by A Y Venona
There was a swish in the air, followed by the opening of a portal. The deity walked into it and disappeared. It was an amazing sight to behold. But the deity sucked all the excitement out of me.
I felt Adrian’s hand on my shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
I leaned toward him, put my head on his chest, and cried my heart out. I felt like something was broken inside me, like my heart was slashed in half as the deity’s words played over and over in my head. It was clear to me what he wanted. It was not just for Adrian to have an heir, to have more delta alphas to rule the world and keep the omicrons in check. He wanted us to break our bond.
That night when I finally was able to sleep, I dreamed that I was consumed by fire.
CHAPTER 22
The Gatherings: Day Three
I woke up soaked with sweat. The light in my room was dim, but I could sense a presence. So I turned my head to where my instinct dictated, and there on the couch sleeping was Adrian.
I looked at his sleeping form and was reminded of what happened yesterday. Feeling like I was about to be seized by another bout of sobbing, I ran to the bathroom and curled myself into a ball on the floor.
After the heaving and the sobbing subsided, I got up and stepped under the shower, hoping to wash the misery off my face.
With a robe wrapped around my naked body, I walked back into the bedroom. Nothing had changed except that this time, Adrian was awake. His gaze followed me as I went to get my clothes in the wardrobe. I dropped the robe to the floor and got dressed.
“If you want, I can go and tell your supervisor that you’re sick. You don’t need to go back to the island.”
“No,” I managed to answer with a hoarse voice as though I had cried all night—which, if I had to be honest about it, I had. I’d cried all night. “I’ll go. I think it’s better if I’m doing something for distraction.”
I sensed his approach. I sensed it even before he placed his hands on each side of my waist. I sensed it as he gingerly put his head in the crook of my neck. I sensed him. All of him. It was as though my senses were heightened ten times. This was a new thing to me.
“I’m sorry,” he croaked, his lips close to my ear.
His sorry was not enough to subvert what the gods had commanded. But was it enough for me to accept that what I wanted I couldn’t have?
I bent down to pick up the disarded robe. My sudden movement wedged me away from his arms, and it took a few strides more to completely distance myself from him. He did not move to follow me. Instead, he just stood there in the middle of the room. His gaze was still on me, but there was no glimmer in his gray eyes. There was only sadness.
I stared back at him and gave him a little smile. He smiled back. But the sadness remained.
“I’ll take you there,” he said.
I nodded. My eyes found him again, and I couldn’t help it. I ran toward him and into his arms. His arms around me were tight, so tight that I felt safe.
* * *
I walked back to my area, and Jordan stood beside me. His alphas were scattered around the arena. It was the Presentation Day, and all the delegates had come to showcase their talents and skills unique among their races. The faes from the Fae Academy performed some kind of martial arts enchantment spell. The omicrons did a hologram display showing their advancement in technology. The gammas and betas showed complicated battle strategies. The faes from scir performed a beautiful sword dance while the scir werekin demonstrated their skills in martial arts and weaponry. The alphas, however, did not perform. They were not here as representatives.
And then the omegas stepped into the arena.
Everyone snickered and scoffed.
“What will they show? How to spread their legs without breaking a sweat?”
This and other mockeries continued. I turned my attention to the gods seated on the platform. They all seemed alert, on edge. In my head, Deity Fenrir’s voice reverberated.
“The most powerful race is back, and their presence can bring upon us Ragnarok.”
“We’ll see,” I heard myself say.
The omegas thrust their arms forward like they were summoning something. The crowd snickered. But the omegas were undeterred, their eyes focused. What were they trying to summon? And how could they summon anything when they were not faekin? The answers to my question came a few heartbeats later.
A ball of fire hovered above the open-palm hands of each omega. The audience gasped in disbelief and then fell into silence.
One omega tossed his blazing ball upward, and it came to hover several feet above us. This created another loud gasp and scream. Another omega threw another ball, and then another imitated the gesture until the balls of fire were joined, merged, fused into one large ball the size of a large truck hovering above the centerfield. The audience was awestruck.
But the omegas were not done yet.
At the flick of their hands, the little sun swirled around and around until it formed into a funnel. Another gasp came from the crowd mingled with screams of disbelief.
But the omegas were not done yet.
They made another hand gesture, and, without uttering any spell, the funnel of fire transformed into a giant bird.
A fiery one.
A phoenix.
And when it flew, the crowd, including the representatives who were then standing on the field, started screaming.
Surprisingly, and oddly if I may say so, the gods applauded this. And then the humans followed.
But the omegas were not done yet.
The phoenix squawked like it was alive and flew up and up into the sky. Another thunderous applause ensued. It was obvious right at that moment that the whole world had just witnessed the real power of the omegas. These were the creatures not just meant for breeding. These were creatures who could create life from the element of fire. But that was nothing compared to what was about to happen.
As the bird of fire descended, it did not return to the spot where it was born. It acted as if it gained intelligence. When the omegas thrust their hands up, commanding the bird to stay immobile, the bird instead glided closer to the bleachers where people were seated. The crowd started screaming. The omegas flicked their fingers once again to rein the bird away from the people and back to the less-crowded centerfield. But the bird singed a few banners and some hair before it soared back into the air and glided backward across the field. The gods on the platform rose and made a summoning gesture with their hands. But the bird did not comply. It flew around and around, teasing the crowd with its fire. And then suddenly, it halted and made a loud, deafening shriek. And then it turned, and with its blazing eyes it came charging…fast.
Past the bleachers.
Past the omegas
Across the field.
Toward me.
Jordan pushed me to the ground, out of the way. The bird glided past us. But then as soon as I got up, it made a U-turn and charged back. The alphas blocked it and swung their swords, but they hit nothing. There was loud screaming. I got up and was pushed back—someone was covering me with his body.
“Don’t get up,” I heard Jordan say.
But there was this strong urge for me not to cower and to get up. This urge drove me into forgetting the limit of my strength, and so I pushed Jordan off me, and it was by sheer adrenaline that I was able to break out of his hold. My blood ran cold when I saw what was happening several feet away from me. Adrian and the guardians were fighting against the phoenix. Their shields were up, protecting them from being burned, and their blue swords were swinging to slice the phoenix open.
But the phoenix released a big wave of fire that engulfed his attackers. I screamed in fear for Adrian’s life. And the phoenix heard it and turned. Its eyes were ablaze.
I didn’t know where I found the courage to stand still and face the bird of fire as it came charging toward me. But to my surprise, it stopped an inch away. Its closeness gave me a burning sensation, spreading into my entire body.
The bird then peered down at my face as though it were making an appraisal. An appraisal of what? Of my worthiness of the amount of attention the beast bestowed upon me? Then after it deemed me worthy of dying, it shrieked at my face so loud I felt a blast of force slam into me.
My heart raced, my body shaking. It took a tremendous amount of energy to even open my mouth. But I did. Only no words came out—only a piercing scream that rivaled that of the bird’s.
I felt the ground shake. I saw the bird retreat, cower, and then disappear, leaving a huge plume of smoke and a burning smell that lingered in the air. I was aware of the pandemonium that arose, but amid all the chaos a realization came upon me.
I’d just fought a phoenix.
Came out unscathed.
And won.
As a consequence to my victory, a question came to haunt me: what the hell was I?
CHAPTER 23
The Gatherings: Day Four
I didn’t know when and how I had lost consciousness, for the next thing I knew I was lying on a beautiful, huge bed that was so soft it could turn an insomniac into a sleepyhead. My body felt like I’d slept for ages. Did I get teleported? But how? Although I had been educated in an academy of magic, I couldn’t recall that teleportation was a thing.
Unless you were a god.
I studied my surroundings. Smooth marble walls and a floor decorated with intricate patterns in silver, and a high ceiling crowned with a chandelier. This place spoke of the grandiosity of a castle, but of a coldness and emptiness of a mausoleum. It smelled of lilac with a tinge of sage, which reminded me of a temple I’d once visited when I was younger. I jumped when the huge door squeaked opened.
“Eli,” Adrian said as he strode across the room and knelt by the side of the bed. I was currently struggling to sit, an endeavor I underestimated to be something easy to do. My bones were uncooperative, and my muscles were too comfortable to be bothered. But Adrian got a clue and helped me into a sitting position.
“What happened? Where are we? Why…” There were more, but the quest for answers could wait as my mouth was now busy accommodating Adrian’s tongue. He kissed me with both tenderness and intensity, his lips moving against mine, suckling, smooching like I was a nectar to his bee. And when he detached his mouth from mine, I felt it was too soon.
“We are inside An-Kian Castle. It’s the castle in the An-Kian Forest,” a familiar voice said.
I turned my head to where the speaker was. Xander was standing across the room; his back was against the wall beside the door. How long had he been standing there? The petty part of me was rejoicing at the thought that Xander might have seen us kissing. But the reasonable part was telling me to knock it off and start thinking about the pressing matter at hand like…
Did Xander just say we were inside the castle in the An-Kian Forest?
“Say what now?” I said, gulping. Would the incident in the forest ever stop making my heart beat faster at a slightest reference to it? Adrian helped me to my feet. Holding him with a death grip, I staggered a few feet until the world stopped spinning again. Whoa.
I decided to sit back on the edge of the bed, facing Xander. Adrian sat beside me, his arms still over my shoulders.
“An-Kian Castle?” I said, getting back to my previous question. “Is that where—”
“The very place where you brought the Shield down,” Xander completed. I grimaced. “I couldn’t believe it before. I thought it was your friend, but now…” He cast a glance at Adrian. “But now, I think it’s becoming clearer that you’re…you’re the one responsible for it.”
“There can be other explanations,” Adrian answered. “Let’s just wait for them to finish their meeting.”
Them?
“Deity Fenrir is still talking with the Legion.”
“Is there anything you got from it?”
Xander touched his ear. “Nothing. They’re all speaking in an ancient language of some kind. I don’t understand a thing.”
That’s when I understood what Adrian was referring to with the word “it.”
“You’re using an amp-comm to spy on them!” Then a realization hit me in the head. “You’re spying on the gods?”
He rolled his eyes and curved his lips into a smile. “This is no ordinary amp-comm. It’s far superior to the one you used. And to answer your question as to whether I am spying on the gods, the answer is yes. I am, though it’s useless as they’re using a very ancient language.”
“Then why are you still listening to them?” I asked.
“Because this thing can record their conversation. This way, I can transcribe the conversation and decipher it later.” Xander paused and then leaned his head to the side. “They stopped talking.” He stared at both of us. “They’re done, and I think they are headed back here.”
* * *
To avoid any suspicion of spying activity, we all agreed that I should at least sit on the bed, leaning against the headboard. Adrian sat on an armless chair he placed by the bedside. Xander preferred to stand on the other side of the bed.
“What happened? Why were the gods talking about me?” I asked.
“What can you remember?” Adrian answered. He was leaning slightly toward my side, both his hands holding mine. There was a hesitation in his eyes like the same one you’d find with a person who was not certain whether he should share a secret with you, which was a little ridiculous since I wasn’t asking about a secret. It hurt a little that he seemed not to trust me with whatever it was he was hiding, but I digress. So why the hesitation? What was wrong with being informed about something that involved me?
“I remember I was in the arena. The omegas created this big fiery bird like a phoenix.” I stopped to gauge his reaction. His eyes were glassy. So far so good. At his nod, I continued. “Then they started to lose control of the phoenix. The bird flew and attacked me. And then it disappeared.”
“That’s all? Anything after that?”
“No. I woke up here feeling like hell.”
His gaze moved toward Xander. They seemed to be communicating telepathically, though I knew in my heart it was not possible. Xander shrugged his shoulders, probably telling Adrian to go ahead, which irked me a little because why would Adrian need his permission? Whatever. I probably wouldn’t stop feeling like a third wheel when it came to these two.
“I think the phoenix possessed you,” Adrian said.
My jaw dropped. What in the name of Neptune was that?
“I was possessed by a phoenix?”
“You…” he replied. “You…” He paused and then tried again. “You.”
I turned to Xander, hoping he would finish what Adrian was trying to say.
“You were aflame, burning like the phoenix.”
A sudden chill ran through me, and my stomach lurched in reflex. Everything seemed to have been muted.
“Goddammit! You’re possessed. It wasn’t you!” Adrian said. His voice was faraway.
I focused on him, on his face that was worried and at the same time scared. And then everything returned to normal. I could clearly hear him with his frantic voice telling me, “It’s all right.”
“Here,” Xander said, his voice completely zapping me out of that fog. He thrust out a nautilus-shaped silver can a few inches under my chin.
I was confused at first, but it was my body that determined its use. I leaned over its opening and threw up.
And just when the storm in my stomach had finally passed, the door opened again.
CHAPTER 24
Led by Deity Fenrir, the gods entered the room. All seven of them. My first meeting with Deity Fenrir was what I believed a once-in-a-lifetime event. Prior to that, I had never thought I would ever have a close encounter with a deity, let alone meet seven of them.
How to describe them? Their clothes were simple in comparison to the modern clothing fashion. Although they did not dress the same, they all wore a tunic with either silver or gold embroidery along the hems and necklines.
Some of them attached a sash from shoulder to waist. Others had shoulder cloaks. It was not in the design that made them distinctively godly, but it was in the fabric used.
And their eyes. No human could look at me as though they were looking into my very soul. I had never felt this exposed in my entire life, like I did not need to speak or explain myself, for they already knew me. Who I was. Or what I was.
However.
I seemed to have one thing working in my favor. They all looked at me with gazes so intense, cautious. Fearful.
“You can now leave, Xander,” Fenrir said.
Xander looked surprised at the request. “I’ll be waiting outside, Adrian.” And to me, he said, “Eli. Call if you need me.”
“There is no need for you to wait,” Fenrir said. “Your duty here is done. Outside is where you are needed. There is a public panic to contain. They need the guardians there.”
Xander nodded. Adrian rose from his chair.
“And make sure our cover story is the only story the public will remember,” Deity Fenrir added.
Xander gave Adrian one long stare and then closed the door behind him.
“What do you remember?” Fenrir asked later.
“Not much,” Adrian answered for my sake. “He’s still recuperating. His body is hurting.”
“It’s a necessary pain,” Fenrir answered. “Do you remember what happened yesterday? How you lost consciousness?”
Yesterday? I’d slept that long?
“I don’t remember, my deity,” I answered as softly and as respectfully as I could.
Something was wrong with this picture. They were just standing across the room, and not one of them even tried to walk even closer to the bed.