Page 48 of Damned and Broken Gods
Primordial power brushed my skin, gently at first then with more insistence, demanding entry. My knees trembled, and Ilocked them, standing firm, breathing through my nose to calm myself and allow it in so it could judge me.
My ears began to ring, my skin buzzed, and a whisper filled my head once more—words that were meaningless to my mind but not to my soul.
Welcome.
Recognition.
The sense of ownership.
A calling to move closer.
To touch.
I obeyed, crossing the room to stand before it and reaching out to lay my palm on the armrest. I hadn’t expected it to be warm.
Alien words rose out of the buzz, stilted and without inflection—mechanical grinding sounds, scraping at the soft matter of my brain, forcing themselves deep into my mind to reach the processor that could convert them into words that I’d understand. I clutched my head, gritting my teeth as the noise finally found a shape I could comprehend.
Blood of the chosen vein. From blood. Of the first. Possibilities. Fates. Entwine. Darkness. One path. Leading. Two paths, ending. Not yet. Not now. Must earn it. We await.
The stone beneath my palm went cold, but the voice lingered, shifting through my thoughts, intrusive and unwanted now. I shook my head, panic swelling in my chest, making it hard to breathe.
“Stop. Go. Please.”
A fist gripped my heart and squeezed harder and harder until tears scoured the inside of my eyelids.
“Please…”
Go…
The presence released me, falling away with a sigh, leaving me with legs like jelly and the sensation that I’d just beentouched by something more than divine. More than primordial. Something that had no name, only existence.
With the buzz gone, the silence was too loud, pressing against my senses like a physical force.
Chandra broke it, his voice like an arrow to my spine. “It is done. The throne has cast its vote. You will not ascend without trial. To claim the seat, you must earn it.”
Earn it…
Nani’s voice filled my mind.Nothing easy is truly worth it unless earned.The fruit of hard labor is always sweetest.
I closed my eyes and felt her presence around me. Grounding me and championing me. But the feeling was an illusion. Her beautiful soul was trapped somewhere I couldn’t free it from. Yet.
But I would.
I’d earn my ascension, hunt down every fucking pishachas, and free her. Her and Pashim, and every other innocent soul.
I was going back to Prashikshan. Back to my training to take the labyrinth.
Back to Araz.
I wasn’t mad about it. Not one bit.
I was fucking determined.
Part Three
I guess I should say something insightful and profound right about now, but honestly, I’m still reeling from Part 2, so all I’ve got is this: Now we’re in the thick of it, grab a mast; it’s gonna get choppy.
Chapter 17
