I clawed my way out. I found freedom, piece by broken piece. Istitched myself back together with whatever I could find: shattered memories, cracked hopes, fragments of anything.
I made myself whole again.
I became Odessa, demigoddess of Wrath, and I would never be chained again.
41
“Your lifeforce will fadewithout the offerings mortals bring,” Raithe explained. “You have to make divine bargains, Odessa. That’s what will feed your ossiraen, what will keep your power alive.”
“And how does one begin to do that?” I asked, letting the breeze brush across my cheeks as I stared into the distance.
We were no longer in the Ossarith. We had passed through the iron gates and returned to the forest of Torhiel. But the world looked different now, changed by the lens of my newfound divinity. Everything shimmered with a silver sheen, though colors still bled through vibrantly.
Raithe’s eyes had settled into a steady gold, no longer flecked with amber. He was still beautiful. Still perfect. Still otherworldly. But I knew that would change when we crossed into the mortal realm. His gaze would turn sharp again, yellow as a predator’s. His beauty would shift into something more haunting than holy.
Would I change too? Was that how mortals saw me when Wrath took hold? When I saw my reflection in the still water, I saw her. Odessa,hair black as midnight, cheeks stained with onyx tears. A wraith. A revenant. A daughter of divine rage.
“You’ll hear them,” Raithe continued on. “The prayers. The pleading.” He looked out at the setting sun beside me. “Eventually, their voices will come. You’ll learn to drown them out, or focus on one. Being a demigod of Vengeance, I hear too many to count. I only answer the ones who offer something valuable enough to summon me. And you, a daughter of Wrath, will have to make those same choices.”
“Will you help me?” I asked. “I don’t know where to start.”
“Always,” he said with a small smile. “In time. But for now, focus on what you’ve become. Your soul has endured an extensive transformation. It’s enough, for now, that you simply exist.”
“Are there others, Raithe?” I turned to him. “Others like me? Other demigods of Wrath.”
He fell silent, and I saw it in his eyes, something unspoken, something he was holding back.
“I’d like to know,” I insisted, more bold this time. “Please.”
“There were others,” Raithe answered at last. “Only a few. The Ossirae is far more selective when it comes to the offspring of the greater gods. Their children carry immense potential. For glory, yes, but also for devastation. The scales of fate tend to balance such extremes.”
“You said were,” I pointed out. “Past tense. What happened to them?”
He sighed. “We’re immortal, Odessa. But that doesn’t mean we’re invincible.”
I turned to him, taken aback. “You mean… we can die?”
“The true gods themselves cannot. Even if they fall, they are reborn. Their ossiraen never fades, never withers. But us halflings, we aren’t afforded that same protection. If the wound is deep enough, the strike true enough, we die. Divinity or not.”
He paused, as if choosing his next words carefully. “The other demigods of Wrath were powerful. Wrath gives power, more than mostemotions. But it’s also volatile. It’s a fire that doesn’t discriminate. Mortals feel it, demigods are born of it. And it demands to be used. Power like that, unchecked and untempered, is dangerous.” He gave me a serious look. “The others made deals too heavy to carry. Took on burdens they couldn’t bear. And in the end, they paid the price.”
“I… I didn’t know.”
“I am careful with my Vengeance,” Raithe advised, “and you must learn to be with your Wrath. If your ossiraen is weakened, even a mortal blade could end your life.”
“Then why?” I asked, searching his face. “Why did you share your power with me? Years ago, and now. Doesn’t that burden you?”
Raithe inclined his head. “As I told you, Odessa, no bargain, no pact, no divine contract can ever exist between us. Our nature won’t allow it. Most gods never share their power. I’m among the rare few who do, and even then, it’s not without risk.”
Raithe turned to me, taking my hand in his. His thumb moved over my knuckles.
“When I offer you my Vengeance, I open myself to you. And you, in turn, could draw too deeply. Enough to weaken me, enough to dim my ossiraen. But even knowing that,” he said quietly, “I’d offer it to you willingly. Every time.”
Raithe’s voice dropped lower, to something more intimate. “We’re not like others. You’ve felt it. Seen it. Both in flesh and in power. If only you could’ve heard the sound your soul made when you cried out from Brier Len. It called to me, sang to me. A song only I could hear. And I came.”
He looked down at our joined hands. “And if you ever called again, Odessa, I would come. Again and again. The way our divinity binds, it’s not just rare. It’s sacred.”
He met my eyes once more. “In time, you’ll understand.”
