Drakaa’s gaze drifted again, then fell with the dip of her mouth. “And asis the way of all things in balance, things change. They morph into something else and change the rules based on different needs.” The woman straightened and released a long breath. “Not only do the gods love, but they hate. They can be jealous and cruel. They can be kind and forgiving. And they can do desperate things for desperate reasons.”
Drakaa returned her attention to Kai. “Gods are not immune to greed, either. Long before I became this, they warred against each other for the right to rule them all. It nearly destroyed everyone.”
“Are the gods not equal in power?”
Drakaa seemed to consider the question for a moment. “To us, it would appear so, but we are but mortals. Their ways are foreign to us.”
“But not foreign toyou.”
“Foreign to even me.” Drakaa returned to one of the cracks in the wall. “Mostly.”
Kai strode to her side for a closer look at the gold veins. “What are those? Are they important?”
“Think of them as a conduit,” she said. “A direct connection to the gods. And these stones”—she looked back to the Llinunae Stone—“are their source. This one here is only one of three.” Drakaa returned her attention to the veins. “This is an infestation that gives me cause to worry about the stability of a prison that was meant to stand for eternity.”
“Prison?”
“Stones strategically placed to create a magical barrier—think of it as a triangle. If one were to shift out of alignment, the walls would fracture. That doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t continue to hold, but if it’s this bad here, I worry?—”
Drakaa turned from the wall and strode back into the room, where she stopped and turned her face toward the high ceiling.
“This is the battle you warned me about,” Kai said. Her muscles prepared to draw weapons, and her heart raced with adrenaline. She would fight whatever battle was required if it meant saving her people. Gods or no gods.
“A battle can be prevented,” Drakaa said, facing Kai. “The walls can hold.”
“What must I do?”
Drakaa took Kai’s hands. “Listen first. You will understand by the end.”
Kai nodded.
“A human king made a sacrifice to help end the gods’ war and save our lands—he took the power of a god into himself, into his very blood, and weakened our foe just enough to make this prison hold. Without him, Xavlin would still walk free.”
Kai stepped away, her head empty of all thoughts but one. She knew this name. She was raised to fear it. They all were. “The god-eater.”
Drakaa nodded. “He devoured those gods we considered our enemy. What no one realized was that he was systematically imbuing himself with all their power. And those gods, being immortal, are still within him. Xavlin ceased being one god in his goal to be all at once. And he nearly succeeded.
“He cannot escape as long as he remains weakened,” she continued. “But nothing will stop him if he were to regain access to the blood that holds his excess power.”
“What blood?Who’sblood?” Kai asked.
“Iraklis Vidalatos was the first. The power has traveled through the males in his line ever since. Some of it leaked into the women, of course. Those female descendants have moved through many family names since, spreading through the world, but are distinguishable in one way—you’ve seen it for yourself.”
Kai shook her head. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Soyala is one—her hair and eyes are no accident. There have been others like her, always known by the same mark. Direct links to the god-eater himself.”
Kai drew the sword from her back. “Soyala cannot be allowed to live. Not among my people.”
Drakaa held up her hands, stepping directly into Kai’s path. “Remember what I said about the gods he took into himself, Kai. They are still there. They still speak. They arestill fighting…for us. Sometimes, their warnings are contradictory and messy, but they are rarely wrong.”
“How can you be sure those warnings don’t come from Xavlin himself?”
“Some have—I won’t deny that. He’s fooled many seers into helping him. It’s how Dimitrios Vidalatos, who was hidden from existence for thirty-eight years, is suddenly standing back on Perean soil. Right where Xavlin can reach him.”
“Then you also agree that keeping his mouthpiece in my mountain is too big a risk.”
“I will agree that we have reached a point where more direct action isrequired.” Drakaa took the sword from Kai’s hand. “But the answer isn’t in slaying the one advantage I have. Without Soyala, we would be blind.”
