It came easily, but I was knocked over once it exited the earth because it was taller than I was. I lay there on the floor, hanging on to it.
Everyone stared at me.
“How are you supposed to wield that?” Ahyana asked. “I don’t even think Xander could use it. It’s too big.”
In my dreams the goddess had always been so tall. I hadn’t realized that it was a literal depiction of what she looked like.
So I had come all this way and endured all that I had for a weapon I couldn’t even use?
I pushed down the bitter taste in my mouth and got to my feet. There had to be a way to use it. “Maybe there’s an aspect that—”
The sword suddenly shrank as I held it, adjusting until it was the right size for me. Not much bigger than my xiphos. It even looked like my xiphos—a cross guard at the bottom and a leaf-shaped blade.
Like it had been meant just for me.
“Did everyone else just see that?” Ahyana whispered.
Zalira nodded. “Yes.”
“Good. I was worried I was hallucinating.”
I understood Ahyana’s concern because I was feeling the same thing. It was like the sword had ... shape-shifted, for lack of a better description.
“Is it real gold?” Io asked me. It looked as if she wanted to touch it but was afraid to.
I did a couple of swings to test the weight. Easy to maneuver. This wasn’t gold.
“No. Gold is soft and malleable and heavy. Weapons made out of gold would bend or deform during battle. This is some other kind of metal I’ve never seen before.” An alloy? A metal found only among the gods?
Whatever this was, it was sturdy. Strong. It shone so brightly. I inspected the edges, and despite being buried in dirt for thousands of years, it was so sharp I accidentally nicked one of my fingers on it.
I finally understood what I had been feeling in the ground.
It had been this sword, calling to me.
“There’s writing on the blade,” I told the others. I held it up so that I could see it better. “Dea.”
I turned it over to see the word on the other side and spoke it. “Nikos.”
The sword became engulfed in fire.
Chapter Forty-One
“Whoa!” Io yelped. Suri quickly pulled her away from me.
I nearly dropped the sword out of shock but managed to hold on. The flames were intense, but they didn’t hurt. My hand wasn’t burning.
“Uh, I was going to ask you if I could hold it, but I have changed my mind,” Ahyana said as she backed up slowly.
“How did you access your magic?” Zalira asked me.
“This isn’t like my fury aspect. It’s more like my night-walking one. It doesn’t wear me out. I don’t have to turn it off,” I said.
“Could you, though?” Ahyana asked.
“Dea Nikos.” The flames stopped and the metal was once again cool to the touch. The sword was inscribed with the goddess’s name and the ancient word for victory.
The fact that the ship I’d come to Ilion on was calledNikosmade it seem like an ironic joke that the goddess had had at my expense.
