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Her whisper fell away, and her father reached for her, folding her into his grasp.

His eyes misted as he exhaled, gradual and measured, as if releasing the agony of recent memories. ‘The stone was a curse. That much is true. A slow, excruciating siphon of my essence, pulling the life from my marrow, robbing me of time, of strength, of all the things that made me a man.’

His fingers flexed as if remembering the sensation of his soul being unraveled thread by thread. ‘But the gods are cruel in ways that often contradict themselves. While it bound me to immense suffering, it also tethered me to the High Heavens.’

Issa stilled.

Across the table, Ki’Remi, ever silent and watchful, tilted his head.

‘What do you mean?’ she murmured.

Zephyr’s lips pressed into a thin line, his dark hands tightening over the arms of his chair. ‘I bore witness to everything Sulfiqar said and did, child. My body was trapped in agony, wasting away here in Dunia, but my soul was shackled to Sivania’s throne room. I viewed horrors no mortal should have to see. Terrors no sane mind ought to experience.’

A shadow passed through his gaze, an echo of torment and revelation.

‘Somayeh,’ he continued, his voice dropping lower, as if the mere name of the goddess carried power even here. ‘She cast out her husband, the god of war, Ssisigan, The Forsaken Warlord, Death’s Right Hand, and The Blood-Tide of Battle, banishing him from the celestial courts. In an act of treachery that shook the pillars of the heavens. Her lover, Zavei, stood at her side when she did it.’

Issa inhaled with a bitter twist to her mouth. ‘We’re aware,baba,’ she said, anger flaring in her chest. ‘Zenas told us how they played both sides.’

Zephyr gave a slow nod. ‘They did not just play us all, Issa. They helped orchestrate Ssigard’s fall and those of the generals who supported him. Somayeh plans to sink her blade in the backs of those loyal to Ssigard.’

Issa’s eyes dilated. ‘Like who?’

‘Silaha, Sa’Kiel, Suyin and Soledad, among others. The rest of the battle gods and commanders are divided, and their blades are primed against one another in a power struggle that will not stay contained within Sivania.’

Ki’Remi’s expression remained unreadable, his mind spinning through calculations, weighing the ramifications of celestial conflict spilling into Pegasi’s mortal realm.

His digits tapped idly the edge of his chair, betraying his unease.

Zephyr continued, his voice grim. ‘While none of them claims the mantle of war, Serekai the Blooded still holds the favor of the elder gods, and he does not forgive betrayal. Sahladun, the Silent Blade, only bears allegiance to no one but himself. Do not forget Saveen, the Scarlet Wolf, whose hunger for destruction is unmatched, even among his kind. ‘None of them are good at sharing power well. Sivania trembles beneath their struggle, and when deities tremble, mortals bleed. It’ll soon spill to this dimension; wait and see.’

Issa cursed under her breath, the implications reeling in her mind. ‘Hell, we thought we escaped them,’ she muttered, a weary sigh escaping her lips. ‘We thought we left all of that behind.’

Zephyr’s eyes darkened with something old and inevitable. ‘We can never escape the gods, daughter.’

His voice was barely above a whisper but carried the tonnage of absolute truth. ‘We can only prepare and brace ourselves for their onslaught.’

The words settled like a prophecy over the table.

The future was shifting, reshaping itself in the violent hands of celestial egos, and Ki’Remi sensed he and the Riders could ill afford to ignore what was coming.

‘Is Sulfiqar appeased?’ Zephyr asked his daughter.

‘He is fallen too,’ Issa replied, giving him an in-depth report.

‘His greed eventually caught up to him,’ Zephyr sighed.

His lips curled into something between amusement and unease. ‘You should worry less about his wrath and more about his showmanship. The Divine Immortal does not slink in shadows or exact revenge quietly. When he rises again, and he shall, he will do so in a spectacle grander than anything Pegasi has ever witnessed. He will proclaim his return with trumpets, thunder, fire, and pageantry.’

The older man’s eyes flickered as he scoffed. ‘The end of all things always starts with a farcical display.’

Ki’Remi shook his head. ‘I don’t mean to offend, but Sivania is an existence with one too many deities and a severe ego problem.’

Zephyr’s mouth twitched. ‘Tis past self-conceit. Tis incomprehensible, irrefutable.When crossed, they become a tempest far more furious than anything you’ve seen, an eradication-level storm. Be warned, immortal arrogance and vanity are forces of nature, and you do not fight them. You endure them, and if lucky, you outwit them.’

Issa exhaled, rubbing a hand down her face. ‘So we’re caught in the middle of war divinities vying for power and a dethroned Divine Immortal waiting for his instance to make a grand return?’

Zephyr nodded. ‘Tis the fate we stand upon.’