Page 138 of Skyshade
“This ends now,” she said, not wanting to wait a moment longer. Not when Lark had a chance at finding the heart.
“Stay here,” she told Grim. “Make sure he recovers.”
Begrudgingly, he nodded. Then, he portaled her to Remlar, to fetch the cursed blade.
The Skyling was still working on it. “Just a few more minutes,” he said, before turning to her. His eyes glistened. “Now...tell me what you really want to know.”
“I can wait,” she said. “Until you’re done with the curse.”
“Don’t insult me. I can do both at once.” He sat cross-legged on the forest floor above the tunnels his people had escaped to, blade between his fingers. She sat in front of him, just like she had during their training. “What is it?”
The prophecy still existed. Lark’s attack didn’t change that. Its importance was clearer than ever, now that she had nearly put a blade through Oro’s heart. “If one had to die—Grim or Oro—who would you choose? Whose death would do the most good?”
His answer seemed obvious, until he said, “Oro.”
Remlar smiled at her shock.
“Why?”
He settled back. “Let me tell you a story.”
Annoyance flared within her. “We don’t have time for a story. People are dying as we speak.”
He continued as if she hadn’t said anything. “There was once a world with three gods. One that ruled the skies. One that ruled the dirt. And one that ruled the great below. All three stuck to their dominions and lived in harmony, until the sky believed it was more important. I have stars, the sky said. I have clouds. I have the sun. I have lightning. It decided it needed to be more powerful, and so it grew, and grew, until it ruled over both the dirt and below. It had children, and those children decided they needed to rule. Other children were born, from the sky, but also the dirt, and the below.
“The sky’s original children decided they didn’t like sharing power. So, they kept all their power to themselves. Anyone not in their family that had power was put to death.
“It wasn’t until, one day, the children of the dirt and the below rose up and fought back for their power. It started a war.
“One of the princes of below and one of the princesses of the dirt dreamed of another world, where everyone would have power, not just the ruling line. They recruited a prince of the sky, and together, they lured their people to a new future.
“Oro, you see, is the last remaining part of this original ruling line. His bloodline has all power trapped within it. If he dies, that power is released. Given back. Nexus will exist no longer.”
Nexus was the curse that bound all rulers to their people. That made another form of rule nearly impossible.
“But nexus is a curse. Killing whoever spun it could end it too. Right? If it was bound to their life?”
“Perhaps...but Cronan is in the otherworld. And Oro is here.” Cronan. Remlar had just confirmed he was the ruler who had created nexus. She should have known, but she had assumed he had been dead for millennia...now, she knew the truth.
The implication was clear. The only real way for her to end nexus was to kill Oro. It was what Maren had told her, long ago, with the rebels.
“You knew Cronan was alive,” she breathed.
He nodded. “I know a great deal more than anyone wishes.”
His eyes were wicked. His smile was sad.
“You must understand something else, my dear. You are the only person living who is of the sky, the dirt, and the below. You, Isla Crown, bring the gods to their knees.”
Right now, trapped between two unwanted fates, she didn’t feel powerful at all.
“You have been marked,” he continued. “The heart of Lightlark chose to mend your own. Its power was stolen from the otherworld, now it lives in you. No one can be sure how that might manifest.”
She didn’t know what that meant. She didn’t want to be marked or special. She just wanted freedom to do whatever she wanted, without her choices deciding the fate of the world.
But this was her role to play. So, she pulled the piece of parchment from her pocket, along with the bone, and asked him her questions.
“You’ll need great power,” he told her.
