Page 117 of Terror at the Gates

From it, she took out a round, silver container and what looked like a micro spoon. She poured what little jade I had brought into the container before scooping a small bit onto the back of her hand to sniff.

When she was done, she looked up at me. “Sit.”

I did as she said, lowering into the small chair.

She turned to retrieve something behind her. When she faced me again, she had my notebook in hand. She set it on the table in front of us, pointing to my crude drawing. “This blade is one of seven.”

“Seven?” I asked, surprised. “You’re telling me there are seven of those motherfuckers floating around?”

“Yours is the only onefloating around,” she said. “Three are with the church. They used to have four. I suspect the one you possess now was stolen from them.”

That checked out, considering Ephraim said he took it from a priest. Suddenly I understood why no one seemed to be too upset about the murder. It was because he’d taken the blade.

“They were once one blade,” she continued. “A sacred sword of fire called the Deliverer.”

There was that word again.

“What does that even mean?” I asked. “Sacred?”

It seemed to me the word had a different meaning, that in one sense, it was just a title applied to things people found worthy. In the other, it was like a curse, punishing those deemed undeserving, whatever that meant.

“In the context of the Deliverer? It means the sword wasmade by the true gods.”

“The true gods,” I repeated flatly.

Had the jade already taken effect? Suddenly, I expected Saira to rise to her feet and begin preaching about living in a simulation like Tori.

“You mean the ones locked behind the Seventh Gate?”

She didn’t offer any kind of confirmation, just stared. “What do you know about them?”

“Very little,” I said. “Only what I heard preached on the street.”

Can’t you hear them?Tori had said.They are knocking at the gates.

What I didn’t say aloud was that I thought I could, but only in my dreams. It was a distant rhythm, a steady thrum that matched the beat of my heart.

“They’ve started executing us again,” she said. Her voice was quiet, nearly a whisper. “The ones who speak the truth.”

“What is the truth?” I asked.

Her gaze returned to mine. She turned to a blank page in my notebook and plucked a pen from her box.

“Have you ever wondered why the Elohai have magic?”

My brows lowered. I hadn’t, mostly because I’d always been told our magic was granted to us by God, and it made sense that some higher power would have the ability to bestow magic. What I did wonder was why the gift only manifested in women, but I didn’t say any of that aloud.

“The Elohai are descendants of the Elohim,” she continued. “The Elohim are Eryx and Ashur, the creators of humankind and the true gods of our world. They are trapped beneath Mount Seine, behind the Seventh Gate, and have been for thousands of years.”

My mouth felt dry as I processed the information she hadjust shared. I reached into my backpack and withdrew the bottle of water I’d packed for Cherub, taking a drink before pouring some in her bowl.

As I took her out of the sling and set her on the table, I asked, “If these two, Eryx and Ashur, are the true gods, how did they become imprisoned?”

“The god your church worships, the one they call the Messiah, he is an invader.” She wrote as she spoke, but it was in shorthand, almost like she was taking notes and couldn’t keep up with what she was hearing. I probably wouldn’t understand any of it later. “He saw what Eryx and Ashur had created and wanted it for himself. There was a battle, and the Messiah was bound in chains. As his execution neared, the Messiah promised knowledge if humankind would aid in his rescue. They conspired and forged a blade, the Deliverer, which cut through his chains and burned with fire. He used it against Eryx and Ashur and drove them behind the Seventh Gate, where they were trapped beneath a net over which the Messiah summoned peaks of great stone. With the true gods defeated, the Messiah ruled, but the knowledge he had promised was never given. Over time, he grew bored. He abandoned us. After that, man saw an opportunity. They made rules for humankind and appointed men to measure morality and choose ethics. They made claims that this was the knowledge the Messiah had imparted, that he’d lived among us so long only to choose those worthy enough to carry his message. These men—these prophets—they were the descendants of Eryx and Ashur, the ones you now call the Elohai.”

I sat in silence, trying to keep track of what she was saying, but at the end of her explanation, my head hurt, and my only thought was how ironic it was that Saira claimedthe Messiah had left without imparting knowledge.

It was obvious he’d taught humanity deception.