wolf beneath me, clutching its fur tight in my fists as it charges forward, following.
Every second, more and more smoke fizzles from Father’s body. It turns the air around us hazy, constricting my lungs and searing my throat. But still I follow, because there’s no way he’s slipping through my fingers a second time.
“Don’t stop,” I whisper into the wolf’s ear, flattening myself against it as the smoke begins to shroud us. “Get to him.”
The beast burns brightly against the haze of smoke, warming my fingers as it charges forward, stopping only when it stands before Father’s halted form.
He sits tall before me, a gleaming light among smoke and shadows. He’s stolen the moon and wears it as his smile.
“You certainly did get my sense of adventure.” His words swell with a pride that pierces through my chest with a might more fearsome than any blade.
“Gods,” I whisper around a mouth thick with cotton as I dismount. My throat scorches with every word. “I miss you.”
There’s so much I want to tell him. So much I want to say. But Father’s fading into smoke that’s dissipating into the air too quickly. I reach out for him, desperate to find a way to keep him here with me, but he doesn’t reach back.
“I miss you more than you could ever know. But I need you to be brave, Amora.” His body is fading like smoke into the stars. “Be brave, my girl, and do what I could not.”
I try to call out. Try to grab for him again. But my hand falls through empty air, and every ounce of my breath falls with it.
As quickly as he came, Father is gone. And yet wisps of smoke still linger in his place, taking shape into something that waits behind where he’d stood only a moment earlier—something he promised me the two of us would one day find together.
Something with large, blood-red eyes.
So the child has finally made her appearance. Welcome, Little One. I’ve been wondering when you would arrive.
I stumble back as the shadows stir, taking shape into a massive creature that slinks closer. Only then do I realize where I’m standing, and that Father’s body wasn’t purely responsible for the smoke surrounding us.
He’s led me to the base of the volcano, where the deity I’ve been searching for waits.
He’s led me to the godwoken.
But how? It should have taken hours to get to the volcanos from where we were staying. And yet my moments with Father felt like seconds.
The serpent’s sleek body towers over me as it straightens itself. It’s as though it’s built by the night sky, growing and stretching and shrinking as the shadows ebb and flow from the glowing lava light of the volcano. Scales of onyx glisten as I stare at the slithering form, up and up until two piercing red eyes blink down at me, more curious than threatening. The serpent slithers forward, power radiating from it in waves so extraordinary I struggle to gather myself. Every limb in my body is numb; it takes excruciating effort to move even my hands.
My trembling fingers grip Rukan, and the serpent’s eyes flicker to it before it hisses, forked tongue grazing my cheek.
I see you’ve been doing some hunting.
I force myself to look back into its eyes. The snake’s mouth never moves, and yet I swear I hear those words clear as day.
Keep that weapon sheathed, or I’ll make a meal out of you, Little One, destiny be damned.
I sheathe the weapon at once, quicker than I ever have despite the trembling. “You can use mind speak?”
Lowering itself, the beast coils tight, head poking out to set upon its body as it observes me. I am a creation of the gods, Little One. I know all magics that were, are, and ever will be. You dare question me?
I swallow, an apology hot on my tongue until I realize that the serpent is smiling. Its tongue forks out in what can only be described as amusement, and I grit my teeth.
“How am I here?” I ask, unable to stop my voice from trembling no matter how hard I try. “Was that … Was he real? Was that really him?”
He was as real as he could be, the serpent answers, voice a slow, lazy drawl. You wanted to see him again, didn’t you?
I clench my fists, trying to will some sense back into my limbs. “Then why did you take him from me, again? There was more I wanted to