Page 192 of Flame and Sparrow

“That they’ve essentially destroyed the protective layer between our worlds, making a direct route where there wasn’t one before. So we have even less time before everything all goes to shit. Fantastic.” He continued muttering curses to himself while I cautiously got to my feet and gazed out at the wasteland before us.

“What’s happened to this place?” I asked. “And that lightning a moment ago…was that Halar?”

“Yes.” Valas scanned our surroundings, as if making certain no one was watching us, before ushering me farther into the shadows of the tower and continuing his explanation. “The Death Marr’s magic started failing completely two days ago, the entire ocean of it drying up because of some strange fog that started seeping in through the edges of the realm. The other courts caught wind of this, and one of the Miratar spirits who serves the Storm Marr was sent to investigate on his behalf. The investigation ended…badly.”

“How badly?”

“The spirit is dead.”

Horror gripped my throat, squeezing away my voice.

Valas waved a flustered hand. “Or maybe that’s not even the right word? I don’t know—because this sort of thing is unprecedented. But his body was found, completely drained and shriveled around the edges, and he sure as fuck isn’t what I’d callaliveanymore.”

Shriveled at the edges.

Just like the stone I’d stabbed with the knife Cillian had first given me all those weeks ago.

“How did it happen?” I asked, hoarsely. “Was he exposed to the same fog that dried up the Death Marr’s magic?”

“We can only assume. And since it happened here, in the territory Zachar was supposed to be keeping safe and under control, the God of Storms came demanding answers from our court—hence his stupid rampaging. The Marr have started wars over much less. And we’re trying toavoida full-blown war, so Mairu is with the God of Death back in her own territory, keeping him out of sight and under control so he doesn’t antagonize anyone further. Dravyn and I have been doing our best to keep the Storm God from destroying a bunch of shit while he’s pitching his tantrum.”

The sky flashed wildly in the distance, and he grimaced before adding, “And it’s going pretty fucking poorly, if you couldn’t tell.”

I frowned, thinking of how fast the encampment by the veil had been growing, of the weapons clasped between the soldiers there and the sinister trails of poisonous smoke spiraling into the grey, carving out paths ripe for destruction…

It was going poorly now, but it was about to get much worse.

“We need to get away from this place,” I told Valas. “I think another attack is building in the mortal realm. A massive one. Whatever drained this ocean and killed the Storm Marr’s servant…more of that poison could start flooding into this territory at any moment. It’s not safe for you or anything divine to be here.”

Valas was still watching the sky. His hand was absently twisting back and forth, tiny drops of snow trailing the movements, as though he was thinking of shaping another sword.

“You shouldn’t be fighting each other,” I snapped, “you should be fighting the growing threat on the other side of the barrier.”

“No kidding,” he muttered. “If you’d like to go inform the Storm Marr of that, be my guest. But I think you’ll find he’s not really in a listening mood.”

“Then we need tomakehim listen before it’s too late.”

“As though we haven’t tried.”

“You haven’t tried with the knowledge that I’ve just given you,” I pointed out.

The God of Winter finally pulled his gaze back to me.

We stared at one another for a moment, the impossibility of the situation settling over us, frustrating us both into silence—until I caught sight of another wild flash of energy in the distant sky. Not the color of lightning this time, but bright and burning shades of orange and red.

The color of fire.

I realized then why the God of Storms was not tracking us down—because he was busy fighting with someone else.

“Dravyn is here too, isn’t he?” I took a few dazed steps in the direction of the flashing sky, watching the streaks of orange and red fade.

Again, he felt so close, yet so impossibly far away.

Valas grabbed my arm and held me back. “Yes, he’s here. But he’s had a long few days, andhis temper is worse than the God of Storm’s. So Ireallydon’t think you want to step into the middle of that battle.”

I pulled my arm out of his hold but didn’t take another step.

The warring gods were too far away to see clearly, but the effects of their rampaging stirred the air even where we stood. The electricity made all the hairs on my body stand on end, while waves of heat occasionally washed over us, leaving me breathless.

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