Page 135 of Master of Storms
“I don’t see what the problem is,” Draco snapped. “We capture this Elin. We take the key off her. We destroy it—”
“Easier said than done,” Andromeda cut in angrily. “You speak of what you knownothingof. The Key of Chaos was never meant to be used, except for an absolute emergency. With it, Elin is almost… impossible to confront. With it, a Chaos-wielder of average abilities could tear apart a portal between the stars, but to do so requires enormous amounts of Chaos. And once activated, it will suck the magic out of anything that has even a hint of Chaos magic within its diameter in order to fuel itself. There’s a reason my people have never wielded it. If we confront her and she activates it, then she will simply suck the magic out of us. If your father had just left it in my country, in the safety of my people’s hands, then we would not be dealing with this situation right now.”
Draco’s eyelids lowered sleepily, a sure sign that he was thinking. “How wide is the circumference of its reach?”
Andromeda pushed to her feet to pace. “We don’t know. We only have hypotheses, and data from the original prototype—and it was barely a quarter as powerful. The circle around it will grow with every ounce of magic it absorbs. It’s like… a voracious maelstrom that will slowly pull entire countries into its orbit and bleed them dry of Chaos magic. Grass will wither, trees will die, and humans will stop and clutch at their chests as if they experience a sharp pain there. But it shall be thedrekiwho suffer the most. It will kill entire courts. Stop them dead in their tracks. Everydrekineeds a spark of Chaos to survive, and the key will bleed them dry. Once activated, it’s almost impossible to stop. I would estimate that the entirety of Europe will be affected.”
Every set of lungs in the room arrested.
Rurik broke the terse silence. “We need to find my mother before she activates it.”
“And kill her,” Draco agreed. “Once and for all.”
Malin sucked in a sharp gasp. “Elin’s stillinthere.”
Sirius clasped her hand, shooting the two kings a hard look.
Rurik shot Malin an anguished look. “We know.” His voice broke. “Weknow. And if there was anything we could do to save her…. But we’re speaking about thousands ofdrekibeing robbed of their lives. I cannot justify that.”
“Almostimpossible to stop,” Andromeda said quietly. “There is something we can try.”
“Anything,” Sirius demanded. “What do we do?”
“To deactivate the key, we need a soul to sacrifice,” she said, meeting Malin’s eyes. “One aligned with Chaos. It was built into the spell work as a failsafe.”
Silence filled the room.
To sacrifice one’s life in battle was a gift; one’s spirit was almost certainly bound to ride the horizon forever with the ancestors, in those flickering, beautiful displays of light that lit the northern skies on certain nights.
But to sacrifice one’s soul….
There would be no forever. There would be no eternal flight.
Nothing but… being trapped forever inside the key.
Marduk slowly pushed to his feet.
“Don’t you even dare offer,” Solveig snarled, slamming upright.
“I’m touched, my love, but truly… do I seem like the self-sacrificial type?”
The entire room was looking at her. She ignored them. “Then who?”
“Not who….” He quirked a brow and turned to Andromeda. “You said ‘a soul.’ Any soul?”
“One tied to Chaos,” Andromeda reminded him.
It hit her as suddenly as Marduk’s smile.
“It’s brilliant,” Solveig whispered.
Marduk gave her a courtly bow. “I do try.”
“Would someone like to enlighten the rest of us?” Draco demanded.
Marduk turned toward the king. “We want Elin back. And we want my mother gone. Who better to sacrifice to the key than the bitch who’s caused all our woes?”
“Would it work?” Draco cast Andromeda a cool look.
