“Is this not the earth? I came a time ago after the screams of my children woke me from a thousand-year slumber. When I arrived, I found them all dead, so here I stayed, guarding their bodies and sending them off to life to come. Some decided to linger, and I felt I couldn’t leave them. It is… pleasant here, surrounded by stone. My home is wherever I can best care for my offspring.” He exhales, sending spiraling eddies full of sparkling particles all around us. “The question is… why are you here?”
I look at him, his eyeball larger than my entire being. I watch him with a furious beating heart. “We seek an artifact from the elvish god. One that was taken by the old king of your people.”
He tilts his great head to the side, hair flowing out around his face. “The orb of the universe? I have been keeping it safe for Doros.”
My eyebrows furrow as Teo calls up. “Why not give it back to him?”
Endu scoffs, and the ground beneath us quivers. “Why should I unless he calls upon me? Surely you know of the cracks between our peoples.”
He extends his hand again, lighting up the water with ancient symbols I cannot quite read.
As the words begin to travel through the water, one approaches me. Both my Fuegorra and my lyre string begin to heat up in my chest, and I gasp at the pain.
“His child searches for it now,” I say, jerking my head to the spot where Thorne treads water.
Endu pauses, the light channeled through me white hot. He searches my soul for something. It is pure, too pure for my mortal vessel.
I let out a groan.
“Do I hurt you, Estela of the Humans?” he asks in a voice that is surprisingly gentle.
“I would appreciate not being used as a lantern.”
Though, in truth, if it means not dying at the bottom of the ocean from a suit crack, I will endure it.
He barks a laugh. The sound pushes me back against my powerful tethers holding me in place.“You have spirit. Grutabela gave your mate a gift when she chose you and bestowed upon you a drop of power.”
He flicks his finger, and the pain from the light lessens. I suck in a deep breath, relaxing against the sensation.
After, his eyes lock onto mine. I should bring up the orb. Instead, I ask, “Is this drop of power why you call me the Daughter of the Light Weaver?”
He tilts his head to the side. “No. Your powers of light are divine, but they do not come from Grutabela or me. Your mother is known amongst the gods—touched by the goddess of humans.”
I furrow my brow. "In the eyes of the world, humans are seen as godless.”
He pauses for a long moment. “Is that truly what you think?”
The weight of his full attention is unsettling. I open my mouth, prepared to say I don’t know, but instead choose honesty. “No, it isn’t.”
"Very good. The gods weave their influence in ways seen and unseen, known and unknown. Your mother was a vessel for the divine light. She’s passed that gift to you, as my queen bequeathed a drop in your soul the night your Fuegorra was placed in your chest to show you the ways of our people.” Endu's voice is calm, almost soothing in its depth, as he regards me with those shimmering sapphire eyes. “The twopowers working together… well, that is something I’ve never seen.”
His hand comes to his mouth, and he taps his stone lips. “You have piqued my curiosity. It is not often that we see one of your kind. I will make you a deal: answer one question with truth, woman, and I will give you the artifact.” His voice booms through the space.
I take a deep breath. “Merely one question? Should you not bargain for more?”
He smiles. “Consider it a test of your character. Two goddesses have seen great potential in you. I am still making my decision. Truth is precious and oftentimes hard to find in mortals.”
I nod, feeling the weight of his words settle on my shoulders. “I accept.”
He smiles. “As God of Stone and Crystal, I would ask you what you fear most?”
For some reason, I had anticipated him to ask about my powers or Teo. This is something deeper and more intimate. My life flashes before me. Loneliness is the first emotion I feel, but I don’t fear it. Hell, I have wallowed in it. I was such a wretched, spitting thing, trying to survive while stained with the blood of my mother and the weight of slavery.
Next, I think of Rholker. He terrifies me, but he is not my greatest fear.
Two faces pop into my mind. Teo and Mikal, and then a ruined memory follows. The memory slicers made me fear water one night of torture at a time. Even touching such thoughts causes a shudder to run down my spine, but still, that is not my ultimate fear.
No, what I fear most is my weakness.
