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It was a good question. The better they understood him, the easier it would be to take him down.

“They’re my army,” Thelbiz said simply. “I have to be ready. Can’t you feel Noshtiz returning? You’re both his, after all.”

She exchanged a glance with Pyetar. She certainly didn’t feel like the god whose magic ran in her body was returning. He shrugged slightly.

Thelbiz stepped toward her, squinting with interest. “I suppose you’re only half his. What a mess you’ve made.”

“What does that mean?” An edge of foreboding sank into her gut.

“You have both Noshtiz and Voordiza’s magic. This magic should have already settled or killed you. Yet it’s done neither. Very interesting.”

“You know about double forging?” she demanded, his magic letting her sit up slightly. Hope unfurled in her.

“Noshtiz and Voordiza would never share a champion. This way you humans forge yourselves is…disturbing. If you were one of mine, perhaps I could help settle that magic in you, but alas… you are not.” There wasn’t a drop of apology on his face.

“So, you can’t help me.” Could she even believe what he said? That she should have been able to settle it? That the magic she was forged with could help her if someone wielded it as strongly as this man did Thelbiz’s?

“No. Even if I could, why would I? You neither show me the deference I deserve nor have you given up your futile desire to kill me.” There was a hint of something in his tone, not quite annoyance. Not yet.

She swallowed. Hopefully that arrogance would be a weakness they could exploit.

Pyetar jumped in. “How has no one seen you creating your… army?” His tone was polite, but there was an edge to his question.

Thelbiz scoffed. “You ask that as if I’ve been running around in easy sight of you humans.”

“Haven’t you? The poppies are everywhere, and so are the dakii.”

Iryana breathed slowly, hiding the anger bubbling up inside her. This fake god had found a way to harness Thelbiz’s magic, was creating monsters for some sick game.

“Dakii. That is a good name for them.” His amusement fell away. “I don’t have to be present to make my soldiers. I usually meditate over the places in Istri that are most drenched in my magic. I shield those places from visitors. I wouldn’t have expected to be found here either. It’s curious.”

Iryana didn’t find it curious; she found it frustrating. How would they find him again if he was usually shielded from them?

“Why are you even answering our questions?” Pyetar inclined his head slightly.

Iryana narrowed her eyes. She was very interested in his answer.

“It’s odd that you humans have found me, an interesting thing to ponder on,” the man drawled, “and it’s been so long since I’ve had anyone to talk to.”

Her brows tugged together. “So… you’re answering our questions because you find us interesting?”

Thelbiz gave her the driest look imaginable. “Humans are not interesting. But this seemingly random encounter we’ve found ourselves in… it reeks of Voordiza’s influence.”

She could only blink in response. He thought Voordiza was weaving fate to bring them to him? Iryana tried to fit together the pieces, to determine what was actually behind this madman’s delusions. If he had such powerful magic, it wasn’t impossible that others could find a way to harness such things too. And the dakii weren’t the only creatures they’d seen. The fox-serpent creatures were spying on him. There had to be someone else with as much power as him.

“What happens once all the gods are awake?” she asked with as much false courtesy as she could muster. “Another gods’ war?”

With what this man had accomplished in the last fifteen years, it didn’t really matter that they weren’t truly gods. The destruction more like him could cause was… horrifying.

The man raised a brow. “Another war? Child, the war never ended. It’s merely time for the next battle. But do not worry. I will ensure enough of you survive to repopulate Istri. Things will be back to normal in a few hundred years.”

It took every ounce of her self-control not to throw herself at the man again. His magic wasn’t holding her down as strongly anymore, but she doubted she could get close enough. She could see Pyetar’s fists clenching in the corner of her eye.

“Thelbiz is meant to be the god of balance,” she bit out. “How can you care so little for how many of us you’re killing?”

“A few decades of death is nothing compared to what will happen if I can’t stop Noshtiz in time.”

She had to bite her tongue to keep from saying what she really wanted. “Stop Noshtiz from doing what?”