Page 110 of A Game of Monsters

Rafaela had lost so much, Duncan recognised that.

Duncan offered his hand to her. Everyone watched, not daring to breathe, as he lifted her from the ground and drew her to his side.

When he answered it was personal to Rafaela, and yet he ensured the entire crowd heard him.

“My given name is Duncan Rackley, although you know that was not the one I was born with.” The sorrow in his verdant eyes told me that Duncan had already uncovered the secrets of his birth. I wondered what else the human god had whispered into his ear. “I have been given true life by the Creator to give the Faithful a second chance. There has never been a time when your iron-clad faith has been more required. Duwar has been freed – chaos has, once again, been taken by the hands of those undeserving. The Creator knew, in his last moments, that keeping Duwar out of play was the only way for peace. He faced his regrets in those last moments, and yet some of his creations seem to have disregarded his enlightenment for the hunt of power and control. And as we were first designed, from the grief and loss of the Creator, we must ensure that His regrets do not continue into our future. For that, I stand before me, as Duncan,Heraldof His word. Bringer of change.”

Rafaela fell to her knees, hands clasped in prayer. Tears spilled down her face, staining the dusted ground beneath her. “Gabrial promised this day. She saw it, in a potential future, one of knotted paths and shadowed potentials. And now the Creator has proven He understands the damage Duwar will cause – how it tore Him apart from Altar. This is proof to the world of what we must do.”

Belief, religion and prophecy blended into one, forced into the vessel that was Duncan. Everything had led to this moment. All the lies and betrayal, the secret plays on a game board that I never knew we were a part of.

Duncan’s wings flared wide, further proving Seraphine’s earlier statement. His wingspan cast a shadow of his form down over the crowd, gathering a gasp of amazement from the Nephilim watching.

“We follow you,Herald.” Rafaela was renewed with a sense of authority, as if Duncan’s presence reminded her of her possibilities. “Tell us how we are to right the sins of those who betrayed us, and we shall see it through.”

Duncan drank in Rafaela’s words, power flashing across every inch of him.

“Cassial has lost his way. It’s up to us to offer him the right path, show him the way back into the Creator’s arms.” Duncan ensured his gaze fell on every possible watching soul. All but mine.

What I’d give for him to turn around and look at me, recognise me. I was beginning to think he ignored me for a reason. Perhaps the physical change was not the only thing that had altered during the Transfiguration. It didn’t pay to contemplate what else was different.

“If unchallenged, Cassial will fulfil the Fallen’s hopes of bringing forth a new world in which only the humans shall thrive. An imbalance. The fey are not the enemies of mortals, but the protectors as Altar intended them to be. It’s up to us to prevent any other future from happening. I ask you, forgotten children of our Creator, discarded warriors – will you stand beside me in the name of what is right, to fix the wrongs before us and stop our enemies from threatening the realms again? Will you fight beside me, human and fey, to ensure a world in which we finally can live beside one another in complete and irrevocable harmony?”

A chanting began in response to his questions.

It started with the stomping of feet, then every set of wings began to thump as they were contracted against powerful bodies. Soon the sound filled the island, even sinking deep into my body where I felt it in every vein and vessel.

“Then, it shall be. We leave for the mainland soon.” Duncan turned to face Rafaela, dropping his voice so only those on the podium of rock could hear. “See that you are prepared. If we are to get close enough to Cassial to stop him, he must not recognise a difference in our warriors from his own. To succeed we need to infiltrate Cassial’s ranks, take him down from the inside. But before that, a contingency planmustbe made.”

“Certainly, Herald,” Rafaela said. “The necessary plans will be drafted with your guidance.”

Already the world weighed too heavy upon Duncan’s shoulders. I sensed it, as did Erix, from the tight draw of his lips.

Duncan, too, stiffened at the title, but only I seemed to notice his discomfort. “We do not have long to act. Once you organise the Nephilim, see that a space is made for the rest of us to discuss these important matters. If we are to succeed, we must leave by dawn tomorrow.”

“Anything else?” Rafaela asked, head bowing.

“Yes, actually. In the meantime, I would appreciate a moment alone–”

Duncan lifted his eyes over Rafaela’s shoulder and fixed them to me. My breath caught, as though lightning shot between us and struck my chest. His expression was serious for a beat, until his lips curved and parted, forging into a gentle smile that tugged at the scar down the side of his face.

“Withthem,” he finished.

I looked to Erix, following Duncan’s sweeping gaze. His eyes were wide and watching, locked to Duncan who gave him a subtle wink. If my heart had skipped beats before, it practically leapt in that moment.

“Unfinished business, isn’t that right, Erix?” Duncan said, stepping in close, bringing with him the air of power around him.

“It is, indeed, Saviour.” Erix nodded to Duncan, whose smile seemed to widen. There was relief in his verdant eyes, a happiness I’d not seen in a long time.

“Duncan will do,” he replied. “It’s the name I am used to hearing and much prefer. It’s not my future that defines me, but my past and present.”

“And what are you going to do with the present?” I asked, voice cracking from nerves around him. “Now that… that you have secured it.”

Duncan didn’t reply at first, but Isensedhis desire in his silence.

It was in the way he looked at me. It was as if the wings and strength, the power and command all faded away, leaving the man I’d first come to know standing before me.“You, darling.Both of you, as I told you, I am a man of my word.”

I laid a hand over my chest, as if that had the power to still it. Duncan had heard us from his cocoon, and that filled me with the greatest sense of relief.

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