Page 9 of Darkness Births the Stars #1
CHAPTER
THE SUNDERING WARS
Ten years earlier, forty years after Yggdrasil’s fall
Rada
T he Ten must speak as one on this,” the king said, his gaze fixed on the charred ruin of the Great Tree, visible through the room’s expansive glass front.
“The war has raged for too many years, exacting too grand a toll, to allow any hint of dissent among us. When we pass the sentence, it must be unanimous.”
His broad back straight and unyielding, my husband hid his desperation well. I’d been Aramaz’s wife and queen for millennia, though. He could not hide the tension in every line of his powerful body, nor the brittleness beneath his confident tone. Not from me.
Fragments of Light danced on the golden strands of the king’s long, silken hair and the intricate embroidery of his white tunic, drawn by their master’s presence.
I averted my eyes toward the table in front of me, my own powers carefully subdued.
I knew only too well what haunting sight held Aramaz’s attention.
Once, Lyrheim’s ethereal stone buildings had shone with an otherworldly glow, the silvery leaves of the Great Tree dancing in the wind, casting mesmerizing reflections on every surface.
The city, aptly named Home of Light, had adorned the colossal tree trunk that towered over it like a shimmering necklace of pearls.
These days, the once majestic Yggdrasil, which we called the Tree, stood as a grim reminder of its former glory, the smell of ashes lingering in the air even decades after its destruction. A testament to our failure. My failure.
The King’s Council had convened in the same elegant chamber at the center of the Temple of Order as it had for countless ages.
Our fellow Aurea were seated at the grand round table that dominated the room.
Intricate carvings, hewn from the pale golden wood of Yggdrasil itself, decorated the walls, depicting our heroic deeds over the millennia.
We could speak freely without fear of eavesdroppers, as Aramaz had decreed that only the Ten were allowed to be present for this conversation.
For the first time in centuries, the Temple of Order was devoid of mortal acolytes, and even our Anima, the shapeshifting spirits the Allfather had created to serve us, had been commanded to leave.
“Is there truly no other way?” Khiraz, the Goddess of Mercy, cried out.
Strands of Air, her aspect, stirred at her agitation.
The dozen layers of her dress, made from a shimmering silvery-white material as pale as her skin, rustled faintly in the breeze.
“We have imprisoned the Fallen One once before, deep below, amid Yggdrasil’s roots. And for many years, there was peace.”
The Aurea of Air was still determined to sway our brethren’s minds. One could not fault Khiraz for her tenacity.
My magic raged against my harsh grip on it in response, urging me to react to her plea. Yet I knew I could not. I trailed a finger over the smooth edge of the table, the cool surface grounding me; inlaid with intricate mosaics, it depicted the five aspects the Aurea governed.
Before me lay the seal of Aramaz and myself, mocking me with its radiant beauty. Gleaming golden jewels formed the rays of the king’s sun, emanating from the center and stretching to the mosaic’s edges. Above, the silvery lights of my stars sparkled against a backdrop of vibrant sapphire blue.
I remembered a time when six colors had adorned this table, when gems so dark they seemed to absorb the light swathed the space opposite the king and queen’s in twirling shadows. Back then, the King’s Council had eleven members, not ten.
Now, Air reigned there. Enlial, with their great, white-feathered wings neatly folded, wrapped one arm around Khiraz in comfort. While they were no bonded pair, the two Aurea of Air were close, considering each other siblings, made by the Allfather at the same time.
“Yggdrasil is no more.” M’tar’s voice rumbled with the finality of falling rocks from his place to the left.
“Keeping the Fallen One captive in the temple is draining all our powers. Chaos eats at his bonds even now, weakening them.” The dark-skinned Aurea of Earth shook his head, his proud face resolute.
He had never been fond of sentimentalities. “We cannot hold him forever.”
“But what if we strip him of his magic?” Khiraz pleaded once more, the air around her churning with the intensity of her emotions.
It would be easy to dismiss her among the mightier of our kind, but I knew there were many forms of strength.
Her gentle demeanor masked a resilience that could withstand any storm.
Without her fierce intervention, this sentencing would have taken place a tenday ago, right after the Fallen One’s capture.
“Don’t be a fool,” Sha’am, the Aurea of Fire, interrupted, his meaty hand slamming down on the depiction of writhing flames before him so violently I feared for the table.
His bronze eyes, the same shade as his silken tunic, its fabric taut over the bulging muscles of his arms, glowed with barely contained anger.
“We emerged victorious in this war solely because of the treachery of Masir the Faithless. This time, to our advantage, it is true. But the Fallen One’s armies are still roaming the lands.
His most powerful lieutenants remain alive and free.
The Butcher of Kirai rules the south from a throne made of the bones of his enemies.
And that poison-fanged bitch Evanna and her winged beasts have turned the Argentien Forest into a place of nightmares. ”
So much had been lost in this endless war, and we all knew that our victory had been a stroke of luck.
If Masir, one of the powerful Anima serving as the Fallen One’s lieutenants, had not unexpectedly betrayed him in exchange for a pardon from the Ten, the outcome of this conflict would have been far grimmer.
And if I had not done the unthinkable… If I had not deceived the one many called the Master of Lies, breaking every promise I had once made to him…
The Aurea of Fire leaned over the table in his agitation, his face flushed red beneath his thick golden beard, his voice booming through the room. “They are all just waiting for a chance to free their master. As long as he lives, he remains a threat.”
“And the Fallen One has shown time and again how resourceful he can be,” M’tar added with a solemn nod. “How many of our victories has he turned into defeats at the last minute? How many stout hearts has he seduced to his side?”
Like mine. I breathed in deeply as a sudden wave of nausea washed through me.
The Aurea of Earth shook his head, his thin lips pressed into a firm line.
“We have not found the Chaoscrown yet. With its help, he might be cunning enough to regain his powers if we let him live. And then we might not secure another victory.” He glanced at his spouse, Tanez, beside him.
The goddess of all that grew wore the golden flower crown he had crafted for her in her dark, wavy locks.
“We have to cut this evil out root and stem, or it will destroy us all.”
Khiraz remained undaunted by the opposition of two of the most powerful Aurea.
She straightened in her seat. “Belekoroz,” she said, deliberately using the Fallen One’s true name, the name he had forsaken with his evil deeds, “is our brother. Destroying him should be our last resort, after we have exhausted all other options.”
“But haven’t we done all that could be asked of us?
” Zamani’s melodious voice moved many to tears when the Lady of Fire raised it in song.
Today it sizzled with the same unrelenting flame her husband Sha’am had shown.
“We gave him a chance,” she said. “Over and over again. And every time, he repaid us with betrayal.”
With the last word, her face contorted in anger, her striking violet eyes ablaze with swirling flames that rivaled the deep red and gold of her dress.
The two Aurea of Fire had lost much in the war against the Fallen One, vast areas of their people’s lands forever marred by the poisonous touch of Chaos.
With a visible effort, Zamani regained her composure, her words edged with a sharpness that cut through the room as she fixed her gaze on me. “Some of us were particularly eager to offer those chances.”
The table’s edge dug into my palm as I gripped it tightly. I did not react to the provocation, nor did Aramaz, who remained with his back to us.
“I thought we agreed to let the past rest,” Tanez interjected, her forest-green eyes narrowing at her sister.
“It is no mistake to learn from the past.” The sound of waves crashing filled Ashur’s voice as he spoke, the Lord of the Sea’s tousled gray hair flowing around his shoulders like seaweed swaying in the ocean’s current.
“Imprisoning him for millennia only deepened the Fallen One’s madness.
It is cruel to cage one such as him forever.
Compared to such a fate, death might be a mercy. ”
“And as terrible as this decision is, it might save countless lives,” Namtaz, the second Aurea of Water, added. The Healer, her bright blue eyes filled with compassion, extended her hand toward Khiraz across the table.
Khiraz clasped it and turned to Enlial beside her. “Tell us, my dearest friend—what has the breeze whispered to you? What has your keen gaze perceived beyond the Veil of this world? Is there truly no other way?”
Gleaming feathers rustled as Enlial unfurled their wings.
Unlike the rest of us, they had never settled on one preferred body, their form as changeable as the winds they governed.
Today, straight black hair framed their ethereal face, giving them a severe look softened only by the arresting golden-blue eyes that were the one constant of their appearance.