Page 99 of The Garnet Daughter
“Who? Please,” I beg frantically.
“Her gifts came suddenly and continue to grow on a scale befitting his daughters. I can only tell you what will not tip the balance.” She considers for a long time, drifting off and forcing me to wait before she continues. “In every outcome, you know it is her.”
Ferren.
It must be. Omnesis said she was an abomination in more ways than I know. Yes, she is in danger, but not from Omnesislike I assumed. From a force much greater than any of us can fathom.
I step backward, wanting to put space between me and Omnesis’s words, but she does not relent her piercing stare.
“We have to warn them.” August’s tone is pleading.
“I-I can’t fold back. There is nothing on the other side,” I choke out helplessly, the ward around this temple blotting out any divine gifts but the ones Omnesis allows.
“I watched the very first conjunction, basked in the balance of the three worlds coming together for a brief moment. I will witness the coming one because you have freed me. I will permit you to breach through my ward as a show of my gratitude.”
The oppressing veil lifts instantly, a lifeline stretching out across the birthlands, waiting for me to take it. I grasp August’s forearms, ready to fold us, unsure, however, if we should truly leave without more information after we suffered to get here. But when I look to Omnesis, she nods.
No, she bows her head, the sparkly liquid of her skull stopping just before the edge.
“There is little else I can offer that would not send the scales of our worlds into chaos. The rest you will have to invoke on your own.”
Chapter
Thirty
August doesn’t hesitate to send a message to 99 the moment we land in the cockpit of his ship. The climate control is like an icy chill, so starkly different from where we spent the last few days. Grit still cakes on my eyelids as I rub them, the dusty rocks flaking all over us as we ascended to the temple. I want it off my skin, to wash the birthlands away, but more than anything, I want to make sure we are all safe. To tell the others what we have seen of First Son’s army and the disturbing things Omnesis confessed to me about the supposed daughters he is hunting.
“How long will it take for him to get back?” I ask, leaning against one of the cockpit chairs for support.
“I sent it as a distress.” He glances over his shoulder at me, his expression softening slightly. “I want to move the ship close to the fleet, but I need clearance.”
We are closer to the outskirts of the city in the safe house hangar, and there is no reason to stay here now.
“Will you tell him what happened to Commander Wesley? He will wonder why he has not returned with us.”
“He knows. I sent him an update while the first set of drones mapped the terrain.” He gives me a sheepish look.
“August. August, come in,” 99’s voice cuts through, a mix of surprise and concern.
“We need to speak with you in person. It’s urgent,” August says and peels off the stolen Viathan armor, down to his breeches and under tunic.
“Calliape?” 99 asks.
I’m almost certain the inquiry is coming from Ferren through their tether.
“She is here. We can fold to you.” He leans over the comms speaker and then opens a locker near his command station to dress, slapping another comm on his forearm. “I can’t walk around here in that,” he explains to me, his chin jutting toward the heap of stolen armor on the floor.
“Our location is the First Son ship’s crash site. I hope you bring better news than we do,” 99 informs us.
My expression must give away my worry because August crosses the cockpit and pulls me into his chest with his strong palm at the nape of my neck. I surrender to his embrace, letting it fully cover me, and sigh deeply, the familiar smell of his own clothes calming me.
We have not had a moment to speak since Omnesis’s temple of the truths it told me in the language of the gods. The horrifying knowledge of First Son’s plans that I have to share with him, with all three of them. But right now, it is most important that we prepare for the larger, more threatening force coming our way.
August pulls away slightly but doesn’t speak, only gives me a questioning look. I nod in response, then lean into his chest again to picture our destination without distraction.
A mechanical chime blares in ambient rhythm the moment we arrive. With it, the overwhelming sound of chaos as commanders run past us, toward the crashed First Son ship. The darkness of the conjunction makes it impossible to view themassive ship fully. The Viathans shine unnatural lighting on the areas they work, but it also casts dark shadows where it does not reach on the hard edges of the ship.
99 stands with another commander, viewing something on a data pad and barking orders to the soldiers around him between glances at the tablet.
