“The common tongue, Elvish and Old Votruvian,” she said, the familiar excitement of a discovery widening her eyes as she scanned the languages.
“How the hell—” Aeriden began.
“It’s the blood,” Isla answered as she examined the hide. “The blood is the key. The four of us who filled that decanter…the hide somehow recognized our blood,our heritage, and translated the scars into a language we’d be able to read. Unbelievable… This is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. This isfascinatingmagic…”
Aeriden and I stood, moving to the opposite side of the table to read the text.
“I think we start here,” Lyvia began, her finger moving to the center of the hide, where eight symbols stretched across the top. “These are the Embodied powers. TheBellator powers.”
Eight names and titles were scratched in scars below each symbol:
AeliusSoleia, harnesser of suns. Fire and flame bow to his name.
RinlaRamadiel, master of affliction. Of remedy and blight, unmatched power and might.
KrunasAeterna, extender of life. Immortality and power will make the worlds cower.
MeiliAdvetis, traveler of worlds. Distance and time walk a fine line.
HerrahCelestyn, commander of orbs. To shatter or shift, a world of power, the ultimate gift.
Tynan Obscura, bringer of death. Shadows and night bend to his might.
Renova and Ganmira Transcindiel, twins of the moon. Change and rebirth may cost more than they’re worth.
Sintarrak Palaega, weaver of dreams and thief of thoughts. Conquer the mind, and they shall fall blind.
The Advetis stood at attention as I read Meili’s line, recognition and memory flickering in the sensation of power that washed over me.
“These are the names of the Embodied,” Isla said.
“But why are some of them crossed out?” Aeriden asked.
Lyvia stilled, and I whipped my head at her. Color had leached from my friend’s face, and I noted the hand Astraeus slipped to her lower back. Her head shook slightly, the loose ebony waves of her hair swaying.
“Tynan said Sintarrak, the Impostor Messenger, was patient… That he’s been planning this for thousands of years. He sired the Starling race so they could literallystealpower from the other gods… He wanted to weaken the other Embodied…”
Astraeus’s head dipped and his brows creased as he nodded softly. “He didn’t just want to weaken them,” he continued for Lyvia. “He wants them dead. He wants their power. He wants to be the One God.”
Understanding sunk in.
“The Embodied whose names are crossed out here,” she continued, her eyes drifting back to the ancient hide, “are dead.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
LYVIA
Mind control… Pantheon… Roots…
– Hidden notes in Queen Antares’s secret alcove, Gilded Fortress.
Lyvia – Borva, Votruvia
My stomach pitched, my mind spinning as realization crashed through me, and at what this meant for the threat we faced.
“But that’s good, right?” Aeriden asked, pinching his brows.
Kellan’s braids swayed as he shook his head. “No,” Kellan answered, his dark eyes pinned on the names scarred into the hide. “Because the Starlings, the race I descended from, have the ability to transfer power.”
