“I’m sorry,” I whispered to her as she hit my pocket and disappeared. “It’s time for you to return to your Creator.”
For yards either side of me, they burst through the trees and collided with my barrier, disappearing without a trace. Those that followed weren’t smart enough to stop and change direction. They could see us, a few steps away, and they charged … right into Topia. I turned around, finding all of the gathered dwellers and sols staring at the disappearing servers in amazement and disbelief … while the gods stared at me.
The Abcurses were filled with pride and love: it shone from their faces and shimmered through our soul-bond, filling me with so much light that I couldn’t help but smile at them all. The other gods seemed to be filled with awe, except for Adeline, who only looked troubled and apprehensive.
“It’s time,” she said to me as our eyes caught and held. “Staviti has sent my server with a message. He is calling me. He must have felt the servers enter his world. He will want to put his next plan into place, now that this one has failed.”
The realm of death. His second contingency plan.
I nodded, my victory short-lived. This fight wasn’t over yet.
“I need Jakan,” I told her. “I can’t do this without him.” I wasn’t sure if it was true or not … but it seemed like a good idea to have his help. He had the same power as me, but many,manymore life-cycles of practise with it.
“I know where he is,” Adeline replied, holding out her hand. “Come with me, daughter. We need to hurry.”
