Howdy fam, so sorry for not posting for like, um, a couple of months. But I'm here now, and I'm going to try my best to post consistently but it might not be possible given I'm taking extra classes now for college (your girl wants to graduate sooner). But I'll try for you guys
I hope you like this chapter
: )
Dagen
"There is a small rooftop in which a portal can be opened without you being seen," Vaella said, looking to Norah sat at the outdoor bench, elbows planted on her knees. "Though there is a high possibility Etin will know of your presence."
"He most likely will," she said, eyeing Milo with hard, steeled eyes while he worked on taking slow, deep breaths and rocking from foot to foot.
They were all standing outside, wind and snow pelting them. Dagen lingered close to Riveta's blue dragon who curled around them as best she could, her body creating a warm cocoon around him. Dagen's eyes ran over Milo in his leather armor. It was mixed with bits of runed, metal plates covering the softer, easier-targeted bits on his body. The metal staff strapped across his back seemed dull in the snowy morning, the metal handle formed with the rise and fall of a wave. There was a hook near the tip meant for something Dagen wasn't sure about but the metal sloped and curled up again, creating another, longer curve.
"And if something goes wrong..." Adam trailed off, biting his lip. He stared at Norah who held his gaze long enough to make him shift.
"Then pray to me," Vaella said, and Dagen could have sworn Norah's breathing hitched. That deadly stare turned onto Vaella. "And I will open a portal."
Dagen's eyes flicked between the two, then to Nevaeha shivering on the Holland's back patio. She bared chattering teeth at him, shivering even with the mountains of jackets and snow pants she wore.
Dagen snickered at her, his shit-eating grin deepening when she scowled. He thought about making a show of nestling against Thorn's warm body, but he didn't want Nevahea to make camp beside him.
Milo frowned at Vaella, "Do you really hear us when we pray to you?"
The goddess's steely, black eyes slid to him. "It is not a usual occurrence. Though today I will be listening for your voices."
He glanced at Adam who shrugged, shoving his arms into his armpits.
"Are you ready?" Vaella asked Norah and Milo. Both nodded.
The goddess stepped back, tugging her spear free from the frozen ground to create a portal. Worry wavered in Milo's eyes as he padded his waist where extra weapons were stored.
Norah stood, her new storm grey armor reflecting dully in the morning light. As Dagen took in the freshly polished sword strapped to her back, he wondered how long this armor would last this time. Even the strongest runes never stood a chance against her darkness.
She tied her hair back, her hair now long enough to wrap into a small bun. She inhaled, and Dagen studied the way she tensed, before she exhaled, her steel wavering like a tiny ripple in still water. And as angry as Dagen was at her, he sympathized.
He felt that same fear every time he walked into his old home, unsure of what mood his father was in that day. Unsure of whether he'd be beaten or praised.
And within that anger, Dagen felt fear. Fear that she would find Etin in a bad mood.
Norah glanced back at the double glass doors where Riveta busied herself with making and eating the carrots and celery she sliced. Her mom's gaze flicked to her, but Norah was already looking away and walking into the portal with Milo behind her.
The portal sealed behind them when Nevaeha asked Vaella, "Are you going to wait with us?"
"There is a matter I must attend to in the God Realm, I should be back shortly."
"What are you going to do there?"
Vaella cut herself another portal before responding, "I am to speak with other gods in the hope they aid us against Etin."
When the goddess was gone, Nevaeha and Adam made her way back inside before coming back out to train. Scylla and Thorn gathered around them like walls so Dagen went inside where there was food.
Eoin appeared inside, big, grey eyes scanning the kitchen and living room. He disappeared and jumped to the couch where Riveta semi-watched the cooking show that was playing.
"How'd it go?" she wondered, laying out the veggies on a nice platter. Her black hair was neatly tied back, the ends coming to her mid-back.
Dagen shuffled over, his boots catching slightly, and plopped himself a seat at the dinner table where he could glare out the back doors to everyone training.
"Fine," he muttered, reclining in his seat. He adjusted his cloak, his frozen face stinging and beginning to run. "They'll be back whenever."
"I made some tea, do you want some?"
"Only if it's poisoned," Dagen muttered. Outside, he could see winks of steel and wind directing it somewhere behind the dragons.
"I think I used up the last of that tea," Riveta quipped. "I only have this peppermint one."
Dagen simmered a moment longer, thinking about leaving and finding some motel to stay in for a few days.
If Riveta had been anyone else he would have but doing that made Dagen's stomach knot. Reluctantly, he looked at Riveta who was looking back at him as she pulled a cup from the cabinet.
He nodded, feeling like Eoin when Dagen ignored him for too long and pouted.
Riveta joined him at the table, offering him a grey mug. He examined the dark liquid, the peppermint-smelling steam worsening the sting in his face.
"Thanks," he grumbled.
She offered a small, caring smile, and it reminded Dagen of his mother. "Are you okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked, keeping the mug against his chest.
She gestured to nothing in particular. "You were walking very loud. At least for you," she amended.
For a moment, relief filled him. At least, someone had noticed. But now he had to deal with the bittersweet fact that she knew.
"People suck," he snickered, scowling at the training happening behind her.
"Why?" she asked, neither curious nor accusing. She sipped her tea, smacking her lips a couple of times before sipping again.
Dagen's gaze fell to the tea, his jaw clenching. It felt wrong to open up like this, but Riveta was kind and something about her made it feel so easy.
"Everyone thinks I'm a screw-up," he muttered, low enough to keep Eoin from hearing. "And a thief." He nudged the table leg. "And... I don't know, not good. At anything."
"Who thinks that?" she wondered.
He sighed, anger and hurt clashing within him. "Holland. Norah. Milo. What's-her-face... Nevaeha. My parents. Vaella." He sighed, defeat sitting like weights on his shoulders. "Me."
"Why do you think they see you like that?"
Dagen shrugged, not wanting to look up at her. "I don't know," he lied.
Riveta thought a moment. "Well--" she wet her lips, "--what do you want to be know as?"
He sank into the couch, angling his body away from her to see Eoin sitting in the snow, watching the other's train. "Being looked up to is nice."
Riveta sipped her tea, inhaling when it stung her tongue. "If you want that, you have to do things that people will look up to. With Holland, people look up to him because he's loyal. Dependable. Responsible. And they can always count on him to do the right thing."
"All that sucks," Dagen said. "I'm the only thing I'm good at is being a thief."
"Unless you go into a thieves guild," she mused. "But stealing is a skill, Dagen. It's not your personality."
Dagen almost scoffed. Being a thief was everything he was and knew how to do. But he was curious enough to ask, "What do you think I am?"
"You're caring--"
He scoffed, looking away.
"You are," Riveta insisted, a smile in her voice. "When you don't think anybody's looking... Remember when you gave Norah that cloak and pickpocket thingy?"
He thumbed the mug handle. "A lock picking set."
"That." She smiled again.
"That cloak," he added. "It was a hand-me-down. I gave myself the new one."
Riveta gave him an incredulous look. "You're old cloak had frayed at the bottom and the one you gave Norah didn't have that. And it was a darker black."
Dagen couldn't help the smile curling the corner of his lip. Riveta was much more observant than people gave her credit for. Then he had given her.
"You pick your people," Riveta went on. "And you're loyal to those people. You have the qualities to be a good person, Dagen," she said. "You're just selective about who you share that with--which is fine, don't get me wrong. But as a leader, you have to be willing to share that with others."
Dagen shook his head. "I'm not going to be nice to Nevaeha."
She chuckled. "That's okay. And you don't have to be Holland to be a good leader. You just need to take things you like about yourself and use it."
Dagen processed the words.
"One day, Dagen," she said softly. "You'll find yourself in a situation where what you do will redefine you. Not only to yourself but to others as well. Everyone has it."
Dagen bobbed his head when Adam opened the back door, excitement and worry glistening in his wide eyes. "Norah and Milo are back!"
Riveta sighed, relief dropping out of her as she stood, setting her mug on the coffee table. "We'll be right out."
"Dude, the weapon looks sick," he shouted, sliding the door shut.
Dagen lingered a moment. "Could you not tell anyone about this?"
She nodded. "I'm a doctor. I"m very good at protecting the privacy of my patients."
He stood, uncertainty filling him. Promises were very easy to break when there wasn't something like a bribe to hold them together. But he thought Riveta was too nice to do such things.
He switched his cloak to the runed one that protected him against the cold and wind before following Riveta outside who had thrown on a heavy jacket and mask.
He noticed Vaella first, standing in the middle of the group. The dragons were gathered around the team.
"That thing looks like it's going to kill me with just a look," Nevaeha said, nudging Milo who staring into space. "What was the city like?
Dagen stepped around the others, Eoin appearing by his side to see the bow in Norah's hands. It was made of dark, twisting metal. Like smoke. Like her tendrils. It looked like a bow had been thrown into a storm and came out with that... rage infused with it.
Norah ran her thumb over the sharp points, her face cold and unreadable.
"Etin was definitely waiting," Milo said and the group fell quiet. "The Thrawlers were all just standing there. They didn't attack or do anything, but they looked at us as we passed."
"And the castle?" Vaella demanded.
"The sentinels there let us through," he said. "They thought Norah was Etin."
"As predicted," Vaella said.
Dagen glanced at Riveta, her eyes flicking to Norah and the bow. "How do you know it will work?"
"We kill the god hunting me with it," Norah replied, as if killing a god was simply checking off a chore on a checklist.
"I mean," she said. "You didn't bring any arrows back."
"This was all that was there." Norah ran her thumb over the white string. It was so white it was almost translucent. She gave the string a light tug. It didn't move. "It might be the kind of bow where the arrows form once you pull the string back."
"Test the bow elsewhere," Vaella said firmly. "We do not know what will happen once the arrow is released and the damage that may occur once it finds a target."
Adam grimaced. "What kind of god weapons do you deal with?"
Vaella leveled a stony stare upon him. "The weapons of gods should not be taken lightly. Especially ones created by powerful gods such as Etin."
"At least now," Milo said, breaking the tension, "we have a weapon against Etin."
"That's hoping Etin didn't lie," Dagen said.
"Etin has no physical form," Vaella added. "If this weapon is true in its purpose, we must first find a way to force him into a physical form. But we will not use the bow against him until we are absolutely certain it works."
"What about Quinnlyn?" Norah asked. "She's a demi-god."
Vaella shook her head. "She is too mortal--any weapon may kill her."
"So." Nevaeha blew into her hands. "We find this anonymous god then."
"Yes," Vaella said. "Though it may need to wait until after Etin has attacked, we cannot afford to be too far from the islands when he strikes."
"And now that we have the weapon you're going to gather the other gods," Riveta said.
Vaella dipped her head in answer. "Yes. As swiftly as I can."
Norah thumbed the blade-like edges of her bow. "I need you to check on that rider before you go."
"It must wait," Vaella said, putting her shoulder to Norah. "Retrieving the gods is a higher priority. And you have a family of Truth-Seekers. Use them and when I return I will see to this rider."
Vaella's spear flashed, a hiss of air and steel. A portal opened. "Norah," she said, "I will be listening for your prayers in case Etin arrives while I am away."
She stepped into the portal, disappearing like she'd fallen through water and didn't emerge.
The portal closed, the veil sealing itself shut with a wink of light.
Norah squinted at where the goddess had once stood, a sneer twisting her lips. "Norah," she muttered. "I'll be listening for your prayers specifically." She shook out her hair from its ponytail. "There's a place on the seventh island we can test this thing."
"Oh, shit," Nevaeha looked at Milo with a wince. "It's a tiny island but it's for the big kids. Special forces."
"We'll sneak in, it's fine," Norah said, glancing at her mom.
"Or," Riveta placated. "You can go to the forest about twenty miles north. You won't get in trouble for being there. Or hurt anyone if something happens."
Norah's expression remained an icy neutral, but Dagen noticed her shoulders rise and fall in a silent sigh.
He didn't know who Ekon was, and was almost curious enough to ask when a siren went off.
It blared, the endless, eerie sound reverberating through the clouds. The dragons hissed, ducking their giant heads under their wings.
Dagen's stomach sank, his blood turning to ice.
"Get your armor on," Norah ordered, eyes going hard like those of a general preparing for war. "Etin's here."