“I’d watch your tone, Craven,” C’ael said, his voice deeper and colder than I’d ever heard it.
Craven’s brows flicked up. “You have no authority here, egregore. You exist to serve Iblees.”
C’ael stepped away from me and toward Craven. “And who doyouexist to serve, Craven?” He tipped his head to one side. “We are not so different, you and I. Aside from the fact that I get to enjoy a better view.” He looked back at me with a cocky smile. I wasn’t sure whether to be flattered or irritated that he was using me to make a point.
Craven inhaled through his nose, exhaling sharply with a nod. “I suppose I must concede that point. But I would also remind you that the prettiest flowers are often the deadliest. Best to pluck them before they can mature and seed their poison.”
“That deadly flower also happens to be Iblees’s twin flame,” C’ael said. “Try to pluck it and you’ll find yourself very dead. Very quickly. And it won’t be the flower that kills you.”
Craven froze, his cheeks paling. “What?”
“Oh, did he not share that piece of information with you?” C’ael said with a shrug. “I’m sure he was planning to at some point.”
Craven’s jaw tensed. “Yes. There is a briefing in an hour.” His gaze flicked back to me, a wariness in its dark depths now. “I apologize for my earlier tone, blood of Vijayro?—”
“Look, just call me Leela. Please. And it’s fine. I get it. As far as you’re concerned, I’m the enemy, and until yesterday, I was certain you were mine. But now…I’m not so sure.” I took a step toward him. “I have so many questions. Why are you attacking human settlements? Why send revenants to kill innocents?”
He shook his head, a wry smile on his face. “Is that what you have been told?”
“I’veseenit. I was attacked by revenants when I arrived on Svargana, and I was also attacked by a pishachas. Twice.”
Sassa and Craven exchanged glances, but it was Craven who replied.
“We do not control the pishachas, and we do not have control of all revenants either. Yes, we have a stable of them. Ones we have captured and helped to tame their baser instincts. To workwithus. But there are many still loose in the wild. They attack because they are hungry for life. For the divine light that has been taken from them. As for killing innocents…we do not do that. We fight for one purpose only.”
“And what is that?”
“To enter the sky world, gain access to the obelisk in the Shahee Kshetra, and free our people.”
“How will this obelisk help free your people?”
“Because activating it is the only way to call home the deva and end this war.”
End the war.
The words resonated inside me. This is what I wanted. Peace. Freedom. And gods, if there was a way to call the deva back to us, then it would certainly tip the balance in favor of the righteous, whichever side that was. And if what I’d learned so far was true, it wasn’t the side of the Asura.
“Do the Asura know that there’s a way to call the deva back?”
“The Authority does,” Craven said. “But calling deva back to Svargana would not be to their benefit. They would lose everything.”
My heart sank. “So this war…all this time it could have been stopped?”
“Yes. But they have not made it easy for us. They stole the seat of power and took it into their sky city, built a royal domainaround it, then locked all the portways that would allow access to the sky domains.”
“Wait, there are portways to Aakash Sansaar?”
“Several here on the ground and one in the ocean too. There are a couple that we may be able to reactivate if we could obtain access for long enough, but the Asura have posted heavy troops at those locations. Troops which they replenish regularly with made gods. More recently, they have built settlements and housed humans there, making it impossible for us to access the ports without harming innocents. So we are now at an impasse.”
Was this truly how the Asura had chosen the locations of the human settlements? And there was a sixth in progress…Oh gods, this was real…The Asura were the fucking bad guys in more ways than I could ever have imagined.
“You truly had no idea, did you?” Craven said, his tone softening. “What will you do now that you have this knowledge?”
I met his gaze with a level one of my own. “I’ll do whatever I can to put things to rights.”
His eyes narrowed, dark gaze boring into mine for several beats. “You may be blood of Vijayroodra, but your soul is of the ancient flame of Raknara. I trust your word and your intention. You shall have my sword.” He inclined his head. “You have my vow of protection.”
Raknara…a fission of knowing surged through me, a warmth in my chest and behind my eyes that felt like a welcome. A coming home.
