I gulp. “The Judge?” I really don’t like the sound of that. Judges are usually very… judgy.
“When?” Dreven demands.
When you least expect it.
Of course. Because why the hell would it be now when we are all ready and assembled waiting for it?
The slab vanishes, and the rumbling quietens down.
“I don’t like this,” Voren says.
“Me either. Like we don’t have enough to worry about.”
“The Realm going into contention is very unexpected,” Dreven states, sounding extremely put out by this.
“You think?” I snap as some of the gods who aren’t my guys quietly slip off into the fog. “Great. I guess we don’t have that option?”
“Nope,” Dastian says. “More’s the pity.”
“So, we wait,” I say, still giving Tabitha the stink-eye. “What else do you know about this First Law?”
Tabitha presses her lips together like she’s bracing for a dental appointment. “The First Law predates us and your Order.It is not kind. It is not cruel. It balances. When power steps outside its lane, it demands proof, sets a measure, and takes payment if the proof fails.”
“Payment how?” I ask. “Because I’m all cashed out.”
“Stripping. Binding. Substitution.” Her gaze flicks to my chest like she can see the Crown braided through my soul. “It can tear a mantle free. It can fuse you to the realm as a ward. Or it can demand that another pay your debt.”
“Another,” Dastian repeats, eyes a flinty amber. “Like who, exactly?”
Tabitha purses her lips. “A champion.”
I look at the floor where the vein split. It’s closed, but the echo sits in my bones. “And the Judge?”
“It will test. They are always the same in intent, never the same in shape.”
“Which are?” Voren asks.
She shrugs. “It has never reached that before.”
“What’s the bet it will this time?” I ask bitterly.
“I’m not taking that bet,” Voren says, probably before Dastian can.
“It’s fine,” Dreven says, his eyes boring into mine. “We know who you are. Now you have to know it, Nyssa. Now more than ever, you need to know it.”
“That’s all well and good, but that slab thing said I have no authority here….” My eyes go wide. “… which means the box… the Devourer…” I set off at a run. If I am just some girl interfering in divine politics, that box won’t hold, regardless of the gods’ magic. It was tied to me, and I am no longer tied to this realm.
“Nyssa! Wait!”
The fog clears as I make a path to somewhere I recognise. It doesn’t matter where at this point. I just need some kind of landmark to get to the box.
As I sprint headlong across the realm, a massive explosion rips through the fog ahead and punches the floor up under my feet. I hit my knees and skid, palms burning.
“Shit!” I roar as the void of utter nothing swoops out of the crater the explosion caused and straight towards me.
I flatten myself to the ground, staring up at it as it flies over me, touching my face with its icy cold abyss.
Making a noise that is half-strangled cry and half-whimper, I wince as it brushes over me, but largely ignores me, probably not sensing any power in me now that the First Law has been imposed and this realm doesn’t listen to me anymore. It pours over me like night made liquid and then chooses elsewhere.
