Page 135 of The Garnet Daughter
“How do we stop them from using it to strike again?” 99 asks firmly.
“Disable Cosima’s beacon. That is the only way. I cannot, 99. A commander will have to.”
“I know.” He spits his frustration. The person he goes to for answers of this nature cannot stay to help. “I will send a specialist to the beacon tower. Can I comm you in?”
“Of course. I will aid them for as long as my ship is in range.”
“99th Commander!” A frantic commander stalks up to 99, stammering for more words.
“Speak!” 99 barks.
“The flying creature has landed on the battlefield.”
99 brushes past us to look out onto the valley below. “Omnesis circled above the ward before, and now it lands with the enemy?” He looks over his shoulder to glance at me for answers.
I gaze out to the now silent army. None of the enemy soldiers move except those in the path of Omnesis. They part and then quickly regain formation as she walks to the enormous vessel.
A sliver of light appears in a straight line, ascending halfway up the pillar-shaped ship, growing in width and brightness. A great door opens like a portal to another world, and from it comes a towering figure.
First Son.
The most wicked of First Mother’s children.
The god she birthed in the very beginning, the one who turned generations of her children against her.
His army straightens further, a loud clap on armor sounding as they stand at attention. He strides down the ramp of his dark ship toward Omnesis, adorned in black armor and an ominoushelmet, the crown of it spiking up into the air like flames were captured in the metal as it was forged.
She bows her head, looking up to his form at least 10 feet from the ground.
I have seen old gods, the ones in the forest, Omnesis and the Albright in Ferren’s tethered memories, but none of them have struck such terror in me as First Son does now.
Omnesis’s glowing wings and skin are so vivid even from this distance, her robe trailing behind her as she approaches First Son directly.
“What is she doing?” August’s breath next to me is labored as he watches with the same fear in his eyes that is likely in mine.
“I’m not sure,” I tell them.
Every uninjured and able person around us beholds Omnesis in silence. From this distance, it is impossible to hear the two godly figures speaking to each other as they draw closer. The divine interaction is calm and with little movement.
My pulse punches in rhythm in my ears, dulling my senses and making my hands tremble and eyes water at the otherworldly spectacle.
And then without warning, her wings outstretch, reflecting the lights on the enemies’ tower weapons as she ascends upward into the air with powerful beats of her wings. She soars overhead, circling the wall as if the ward does not affect her at all. Soldiers duck and holler as she dives closer, soaring in and gracefully landing atop the nearest intact tower to us.
Omnesis perches there and waits, staring directly at me.
“She wants to speak,” I say and begin walking toward her, beckoned forward by her glowing orbs watching me.
“Callia, wait!” August shouts, striding behind me to keep up.
Soldiers part and make way as I rush down the walkway atop the wall. The ones posted closer to her landing spot brace andback farther away, too afraid to maintain their positions even in front of 99.
I can hear Selene and 99 speculating behind me, preparing for the worst and hurrying to stay close, but Omnesis is here for me, to speak to me alone.
As I approach her, she ruffles her wings, sending the last few brave Viathan commanders stepping back out of her wide reach.
“Omnesis.”
“Calliape.” She steps down from her perch and bows her head in greeting. Then she looks past me to August and Selene and 99. She pauses on him for several breaths before she steps closer to me. “I am pleased the other daughter is not present.”
