Page 183 of The Eye of the Fifth
She didn’t know who she was anymore. That power had turned her into someone she did not recognise. Someone she didn’t want to recognise. She’d thought Roheia’s power to be tamer than Xusyn’s, but had it not been the earth power, and not the sun that had almost killed Zuriel? Had it not been that power that had rumbled through her just now, threatening to take down the entire mountainjustto get past Naal?
How much of it was power, untamed and ruthless, and how much of it was just… her?
Kano certainly hadn’t lost control like she had at the sight of Akraia’s dead body. How was it she was more reckless, more wild and more untamed than a fifteen year old human boy?
The blood on Kyra’s hands was thick now. Blood she would never be able to wipe off, that stained darker than any kill she’d ever made.
Rosary.
Goddess.Her Rosary.
Taken just to get toher.Maimed and tortured all because Roheia had deemed her worthy of being the Earth Warden.
‘Help me,’ Kyra begged the thin air. ‘Please, Roheia. Great Mother… help me help her.’
No one answered.
‘Why me? Why choose me?’ she half sobbed. Lifting her hands skyward, she pleaded, ‘I don’t want it. I never wanted it. Take it back.Take it back!’
The raw scream ricocheted off the walls, and still, no one answered. No deity came forth to console her. No Goddess answered her prayer. Not a fucking peep from the puppeteer of her fate.
She really was alone now. So was Rosary.
No one was on her side. No one cared enough to save the woman who had saved her.
More than the death of one woman.
A growl rose in her throat.
Fuck Naal. Fuck the Eternals. Fuck Azar. Andfuckthe divine orchestrators of her life. She would damnallthe Mothers and the Old Gods to the Void, if that’s what it took.
Emboldened by purpose, Kyra stood. Her legs no longer shook.
If her soul was to be marred by these powers of chaos for the rest of her life, she was going to fucking use them for good.
For Rosary.
???
Gedeon.
The hallway outside the Council Room was deserted by the time Gedeon and Naal returned. The door remained firmly closed; none had dared defy Naal’s orders, and the wards she had created on the threshold were still intact.
She removed them with a swift hand motion, then cautioned Gedeon, ‘She’s not of a sound mind. She might try to attack. Be on your guard.’
Gedeon nodded, easily willing his flames to sizzle beneath his skin, ready to strike like an asp should he need to.
The door swung open, and Gedeon pursued Naal into the room.
Nothing stirred. Gedeon assessed the mingled scents present: salty tears, Kyra’s fresh blood, dried human blood.
His gaze caught the ear on the ground, surrounded by shards of fractured black wood. He’d seen his mother use that particular tactic before, had even severed body parts himself as intended ‘gifts’. Usually the victims were family or friends of those who had displeased the Empress in some way, a manipulative ploy to bend their will to her own. He’d known before Kyra had even opened the box what manner ofgiftwas awaiting her inside.
He’d known that this particular time would be no different to the rest.
Gedeon noticed another scent then, dusty and raw, and his gaze fell upon a raggedy hole in the Council Room floor.
At his side, Naal stared down at it too.
