Page 98 of A Game of Monsters

“You told me the Nephilim influenced by Duwar were then bound in labradorite as punishment. That was the crux of why I needed you. The plan we made – was that more lies?”

“Yesandno.” Rafaela hunched forwards, losing a breath full of tension. Russet stains had dried across her tunic, mirroring where the stumps of severed wings lay beneath.

“Our practice of binding a person in labradorite was one of our experiments of freeing Duwar, gone wrong. It will be easier for me to show you when we arrive. But you must understand that the Nephilim we bound in labradorite werenotthose supporting Duwar, but those opposing Cassial’s goals to free the source of power. Hundreds…thousandsof my kin have been locked away for generations under the belief that they would never be free. To kill a Nephilim is to return them to the hands of the Creator – death is far too kind for those who wished to stop the Fallen from succeeding in the Creator’s ultimate plan. But the binding, the defiling of a Nephilim in the bones of an opposing god,thatwas punishment. An eternal prison that was believed to be forever. But it is not.”

“It isn’t?”

Rafaela smiled. She actually smiled so bright that her entire face beamed. “The process, if Cassial was interested in understanding, is reversable. Which is why Duncan’s return to Irobel is important if we hope to stop Cassial. Yes, I believe Duncan is the Saviour. But not only of your realms, the Saviour for the Faithful, those locked in stasis for generations, waiting for him to call them out of stone and to freedom.”

“So this detail is the crux of Gabrial’s prophecy?”

Rafaela nodded, jamming a thumb toward herself. “Duncan is the only one capable of savingus.”

“Duncan has one foot in the land of the dead,” I said, hating myself for speaking the truth aloud. “Unless we find him a healer, he will not survive long enough to help you.”

“Duncan must survive,” Rafaela said, jaw tightening as she gritted her teeth.

“Must and will are two entirely different things, Rafaela.”

Rafaela shot me a sideways look, one that sang of her own desperations. “He is our last hope, just as the prophecy said.”

“And how do we stop an angel imbued with the power source of the very world? What can Duncan do about that!” My hands were shaking; my entire body trembling with unspent energy.

Rafaela didn’t seem to share my nerves as her smile only brightened. “Cassial is the product of the Creator. Unlike the fey, who were made with the use of Duwar’s power, we and the humans were not. So, our incompatibility will only lead to Cassial’s death, just as it weakened Duncan. Cassial is many things, but stupid is unfortunately not one of them. He will refrain from using Duwar for as long as he can – until he is provoked. Our issue is not fighting against Cassial, but ensuring he does not use the power to cause destruction that cannot be reversed.”

My mind went directly to Althea, slotting her in place in Cassial’s plans.

He kept her because he needed her.

“Duwar wanted me. I was told that Altar used them to create the fey – that we are compatible. I could have stopped this if I just accepted – I could’ve prevented Duncan from this suffering…”

I couldn’t bring myself to mention Althea in all of this.

Rafaela nodded. “I understand you believe that your treatment of Duncan was destroying him, but that is simply not true. I do not need my hammer to see the truth of that. Your self-imbued guilt is written across your face. If anything, keeping Duncan in the state you ensured was perhaps the only thing that saved him. We will see.”

We will see.Three words that should’ve relieved me, but they did the very opposite.

“I don’t want to wait and see. Duncan is going to die if he is not seen by a healer.” I finally said it. Spoke the truth that I knew just by looking at him. “No more talk of prophecies until we locate one in Irobel. I can manipulate the winds, try and get us to our destination faster…”

“There is no one in Irobel to heal Duncan, Robin. Only statue and stone reside in Irobel now, unless Duncan can free them.”

We were going round in circles, and still an answer was just out of reach.

I gawked, pain gripping my chest and squeezing. “Then why are we still going?”

“Because there are other ways in which we can help Duncan on Irobel,” Rafaela said. “Our practices do not simply include the binding of a person in stone. As I said, that was only discovered during failed attempts to utilise Altar’s bones. There are practices we have perfected–”

“Can you save him?” I shouted, eyes bulging. “That is all I care to know. Canyousave Duncan?”

“I can try, but it will not be my will – no matter how I wish it to be – that saves him.”

A frigid cold crept through my veins, ready to strike against the world. “Then who? If there are no healers, who is going to decide if Duncan lives or dies.”

“The Creator.” Rafaela narrowed her eyes, focusing on the distance. The tension quickly ebbed out the lines of her face, as if her final secret had finally been shared, and she was free from the burdens of her web of lies.

“If you think I will put Duncan’s life in the hands of a god whose own children wish to destroy us, you must think I am a fool!” Rage erupted within me, refusing the answer Rafaela had just given.

“I’m sorry, Robin, but there is no other way.” Rafaela fixed her eyes on me, boring through my soul and out the other side, sorrow pinching her thick brows together. “I cannot promise you that Duncan will be saved, but I do trust in Gabrial’s prophecy and hold hope that we will find salvation in Irobel, and not further pain and suffering. I know that isn’t enough for you to hold onto but know that I would not be doing this if I didn’t think there was a chance.”

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