Page 26

Mother descended the dais, her heels clicking along the moonstone crystal stairs. “What brings the Council to Kaimana?” A playful coyness laced her tone.

“Mira, High Goddess of the Sea,” The High Goddess of Life and Balance addressed formally, “you are being challenged by Koen, a middle god of the sea, for your title.”

The High Goddess presented herself in layers of pastel robes with her dark hair parted down the middle, framing a face gleaming in a bright white orb. The goddess never revealed her identity to others. While most scorned her for her mystique, the goddesses’ soft-spoken nature intrigued Naia.

Behind the Council stood another figure, but when Naia tried to crane her neck to see, her father lightly pinched at the top of her thigh to get her attention.

She looked back at him, and he shook his head, silently gesturing for her to be on her best behavior.

Obeying, she sank her back against his chest.

“I accept Koen’s challenge.” A disturbing excitement bled through her mother’s tone as she spoke.

“Very well.” The High Goddess of the Sun bowed her head in regards. “Then, shall we begin?”

Naia marveled at the contrast of her vibrant ginger hair against the black ruffles of her sleeves. The slit in her gown exposed her long, slender legs. Naia ran her gaze up the High Goddesses’ mature physique to her fair skin speckled with freckles.

“Whoever shall win this duel will go forth with the title of High Ruler of the Sea,” the High God of Chaos and Ruin said, a full-bodied voice, canorous to the ear. “Whoever loses must accept their fate.”

He wore a terrifying mask made of the skull of a fox and the elongated horns of a deer, leaving nothing but his golden tourmaline gaze visible through two holes. It swept across the hall and passed over Naia.

Goosebumps fleshed her skin as she stared at the High God. Even though she could not see his face, nor the complexion of his light skin underneath his cloak, his long strands resting on his shoulders were the same pale blond as his brother’s—the High God of Death and Curses.

“I accept the terms,” Mother said.

“Koen, step forward.” The High Goddess of Fate raised an arm and gestured for the god to make his way to the room’s center.

Naia blushed as she took in the sight of the High Goddesses’ lavender dress, the material transparent, displaying every inch of her skin and emphasizing the curvature of her hourglass figure and round hips beneath. She carried herself like a floating piece of silk as she moved back into the line of the Council.

Koen sauntered out from behind the Council. Broad shouldered and built like a great white shark. His expression was serene as he took in Mother. He did not seem afraid.

He bowed. “I am Koen, son of a middle god of the sea and the High Goddess of Peace, and today, I will become the High God of the Sea.”

Naia had heard of him through the gossip at feasts. He’d won the heart of mortals by voyaging alongside them and slaying sea beasts when they threatened to swallow their ships. As his name spread across the Mortal Land, his power grew exponentially.

In response to Koen, Mother’s hand rose slightly above her waist. Naia caught a small twinkle in her eyes as her infamous sea whip formed like a snake’s body from her palm. Made of water, slender and long, like the tail of a dragon grazing the floor. Jagged spikes tore from the surface of its body, ashen white and large, as if she had plucked them out of the mouths of sea monsters with her own bare hands.

Each member of the Council turned their heads to the remaining member at the end of the line, who had yet to speak.

He wore a matching black cloak as his brother, hood drawn so Naia couldn’t make out his face. Though, amid the shadow it provided, his eyes burned like two gold-plated disks.

“You may proceed.” As the last of Cassian’s words left his mouth, the Council vanished in a whirl of vaporous tendrils.

The loud hissing of her mother’s whip punctuated the commotion, causing Naia to startle in her father’s arms.

Every lash of Mother’s whip had her flinching.

Koen deflected each attack with agile speed. A gust of air rushed forth from his lips, forming a massive bubble to sail through the room. As he danced around Mother’s strikes, the swelling masses of water aimed directly at the goddess slammed down upon her. The clashes rumbled and shook the walls.

Her mother’s intense wave of power flooded the room, weighing down the air with a thick mist. Naia dug her fingers into her father’s sleeve.

With each fluid movement, Mother’s whip burst Koen’s bubbles, the sound an echoing thunderclap. The water from them splashed across the floor.

At last, the tail end of her mother’s whip coiled around Koen’s arm.

The spikes snarled into his flesh, and he screamed.

Naia felt her father tense beneath her.