“The Oricaans will destroy them all,” Jun breathed heavily.
“Are the villagers out?” Noctis asked, sheathing his sword along his back as Raveeka ordered the children to sleep. Each of their tiny heads slumped in exhaustion until they slumbered—an odd relief.
A crack of lightning lit the sky. Then another. Noctis tensed. The sky grew darker as he inspected the nearly black clouds, eyebrows drawn together in focus.
“My father is here,” he declared confidently.
“Is he as hot as you?” Calvin asked with a small, uneasy chuckle. He leaned against the grassy hill, accepting the wind and rain to cool him down. “Or as brutal?”
“You have no idea,” Noctis murmured, his eyes darting around.
“About the hotness or brutality? Pretty important for you to clarify.”
Suddenly, the battle cries and clashing metal stopped over the hill. We peeked over the crest, only to be sent into panic. The Terraguard soldier’s faces all fell to stone, their arms slack at their sides. At once, their boots marched through the mud, and they formed straight lines, intertwining amongst the Oceanwrought army—along with the Oricaans.
Far in the horizon, my gaze fell upon the one I’d been searching for. Hovering above the rapid waves of the sea, the Ocean Mother orchestrated the joining armies as one. She controlled them all. Both sides, all forces.
And they marched in sync toward the evacuatedvillages.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Hundreds of rows of silver and blue armored soldiers marched, all at the command of the goddess behind us. Her arms were outstretched before her, guiding the troops to enact a mass execution of the villagers beyond.
Rumbling bounced along the clouds as booming footsteps shook the ground. Lightning struck the soldiers, one right after the next, dropping groups in their tracks, disregarding which side they fought for.
What is going on?
“What do we do now?” I asked desperately.
Raven landed along the slope of the hill, picking at the blood dripping from his drenched onyx wings. Raveeka shot into the air, diving toward the advancing lines. She purged through them, slowing them down little by little.
“That sour crackle in the magic?” A deep, unfamiliar voice startled us. We all whirled. “My son’s signature rot.”
Godsire. Noctis’s father.
Run, Caelyn. Please,Noctis begged desperately.
Ruby wings whipped across Noctis’s face, careening his body through the air and crashing into the muddy ground. Lightning struck at his head, but he flipped, narrowly missing the strike.
I stepped between them. His father’s face was carved in the same severe lines as Noctis’s, as though shaped by a steadier,harsher hand. A jaw cut sharp as the blade clenched in his fist, unyielding and precise, framed a mouth set in quiet authority.The fiery hair that decorated his head cropped shorter, falling slightly and resting just above his eyebrows. He wore no armor—the sign of someone who knew their own strength.
“What is your purpose for being here?” I demanded, rage surpassing the fear.
“I am Throk’nawan, and I can be wherever I please, mortal.”
He lifted his hand, and the world lurched, something unseen seizing me and hurling me sideways. I slammed into the mud beside my Blood Tie, the impact knocking the breath from my lungs. Noctis was there an instant later, scrambling to drag me back to my feet.
“You’re leading the Terraguard armies,” Jun murmured. “I’ve seen you before.”
Throk’nawan’seyes found Jun’s and held. A slow curl dragged his lip upward, pulling his nose with it, baring teeth that looked more like a threat than a smile.
“And now, you all will help me with your titan and myprickof a son.” Lightning flashed behind him, illuminating the contrasting storm clouds. “Every realm touched by this war belongs to me.”
“We will not,” Noctis yelled, rage and fury taking over. He stormed forward but was quickly thrown back, leaving a massive rut in the ground as he slid across, pulling the earth beneath him.
“You have no choice!” his father bellowed, his face nearly matching the roseate color of his soaked hair. “I will kill you all, and thentheywill kill everyone beyond this land. Is that what you have been fighting for this entire time? Help this realm crush the sea scum, and when the war is won, we’ll discuss your terms.”
“We will kill the Ocean Mother,” Zahara said, confidence stilling in her tone.
