Page 36 of Winds of Destiny

Turo

Embros’s men die one by one, and all Cam and I can do is watch the bloodbath from where we’re hidden, farther back in the temple. If I had my bow, now would be the perfect time to shoot Embros in the back.

Of course I don’t have it.

Of course it can’t be that simple.

“We can’t rush in,” Cam cautioned me when he first saw Embros’s eyes light up. “He won’t hesitate in killing us, too.”

Now, minutes later and with the altar making a disturbingly hungry sound, I’m worried less and less about myself and more and more about Kai. If Embros tries to kill him…

“I have to get closer.”

Cam holds me back, his eyes distant. “Wait…do you hear that?”

“Hear what, the altar? It’s all I can hear.”

The sound is pervasive in a way I’ve never experienced before, beyond even what I’ve felt when I’ve been submerged in the ocean. The hum seems to touch my bones, coaxing them to vibrate along with it. It makes my lungs ache and my heart hurt and I want it to stop.

I can only imagine how it feels to Kai, stuck so close to the source of it.

“No, not the altar. Look!” He points up, and a second later, one of the crystal ceiling panes explodes into tiny fragments that rain to the floor, reflecting the multicolored columns like a shower of rainbows. They narrowly miss Embros, Kai, and Dian.

A moment after, I hear what Cam must have been referring to, the steady beat-beat-beat of massive wings as a lion, as golden as the morning sun, with eyes that shine like stars and a wingspan twice the length of its body, descends to the altar.

Dian runs to Laigha immediately, arms extended, but stops short as a vicious hiss fills the air.

Antasa’s god is collared, literally and figuratively. Wrapped tightly around his neck is a huge, sand-colored cobra with bright green eyes. As Dian gets too close for comfort, the cobra flares his hood and snaps at her. She falters and steps back.

Embros laughs. “Now you see, Prince Eleas, hmm?” he says. “You see how I secured my wife’s loyalty. Her god has been joined to mine for years. She doesn’t dare play me false, for one misstep from her means death for her god and the lessening of her people.”

“You truly are cruel on a level that I’ve never seen before,” Kai says flatly. “No wonder my father likes you.”

“Your father is nothing but an easy mark to guide,” Embros replies. “Ambitious enough to turn and useless enough to keep around so that I’m never challenged. Small wonder he gave you to me, hmm?” He dismisses Kai and looks at the entwined gods. “Shevara, you’ve done well. Escort Laigha to the altar, but do not enter with him.”

“Let me hold him one last time,” Dian begs, her arms outstretched toward her god. The lion, wings ruffling and trembling, clearly wants to go to her, but it doesn’t move. “Please, you said you would give me time with him before the end.”

“I have given you time to see him again, and that’s all you need.” Embros claps his hands, and Shevara squeezes Laigha’s neck tightly, making him cough. “Get him onto the altar.”

“No, please, please…” Dian stays just far enough away to avoid getting bitten, reaching desperately toward her god. I’m no fan of hers, but even I can’t be unmoved when a mere brush of Laigha’s wing across her face makes her sob hard enough to bend in half.

Just before the lion steps up onto the altar, the snake god drops from its neck. The lion turns with a roar, ready to fight, but one of its paws touches the altar as it does so. A second later, a bright red light appears on each of the altar’s three sides, and the lion is sucked into the center of them. It roars, but the sound is inaudible now.

Dian runs to the altar and beats her fists against it, screaming, but it doesn’t give. They’re cut off from each other. She’s consumed by grief , and the moment of distraction costs her.

Shevara wraps his long, thick tail around Dian’s torso and jerks her away, throwing her hard enough that she hits the stone with a thud and doesn’t move again.

“You’re so wicked sometimes,” Embros tells his god with a smile. Shevara rears and flares his hood proudly. “And you’ve done so well. Now.” He turns to Kai. “It’s time, Prince Eleas, for you to do your part. Summon Carnuatu and let him take his place as one third of the chimera reborn.”

“Fuck you.”

It’s so crass and blunt that Cam throws a hand over his mouth, stifling what’s probably a slightly hysterical laugh. I keep my focus on Embros, though, and watch as his good mood turns rotten in the blink of an eye.

“Summon him,” he says, removing the sword—still sheathed, thankfully—from his belt and pointing it at Kai. “If you do, I promise that once I gather my fleet and send out my troops all over the peninsula, Huridell will be the last city I attack. It’ll give you time to run or make a stand. Either way, it’ll be fun for me.”

Kai grins. “We burned your pathetic fleet. Your troops will be going nowhere.”

Embros’s eyes narrow, no doubt assessing the truth behind Kai’s words, yet ultimately deeming them irrelevant. “Summon him now .”

“The answer is still the same,” Kai says, then enunciates really slowly. “Fuck. You.”

In three steps, Embros is in front of Kai. Crack! The sound of his scabbard striking Kai’s shoulder hard enough to rock him fills the temple. “Do it now!”

Kai straightens and spits at Embros, hitting his leg. “No fucking way.”

Crack! Another strike, this time against his upper back. Embros’s sword is wide, a saber designed to deal death in a single blow. Even with the scabbard on, the impact must be intense.

“Turo,” Cam pleads in a whisper, looking at me with wide eyes. I know how he feels, I know— it’s agonizing to listen to Kai being hurt like this. My jaw is clenched so tightly it burns. All I want is to run out there and stop it, but I can’t.

“Not yet.” We need a diversion, one that doesn’t involve Embros being distracted by beating the hell out of Kai.

Not that he’s getting what he wants out of it so far.

“I will”— crack —“never call upon”— crack —“my god for you, you insane, asshole, motherfu—”

A hit across the face silences him for a moment. Embros grabs Kai by the hair and shakes him.

“Your god will come,” Embros assures him, “if it means saving you from certain death at my hands.” He unsheathes his sword and places it against Kai’s neck, pressing just hard enough to draw a thin trickle of blood. “Shall we test it?”

Save him! I shout into the void, my hand going to my sword. If you don’t save him, I will!

Kai just sneers. “Why don’t you start with my tongue instead, you snakefucker, because I will never, ever…” He stops all of a sudden, his eyes going wide, then twists and looks behind himself frantically.

Embros lifts his head to look as well and begins to laugh.

I don’t need to look to recognize the presence of Carnuatu. It’s Cam’s first time seeing him, though, and he gasps as he sees the mighty ram walk slowly toward the altar.

“Your god loves you,” Embros croons. “Better than even I expected. You truly were the right man for this job, Prince Eleas. Shevara, make sure Carnuatu doesn’t cause trouble.”

The cobra slithers toward the ram, then rises up and hisses, hood flaring. His green eyes are bright and fierce, but Carnuatu doesn’t pause or shy away, just keeps going at a steady pace until he’s in front of Kai.

“No,” Kai whispers. “Please, no. Don’t do this. Not for me.”

Carnuatu presses his muzzle against Kai’s hair.

I can’t see Kai’s expression, but I do see Embros’s. He’s holding onto his control by a thread. If he feels that the god is threatening him, he’ll kill Kai.

It doesn’t come to that. A moment later, Carnuatu moves on to the altar. The second he steps up on it, the red light flashes more strongly. Now he and Laigha are both trapped.

“There,” Embros says with satisfaction. He lets Kai go, gone from fierce intimidation to completely ignoring him in less than a second. “And now for you, Shevara.” He holds his arms out to his cobra god, and the snake comes to him, swaying seductively until he’s close enough to shade Embros with his hood.

“The last god to enter the altar will dominate over the others,” Embros says, triumph in his voice. “When you three become the chimera, it is you who will rule them. Don’t be afraid, my lovely.” He strokes the snake’s head. “Don’t be afraid. I will be with you.” He keeps speaking, murmuring sweet nothings and assurances to Shevara.

A little head touches my hand. I turn and look at my god, the tiny black cat who’s been with me all my life, even after I lost my memory.

“Turo,” Cam says wonderingly. “Who is this?”

“I don’t remember her name,” I say. “I wish I did.”

All of a sudden, my little cat god begins to grow. She expands, becoming bigger and stronger, teeth lengthening and fur thickening until her head is as high as mine. If it weren’t for the kindness in her eyes, I wouldn’t recognize her.

“My name is Rhianan,” she says in a voice I somehow know only I can hear. “Worry no more, my child. You’ve brought me to the right place at the right time.”

I stare at her in wonder as she inches closer and bumps her nose against mine. She then turns and does the same to Cam, who looks just as shocked as I do.

Before I can question her words, Rhianan leaps between us and runs for the altar.

Cam curses, and I grab his hand and run after my god, prepared to defend her from Embros and his snake, but she’s fast, too quick for them. By the time Embros finally sees her, it’s too late.

Rhianan is the third and final god to step onto the altar.

The sacrifices have been made, the gods are present, and the light surrounding the altar is such a bright, brilliant red that none of us can see through it.

The ritual has well and truly begun.

And Embros and Shevara are left outside it.