by K.N. Lee
Whoever did this must have been known by his guards?
Litha.
Kellian balled up his fists. Heartbroken and filled with rage, Kellian crossed the room to pull his wife from the wall. He yanked the thick nails out one by one and clutched her to his chest.
He’d sent his children to the sacrifice. They had emerged from the Cliffs of Ranoun without a scratch. Why were they being punished?
He now realized how deep the betrayal went. Litha called him away to meet with the Council so that she could do this. How he wanted to make her pay for her treachery.
Kellian searched the room for any signs of his children.
“Preeti?” His voice carried along a chilling wind that swept into the room and out the broken window. “Vineet?”
There was no reply. His heart raced as he searched the entire manor, checking every room and calling their names.
Neither were anywhere to be found. His once beautiful manor was now a tomb, and as a lesser god, there was nothing he could do to bring any of his people back.
Unable to look upon his wife’s body, he covered her with the evergreen bed sheet.
He opened the door that led to the secret passageway. Once he stepped through, he paused.
He heard something. A faint shout.
Kellian stepped forward and strained to hear. The howling of the wind seemed to follow him, and he knew that Litha was still there somewhere.
A muffled cry of what sounded to be a young girl came to him.
His eyes widened. He dared to hope.
“Desi?
“Master!”
She’s still in the chest.
Kellian ran down the dark narrow hallway.
Once he reached the end of the hall where it forked in two directions, he pushed another secret hatch in the stone wall right before him. This is where he kept his valuables. No one, not even his staff knew about it.
Another door was revealed.
Pulling the door open, he looked down into a hole in the ground that was four feet deep and three feet wide. Inside the hole was a golden chest adorned with intricate black symbols engraved by the holy clerics of Latari.
Kellian pulled the chest from the ground and set it on the stone floor.
“Master?”
He stared at the chest, relief flooding his body. There was still hope.
He knelt to the chest and inserted the key. One turn of the lock and a sharp clicking sound resonated in his ears. The lid opened on its own, lifting upward until a tiny being was revealed.
“Master Kellian,” Desi called as she stretched her small arms, and flew out of the chest. She rubbed her gold-colored eyes with a yawn.
Her face looked up at him with joy, a wide smile stretching across her face.
“You’re late, Master,” she said as she hovered before his face, the size of his hand, with white wings.
He watched as gold tendrils of light raced up and down her skin and through her green hair, making her body light up the entire hallway.
“Tell me what happened.”
Desi’s smiling face turned sour.
“Everyone was killed. They didn’t have a chance. The Goddess of Law had the Red Beast with her.”
Litha left nothing to chance.
“Where are the twins?”
“The Goddess of Law took them.”
Rage rose within Kellian. He wanted to smash a hole in the wall but restrained himself. He needed to get his children back before Litha discovered what they could do.
He should have known that he would never truly find peace. Even as a god, there were always those that sought to ruin him.
Not with Litha still living and breathing. The woman would not be stopped until she got what she wanted. The only problem was that she wanted something he couldn’t give.
Kellian listened to the howling of the wind, his rage building with thoughts of what she was doing to his children. “Where did she take them?”
“Oh, Kellian,” a familiar voice said from behind him.
Kellian clenched his jaw as he turned to face the woman with the long lavender hair, brown skin, and white tattoos.
Litha, the Goddess of Law.
Desi pointed to Litha, her thin gold eyes narrowed. “Can I kill her, Master?”
Kellian shook his head and withdrew his heavy sword. “No, Desi. I will.”
Litha lowered her eyes as she circled him, her hands folded behind her back. “Did you think I would let you use your children to ruin me?”
“You killed her.”
Litha nodded. Her face was without emotion. “I did. I told you I would.”
“I loved her.”
“Yes. I know,” she whispered. “I’ve only just begun to destroy everything you love.”
“Why did you have to kill everyone? They were innocent.”
A small laugh made him glance up at her. It was easy to remember why he once loved her. She was beautiful beyond words. Long lavender hair flowed down to her naked ankles. He swallowed as his eyes went up the length of her shimmering gown.
“They were in my way,” Litha said. The bitterness in her voice made every word more and more powerful.
Kellian shook his head. “You’ve really lost all of the qualities I once loved in you.”
“Perhaps,” Litha said, her eyes darkening.
“My children were chosen to rule. I had no part in the decision.”
“I no longer care,” Litha said. “I will not be ruled by children. Not in this life or the next.”
“Please, Master,” Desi whispered. “Let me kill her. I can do it!”
“Shh,” he said, waving her away.
“You deserve a slow death.”
The glow of her blue eyes hurt his, but he didn’t back down.
“No, Kellian, dear,” Litha said, pulling an orb from behind her back.
A smirk came to Litha’s face, and Desi started buzzing around Kellian’s head, blocking his view.
“Run, Master,” Desi shrieked, tugging on Kellian’s collar with her tiny hands.
Litha released the glowing orb, letting it hover before Kellian’s face. Within it, he saw nothing but black.
“You do.”
Chapter 2
FROM INSIDE A cage, the world seemed bleak.
Especially for the children of a god that had been sent to his eternal slumber. Even if their father was one of the lesser gods, the twins were meant to rule them all.
They had been chosen through an act of sacrifice. None of that mattered now.
Their beautiful manor was the scene of a massacre. Mother and father were dead.
Now, the Vault was their home with all of its dark and dismal glory.
They couldn’t even grieve the loss of their parents in peace. Every minute of every day was plagued by cold and darkness, with the occasional act of torture.
This was to be their lives until the day Litha decided it fit to have them executed.
Preeti could barely lift her head from resting on her brother, Vineet’s lap when the guard, Pavvi entered the dungeons.
Dressed in leather armor made in Pollos by the Dreamweavers, he was too skinny to even be considered for any occupation in the army other than a prison guard.
With wild red hair and freckles scattered all over his cheekbones, Pavvi reminded Preeti of a ragdoll she used to have as a child.
Vineet smoothed Preeti’s hair. He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “It’s time.”
Pavvi pressed his smug face to the bars as he looked down at them.
“Supper time!”
Preeti winced as he poured their soup onto the already damp stone floor. As she watched the thin liquid splash and trail though the floor’s creases, her stomach grumbled.
Neither of the twins had eaten in days. Pavvi only fed them their meals once a week, and that cycle had gone on for months.
“Just leave us alone, Pavvi,” Preeti said, her bright gray eyes glaring at him.
“Why? You’re s
o fun to watch suffer. Come now. Just lick it off the floor. I won’t tell anyone the infamous Latari twins eat just like dogs.”
Preeti’s face heated. If only she could get her hands on her swords. She imagined grabbing his lips with her fist and slicing them off with her sharpened blade.
Closing her eyes, she imagined his cries of agony. One day.
Maybe today.
Preeti had trained in every form of combat. Killing a lowly guard would be nothing to her.
She’d never killed anyone and had never wanted to until she and Vineet were charged with treason and imprisoned by the Goddess of Law.
How could Litha convince anyone that Preeti and her brother were frauds when everyone in attendance saw them get sacrificed, and come back from the Cliffs of Ranoun alive?
It had been a life-changing day.
To face certain death and be spared. Preeti and Vineet never had dreams of ruling the gods, but their shared experience proved to them as well as to the citizens of Aden that they were chosen.
Destined.
Now, she wished they could simply return to when life was simple and there were no responsibilities outside of their daily studies and training. To rest in bed with a book until breakfast was prepared was a common dream for Preeti now. How she wished she hadn’t taken her good life for granted.
Preeti coughed, the back of her throat dry. She and Vineet would have to conserve their energy if they wanted to escape.
“Bastard,” Preeti said under her breath.
Pavvi kicked the bars with his thick boot. “What was that?”
Preeti sighed. It took everything in her to stand, even more, to hobble over to the bars of her cell. She wrapped her hands around the bars, standing right before him.
Pavvi jumped back, fear in his eyes.
“Get back!”
“Why do you have to be so hateful? What have we ever done to you?”
He grabbed a long, silver pole and stabbed her through the bars with it.
Hope filled her body even faster than the intense heat that entered her belly.
Despite the pain from harnessed lightning, Preeti grabbed the sharp end of it and ripped it away from Pavvi’s grasp.
A triumphant grin came to her face as she flipped the pole to point its end at Pavvi.
It worked.
His face turned ashen as he looked down at the sharp end, sparks of lightning racing up and down the steel like blue and silver cords of light. The heat radiated off the steel and warmed Preeti’s chilled cheeks.
“Good job, Pavvi,” Preeti purred. “There is one thing I can honestly say that I truly love about you.”
“What’s that?” He asked, sweat beading on his forehead.
Preeti leaned forward. “You can be so predictable.”
Vineet came to his feet. He stood a half-foot taller than Preeti. They shared the same straight black hair, large gray eyes, and matching intricate black tattoos on their light bronze-colored flesh.
Vineet was built much more muscular, but Preeti had a slim, athletic build that made her a formidable opponent even to men.
Nonetheless, Pavvi looked ready to soil his pants at the sight of them not looking half as downtrodden as he’d been led to believe.
They were gods after all.
Vineet stood beside Preeti, his eyes piercing into Pavvi as he reached a hand out to Preeti. “Go on. Hurry.”
Preeti glared at Pavvi once more. For weeks he had wasted their daily rations of food, pestered them, and poked them with the lightning stick any chance he got.
Revenge was not something father condoned, but it was so hard to not retaliate now that they had the chance.
Preeti’s lips curled into a snarl.
“Stay still, or I will send you shooting to the moon, you pathetic piece of filth.”
Pavvi nodded, his eyes wide, body tense.
Preeti placed her hand in her brother’s, and together they took the lightning into their bodies. The shock nearly blew Preeti to the floor, but Vineet grabbed her, holding her steady.
“Good girl,” he said. “Now get us out of her!”
Preeti could barely hear his voice over the shouts inside her own head. This wasn’t the time for doubts.
Pavvi took her hesitation as a chance to escape. One step toward the door and Vineet opened his left hand, sending black lightning into their tormentor’s body.
Like a hand, the black lightning wrapped around Pavvi’s neck and yanked him back.
Eyes black, Vineet grinned as he closed his fist.
Pavvi let out a raspy gasp as his body flew into the ceiling, and back to the ground in a crunch of broken bones.
“Not bad for a god destined to promote peace,” Preeti remarked as she looked from Pavvi’s body to her brother’s face.
Vineet shrugged, stretching his fingers. “I do what is necessary.”
“Indeed, you do,” Preeti said, lifting a brow.
“Hurry, Preeti. Let’s get on with it. Don’t second guess yourself now.”
Nodding, Preeti clenched her teeth. “Right,” she said. “Here we go.”
Holding the lightning rod was agonizing and the vibrations of her bones shook her to her core. She fought with the lightning and the pain, Vineet’s hands keeping her from breaking down completely.
A female voice shouted at them from the other side of the wall.
Go!
Go!
Go!
Preeti opened her eyes with a screech, and with a release of all of that power, the prison walls crumbled to dust that lingered in the air like soot from the volcanoes back home in Latari.
They had seconds to Leap. Preeti didn’t waste any of them.
“Ready,” she shouted over the calls from the guards as they ran to capture them.
Vineet nodded. Face set with purpose, he wrapped his arms around Preeti, and together their bodies were catapulted into the sky.
Every sense was heightened as Preeti held onto her brother, praying that they would survive this night.
A glowing orb caught them mid-air, holding them in its warmth.
Desi, their pet fairy, smiled at them with her green hair floating in the air.
“Good job,” Desi cheered. Her power lifted them higher and higher into the sky. “You did it! I knew you would. Now, let’s get out of here before Litha returns. She will not be pleased to see you attempting escape.”
“I know,” Preeti said. She pointed to the stars. “Hold on now. We are going to that one!”
Hope was theirs once more as they soared like a shooting star from Aden, the land of the gods, to the one place where they could hide from their captor.
The Abyss; also known as the human world.
Chapter 3
THE ABYSS WAS not how Preeti or Vineet imagined it to be. It wasn’t the bleak wasteland they’d been taught about in their studies. Aden made it seem as though the human world was a place where evil was born, full of weak beings that needed to be under strict rule.
Despite what they’d been taught, there was a beauty to it that astounded them both. The sky was clear of the ever floating debris of when Aden split in half. Looking up at the yellow sun captivated Preeti. She never thought she’d deny her own red sun so quickly.
The landing had been brutal, knocking Preeti and Vineet unconscious. A hole the size of a mountain now stood as proof that two young gods had invaded the land of the humans.
It was only a matter of time before Litha located the evidence and sought them out.
Did she care that they were innocent…that neither of them wanted to rule?
Of course not. All she wanted was to rule in their stead.
“I found water,” Preeti shouted from a rushing river that cut through the lush forest that they had slept the night in.
She wasn’t sure exactly how long they’d slept, but she was glad for it. Her body was taxed beyond imagination. She’d only practiced harnessing the elements. Never had she actually used them.
The
cold, crisp, water was better than anything she’d drank in all of her sixteen years. Such freshness was not common in Aden, where the gods mostly drank wine and other crafted brews.
But human water…that was divine. Preeti slurped it from her cupped hands, languishing in the feel of it soothing its way down her throat, rejuvenating her from the inside out.
“I swear it’s like pure magic,” she said.
Vineet joined her on his knees, getting his fill. “Amazing,” he said in between gulps.
Preeti dipped her entire head in the water, scrubbing her scalp. “I just want to be clean again. My skin feels awful.” She ran her hands through her long black hair, fighting through tangles. “I wish we had a bottle to take some with us.”
Once Vineet was satisfied, he stood and took account of their surroundings.
“We actually did it,” Preeti said.
Months in the Vault had nearly broken their spirits. It would have been much worse if they’d been separated. It was as if the Goddess of Law wanted them to watch each other suffer.
How wrong she was. Her plan did the opposite. The twins gave each other strength.
Preeti rung her hair out of cold water and braided it down to her waist.
A grin spread across Preeti’s face. “Father would be proud.”
Nodding, Vineet returned the grin. It was a bittersweet triumph.
Now they were exiled to a land that gods should never walk upon.
“Good job,” she said. “You saved us.”
He gave her a pat on the back. “It was all you. I couldn’t have Leapt worlds if you weren’t there to harness the lightning.”
“Well then. We did it together, as a team.”
“Yes.” He folded his arms across his broad chest. “I suppose Desi had a part of it as well.”
A bright light zipped past them and landed on the grass.
“Desi!” Preeti knelt down to hug the fairy. “Thank you for helping us get out of that awful place.
“Yes,” Vineet said. “Thank you.”
Desi beamed, pressing her body to Preeti’s chest in the best embrace that she could accomplish with her small stature.