called to Pelageya to take the pendant and place it somewhere it might be used. Yes, she complied.”
So, it’s your fault, then.
“I have always been one for mischief,” Velyos replied.
This is a little more than mischief. You got what you wanted. You got your freedom and your revenge; what about this four songs nonsense? That was you, wasn’t it?
“Chyrnog has worked for far longer than I. He has been nudging the pieces of this game for a millennium and you have all complied exactly as he wished. Mortals are predictable. This isn’t revenge, this is simply his nature. His nature is to devour, to consume, this is simply what he knows. And he found in your brother a mortal made for the same.”
Pillars of dark stone began to lift up from the bloody water, forming a bridge that disappeared into the distance.
Nadya stood, the gold slowly siphoning away.
“The four songs? Yes, that was me. Chyrnog was always going to break free. Chyrnog was always going to need to be contained. That’s the way it has always been, but it has been so long since he last escaped that the world forgot him. You mortals thought if you no longer spoke of the terrors of the deep, they would be condemned to myth and no longer ravage the world. Alas, it’s not so easy. This was all inevitable.”
Inevitability is too Kalyazi a notion for me, Serefin replied.
“I didn’t choose Tranavians intentionally, but you have made this game so much more interesting, so I have to thank you for that.”
Serefin rolled his eye.
What about her?
Nadya wavered on her feet, turning to him. He took a step toward her as she hesitated.
“I’ve never seen anything like her. She makes things so much more unpredictable. Delightful, really.”
Serefin didn’t like the sound of that.
“She has their power in her bones, but it wasn’t enough to make her like them. Or, maybe it was.”
“What do you think we’re going to find?” Serefin asked aloud.
Nadya glanced over. “Whatever it is, it’s not going to be pretty,” she said simply, then set off across the bridge. Serefin let out a breathless, incredulous laugh, before jogging to catch up with her.
“How did you do this?” he asked.
“Magic. What else?”
Like no magic I’ve ever seen, he thought. He didn’t really understand what Nadya was, but apparently neither did the gods.
“Don’t mistake my not telling you things you did not ask for ignorance,” Velyos snipped. “She is what happens when the darkest divinity is harbored in a mortal. A girl, divine in one breath, monstrous in another. That she has survived this long is remarkable. And truly, the old gods must have something very specific in mind for her. Their voices should have driven her mad long ago.”
But she can hear the voices of the gods, that’s her whole thing.
“Yes, and no mortal should be able to stand as many voices as she does. Perhaps she isn’t as sane as assumed.”
Serefin frowned. He cast Nadya a glance, but her gaze was locked on the island they drew near.
“What if we didn’t make it here first?” Serefin whispered, as Nadya stepped off the bridge and onto the glassy black sands.
“Catastrophizing again?” Kacper asked, coming up behind him.
Serefin should have asked everyone else to wait on the other side of this strange water, but he was grateful for Kacper’s presence. Here, the beach broke into forests, dark in a way that terrified Serefin.
“Hypothetically speaking,” he said to Nadya, “the only place where the gods could walk in our realm was on that mountain, right?”
“Hypothetically, yes,” she replied, eyeing the forest with trepidation. “But this place doesn’t play by the rules either, so we shouldn’t count on being safe from that.”
Great.
“I’ll wait here,” Katya announced. “Hold the bridge if needed.” It was very clear that she simply did not want to go into the woods.
Serefin took the bone relic from his belt, holding it in his palm.
Nadya’s face paled. “I need that,” she whispered, taking it with trembling fingers.
Anna glanced at Nadya, who nodded slightly. The priestess sat down next to Katya.
Kacper grabbed Serefin’s hand. “No, you—”
Serefin cut Kacper off with a kiss.
“I’ll come back,” he murmured against Kacper’s lips. “I promise. I love you.”
Kacper’s expression cracked. He grabbed Serefin’s face and kissed him harder. “Don’t you dare make this sound like a goodbye. I love you, and you’re coming back to me.”
Ostyia took Kacper’s hand and tugged him away, directing a look at Serefin that said that if he didn’t come back, she