily gazed into each other’s eyes before she sighed. ‘Should we, in whatever fantasy we’re contemplating, overcome Somayeh, Zavei, and gods help us, Sulfiqar, will you help us escape?’

Her cousin nodded. ‘I will send an escort or do it myself if I must. I owe your father and you that much.’

Issa took a deep inhale. ‘I came here to save, not to destroy.’

‘Then save Sivania,’ her cousin growled. ‘Not because you want to, but because the balance of this entire realm and the universe your family now lives in depends on it. If the wrong divinities rule, the heavens and Pegasi won’t burn. They’ll collapse.’

The burden of divine consequences lingered in the silence that followed.

They all exhaled, tainted with the realization that a righteous battle war was coming.

‘A storm is forming, but now, at least, we know which deities are in its eye,’ Issa whispered.

Ki’REMI

After a whispered hasty conference between Issa and Zenas, the demi-god military leader shimmered from view.

His essence glimmered away on the terrace, melding into the shadows, leaving a heavy stillness behind.

‘What did you discuss?’ the Rider asked his woman, sliding his arms around her waist as she stared into the distance.

‘I gave him a few tips on how to rouse up more recruits to his rebel army from the netherworld I once came from.’

‘The daemons?’

The same. They’re all just normal demi gods and humans condemned to hell by unfeeling, narcissistic deities. It sickens me that all the deception, suffering, and manipulation of my family and those who defy the High Ascended was written into the stars before I was ever born. I hate the inevitability of it all.’

The Rider wasn’t having any of it.

He turned Issa by the shoulders to face him.

‘Tis not over, so tis not inevitable, yet. We have to try and stop this,kidaya.’

His growl was rough, a tempest gathering strength.

She exhaled through her nose. ‘It’s fate; the Ascended are more potent than I.’

His head snapped up. ‘Fokkkarma and all that shit. Also, have you considered that your power might be just as powerful as theirs, given the souls you consumed?’

Her lips parted in slight shock.

She tilted her head, reading the rage in his obsidian eyes.

‘You should be pissed as hell,’ he bit out. ‘Your family was ruined because of them. Your father was cursed because of them. You were hunted because of them. That wrath, your Ssignakht, and my abilities might be enough to prevail.’

‘You’re just going to let them use you?’ His voice was quieter now, but it carried a dangerous edge. ‘No vengeance? No fury?Nada?’

Issa’s expression was torn.