Page 363 of The Gods Order

Another wave of laughter fills the room before fading into an easy silence.

I look at my brothers.

At my wife.

My family.

Spread across a bed we’ve shared for seventy years now.

It’s day one of our next century together.

For so many years, I thought forever would feel like imprisonment.

Instead, it feels like endless freedom.

And I can’t wait to see where it takes us.

Thayla

47

Another 20 years later

The wind rushes around me, tugging at my hair and carrying the scent of earth across the endless sky beyond the mountain ridge.

No enemy waits below. No impossible choice sits in front of me. Neither life nor power hangs in the balance.

I’m just patiently waiting.

And that feels monumentally more terrifying right now.

V stands at the edge of the ridge. His wings tucked tightly against his body. Beside him, Lestari mirrors his stance, her tail feathers swaying behind her as she watches the horizon.

Between them, their four hatchlings shift impatiently.

They’re still so small, young, and full of the kind of reckless confidence only innocent little beings possess.

The sight still steals my breath.

There was a time when I wondered if the Vedarya would survive at all. A time when I wondered how many more things this realm would take from us. But now, ninety years later…

There are hatchlings.

There’s life. There’s a future.

“Are you nervous?” I ask quietly.

Riven scoffs.

“Absolutely not.”

I raise a brow and he rolls his eyes.

“Okay, maybe a little.”

A smile tugs at my lips.

Beside him, Amick shakes his head, though the grin he’s trying to hide gives him away.