“Tula claims it was all a jest. A game to pass the time.” The hard ugliness had returned to his voice, twisting the words into knots. “She gathered several of the other gods together and they each agreed to send Zyros on a series of quests. Each time Zyros completed an impossible task, she would be bonded to the god, gaining some of their power.”
“No!” Caelan stumbled back a step and fell. The world tilted and his blood ran cold. He couldn’t feel anything but biting, arctic cold.
Lore grinned and kneeled, one knee and hand pressed to the stone floor as he leaned in close, not letting Caelan escape his black gaze. “Yes, and Zyros completed each task because Tula promised that at the end, Zyros would become a god just like her love. None of them believed she would complete the tasks. But none of them understood her fierce determination, her unbreakable spirit.”
No, the other gods didn’t understand Zyros the way the man who loved her did. Lore always knew what she was capable of. Caelan could imagine Lore pleading with Zyros to stop, to give up these quests, but fierce determination and pride would have kept her going. She wouldn’t have wanted anything to separate her from her love.
“Tula was the last to bond with Zyros,” Lore continued with a curl of his upper lip. “The power shattered her mind. Killed the last of the human in her. And when she opened her eyes, Zyros was the mad Goddess of the Hunt.” Lore stopped and huffed out a laugh. “She nearly killed Tula before the Goddess of Life made her escape with the help of Kaes. Zyros went on to slaughter countless other gods across Thia, stealing bits of their essence to create a patchwork of power of her own.”
Caelan closed his eyes and swallowed hard against the rawness in his throat. Sadness swirled in his chest, but it was almost immediately lost to the swell of rage that was burning away everything else.
You were jealous that Lore loved Zyros. You couldn’t fucking stand it, so you had to torture her, he snarled at Tula, not caring if she could even hear him. You made it into a petty game, thinking that you could watch her slowly die, but she beat you. She fucking beat you at your own game.
She wasn’t worthy of him! Tula screamed so loud Caelan could feel his ears starting to bleed. He cried out in pain and clutched his head in both hands, trying to roll into a fetal position to protect himself, but there was nowhere he could go.
You did this.
“You all did this!” Caelan shouted as loud as he could. His eyes opened and he glared at the God of Wisdom. “You all did this. The other gods played a cruel game on a woman they didn’t bother to understand. And you,” Caelan panted, his teeth clenched at Lore. “You didn’t stop them. Maybe you couldn’t stop Zyros, but you didn’t do enough when it came to stopping the other gods. I bet you could even see what was happening, the course she was taking, and you still didn’t stop it. Why? Why would you let this happen if you loved her?”
“Because I didn’t want to lose her!” Lore roared at him. The explosion of energy faded as fast as it appeared, and Lore dropped back to sit on his heel. His voice became barely more than a whisper. “When she completed the first couple of tasks and I saw the powers she gained, I knew it was possible for her to ascend, to become a goddess. And then, we could be together forever.”
“You did this,” Caelan repeated softly. “How many people died because of a jealous game? Because you couldn’t be happy with what you had.”
“More than you can begin to imagine,” Lore snarled at him. “Zyros was tearing Thia apart. She had to be stopped.”
“So, you created a trap that ended up trapping all of you together.” Caelan’s eyes snapped to the remains of the godstone and his breath became stuck in his throat. “But the trap is broken. You’re free. You’re all free.”
Lore shoved to his feet and brushed his hands together, dusting off bits of dirt and rocks. “Because I’m tired of this stalemate. My love is tired of waiting.”
Tick.
“What the fuck am I supposed to do against Zyros? How am I supposed to take on a goddess like her?”
Tock.
“You finish the game they started.” Lore reached down with his left hand and grabbed Caelan’s arm, jerking him up to his feet and twisting him around. His shoulders hit Lore’s chest and he found himself facing his friends just a couple of dozen feet away.
Lore’s grip shifted to his hair and a metallic shing echoed into his left ear.
The blade left the holster.
The world slowed and he couldn’t move. His eyes were locked on Drayce, watching them widen in horror. The blade pressed to his throat and cut deep. Pain burned in an instant, but it was nothing compared to the explosion in his chest when Lore stabbed him through the heart.
Drayce’s scream seemed muffled and distant, while Lore’s whisper was a shout that echoed through his soul.
Finish what they started. Join us in Green Spring.
He was suddenly falling. Lore was gone. He hit the ground and fresh pain sent a shock through his chest, but it wasn’t as strong as the first strike. The world was already fading, growing fuzzier by the second. His friends’ shouting was muffled. The hands grabbing him did nothing to ease the cold or to push back the darkness.
Nyx had killed him twice before, but this time was different. The darkness was deeper and colder. He was falling away from everything. Why had he gone through all of this? He’d bonded with four gods only to have them abandon him at the end? Had they sacrificed him as an apology to Lore for fucking him over?
Cael, don’t leave me.
Drayce. He could hear Drayce. He couldn’t leave him. They were supposed to get married. To build a life together.
Cael, you gotta fight this. You’re stronger than death now.
Eno.