Page 201 of The Eye of the Fifth
But to which it was made.
Earth.
You have seen, Kyraena Daeiros. And now I am free.
She hurtled away from the past and her eyes flew open in time to see the Black Throne crumble to ash.
Its final will forever imprinted in her mind.
Someone called that name again, and even with the ringing in her ears, she knew the voice was closer. Much closer.
Turning away from the dusty carcass of the throne that once was, she faced another. Black haired and rippling with shadows that soothed her soul. He said that name again. She watched it tentatively form on his lips like a question.
Kyra? Kyra.
That washername.
Wasn’t it?
Kyra. Yes. That was her name.
Behind him, chaos had taken hold. A room destroyed. A castle on the verge of collapsing. On the ceiling, a watchful golden eye bore down at her. Its face had been serrated down the middle.
Bodies littered the lava spilt ground every which way she looked. In the sea of them, there was one that stole the breath from her lungs. Long, matted brown hair congealed with blood painted the marble floor red. A body she knew. A body that made all the others fade. That made her eyes burn.
A somebody who would never wake.
Her knees gave way. The arms of darkness caught her. She was so tired. And so empty. So incredibly empty.
Chapter Fifty Four
Confession
???
Gallena’s Temple, Phaenon.
Naal.
The temple’s atrium was not usually this quiet. Worshippers from the city would come to pay their respects to the Air Mother, lighting a candle at Her crystalised feet for a loved one that had passed. Or to gaze at the dancing flames to still their minds before watching their breath for a period of time, connecting with the divine. Talking was strictly forbidden here. It was a place of peace. A place to hone inward.
Since the attack on Phaenon, Naal had found the atrium near-empty most days. A cruel reminder that most had perished in the attack. She hoped it was that, and not a lack of faith in the Air Mother that kept the number of worshippers low.
Naal knelt at the Goddess’ feet now. An incense of sage and frankincense burned in a brass pot before her. Strands of smoke wafted up her nose as she closed her eyes and bowed her head.
Let it wash away the stream of bad luck that had plagued them these last months. Let it cleanse and make anew a path of good fortune. Goddess knew they needed it.
Gedeon’s deceit sat uncomfortably with Naal. She had made the choice to trust him with Kyra, only for him to run off with her into the night at the Earth Warden’s command. Then Takabah, the hawk who had done Gedeon’s bidding, had returned without Fire or Earth Warden upon her back, and Naal’s imagination had not stoppedhurtling down darkened hallways of two rolling, bloodied heads delivered from Zarynth, just as Orro’s had been.
Nysari had tracked them as far as she dared. But Gedeon had withheld another secret. He was a male of night who could bend darkness to his will. The knowledge filled Naal with dread. A counterpart to Kyra’s sunlight… she had no idea what it meant. Only that the part of the prophecy Orro Myrso had acquired many, many moons ago, before Kyraena Daeiros had even been born, eluded to her:
…For when the Earth cracks and the Sun hides behind the moon,
Then shall she of light and land be born.
Rage will blind and tear down what is known,
For her power to come forth to take its throne…
