You have been asleep for nearly two days, Coyote told me.It is evening.
“Ugh, gross.” No wonder I felt like shit. I hadn’t had my pain meds in a while.
I shook my head blearily. “I should’ve woken up sooner.”
Your body takes longer to recover than the others, as it has been through much.
“Well, we didn’t have time for me to take a nap.” I rubbed my wrists and winced. They had developed a red rash from the inferichite bracelets, which were still on me. “Why haven’t I been taken out of this cell?”
Coyote flicked his tail.The Warden plans to leave you here to starve.
How thoughtful of him. “What happened to Kallie and Marcus?”
The Mistress of Time has already been drained. I am unsure about the Lord of Death.
“And Charlie?”
They will take his power soon.
“Dammit.” I cringed and propped my body up further along the wall. “Can you get me out of here?”
Coyote bared his teeth.Unfortunately, that is beyond my power.
“Why are gods so useless?” I felt frustration well up inside of me, not just at Coyote Spirit, but at all the gods in their domain. The Warden was plotting to overthrow them all, and they were content to sit on their thrones and watch him do it. Were they going to aimlessly sit by until he came marching through their gates?
The power is not in us, but in you.Coyote strolled toward me and nudged my face with his wet nose.
“Gods aresupposedto be all powerful. We’re taught that your magic is infinite and that no one can stand up to you, but the way I see it, you’re completely worthless,” I spat. “If you can’t help me, then why are you here?”
Because you need me.
“I don’t need anyone. I can take care of myself.”
Ava, love. You need to get out.
“Do something!” I screamed, and my voice echoed down the desolated hallway. “Rescue me, rescue my friends, give me my magic back, at least!”
You don’t need me for any of those things.
My lip wobbled with how impossible all this was. “I’m in pain… I haven’t had any of my prescriptions, water, or food in days. I can’t walk, and I don’t have any magic. How am I supposed to do this on my own?”
You must find a way.Coyote reached out and placed his paw on my knee.You don’t understand what is happening in the Ancestral Lands, what is happening for all of the Blessed Haven. I have attempted to send you messages in dreams, but my ability to reach out to you becomes weaker every day.
I vaguely recalled the dream I had before my trial— the vision of a gate closing, and thousands of people swarming in panic as the light was cut off and the gate shut. “The spirits of the dead are trapped, aren’t they? The gateway to the Blessed Haven has been shut.”
Yes, my love. The connection between this world and the spiritual realm is closing, and thus, the ability of the gods to influence things here has been lost, Coyote informed me.I have put myself at great risk by coming to Earth, yet in doing so, I give you hope.
It became very clear why Monica hadn’t crossed over to speak with me in person when she’d had the chance. She didn’t want to risk leaving the Ancestral Lands, because there was a possibility she might get shut out. Marcus sensed something was wrong months ago when he tried summoning Thaddeus, but he’d misattributed the problem to the wards around the prison. This had been happening for longer than we realized.
No wonder Thaddeus hadn’t been able to find his way into the afterlife on his own. I wasn’t even sure if Marcus could’ve helped him cross over before he became a poltergeist. “What’s happening to all those lost souls?” I asked softly.
They are stuck in a sort of in-between place, as the Elves foretold,Coyote replied grimly.
Ava, love, you are the only one who can stop this, because you are the only one who may rescue Charlie and help him to open the Elven gate.If the Elf prince does not fulfill his prophecy and lead his people into the Blessed Haven, the afterlife will be inaccessible for all souls who seek to enter it until the end of time, at which they will no longer exist, and by the Great Spirit himself this cannot be allowed to happen. Somehow, you must get out of this cell and save the others, for if you don’t, your doom will signal the doom of all gods and souls that exist now, and will ever be.
My heartbeat was ramming up against my ribcage so hard I thought one of them might crack. I’d be freaking out, but I really didn’t have time to lose my shit right now. “The Warden’s going to find out about this.”
Indeed. Now that he has a demigod’s power, he will utilize it to open hell wide, and set the dark gods free so they can challenge those that remain in the Blessed Haven. It will take time for him and the gods of darkness to cross the broken boundary that has been created between Earth and the spiritual realm, but with the power he has, hewilldo it, Ava. With the followers he will gather in the meantime, I am unsure if we in heaven will be able to withstand his forces once he arrives. If he takes over, he will have control of that divide, and it is true that he will be the one to decide who finds salvation within the paradise the Blessed Haven offers, and who he will enslave within hell’s gates.
