“Though wyverns and angels found mates within one another’s ranks, reproduction between the two was harder, with very low birthrates of hybrid children. The ones documented in history were said to be extraordinary, having the ability to shift as I do, and to also have an affinity from their angel side. This wasn’t said to be a problem until a Dominion tried to claim an angel as his mate.”
“And then what?” Kieran asked breathlessly as I paused.
“The angel was in the middle of being courted by a wyvern and she denied the Dominion’s advances.”
“Shit,” Ronan breathed out, his brows dipping in concern. “I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that didn’t go well.”
We were quickly approaching the part of history that impacted my people and what we’d been hiding ever since. A nervous sweat broke out across my brow and my feet shuffled beneath me, despite Kieran’s calming touch.
“The Dominion said that the structure of power had been disregarded with the wyvern’s involvement in angels’ lives, and that it went against the will of the triads and the Creator.”
“Bullshit,” Kieran spat. “That poor angel just simply went against that one Dominion’s will.”
I wet my lips with my tongue before I had to take a deep breath. “Please swear to me, that what I’m about to tell you will go with each of you to your graves, unless my people decide to make the change themselves.”
Everyone quickly agreed, with Kieran leaning her head against me as she did. “Of course, Niz. We would never do anything to hurt you or your people.”
Please don’t let me be wrong about this decision.
“The Dominion came back after being denied, with droves of other Dominions and one Seraphim. The Dominions slaughtered the wyverns that resisted, and those that were captured alive had their power stripped from them. Forever cursed to have just the attachment to the beast within, banished to the Northern Forrest to live out their lives there.”
I glanced down as a sniffle sounded at my side, finding Kieran staring up at me intently with tears misting her eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
She had nothing to be sorry for, but I could see how hearing this hurt her deeply on our behalf. I didn’t hesitate as I leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead, not caring that we were in front of the others.
I straightened to my full height and glanced around before my gaze landed on Ronan, hoping this would heal the final part of him that I could sense still didn’t trust me or my reasonsfor keeping my shift private. “To this day, no one is supposed to know that not all wyverns were stripped and that some managed to escape. We’ve repopulated within the depths of the mountains, far away from prying eyes. If the triads knew they hadn’t finished the job, there is no doubt in our minds that they would come to rectify that, and that this time, they wouldn’t leave any of us alive.”
Bash perked up, slapping his palms against the kitchen island. “Alright, it’s settled! We’re going to take down Alfemir, and then we’re going to take down the second and first triads.”
He said it so matter-of-factly, like he truly believed in this insane idea.
“You say that like it’s as easy as snapping your fingers, but how are we supposed to do that?” Steele countered, the downturn of his lips and furrow between his eyebrows showing his annoyance with Bastian. “We can’t take on anyone of that power! We’re struggling to figure out how to even fight just the angels and Archangels within Alfemir, hence this entire discussion.”
His chest rose and fell, like his breathing was growing irregular as he rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. Gabe spared him a glance before looking at Kieran, and suddenly I understood why Steele was getting so worked up. I was just surprised that his thoughts had so quickly turned to how this involved Kieran.
“If we even manage to take down Alfemir, what stops the first and second triads from descending to us and wiping us out?” Gabe asked. “The whole point of that was to ensure Kieran was safe and out of her father’s hands, not to mention the other Archangels. We’re running on the assumption that they still don’t know about her affinity and the prophecy she’s wrapped up in. If they, or the higher triads, actually knew how valuable she was…”
Bastian let out a rumble of discontentment, “Hence the reason I said we need to slaughter them all.”
Kieran’s soft voice stilled everyone., “Every time I think we take a step forward, it’s like we get hit with another piece of information that makes it all feel so impossible to overcome. Is this world even worth saving if this type of brutality will just continue to happen? The humans, and even us in the third triad in Alfemir, have been conditioned to believe in the higher beings. If that’s all a lie, and we’re just puppets in their eyes to do with as they want, what’s the point?”
Heaviness settled in the room at her words, and no one answered for a few minutes. Her words were laced with pain and confusion, and honestly had me wondering the same thing. The powers we were up against were beyond daunting.
A screech came from a chair being pushed back as Ronan stood, looking at each of us before his eyes landed on Kieran. “The point is to put a stop to it, in any capacity that we can. It’s to spark the fire of the Rebellion not just here, but in Alfemir too. We can be the change we want to see. We might not be able to dismantle the higher triads, but I know you, Beauty…”
He trailed off until Kieran lifted her head to glance back at him. “Even if there was only one soul in the universe that you wanted to protect, you’d never lay down and give up on them, no matter the odds. We’re fighting for the millions of humans who have no idea what’s going on and the thousands of angels back home who have been conditioned by the bullshit Alfemir has fed them. We need to give them a chance to see the truth and make a decision on what side to fall on.”
I felt my wyvern stirring with each of his words, feeling a call to battle. One we wouldn’t back down from. Ronan was right—the time for hiding in fear was over. For too long, those arrogant, disgusting beings had gotten away with horrendous atrocities. History only continued to repeat itself.
“I know each of us believes in Kieran and her ability to save the stars,” Gabe said, pushing to his feet as well. “But if we want there to be a future we’re proud to be a part of after she does, we’re going to have to face this new reality.”
Bastian’s face morphed with a blood-chilling, sinister smile. “So, we’re going to save the stars and dismantle the throne of the Creator?”
Kieran took a deep, shaky breath at my side before pushing away to stand tall. I watched in utter fascination as resolve settled into her body. Her shoulders pulled back as her chin lifted and her eyes narrowed. Those beautiful lips of hers thinned as she nodded to Bastian.
“It sounds like that’s exactly what we’re going to have to do.”
