The thought of returning to Alaysia left my heart in my throat.
When visiting there with Baxter, I’d only been in Tontes’ kingdom for an hour. Locked into a boggy marsh while I awaited judgment at the Heart of Alaysia. That hardly counted as a precursor for what to expect from my plan.
It certainly built a horrifying expectation, though.
Thanks to Tipa, god magic delivered us instantly. My stomach dropped all the way to my feet the moment my eyes opened.
“Jikes!” I cried under my breath.
My toes hung off the edge of a cliff only as wide as my hand. I leaned back, fingers scrambling for purchase against a flat shale wall.
“Tipa!” I shrieked.
We stood on the edge of a precipice. Merrick on my right, Tipa to my left. Thin, brittle cliffs soared above and below us with precarious height. Thunder rumbled. Lightning illuminated the sky, brightened slate clouds. A flat, sandy ground lingered hundreds of paces below.
A rise of nausea welled in my stomach. I tilted the back of my head against the cliff, pressed my spine more firmly on the uneven rocks behind me, and forced myself to breathe.
Merrick stood with his hands splayed out. He gazed around, less stiff or concerned than me or Tipa. His legs were braced, tense.
Tipa tightened next to me, shoulders drawn back. Her expression paled as she stared straight ahead, into the blooming fury of a thunderhead. We hovered so far off the distant ground, I felt as if I stared into the eyes of the storm.
“Great spot, Tipa,” I hissed.
“I’ve never been here before,” she muttered through gritted teeth. “I did the best I could.”
“Where are we?”
“Tontes’ kingdom,” she snapped.
“His home?”
“Presumably.”
Her amulet illuminated the hair behind her ear. Active god magic shifted the colors inside, with swirls of blue and strands of teal and silver. Despite myself, I couldn’t help thinking of Ignis’ kingdom: the unfurling rainforest, and the landscape dotted with volcanoes.
“Does Tontes have an actual habitation?”
Carefully, she cut me a sharp gaze. “Like a Rostina?”
“Yes.”
“I wouldn’t know. We tend to ignore the other gods and demigods when we can.”
“Is there a top to these cliffs?”
Tipa swallowed. “Presumably, but it could be who-knows-how-high.”
“Take us there?”
Tipa hesitated. A rock trickled down the mountainside from beneath her feet, crashing to the depths below. Her shoulders bunched near her ears, then eased down. Tendrils of vapor clung to her hair, saturating the strands from the humidity
“Fine.”
The world faded, then reappeared. No terrifying cliffs in our new position. No vista to study. No billowing clouds over the ocean, stirring white caps and danger. Instead, we stood on top of a bunch of rocks with nothing but clouds. A soupy sky descended, thick enough to send shivers down my spine. Electricity crackled the air.
The shale, brittle rocks broke apart beneath my feet when I shuffled forward. The movement caused the fog nearest me to twirl. It parted to reveal a circle a hundred paces across, surrounded by walls of wisps.
No thunder.
No lightning.
Raindrops formed like crystals in the air, creating a glittering image that swept away in another swirl of vapor. Complicated mandalas formed in the clouds, layered with gray, silver, and black, rimmed in white. For three seconds the intricate patterns held their shape with depth, precision, and texture, then faded away. The depictions appeared here and there. Moving artistry.
Another formed in front of me. A tree, sprawling out with giant roots, long arms. The umber-and-emerald colors edged into darkness, then appeared again. The tree had fallen, rooted from the ground. Hints of red, like rivers of blood, stained the earth around it.
It faded into nothing.
Tipa’s shoulders lowered as she gazed around, oblivious to the silent threat. Merrick studied all of it, gaze flicking from place to place.
“Welcome to the land of the gods,” I muttered.
He scowled.
“Can you hear Matthais from here?”
Merrick paused, gaze distant and focused. Seconds later, he nodded. “I can. Barely. I have to strain to hear it.”
“Really?”
He shrugged. Shock gave me a moment of pause. The Protector magic must be even stronger than I expected.
“What’s happening over there?”
“The meeting of Network leaders has concluded. Guardians arrive in the forest from the other Networks to receive instructions from Talmund. They’re going to transport into position near the circle of the ancients in an hour. No sign of demigods so far. Mudslides have slowed. The wind stopped, too.”
“Tell them to make it fast. I don’t know how long we’ll last here.”
He nodded.
The lack of movement in Alkarra gave us a narrow window of time, in addition to the unnerving sense of having no control. The gods could act at any moment. Why did they stall? What did they wait for?
Here is where it mattered most, so I brought my attention back to now. I turned to Tipa. The greenish expression had faded from her face, and she wobbled less. Tension still made her stiff as a board.
“Can Tontes hear me if I talk to him?”
“If you entered my father’s circle, he would know. I assume the same for all the gods.”
I drew in a deep breath. My plan was simple. Get Tontes’ attention, distract him from Alkarra, then go from there. Yet, it lacked everything else, like certainty, back ups, and a grounding in reality.
“God of thunder,” I called, “you have a lovely home.”
A pause.
Silence.
Seconds ticked by like eternity. Tipa tensed, obscured by the miasma of clouds that swirled around us. The thickest fog I’d ever seen. When I walked a few steps one way, the clouds swirled back. If I went too far away, they would close me off from Tipa and Merrick.
“If you’re too busy to talk, I understand, but I’d love to have a word with you. Before all of Alkarra goes to war and you lose to the goddess of the forest. You may not think me all that important, but as Deasylva’s servant, I would disagree.”
False bravado boosted my tone—I sounded far more confident than I felt. I had to push aside feelings of sheepishness. Speaking to a god in front of Tipa? Absurd. Her cagey, darting gaze didn’t reassure me at all, either.
More quiet.
“No?” I called. “Very well. Proceed, if you dare. I’ve already stolen one of your amulets tonight, I figured you might want to chat before I take some more. With my hidden army.”
Merrick sent me a questioning glance.
I shrugged.
A voice boomed.
Why have you returned, Lady-witch of Alkarra?
Merrick ducked. Tipa hissed through her teeth. It took all of my courage to affect a casual response.
“I prefer Lady-witch of Letum Wood, actually. That’s the source of my power. You know, servant of Deasylva, and all. Figured we should be consistent.”
You were annoying while you were here before, you continue to be so now.
“I could say the same.”
Rolling thunder responded. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. Tipa rubbed her arms in the crackling discomfort, her gaze uneasy.
“I came to speak with you.”
Then speak.
“Do you accept warnings?”
He laughed in billowing notes, like crashing drums.
A witch come to warn a god?
“Yes.”
State your warning.
“You remember the beelae? When I worked with Ignis, I discovered that we had become a conduit to the power together? You should, because your children are the ones that attacked. I suppose I don’t need to remind you what happened with Neel . . .”
Tipa shot me a glare.
I ignored it. Let the god of thunder get angry. Rash emotions could work to our advantage. Or disadvantage.
A growl followed, which I took as affirmative assent.
“That ability—that depth of magic—is not limited to only the gods. Did you realize that? I may have been a conduit for Ignis, but I access Deasylva’s power as well. Since this is news to me, I thought I’d share.”
You believe Deasylva could mimic the same?
“I know it.”
The words came out steady, despite an underlying sense of uncertainty. Did I actually know it? No. I wondered about it, certainly. The facts added up to it a logical explanation that way. Letum Wood and I had shown strong promise together in various ways—every day seemed to uncover a new use to the magic, a new strength. Would my connection to Deasylva ever be as strong as it had been with Ignis?
I sincerely hoped so.
Do you know it?
His musing tone told me he hadn’t bought my bluff. Just as well. The longer I kept him in conversation, the more time we gained. Assuming gods couldn’t be in two places at once.
“Why else would Deasylva call me to be her servant? Trust me with her forest? When you war against Deasylva, you war against me. The magic will respond to the same. It rises with me, works to my command. Particularly in the forest.”
Forgive me for not being frightened.
“It just means you’re not paying attention.”
And you seek to warn me so that I do pay attention? What an honorable witch. I imagine that I can now win the war thanks to your little visit, your attempt at distraction.
His biting sarcasm wasn’t lost on me, but the attempt at distraction gave me reason to worry.
Uh oh.
You believe that I require such a warning? That I haven’t planned for centuries for such a war? That I know so little of the machinations of the goddesses and gods that I wouldn’t have readied myself for interference from Deasylva’s . . . creatures?
My confidence began to shrivel away with his menacing tone. The only thing I had needed to accomplish here was delay, but I saw my success with that spiraling away already. His tone indicated he twirled toward a point. The slippery sense of falling down a precarious slope overcame me.
What did Tontes know?
Merrick stepped closer, his chest against my back. Tipa shuffled away, brow furrowed. I reached for Viveet as lightning broke with a boom, sending a sharp sensation over my skin. I grimaced at the pain that rolled with it.
Keep him talking, I thought. Distraction is all.
Our need for more time pushed me to action. The caterwauling saplings, Arborra’s mournful tone. All of them brought me to this moment.
“You seem to require something, Tontes.”
I’m not the only one with a requirement, witch.
Another mandala appeared. A swirling, complicated rendition of Nicomedianthekus, complete with crystal blue facets, a brilliant interior that moved like glaciers and waves. The mandala pivoted, like a shifting cloud constantly moving, but the amulet remained the same. Layers built on layers. The intricate magic created a stunning picture.
One I didn’t want to see.
“Oh no,” I murmured.
Tontes knew.
Of course he knew. What fool that planned his revenge for centuries would go into a battle without all the information? Tones must have known all along that we’d need Nicomedianthekus to fight back. One path existed toward our freedom—the amulets.
A dark feeling settled in my gut.
Admirable, that you would come so far to delay my attack on your land, but you have wasted time. Pointless. Your forest is going to fall, Lady-witch of Alkarra, regardless of what you do here. There is no way for you to find what you want. Your path is already lost.
“How do you know it’s lost?” I asked weakly.
He laughed again, and the air trembled with power. Merrick reached forward, fingertips on my back. Tipa shuffled to the side, but there was nowhere to go. The vast emptiness of the air extended beyond the clouds that veiled where we stood. Everything about this kingdom felt . . . empty.
The sense of being on the verge of a truth pushed me farther. Surely, that was the breathless sensation in my chest. Not terror.
Not utter fear.
You assume that I don’t know about Nicomedianthekus? That I wasn’t there when all four gods formed this course for the magic? Witches are such fools. You always have been.
“I never said that.”
Go home, Lady-witch, to what’s left of it. I desire you to see the end, so I will allow you to live. I want you to suffer as the gods suffered. To see everything that you couldn’t save fall to pieces. Deasylva will never be greater than me. Thunder doesn’t quake at the sight of a forest.
His words replayed through my mind, looping in terror. The heady realization that we were utterly, tragically, outmatched paralyzed me. We’d only lasted minutes distracting the god.
Minutes.
There is no way for you to find what you seek. Your path is already lost.
“B,” Merrick murmured. “We need to go now.”
Understanding lingered just out of reach. A shadow beyond the ring of light. A realization so close . . .
I sucked in a breath.
“Wait.”
Tontes would only say, there is no way for you to find what you want, if he knew where to find Nicomedianthekus.
If he had Nicomedianthekus.
The good gods. Tontes had been in control this whole time. We were scrambling around Alkarra, attempting to find something already in his possession. It’s why Tontes acted with such bravado. Why he felt so certain about his victory in Alkarra.
Tontes held Nicomedianthekus.
I leaned back, felt Merrick behind me. He tightened a fist from my dress, pulling me closer.
“Take us back now, Tipa,” I called.
Thunder growled. Static thickened the air. Any second now and a lightning bolt would strike.
A percussive bang split the air a moment before Tontes, and his kingdom, disappeared into darkness. We landed back in the Southern Network. I grabbed Tipa’s shoulders, breathless.
“Bring Baxter here. I think I know where to find Nicomedianthekus.”