“Fantastic. Saddle that horse. You’re going to need him,” Kaos said with a nod in Balios’ direction.
“Where am I going?” I asked, already moving back to the tack wall.
Kaos was silent for a moment, watching me place the saddle blanket and saddle on Balios before strapping him with an urgent efficiency I’d honed for years in the army.
“Do you remember the words the Matriarch spoke to you before her death?”
I frowned and shook my head. “She said nothing to me.”
Kaos grunted before procuring a blade from somewhere on his person and quickly slicing his skin. The knife disappeared just as quickly as it appeared, and I jolted as Kaos drew a rune on my cheek with his blood.
“What the f—” I started, but my words were cut off as pain lanced through my skull, images flashing at lightning speed as I recalled the Matriarch’s final moments in the Valley.
“When she leaves, you must be the one to find her.”
The visions subsided as her words echoed ominously. My hands shook, and muscles clenched involuntarily as I continued to saddle Balios.
“Do you remember now?” the god asked.
I grunted as I cinched the saddle tight.
“Where am I going?” I repeated.
Kaos turned his dark eyes to me and speared me with a look that felt like he could see the very depths of my soul.
“The woods north of Isrun. Your Rune Master will be there soon and will need you.”
My mouth gaped, words sputtering as Kaos lunged toward me, grabbing my arm and Balios’ reins at the same time. A large, swirling vortex of black opened to my left.
“You must be the one to find her, or Elyria will fall . . . I hope you know how to read runes,” Kaos said with a dark chuckle as he half-led, half-dragged my horse and I into the portal.
Chapter Seventy
Ellowyn
Istood in the same position when Kaos finally reappeared.
“Where did you take her?” I raised my eyebrows at him, proud when my voice wavered only slightly, the rest of my anxiety hidden deep beneath a false bravado of confidence.
“Somewhere safe. Somewhere her other half should find her first,” he admitted, and my heart thumped in relief.
I nodded, clutching the smooth crystal in my hand until the point of it dug into my palm.
“There is . . . something else, godling,” Kaos said, his voice soft. I flung my gaze to him even as shivers of anticipation erupted across my skin. “You, not my sister, must be the one to kill me.”
I stood frozen for a moment before barking a laugh completely inappropriate for the situation, one Kaos did not reciprocate.
“Gods, you’re serious,” I deadpanned, cold dread washing over me. “This is the bargain that you wanted me to uphold? The one you made with me on Meru?”
Kaos sent me a grim smile. “If you don’t, she will have partial command of Destruction. You’ll never have full control over it, and she’ll be able to bend it to her will. Even take it from you if she so desired.” I broke into a cold sweat at his words. “She’ll also have partial command over Fire and Earth, rendering the other godling powerless.”
Torin.
“I—I don’t understand,” I stammered, shaking my head so my braids flappedagainst my back.
“Listen to me, Ellowyn,” Kaos urged, his words hissing through his clenched teeth. “If you want achanceat stopping Solace, this is the only way. Yes, only a god can kill another god. But do you not have Original Magic flowing through your veins?” He cocked a dark eyebrow in my direction, and my eyes widened as I recalled the maddening conversation with Fate and the Bondsmith on Meru. “If Solace kills me, then Elyria is lost. Meru will follow soon after, and Fate will cease to exist. Unlessyoufind a way to stop Solace.”
Kaos reached out to grasp my shoulders, his enormous palms covering the entire upper half of my arm as he pinned me with his intense stare. “This is the only way.”
