^^me when someone tries to give me their potato of a child
adgjadshgjdasfaksd oh my god you guys, this chapter was SO MUCH FUN to write. I've been waiting for this since the middle of book 2. I'm so happy to finally share this with you all and I hope you enjoy it. PLEASE let me know your thoughts on it.
Norah
The chamber room was massive, with stone floors and walls polished highly enough see your reflection. Grand arching windows lined the walls, drinking in the night beyond and the occasional flicker of lights. Everyone sat at the long table dominating the room, and with so many people in one place, one would expect to hear something.
But there was only silence and darting, wide eyes.
It gave Norah more time to take in the council--learn their expressions and ticks before they could guard it.
Only two chairs were empty.
Everyone was dressed in crisp suits or lovely dresses. And Norah hadn't wanted to be outdone. She re-dyed and straightened her black hair, the ends brushing her shoulders. Her sleeveless gown glittered like fresh snow in the sun, showing off the muscle she had rebuilt and the battle scars that hadn't disappeared yet. Nevaeha did her makeup, helping just as much as when she picked out the dress. She painted Norah's lips a simple nude color to match her eyeshadow and lined her eyes into a dramatic swoop.
Norah saw Vaella in the corner of her eye, her gaze raking over every person here with such intensity Norah waited for one of them to run away. She wore her usual black armor and black lips, her silver hair falling below her shoulders. Her spear gleamed under the light, its glowing orb of fire spinning between the two talon-curled blades.
Still, no one said anything.
She met Cedric's eyes, but the Headmaster didn't seem happy to see her. He didn't seem anything to see her, his face arranged into a mask of total neutrality as if she were nothing, no one. His brown, tousled hair fell forward as he bent over the table, his sun-kissed hands braced on the wood and stared at her.
Norah made a show of settling into her chair--his chair at the head of the table. She didn't quite understand how such a thing could affect people. Dominance should be achievable from any seat, but then again... This made her job much more fun.
Something cold and angry slithered in his eyes, gone too quick for the normal eye to catch unless you were staring him down.
I did kill a lot of your people, she thought.
The silence drew on, thickening and thickening like too-sweet syrup.
It was a game of blink. The first to speak was the weakest. Unfortunately for Cedric, Etin had beaten most of her weaknesses out of her.
The grand doors they'd entered in started to close with Vaella's magic when two bodies slipped in. One in a sleek crimson dress and enough jewelry to pay of several mortgages, the other with icy white hair and a grey suit.
What little joy Norah had vanished.
Rage snapped with such a violent crack it reminded her of breaking bones. Of being thrown into the wall and forced to leave her home.
A shriek followed in its place, high-pitched and keening, loud as Rima's scream when she dove. She destroyed it, swallowing it in numbness while her darkness stayed sealed away from the commoner's senses.
Renora and Emre strode into the chamber, moving for the two empty seats beside the air mage Peng. Their gazes swept over everyone, sharp and smug. They didn't look at Norah again after that.
"It seems our invitation never made it to us," Emre said, his expression as cold as the ice he controlled. "Fortunately for you, Renora and I happened to see everyone leaving."
The two sat and Norah shot a fox-quick glance at her family for their reactions. Holland scowled while Evra side-eyed them, a shadow of hatred curling the corners of her lips.
Renora and Emre took in the radiating silence and admired the game between her and Cedric with hungry eyes.
"Interesting that fugitives are calling council meeting," Cedric said coolly.
Victory rushed through her, bright and sweet. "You say 'fugitive,' I say, 'freeing myself from wrongful imprisonment.'"
Cedric's lips quirked and it's the closest thing to a sneer he would allow with so many powerful people around him. "I'll send Holland the bill."
Holland opened his mouth, but his mother was faster. Evra smiled politely at the goddess, her glossy, black hair as dark as her long-sleeved dress. "I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met."
"Not in person," Vaella stated. "Though I have watched your bloodline for some time."
Norah smiled as another bomb of silence fell, holding every councilman and woman's gaze. Including Renora and Emre.
"This is Vaella," she said confidently. "Goddess of Justice, Harbinger of Truth, and Walker of Realms. I'm surprised you don't know her."
She met the eyes of Cedric's flight army General, Ingren. The long, jagged scar at his ear crossing down to his lip was taut. But not with anger--awe. Respect.
He had been the kindest to her of anyone in Cedric's circle--besides Holland--Ingren was polite, respecting her. But she'd suspected most of it was due to his belief in the gods.
A scoff, deep and scratchy broke free.
"Miss. Crimson, do you truly believe me a fool to not recognize an illusion when I see one," Peng sneered. He dipped his tan chin at her, leveling a cold, condescending glare upon her.
Norah's smile sharpened. He'd only taught her a few runes, and it was only so he could win more of her parent's favor and learn their weaknesses.
"I don't know," Norah drawled. "I thought you would be smart enough to find it credible, but since you won't even acknowledge a goddess when she's standing right in front of you." She winced, showing teeth. "I might have to rethink that."
Easton inhaled, lips parting with hesitation. "We're already fighting one god, seeing another one isn't a stretch."
Even Renora's expression shifted from her carefully blank expression to curl her lips at him. "They're tales, boy."
Peng scoffed, dark eyes scanning Vaella--searching for the trick. "No living thing can be so still."
Norah waved a lazy hand in the air. The nails she'd gotten with Nevaeha, the same color as her white dress, glinted like blades. They'd been filed into sharp points.
"By all means," she challenged. "Disprove it."
One of the commoner leaders, Grenn looked between Peng and Vaella, his pale brows furrowing, his mouth turned down. "I advise against this. I don't feel an illusion, only power."
Norah had sealed her darkness down to ensure that.
But Peng was not deterred, already creating another rune while Vaella stared impassively. And one look at Renora and Emre with their sharp, hungry eyes said nothing. They only waited for him to build his grave deeper or prove himself, which in turn would support them.
Norah turned her attention to Easton while Peng created another rune. He still looked the same as when they'd last parted. Attentive grassy green eyes like Ahren's, tan skin, and short, dirty blond hair. His eyes flicked to her, softening.
Once, Norah mind have found him handsome--he still was--but not in the way that left her aching. Now, she felt nothing at all toward him.
Sadness flashed across his eyes as he took her in. Because while he may not have changed, she certainly had.
A boulder fell, the sound exploding through the chamber muffling the gasps.
Norah's head snapped to Peng, his body folded onto the table, cheek smushed into the wood.
Power charged the room, the brunt of its weight forcing Peng to crumble. This wasn't like Etin's magic which was a devouring cold, or Khalixis whose power burned like wildfire. Vaella's felt like wind, a current so strong it became an impenetrable wall.
Norah reclined in her seat, a pointed nail against her cheek.
The magic lifted and the man slumped back into his seat, panting. He blinked at the table, muttering to himself. "The gods are supposed to be fairy tales," he breathed, trying to reason his way through the unknown.
"You stopped believing in us so we left," Vaella said firmly, irritation hardening her expression. Her fingers tightened around her spear. "If you continue down your current path, I will seek judgment upon you early."
Peng panted as he pushed himself onto his elbows, adjusting his collar. Her parents eyed him, then Vaella, their minds whirling. Strategizing how to gain such a powerful ally.
Jarak, the other commoner leader with deep brown skin, and coiled hair wrapped in a brown fabric dared meet Vaella's gaze. "Who is Etin?"
The respect in his tone was enough for the goddess to lose her sharp edge. She explained who Etin was, talked about his past when he created instead of destroyed. She told him about when Khalixis lured him back into the God Realm, leaving Andis unprotected so her dragon riders could slaughter the human race. How missing half his soul led him into madness and hatred.
Now everyone was on the same page.
Mostly.
"And you," Grenn nodded to Norah, wetting his thin lips. "Have his soul?"
"Half of it," she said. His eyes dropped to the black tendril creeping over her shoulder and slithering down her arm. It slipped back toward her spine where Norah kept the rest of the tendrils.
"Why do you have it?"Jarek wondered.
Vaella answered for her. "In order to defeat Etin, the gods needed a mortal to house part of his soul. Khalixis chose her."
Norah could see Ingren eyes shine at the mention of his beloved goddess.
Peng frowned at her. "But she's only a child. Why not choose someone more capable?"
"Like yourself?" Evra said.
"Norah is willing to sacrifice herself for a planet and people who have not treated her fairly or well," Vaella said, her voice booming and commanding. She stared down Peng with a scowl. "You would not be willing to do the same, even if its reward was wealth and power, you are too selfish for such a noble deed."
Norah turned to Holland, finding him already looking at her. His guarded gaze softened.
She smiled smugly, mouthing the word noble.
His expression flattened, but the warmth never faded. He kicked her foot beneath the table.
"You have a connection with him," Grenn said, drawing her attention to see him searching for the tendrils. "What's the connection?"
"Etin likes to talk to me," Norah said casually, letting a black snake flow down her arm. "He feels a kinship to me."
Grenn's brows arched. "That's all?"
"Can you talk to a god?" she retorted, studying the glittering diamond on her finger. She'd found it in her room by her dress and she hid it before Dagen could steal it. She added, "It gives me insight into him."
All of the dragon riders in the chambers knew what she could do, but revealing that information would be showing their hand in all this.
"What's he like?" Jarek wondered.
"I believe you meant to ask what he says." Renora corrected, shooting him a sharp look.
Norah ignored her, looking to Jarek. "Egotistical," she told him. "But I'm quite used to egotistical people, I have a lot of experience with them."
Her gaze slid to Renora and Emre, smirking.
They glared at her.
"Norah," Cedric said politely. "Why have you and Vaella come here?"
"We have knowledge of Etin's movements," she said. "We called you here to coordinate your armies to counter his."
"Where is he heading?" Ahren asked with a grim face.
"Here," she said, focus shifting to Cedric.
He stared, his dark eyes hazy, his lips bloodless.
"Here?" Farren blurted, speaking for the first time.
"Etin's armies are in the East," Ingren added, swallowing thickly.
"How do you know this?" Holland questioned, his fingers laced knuckle-white on the table. He didn't doubt what she said but tried to understand how she'd come to such a conclusion.
Norah had savored their reactions. Cedric had clung to the fact that he was the farthest faction from Etin's destruction. That he could spend time helping the other factions instead of preparing for the inevitable.
It felt amazing to see his safety ripped away.
Norah remembered her family lived here and that thrill shriveled.
Her expression fell into stone. "I know you're aware of the reports the necromancers have given you. And while Etin's determined to destroy this planet, he hates Khalixis more. He wants anything relating to her destroyed first so she can watch. And considering where his armies are and countermeasures against them, you've got a week before he's here."
"Because this is personal to him," she continued, looking to the dragon riders. "He'll most likely be here himself too."
She could see the blood draining from their faces as she said it. Could see fear on their faces.
Again, she soaked it in.
Again, it soured.
Easton wet his lips, green eyes darting from person to person. Refusing to meet her stare. "We have to declare war, right?"
"Yes," Ingren said gravely.
"You said Khalixis chose her to stop Etin," Emre started, looking to Vaella. "How will she do that?"
"I do not know."
Norah felt the room buzz. Mouths opened. Eyes widened. Anger and shock sank into Norah and if Milo hadn't taught her, she wouldn't have known this was her part of her commoner abilities in use.
Before people could explode, Vaella's voice cut through the air like knife. "Khalixis' motivation in getting Etin's soul back may not be within our best interests," Vaella stated. "She is doing this for her own gains, we cannot be sure how returning Etin's soul will affect him. Khalixis desires stability, but stabilizing Etin may mean making him stronger rather than reverting him back to his sane self."
A chair scraped against stone as Renora stood. Her heels clicked as she strode for Norah. "I think we're putting a lot of faith into one child."
Norah shifted, getting her heels under her. Already imagining how to make her mother scream. Maybe she'd bring her back as a skeleton so Renora would feel what it's like to serve her.
Renora was two seats away. "Perhaps there's a way to harness the soul ourselves-"
A boom exploded, like two boulders slamming into each other.
Vaella was gone from Norah's side, now a few steps in front of her. Her spear was planted in front of Renora who stood frozen in place, the arrowheads embedded into the stone between her heels. And while Norah couldn't see the goddess' face, the power rippling from her voice, the lethalness in her tone, was enough.
"You will go nowhere near her." Vaella's head lifted to the council. "If anyone dares to harm her, it will be your death sentence." She stepped back to Norah's right, her spear making a soft thud as she lowered it.
"Norah and Etin are connected, their souls are as intertwined as life and death are. Killing Norah will not solve your problem and harvesting his soul from her will lead to failure. It is within your best interest she remains alive and unharmed."
Renora stepped back, her wide eyes and gaping mouth gone in an instant. She scowled, flicking a ringed hand in the air. "Well," she said, spinning for her chair. "What do you suggest?"
Emre did not look at her as Renora sat back down. But Norah knew her birth mother better than most. She studied with frank assessment, her gaze following up her knuckle white fingers laced on the table, to her bobbing throat and pressed red, stained lips.
Norah knew the reason why she kept her magic a secret, but she wanted Renora to fear her not Vaella. Or at least, fear Norah more than the goddess. But it would do for now.
The door opened and a man slipped in. Norah knew instantly he was a dragon rider with his mountain-like height and strong build. He had deep earthy brown skin with shoulder-length hair. And while he looked to be in his late twenties there was a wisdom and calmness in his eyes she'd only seen in ancient dragon riders.
He froze, gaping at Vaella.
"Rhyker," Cedric said evenly, snapping the man out of his daze. "What is it?"
He held up the envelope, slipping in and looking very aware that he didn't belong. "An update, sir."
Cedric read it with Rhyker beside him. His dark eyes swept over the room, always coming back to Vaella and Holland.
Norah looked at Holland staring back, fingers still laced together on the table but the intense grip was gone. After a few moments, Cedric said a few quiet things Norah couldn't hear, nor could she read his lips. But Rhyker left, giving Vaella a long, lasting look of awe before shutting the door behind him.
Whatever the envelope entailed, Cedric's face revealed nothing.
He remained standing at the other end of the table, but Norah felt like it was for different reasons than before. "Etin's Thrawlers have decimated our soldiers and that was not even him personally," he said. "How do we fight against a god?"
"You will not fight him," Vaella said. "The gods will."
Norah's blood thrummed. She'd only recently learned why Vaella kept disappearing during her early months with the goddess when she discovered Etin's plan.
"Gods?" Ingren blurted, shooting Ahren and Easton a look.
"How many are there?" Emre demanded.
"As many gods as you have questions," Vaella responded, irritation flashing across her face. "I have traveled through the realms, amassing an army of gods to fight with us. They will come when I call upon them."
"How did you do that?" Easton wondered. "Get them, I mean."
"Etin's destabilization not only affects your planet, but their realms as well," she explained, switching quickly before they could ask about the realms.
"Will Khalixis be there?" Ingren wondered, and there was hope and wariness in his eyes.
"It is unlikely," Vaella said. "And I do not believe you would want her to be. But the gods willing to join are powerful ones."
"Obviously we mortals do not have enough power," the commoner started. "And if the gods will be fighting Etin, why bother committing our soldiers to their deaths? We could save their lives for another battle."
"Your armies will work on transporting civilians to safety," Norah said, gazes cutting to her like they'd forgotten she was here. "And Etin's creatures need to be handled while the gods and my team focus on Etin."
"Norah and I have devised plans we want to discuss with you," Vaella said.
"Anything would be appreciated," Evra said.
-------------------------
Norah's blood sang as she walked through the portal and into a basement. Her team sat on the cement floor quietly on their phones or watching the man bound in the center of the room, bound and on his knees with a potato sack over his head.
He trembled, his breath coming in short gasps.
Norah's heels clicked, echoing softly through the room.
The man jerked up, voice shaking as much as his body. "Please! Please, someone, help me! I've been kidnapped."
"What is the meaning of this?" Vaella demanded, shooting a sharp look at Dagen who toed the mans back hard enough to make him yelp.
"You don't--you don't have to do this," he stammered, wriggling in his restraints.
Nevaeha gave him a pitiful look, then turned on Dagen who looked like the cat who got all the milk and fucked the milkmaid twice. "I feel bad."
"Remove the bag at once," the goddess commanded. "It is undeserved."
Dagen sighed, eyes drawing to Norah as she walked to the bound man. He drank her in from the heels up with dark eyes.
Norah ripped off the sack. The captive blinked furiously past the sterile white lights behind her, glistening hazel eyes landing on her. He gasped, eyes going wide as saucers. "Norah? You did this?"
"Adam," Norah drawled, a strange feeling of warmth slipping into her chest as she said the name. "You can blame Dagen, he was in charge."
Adam blinked several hard times before snapping his head around to him. Dagen flashes a lupine smile, twirling his dagger. "How could you?"
"Norah has her dramatics, I have mine."
"He did it because we need you to join our team," Milo interjected.
Adam glanced at him, furious. He glared back at Dagen. "You kidnapped me! Terrified me. And somebody was breathing cold air down my neck the entire time-"
Eoin giggled behind Dagen's leg.
"-and you want me to join your team? After all that?" He paused, jaw working. "Fine. Absolutely. I don't know what I'm joining for or who that winged lady is, but absolutely. Sign me up as long as I won't be kidnapped by Dagen again."
He turned to Norah, demanding a promise.
"I will try my best to keep that from happening." It was the best she could offer.
Nevaeha cut him free with a knife and Norah helped him to his feet. "Welcome to the team, Adam."