Movement to my left.
The God is walking toward us.
Not toward Kaia. Towardus.
My chaos magic coils tight, uncertain. Every instinct screaming that when an actual deity approaches, you should probably stop making fun of dead people.
But he’s not looking at me.
He’s looking at Kaia.
Watching her stand at the threshold, wings pulsing with light, guiding souls home like she was born for it. Which, I guess, she was.
His expression is… soft. Almost fond.
Then his gaze slides to me, and something shifts in those ancient eyes. Amusement, maybe. Recognition.
“Eds,” he says.
I blink. “What?”
“You call them Eds.” He gestures at the endless stream of shadows. “Why?”
“I… uh…” Suddenly my mouth is very dry. “Because there’s a lot of them? And they all look the same? And naming them individually seemed like a commitment I wasn’t ready to make?”
The God of Chaos laughs.
Actuallylaughs.
It sounds like thunder rolling through a canyon. Like stars colliding. Like the universe itself finding something genuinely funny.
“Eds,” he repeats, still chuckling. “Millions of souls, waiting centuries to pass through… and you call them Eds.”
“Should I… not?”
“No, no.” He waves a weathered hand. “It’s perfect. Very chaos.”
His eyes drift back to Kaia. Watching. Always watching.
The others have noticed. Torric moves closer, fire banked but ready. Aspen drifts to my other side. Malrik’s shadows coil around his feet as he approaches. Darian’s light flickers, uncertain. Even Kieran steps in, forming a loose circle around the God and me.
Everyone except Kaia.
She’s still at the Gate. Still guiding. Still glowing.
She can’t hear this.
“You know,” the God says, his voice casual in that way that makes my spine lock up, “I’ve watched many chaos wielders over the centuries. Millions of them. All of them touched by my essence, whether they knew it or not.”
He’s looking at me now. Really looking. Those ancient eyes pinning me in place.
“But you, Finn Veylan…” He tilts his head. “You’re different.”
“Different good or different ‘about to be smited’?”
“Smote.”
“What?”
