Page 38 of The Shadow of Polaris

“I didn’t ask for any of this. I can’t help you.” I looked at Arcturas and stroked her snout. She looked so fragile with the slow rise and fall of her ribs.

“Elpis. Please. I need you,” he said, crouching beside me.

“I needed you, Rune. You betrayed me.” A tear escaped down my cheek and splattered on the crimson rug.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered.

“It’s a bit too late for an apology. Now, let us go.” I wiped the dampness from my eyes and pulled Arcturas into my chest, seeking her warmth.

“Elpis. I can’t do that. I can’t let you go.”

“So, if I don’t agree with your plan, you’ll force me?” A fire lit up my chest as tingles ignited in my toes and rushed through my veins with voracious force.

“If I have to. I will.” His eyes darkened. The amber turned a deep shade of ruby, like a powerful sunrise as it crossed over the horizon.

Tendrils of shadows licked at my fingertips, begging to be unleashed. “You can’t force me to do anything.”

“We’ll see about that,” he hissed.

I lunged for him. Throwing my shoulder into his abdomen, the breath rushed from my lungs, knocking me to the floor. In the split second he hit the carpet, I wrapped myself around his back, gripping my elbow to block his airway. Aryx coughed and sputtered, clawing at my death hold. As the tendrils of shadow curled tighter around his neck, I felt the muscles in his back flex beneath me.

Suddenly, he shifted his weight and jerked forward. My grip slipped and I flew through the air, landing on my spine with a crack. Aryx leapt for me. His hands tightened around my wrists. I was pinned. Kicking and flailing against his sheer weight, I screamed until my throat burned.

“Elpis. Stop. Please,” Aryx pleaded.

“Get off me!” I cried, cracking my forehead into his. Blood dripped from the crown of my head as Aryx fell backward. He grunted, holding his head in his hands. I rose to my feet, grabbing my dagger from the floor. Pointing it at his heart, I spat the taste of iron from my mouth.

“Goodbye, Aryx,” I hissed.

“Wait. Please,” he pleaded. “Help me free my father.”

His eyes faded into a faint glimmer of golden as I watched the man kneeling before me break apart.

“I need him. He’s the only family I have left,” he whispered.

The grip around my weapon softened as I knelt beside him. Prophecy aside, here was a man with nothing left in this world, utterly alone. Would I have done the same if it was Vikar’s life at risk? What about Arcturas? Or Frya? I sighed and sat beside him. He looked at me with an expression I realized was all too familiar. It’d been staring back at me from within every mirror for the last five years. There had been a glimmer in Arcturas’s eye when I found her as a pup. My brain told me to run from the chamber, leave the prophecy, Tethys, hell, the entire continent behind. But my heart? Like attracts like, and here we sat, nearly identical in our brokenness.

“If you betray me again, I won’t hesitate next time.” The strength of my voice was a surprise as I questioned my choice over and over in my mind.

“I promise you I’m not going to,” he said, standing to his feet and offering me his hand. I pushed it away and stood on my own. The embers of torchlight in the gardens poured in across my face. Arcturas, regaining some strength, limped to my side, still wary of the man before us.

“So, what’s the plan, then?” I said, picking a thorn fragment from my biceps. “We can’t just waltz into the immortal realm.”

“She’s not going to the immortal realm. Over the last twenty years, she’s manipulated the Elders into allying with her. She’s turned their island into a fortress, surrounded by an army thousands strong. If we’re going to even get close, we’re going to need the other immortals’ help. The minute we leave here, she’ll know I turned on her and she’ll use my father to bait me back. She’s going to expect us. I think we start with Procyon. He’s always been loyal to Polaris. If you take claim as her heir, he’ll provide aid without question. Altair might need a little more convincing. After the Great War, he proclaimed neutrality for his realm. We’ll have to make a pretty good argument, but with the heir of darkness and the son of spring together, it might just be enough to tip him over the edge.”

“And what of the mortal leaders? They won’t just sit idly by while we plot to slaughter their Elders.”

“I think you’d be surprised. The mortals will follow their patrons- they always do.”

I scratched Arcturas’s head as the half-god paced the hall, his long, graceful strides capturing my full attention. His plan just might work. The journey through each realm would be long, and with arachnae on our trail, it might even be a death wish.

“What’s stopping Tethys from executing your father the moment she discovers our plans?” I asked.

Aryx scuffed his leather boot against the carpet, disturbing a layer of dust into the air.

“That’s simple. She still loves him.” He chuckled coldly at the thought. “She didn’t murder him the day she discovered his affair like it’s told in the legend. At the last minute, she couldn’t do it. I was only a boy when it happened, but I saw her struggle. She dropped the blade last minute.”

“Maybe,” I said, “but if her own son betrays her, you don’t think that’d push her over that edge?”

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