Alysa and a few others had rings. Members of the Storm reached for the guards’ rings each time one fell, but we were still outnumbered. One of the Storm fell with a scream on my left. Bodies from both sides littered the ground. Then another group of Blessed sprinted in through the side door.
Where had they come from?
I didn’t have time to think. They doubled the number of Blessed we faced, and my quick estimate made our number appear halved. Clasping my fist around the adamas gem in my pocket, I channeled the granted fear into nightmares.
The room fell around me—everyone but Charon and Ember, who were immune to the stone’s magic. Screams erupted, both from the guards and the Storm. They’d all known this was a risk, but one they’d been willing to take. Alysa twitched on the floor next to me, her screams haunting.
I didn’t waste what little time I had. I stabbed as many of the fallen guards as I could before the ring’s magic wore out. Charon didn’t move to fight. He must have been more pained than I realized. Frustrated, I knew Ember would use her healing magic on him. Fucking Chaos, that dragon better defend her with his life.
With the gem clasped tightly in my fist, I didn’t see it flicker, but I felt the magic release the room. Silence swept in where screams had previously echoed. I’d killed the remaining dozen guards in front of me, but I knew we had to deal with the new group charging in. They had clambered to their feet too quickly, as if packets of youngleaf fueled their sprint to face me and the few Storm who rose on unsteady legs.
Finally, Charon’s long neck stretched forward snatching one of the charging guards in his maw. The crunch of bone was more than I needed to hear, but it startled the others as much as it did me. I gritted my teeth and raised my sword to defend the Storm.
Red glowed on the approaching guard’s finger. He slashed toward me, and I barely matched his strength to hold. I was fucking exhausted. Alysa attacked the guard, dividing his focus. Her ring glowed red as she summoned strength to hold him back. She called more of her people forward as they emerged from their nightmares.
Strength met strength as the other members of the Storm with adamas entered the fray. I spun and lunged and used every last bit of my training from the last two hundred years. I wouldn’t escape this battle unscathed. I groaned as a blade cut through my tunic, biting the skin. I twisted away from a deeper cut, and a pinch at my neck pulled my attention.
I recognized Vaddon’s retreating figure as I swiped a hand over the spot to see how deeply I’d been cut. Little blood coated my hand, but something felt off. I shook off the close call and drove my sword into the next attacker.
Vaddon’s proximity without an attempt at a killing blow should have worried me. He’d let my father off too easily. I hadn’t had time to focus on that betrayal, but if Father had needed a sacrifice, he must have played both sides. No wonder Elias had been doing the same. Father would have told Elias that he’d choose Vaddon and told Vaddon, of course, that he’d choose Elias.
The advisor had always considered Elias too weak to be useful, but with Father, his legacy had always been his downfall. Elias was his hope. His one chance to do better after I’d failed him so thoroughly.
Vaddon wouldn’t take Rodric’s action lightly. As his heavy steps picked back up the dais, I wasn’t sure he would accept the betrayal at all.
Father still hadn’t moved from his throne, and the more I considered that, the more it concerned me. I couldn’t do much as I disposed of the next guard in my path and my blade met another.
Elias made his move, pulling free his own blade. He sliced it across his hand, spilling his own blood. Then he pressed it against the headrest of the throne. As he did so, power thrummed through the room.
Fucking Elias. The blood of a Champion at the altar of agoddess would call her. It wasn’t much of a leap to say that throne of Kavios was an altar to Themis, and it appeared Elias had made some assumptions about the blood of a Champion—or the shared blood of relatives.
The magic pulsing through the room, unfortunately, indicated that it worked.
I kicked another guard out of my way and tried to push through. I’m not sure what I thought I could do. She’d clearly already been called. My heart raced in anticipation. With a final glance at Charon, who hid Ember with his body, I hoped they’d figure the final trial out soon.
A bright light filled the room, blinding as it entered. As it dulled and vision was once again restored, I cursed under my breath. Before my eyes, the worst-case scenario unfolded.
Themis landed on the dais in the flash of unavoidable light. Her lip curled into a snarl as she took in the scene before her.
Elias had always liked to put on a show, but did he have any idea how dangerous it was to invite the goddess here? His smile faltered as he took in her expression. He’d wanted her here to see something—his triumph? I still wasn’t sure of his aims, but I suspected if he hadn’t trusted Father’s intentions, he must have made his own plan. But as the glow surrounding Themis brightened like lightning about to strike, his brow pinched, and his adamas flashed purple as if he finally realized he might have made a mistake.
I grabbed Alysa’s wrist. She shouted, but I swung her behind me, praying to a goddess who wouldn’t answer that whatever Themis flung at us wouldn’t kill me. With the flick of her wrist, another wave of Themis’s incandescent light crashed through the room. It cascaded like a rainbow but decimated everything in its path. The remaining Storm and Blessed guards fell. A breath left my lungs, and to my utter relief, I still stood. Alysa fell to her knees behind me. She was alive, thoughher screams echoed through the hall as she took in her fallen people.
“I tire of this, Champion. Take the throne. You’ve come this far.” Themis’s voice was cold, detached, as if she no longer cared whether or not I did as she demanded. I guessed she didn’t. If I understood the mechanics of what was happening on the dais, I’d say both Father and Elias were angling to replace me.
I just wished we knew what they needed to do so.
The taste of Ember’s anger and frustration filled my mouth, but they also thickened the air around me. At least she had survived Themis’s magic. I drew on the almost physical connection between us. It softened the throne’s whispers with Themis’s arrival.
Protect her. Save her. Remove Rodric.
Ember and Charon held still as if they knew not to draw attention to themselves. I planned to keep Themis’s focus strictly on me. Her patience seemed exhausted, and I was the cause.
Rodric finally stood, revealing more adamas tucked behind him, built into the seat itself. “He won’t.” His hand still rested on the throne, even though there was nearly no one left to influence with his calming magic. “It’s time to consider another.”
Earlier, Elias had rolled his eyes at our father. If anything, his sigh now re-emphasized the gesture. He met the goddess’s gaze and spoke. “I offer you this sacrifice—my father.”
Then he lifted the sword from his side and swung.
