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A god, draped in gossamer blue robes, sat with his head in his hands. The curl of his spine was sharp across the rich umber shade of his flawless skin. Lapis lazuli beads laced through the ends of his long black braids. They scraped across the table as he turned to face us. His eyes were piercing, royal blue gems protruding from a clean oval face. Adjusting the gleaming crown atop his head, he rose to meet us.

“I suppose you’re here to kill me along with my city,” he growled, the veins in his exposed biceps pulsing with each step.

Panic-stricken, I bowed, throwing my hands above my head.

“No, King Altair we-” A snap of his fingers cut off my words as my throat tightened, choking the remaining air from my lungs. The immortal faced me, his toes curled with fury.

“Do not speak, Queen Slayer. I know who you are.” He snapped his hands again. The grip around my neck relaxed.

Gasping for breath, I sputtered and coughed.

“And you.” Altair’s eyes blazed as he locked eyes with Aryx. “Did the Great War teach you nothing?”

The salty air thickened with a current so fierce the minuscule hairs on my arms pricked straight up. Arcturas cowered beside me.

“Altair, please, I beg you to listen. We’ve come to warn you,” Aryx pleaded, his hands outstretched before him.

“Well, your warning is too late. Tethys’s army razed my city this morning. Not a single soul spared.” Altair returned to his seat. “Without my people, there is nothing. I am nothing. Do what you came here to do, half-mortal. Be your mother’s puppet. Just as you’re destined to be.” His voice cracked, and the blue of his eyes faded. He exposed the soft flesh of his neck.

“King Altair, please. We came to ask for your help,” I said, treading lightly to the round table.

“I have no aid to give you,” he whispered. His voice was a defeated, broken man. Not an all-powerful god.

I pulled out the chair across from him and took a seat.

“We’re leading an attack on Elder’s Island. That’s where she’s established her army. If we penetrate the outer walls, we take Tethys out before she causes any more mortal death,” I said, stretching my palms across the gold surface between us.

The table top was cool to the touch, but the heat radiating from his fingertips singed my skin.

“Like I said, there is no aid. They were all slaughtered in the raid this morning,” he said.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, picturing the lifeless boy, limp and cold, in the sand.

“How can you sit here and wallow in self-pity as the city burns around you?” Aryx interjected, taking the seat to my right, “Tethys is still out there. Don’t you want vengeance for the lives lost today?”

Altair turned slowly to look at him.

“You stupid child. Vengeance only brings death. There is no satisfaction, no redemption. Nothing but cruel, silent death. When you’ve lived as long as I have, think about these words. Think about my people,” he hissed, adjusting the feathered golden band across his bicep.

“When I’ve lived as long as you, I won’t care about life or death. I won’t have a city to avenge. Help us take down Tethys before she kills thousands more.” Aryx straightened in his seat, his voice rough.

“There is nothing I can do. My armies were destroyed. My resources are depleted.” Altair slammed his fists across the table, its legs jumping on impact.

“You control the seas and the creatures that live in them. Help us cross the Southern Sea. Fight with us. They deserve at least that much. The children out there who will never grow up, never have husbands or wives or children of their own. Fight for them. Fuck, if all of this is for nothing and we wind up dead, at least somewhere they’ll know. We tried. For them,” I cried, rising abruptly to my feet. Altair lowered his head.

“Or you can sit here and lose yourself in grief. Wallow in your self-pity. Either way, we’re going to Elders’ Island. Our success lies in your hands. Procyon has already agreed to send his armies. We have enough men. We need your guidance and your ships if we’re going to survive the passage,” I pleaded.

“And what of Polaris? Has she also agreed to support this suicide mission?” His eyes scanned me as I paced the chamber.

“I’m sure if needed, my mother will provide as much aid as she can,” I said, glancing over my shoulder at the seated men. “But we don’t need it. Her power courses through my veins.”

“You are Darkness’s Heir?” he asked, a brow raised.

“Yes. It’s my destiny to destroy the Spring Queen, but I can’t do it alone.”

“Elpis is more powerful than you could ever imagine. She’s fully capable of bringing my mother down, but we need to get her close enough,” Aryx said, crossing his arms.

Altair was silent, his furrowed brow racing with thoughts as he stroked his chin.

“You said you have Procyon’s army.” Finally, Altair spoke.

“What was he promised in return?”

“What?” Aryx asked, shifting in his chair.

“That greedy fool does nothing for free. What did you offer him?”

“Trade routes,” I snapped. “We assured him that Ursae re-invokes the trade agreements the late king set.”

“How can an escaped prisoner make any political change? Ursae guards have been hounding my citizens for weeks searching for you. There’s something else to his bargain you’re not telling me. I can see it behind your eyes,” Altair said.

I swallowed the rising bile in my throat. Aryx shook his head toward me, eyes dark in shadow.

“Well? What is it, Daughter of Polaris?”

“I agreed to overtake the mortal throne.”

A wide smirk curled over Altair’s full lips.

“I see…I knew Procyon had another motive. He doesn’t just lend out his armies to any half-goddess. He’s bargained for a puppet.”

“I will be no puppet,” I spat. The tingles began their familiar trail up my legs. Breathing deeply, I closed my eyes and focused on locking my emotions down.

“I believe you truly think you won’t be, but you’re dealing with gods, after all. Manipulation is our specialty.” He chuckled coldly and returned to his seat.

The room fell silent aside from the flow of a peaceful turquoise sea. Sighing, I slumped back to my seat, tracing the veins of my hands. Altair scanned my face, watching the inner battle between my demons splayed out in the wrinkles of my brow.

This broken God had just lost everything. His city, his people, his home. In an instant, there was nothing left. He was right. Vengeance was never the answer. Violence against those that have wronged you is a road not worth taking. Surface satisfaction with deeply rooted darkness. Vengeance consumes you. It blazes around you, eating away all the goodness and brightness of your world. I knew that.

He tangled my freedom in the palm of his hand. Without his ships, this was hopeless.

“We came here today, ready to fight.” I sucked in a breath as the blue of his eyes sizzled with power.

“I won’t beg or plead. You’re set in your ways and your beliefs on revenge. I understand that. All of my life I’ve fought through hatred, cruelty, abuse. This war isn’t about vengeance. This war is about freedom. I’ve been through hell to sit here before you. I’ve made sacrifices, pushed away those that I care for. I’ve nearly lost my life. I’ve taken lives.”

Aryx reached for my hand, stroking his thumb against my palm.

“Those people outside, the ones whose blood now seeps into the cracks of this city, they deserve better than me. Better than Aryx. Maybe they even deserve better than you. But we’re all they have. When the city heals, and eventually it will, what side of history do you want to be on? Lend us your ships. Stay on the winning side of this war.”

Altair raised a brow. Through pursed lips, he watched as I rose from my seat.

“Elpis, it’s hopeless. We’ll find another way.” Aryx shook his head, sliding the legs of his chair across the rough temple floor.

I sighed, starting for the golden archway.

“I will get you across the Raging Seas, but I have conditions.”

“Of course you do.” Turning, my heart stopped.

“When you plunge your dagger into Tethys’s heart, you think of my people. Think of every life that was taken today. Every single one. Then twist your blade until all essence of life fades from her entirely.” Altair’s voice deepened with black tarry, hatred. A kernel of sadness glinted in his brilliant eyes.

“I promise I will,” I said, reaching my hand out to meet his. His palm brushed delicately across mine as he bowed slightly.

“Good, now, one other thing. You’ll need my falcon. Only he can guide you safely through the rough seas.”

“Okay fine. Where is he?” Aryx asked.

“After Tethys’s soldiers receded to the sea, he escaped up the mountainside. You’ll have to catch him, which is no simple task. The bird’s as slippery as an eel,” Altair said. He nodded once more to me and, with the snap of his fingers, vanished, leaving a salty mist in his wake.

“What’s with immortals and their abrupt exits?” I cried, throwing my hands on my hips .