Then, realization hit me.
The Ocean Mother was commanding Noctis through our Blood Tie.
I tried to lift my head, but his elbow shoved into my temple, holding me in place. The ground drained the warmth beneath my cheek, but I couldn’t move under the forceful grip Noctis had against my head. My eyes shifted into the distance at the horizon as the sun began to dip to the other side of the realm. Silhouetted in the shadow, the Ocean Mother stood with arms crossed, facing us. Her slim figure drifted across the land with her troops, but her focus had shifted.
Noctis sat atop me, blade at my throat unmoving for far too long. I hoped it was because he fought the control internally. Using it to my advantage, I gripped the hand that held the hilt of the weapon and shoved it outward. I rolled, throwing Noctis to the ground with the momentum change.
He flipped but quickly shot to his feet, blade swinging at his side.
He pounced like a beast finally being freed from captivity. His knee slammed into my stomach, and I bent only for his same knee to meet my nose.Shit.It crunched, bone cracking. My eyes teared up from the hit, but I managed to pull away before his blade went through my chest.
I didn’t bear a weapon. I couldn’t hurt him even if I wanted to.
“There was a moment in time I didn’t believe love was ever a thing,” I choked out, swallowing the bile that rose in my throat. “That people only care about others because there was a benefit to the relationship. Coin, power, blood.”
He jumped at me, arms outstretched to tackle, but failed miserably. Crashing to the ground, he slammed his fists into the mud and regained his emotionless composure. His footsteps were slower, less calculated than normal. I knew every trick he normally played in training, but he wasn’t using them. His motions were foreign, sloppier, more frantic.
And I’d take advantage of it, knowing the goddess that controlled him was getting fearful—even desperate to kill the threat. AndIwas the threat worthy of the goddess’s attention.
Noctis growled, low and raspy, so I continued.
“Yet every time I’m around you, I forgive every person that’s ever claimed love and hurt me.” His blade jabbed toward my face, but I dropped backwards, scurrying away from the strike. I managed to get back to my feet before he swung again. “I forgive them all, because each second of betrayal and pain led me directly to you.”
His eyes widened only slightly, a sign he could hear me, but his body didn’t care—the being that puppeteered him didn’t care. His blade cut across my face, and I barely dodged it. As he worked to pull his long sword back up, I tackled him.
My nose nearly met his, chests heaving together in sync. Warmth seeped into us with the lack of our armor. Our eyes met, and I could have sworn his gaze softened as I looked at him.
“I love you, Noctis. And I hope you forgive me.”
The wyrmsteel shackles I hid beneath my vest clicked around his wrists. He couldn’t use his powers to stop me from taking on the Ocean Mother alone—at least that was the plan Raveeka and I conjured up. The metal bands that held Noctis would hopefully keep him in place, imbued by the titan tosubdue his powers and become boulders of weight when clamped shut.
It had to be me that fought the goddess. Because onlyIcould wield the trident. OnlyIcould sever the bond between the god and I if the plan didn’t work. And onlyIcould conjure power that would shock the Thal’Maruun.
It had to be me. Because Noctis admitted to the Threnai that he’d seen the world die at his fault. He had to remain behind. And it had to be a surprise.
Noctis fought against the restraints, but it didn’t help. His legs flailed, trying to gain purchase and pull his outstretched arms up, but they only shoved him back into the ground.
I took off toward the hill where Raveeka planted the trident and ran toward the approaching Ocean Mother. She was still so far away, her eyes glaring upon me for besting her tactic of controlling my Blood Tie.
I slid down the hill, advancing closer to the lines of soldiers, careful to keep my distance in case the Ocean Mother ordered them to attack me. The goddess did nothing to stop Calvin, Jun, and Raveeka from surging through her commanders, but I wasn’t them. I held andwaspower from the same bloodline as the goddess. I could finally feel it within me—the immense, surging well of magic swelling deep inside my chest, vast enough to drown everything else.
The sky split rapidly, hues of orange and red streaking violently like clouds of flame. Deep, animalistic roars pierced the air, breaking up the synchronous marching that plowed through the land. Winged shadows covered the ground, every troop cast in darkness. When I looked up, I nearly sobbed.
The Aetherkin armies came to join the battle.
Dragons circled the masses from above, each bearing an armored Aetherkin Bound soldier. I glanced back, hoping to see fear in the Ocean Mother’s eyes, but the goddess was gone.
CHAPTER FORTY
Please don’t harm the soldiers,I begged at the sky. I couldn’t bear more blood and death. Bodies already littered the ground—innocent ones we couldn’t protect fast enough during the initial onslaught of war. Their unknowing, unseeing eyes imprinted in my mind, swirling with the sight of Zahara’s limp body in flames. The smoke that billowed in the sky like Throk’nawan’s dark storm clouds.
I worked to blink it all away, but it stuck to me, fusing into my very essence as a part of who I had become on the cusp of battle. Would I ever be able to live a normal, happy life after all the anguish the gods have dealt? Would I even survive what I faced alone?
Frantically scouring the field, I searched for the waist-length silver hair that flowed across the Ocean Mother’s back. Although she was not in sight, her power held strong to the approaching armies. The peninsula was thin, thankfully not wide enough for the rows of troops to enter the villages with ease.
I had time. But not much.
I couldn’t find the goddess, and as the minutes passed, my unsteady heart nearly exploded. I became so proud of my new family, their willingness to protect. Raven obediently watched over Noctis, who continued writhing against the wyrmsteel shackles holding him down. Calvin and Jun—with theprotection of Raveeka—pushed through the soldiers, killing the commanding generals without a second thought.
