Page 91 of Lady of Starfire (Lady of Darkness #5)
Scarlett
“S carlett, we need to use the lock to take down the Wards,” Cethin said. She could tell by his tone he was trying to be careful, to balance his support between her and their mother. Not for the first time, Scarlett wondered what he had experienced to make him so submissive to her.
“About that,” Scarlett said, beginning to trace a few of the glyphs with her starfire. “Tell me about the mirror gates.”
“The mirror gates?” Cethin repeated. “What of them?”
“We were discussing them before we were interrupted. Who created them?” she asked, moving to another glyph.
“Serafina and Taika created the mirror gates along with the lock. Just as new worlds and new beings cannot be created by one god alone, nor could something like this,” Saylah answered. “What are you doing?”
Scarlett had begun tracing another glyph, this one with ice. She flicked her eyes to her mother before focusing on the orb again. “Exchanging currency. Why did she create the mirror gates?”
“I do not know all the history, Scarlett,” Saylah said. “It all happened before my time. I was told some, but my existence was kept a secret until it could not be hidden any longer. Because of that, my knowledge is limited.”
She could hear the irritation in her tone at not having the upper hand here, despite being the most powerful in the room.
“Tell me what you do know of the mirror gates,” Scarlett said.
Saylah exhaled a harsh breath, and Scarlett was certain it was the most mortal thing she had ever witnessed from her, aside from sitting in the sand that night on the beach.
“The beings that emerged from the Chaos all have different gifts, just as the various beings and bloodlines created do. The gods can Travel within one realm, but they cannot move among the worlds. That was a gift of the World Walkers. The gods did not wish to lose such magic when the World Walkers were conquered. Some of their Chaos was harnessed and used to create the mirror gates to allow the gods to travel among the realms,” Saylah explained.
“And the lock is connected to them?” Scarlett asked, tracing another glyph with her shadows.
“Not all of them. Some mirror gates are used for communication. Some are used for crossing the stars,” Saylah replied. “Now, Daughter, if we are exchanging secrets, it is time you share one with me.”
Scarlett paused, slowly dragging her eyes back to her mother. “I did not say I was exchanging currency with you .” She lifted the orb a little higher. “I find— What was her name? Korra? I find her secrets far more interesting than yours.”
“What does that mean?” Cethin cut in.
“If Chaos has to be sacrificed to transfer power and create new beings, tell me how the gifts were taken from the Sorceress,” Scarlett replied, ignoring Cethin and returning her attention to the orb. She began tracing a glyph in orange flames.
“If I am going to share things with you, it only serves you do the same,” Saylah retorted, and Scarlett knew she was pushing the goddess.
Cethin obviously knew it too because he tensed, getting to his feet as though he thought he would need to intervene between the two. “Scarlett, she has answered every question you have asked.”
“She owes me every godsdamn answer, Cethin,” Scarlett snarled, whirling on him.
“She owes both of us every answer. We were both used. Both given information only when she deemed it necessary. You said it yourself: she is a goddess first and a mother second.” Then she scoffed.
“I would say calling it second is generous, considering the real reason she desires this lock.”
“Everything I have done is for the two of you and to save this realm,” Saylah hissed, Cethin and Scarlett both turning to look at her.
Scarlett had been wrong.
The silver pooling in her eyes? That was the most mortal thing she had seen from the goddess.
“Tell me,” Scarlett said, her tone low and vicious, “would you have still given up so much of your power—to me, to Cethin, to take from the Sorceress and create the Witches and Shifters—if there was not the guarantee of getting it returned?” She lifted the orb as she said it.
Saylah might be the most powerful in the room, but barely. Not with all that Chaos she’d given away trying to fix her mistakes. Power she clearly planned to reclaim with the lock.
“Yes,” Saylah answered immediately.
“She cares, Scarlett,” Cethin implored. “She cares in the only way she knows how to.”
“Then she will not fight me when I tell her she does not get this lock,” Scarlett answered, holding Saylah’s stare.
“What?” the goddess gasped. “Without that lock, this world falls. Achaz will find another way. He has been close before. He will not stop. The only way to save the realm is to leave it, Scarlett. You know this. His attention will follow wherever we go. He will leave this world in peace as long as we no longer inhabit it.”
“I read some fascinating things in the books below this castle,” Scarlett said, beginning to move casually throughout the room.
Her eyes connected with Sorin’s, and she dipped her chin, feeling his fire crawl along her skin a moment later.
She sent her shadows to it, letting them merge.
Then she began tracing a glyph in shadowfire.
“Scarlett, what are you doing with that thing?” Cethin asked, concern growing in his voice. Kailia hadn’t said a word, but she was watching Scarlett with curious eyes.
Rayner and Sorin stayed seated, both waiting. Because the moment Saylah had told them whose Chaos the lock contained? It had been the last piece of their puzzle.
“Did you know that the being who created a world has the power to truly lock it? That their essence is so entwined with the world itself, they can keep out all others if they wish?” Scarlett asked. “The only exceptions are those of equal or greater power.”
“What does that have to do with this?” Cethin asked. “This world is … How would we even know who created it?”
Scarlett raised the orb before her again. “Korra has so many secrets,” she said with a manic grin.
“Are you saying the World Walkers created Halaya?” Kailia asked, speaking for the first time.
“Not just any World Walker. This one,” Scarlett said, gesturing to the lock.
“The same essence contained in this lock. The funny thing is, Moranna was so close to figuring it all out. She knew the World Walkers were connected. Had pages and pages of notes on them. But she could never create a being powerful enough to get the lock to respond.” Her eyes bounced from Kailia to Rayner. “No matter how hard she tried.”
“No,” Saylah said, taking a step forward.
That one movement had both Sorin and Rayner standing as her mother finally realized what Scarlett had been doing.
“Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but what I’ve gathered from today’s history lesson is that the high rulers of the World Walkers would be the equivalent of a god or goddess. They would be as powerful as a First,” Scarlett said, tracing another glyph with starfire.
“No,” Saylah said again, panic seeping into her voice.
“How many were there, Saylah? How many high rulers?” Scarlett asked.
“I do not know,” Saylah answered, lurching forward another step as Sorin pulled a dagger from his side. “Do not do this, Scarlett. You do not understand the cost.”
“No?” Scarlett asked, holding out her palm to Sorin. “I am doing exactly what you asked of me. Find the lock. Save this world.”
“Not like this!” Saylah cried, tears slipping free now.
If she had the time, she would marvel at it. At seeing a goddess cry for her.
But she didn’t have the time because if she stopped, she would lose her nerve.
Scarlett?
She looked at him, her hand still cradled in his palm where he’d drawn the dagger across it. He smiled softly, but she could feel the same trepidation radiating off him.
“What is going on?” Cethin demanded, Kailia on her feet as well.
But Scarlett could only see him.
You’ll find me? Among the stars?
Always, my love.
You remember what to do?
He gently turned her hand over, guiding it to the lock. I will not fail you.
So she placed her bloody palm atop the glyphs swirling with her power and his power. The power of a Fae Queen and a Witch. The power of a goddess and a World Walker.
And Chaos erupted.