Page 88 of The Curse of Gods (The Curse of Saints #3)

Aidon tried to keep his hands from trembling as he stood on the Wall, his eyes scanning the fight frantically. He’d taken down one Diaforaté already, the telltale flaring of their magic like a beacon for his arrow.

Steady , his father’s voice murmured in his mind.

But no matter how much Aidon tried to channel the calmness of their archery sessions together in the woods, he could not find it.

Not when he was watching a battle unfurl beneath him, not when he knew his sister and his friends were in the thick of it.

Another shimmer of magic. Aidon fired.

They’d realized who he was targeting soon enough.

He cut a glance toward Aster. “Go find Dauphine,” he commanded. Josie had Aleissande and Cole, but Dauphine…she was alone on that field.

“She was, um…with me this morning,” he added, his face heating as he realized Dauphine’s scent was likely still on him. He felt foolish, talking to a wolf, but Aster fixed him with an unimpressed look before she galloped off.

Silver linings, he supposed.

Aidon took a deep breath as he turned back to the battle. The other archers on the lower stretch of the Wall were still focused on the back lines of the Kakos army, the Caeli helping their arrows soar, and gods, there were so many from the Southern Kingdom; how were there so many?

A flicker of light caught Aidon’s eye, and he drew his bow immediately, his body pivoting to the left as he searched for the Diaforaté. His gaze landed on a man with blond hair and pale skin that was decaying in patches. But the man’s focus wasn’t fixed on the battle.

It was on Aidon.

“Fuck,” Aidon swore. He shot his arrow just as the man flung his arms forward, a massive gust of air slamming into the Wall beneath him.

Aidon teetered as the Wall shook, his boots slipping. His body jerked sideways as the Wall beneath him crumbled, his arms flailing as he began to fall.

“Fuck!”

He pivoted as he fell, the skin of his palms ripping as he scrambled for purchase. He caught himself on a large stone that jutted out, his breath snagging as he stared down at the drop.

There was no way he’d survive falling from this height.

Aidon looked back toward the top of the Wall. The rock above his had given way, leaving nothing but dirt and granite from the mountain behind it.

He didn’t know if it would hold, but…he had to try.

With the battle raging on below him, Aidon started to climb.

***

Aya could just make out where Evie had summoned the veil. Its translucent glow hovered above them like a second sky. The Diaforaté’s power was piercing it, causing weblike cracks to spread across the surface. Some were swaying, the toll of their efforts clearly showing on their agonized faces.

Perhaps that’s why Evie had begun to add her own power to the destruction, sharp pulses of it that tore holes in the shimmering substance.

Aya and Will looked at each other, a single moment suspended in time, a wordless conversation of love and determination passing between them. And then, together, they leapt over the side of the basin wall.

Aya called her power forward, the rush of it like a siren song to the heart as she dove headfirst into the depths of her well.

She was no longer afraid of the bottomless thing inside her. It was made up of those she loved, of those who loved her.

Aya called to the wind first, her mother’s stubborn spirit flowing through her as she flung her hands toward the Diaforaté. A hard gust barreled into the circle, sending them stumbling from their positions.

Aya gripped the air and tugged as she moved to her Terra affinity, her father’s warm pride settling in her heart as she cracked the earth beneath their feet. Some stumbled into the caverns she created, and Aya shoved the ground back together, burying them alive.

The remaining Diaforaté scattered, giving Tyr and Akeeta the opportunity to join the fight. Their wolves dove into the fray, their teeth bared as they went for the nearest soldiers’ necks.

Beside her, Will sent pulses of his power to those he could reach. She could see the moment it hit them, their bodies jerking as they fell to the ground. She added her own wave of sensation to the two Diaforaté scrambling to their feet, pinning them back down as they screamed in pain.

She and Will were on them instantly, their swords arching through the air as they finished them.

Aya turned to find Evie still standing, her eyes no longer fixed on the sky.

“Aya,” the demigod called as Aya wiped her blade on the robe of the Diaforaté she’d just killed. “So nice of you to join us.”

Fast as an asp, Evie lifted her hand, but Aya was faster, Galda’s soft growl of control echoing in her mind as she used her power to deflect instead of attack.

She redirected Evie’s spear of light into the last of her own soldiers, sending the woman screaming into death.

“You can’t beat me,” Evie reminded her, her voice light. She glanced up toward the veil. “It’s already begun.” She fixed Aya with a grin. “You could help me, though.”

Aya tossed her sword to the ground

“Now why would I do that?” Aya parroted softly, her hand steady as she reached for the dagger sheathed at her hip. Evie’s gaze followed, watching as Aya drew the blade back; readying for the attack she suspected…

…missing the one Aya had saved for this very moment.

Aya reached into the depths of her well and called forth Incend flame.

Evie barely had time to blink as Aya’s stream of fire arced through the air and caught on her robes. An enraged shriek burst from the demigod, her hands and power batting at the flames, but Aya was already moving, already darting across the space between them.

The flames were extinguished, but it didn’t matter. They’d been the diversion she’d needed.

For Tova , Aya thought, as she embedded the tonic-laced dagger directly into Evie’s chest.

***

“Mend the veil,” Aya commanded, her grip tight on her tonic-laced blade. Evie’s knees gave out, but Will was there, his arms catching the demigod and holding her steady as Aya wrapped her persuasion around her and tugged .

“Mend the veil!” Aya could barely hear herself over the howl of the wind. It ripped her hair from its braid and kicked dust into her eyes. Will shielded his face against it as he cast a worried look at the sky.

“Aya,” he warned, but she just pressed her persuasion further. She only had so much time before Evie was dead.

“Close. It.” Aya snarled.

Evie blinked up at her, shock flickering across her face before her mouth slackened into a crazed smile. A laugh bubbled up from her, blood following it as it fell from her lips.

“You’re too late,” Evie crooned. She coughed, another glob of blood coming with it. Her eyes moved past Aya and to the sky. “Now you’ll see,” she said, her gaze going hazy. Aya looked over her shoulder, her stomach plunging.

“No,” she breathed.

The veil was all around them, shimmering and bright and… dying . Large holes expanded across it, flecks of that otherworldly something falling from the sky as the veil continued to crumble.

“No!”

A dark hole formed just above them, and terror slipped down Aya’s spine as she watched a hand grip the edge.

Evie huffed a maniacal laugh. “They’re here.”

That hand tugged only once, and a deafening crack exploded across the realm.

Will dove for Aya, his body shielding hers as the whole of Eteryium seemed to tremble. It went on for ages—for lifetimes—until it ended suddenly, the shaking and the wind and the flecks of light.

Slowly, Aya lifted her head from the ground.

Three figures stood before her. Not human, not Visya, but something more .

Aya knew their faces. She had seen them depicted in the stained glass of an old chapel in Rinnia.

Pathos. Saudra.

And Sage.