Page 131 of Of Blood & Stone

He was going to leave. Far, far away from here. From her. She shouldn’t be upset; it was a smart move. Calculated. If Distrathrus couldn’t be stopped, then getting away as quick as possible would be the safest route. And yet, hearing it out loud…

It felt like a cold gust of wind on chilled skin; the reopening of a deep wound; an abandonment at the steps of a temple.

“So that’s it then?” Sylzenya asked, “You get your medicine and leave the rest of us to deal with this mess?”

Elnok straightened, brow raised. “It’s certainly not my mess.”

“Well it isn’t mine either.”

He scoffed. “None of this would’ve happened without you, your kingdom, or your blessed goddess—and, by the way, why the fuck does she look like everyone’s mother? It’s… it’s creepy. Unnatural.”

Sylzenya bristled, leaning back. “She’s the goddess of life. And— no, that doesn’t matter right now. You promised me you’d be here until the end. Now you’re going to walk away?”

“This is the end for me. That was the plan, Sylzenya. From the beginning, this wasalwaysmy plan.”

“Great.So, what? Everything else you’ve said to me was just one of your thieving acts? All that talk of believing in me, caring about me— it was all just a means to one of your fucking ends?”

The words slipped out before she could stop herself. Hot tears formed at the corners of her eyes. The anger was misplaced, sheknewthis, knew he’d meant his words about how he felt for her; knew he needed to save his friend; knew his land had been dying because of her and her kingdom. She wantedhim to save his friend. Wanted him and his crew to be safe. But she hadn’t been prepared to say goodbye. Godsdamnit, she was falling in love with this man, and he was going to leave once he got what he wanted.

And what he wanted wasn’t her.

“Sylzenya, youknowthat’s not true.”

“You’re right. This was the plan and I got distracted.” She got up, wiping the tears before they fell. “Let’s just get your medicine. Then I don’t have to deal with a man vomiting all over the place while carrying him on my back.”

His mouth thinned. “Tell me how you really feel.”

“Just because you don’t have any god-gifted power doesn’t mean your actions don’t affect anyone besides yourself, Prince Elnok Rogdul of Vutror.”

His mouth gaped.

Aretta and Kharis approached.

“I’m afraid your lively discussion will need to be finished,” Aretta said, “please take some time to time to clean yourselves up as I have fresh linens available. And then I need to share the truth with you all, and why I brought each of you here.”

Chapter 31

A Goddess

Sylzenya stood next to Kharis and Elnok as she finished her last bite of plum and dried meat, swallowing it all down with a second filling of water from her waterskin. Sylzenya was grateful for the fresh linen tunic and pants she’d been given. Her tattered Kreena robe was floating in the river somewhere, lost in the foreverness of the enchanted tree.

Aretta sat before the three of them, her face mirroring that of her mother’s—all their mothers’—in the middle of a red and yellow meadow. Her white robe flowed into the grass, melting into it as if it pooled into water.

“You come here bearing many questions, some of utmost importance, some bearing no consequence,” Aretta said. “Ask your first question, and we’ll begin.”

Sylzenya stepped forward. “How do we stop Distrathrus?”

Aretta smiled. “You cut to the heart of matters, my dear Sylzenya. Very well.”

Waving her hands in the air, a swirl of petals surrounded the goddess, her body glowing and her eyes looking to the golden sky.

“As you’ve all come to learn, my brother Distrathrus has been using Kreenas and acolytes to store up my power in orodytes.”She twirled a flower. “In our final battle five centuries ago, I dispersed my power away from him and into the land. While we can’t interact with each other’s power, others have the ability to do it for us. He’s always been clever, so he discovered he could use Esteans to collect my power for him.”

A breeze rushed by them all, Sylzenya’s hair fluttering in her face.

“You three are not the first I’ve called here,” the goddess continued, picking another yellow flower and twisting in between her fingers, “but you three are the first to have succeeded in not only finding the compass, but finding my tree.”

Tossing the flower into the air, everything shifted. No longer were they in a meadow filled with golden light, but a sandstone sanctuary glowing with yellow-stained glass. A large, grand willow stood in the center of the room, its roots so big they cracked through the floors.

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