Page 120 of The Cruel Dawn
“What?”Elyn says, eyes hot.
Malik Sindire doesn’t stop to show us our entries. “Neither of you are ordinary gods from ordinary families. Why wouldn’t you be recorded in a book like this?” He keeps turning pages. More gods and creatures, ethereal and graceful, delicate and light, monstrous, with eyes that stare right through me.
He’s right: this is no ordinary book.
“Did you write or curate this compendium?” Elyn asks.
“Do the identities of the authors matter, Lady Fynal?”
Elyn frowns. “Yes. Not every god is a reliable narrator. Not every god is a scholar—”
“I don’t mean to be rude,” I say to Malik Sindire, “but we don’t have time for a lesson right now on alchemy and literature—”
“Here we are.” Malik Sindire stops at an inked depiction of a prune-faced man with translucent wings. He wears a simple loincloth, and his skin is entirely covered with letters and symbols of the Onama.
“Him,” Elyn says.
“He’s the reason we’re in this mess,” I say, my blood chilling.
“Do you want to know why that is,” Malik Sindire asks, “or do you want to rush ahead and end the realm sooner rather than later?”
He pauses, then says, “Celedan Docci from the order Onama. You asked if he was made of linionium.Not exactly. Docci was filled with so much knowledge that his spine started to crack. The Council feared his loss, and the Onama healers arrived at a solution: fuse the Keeper with linionium. They also ‘retired’ him into the gem, WISDOM, which is why he volunteered to accompany Lady Megidrail’s edition of theLibrum Esotericato Vallendor. He thought he’d live a long life with his new spine, on this new realm with the lovely Lady, sharing his knowledge with the dashing new king, Syrus Wake.
“But then he saw just how important his role was—Wake consulted him all the time but had grown disillusioned with knowledge that anyone could soon attain. So Celedan Docci called on Danar Rrivae. But that didn’t keep Docci in the room. The young Corby woman stole theLibrumfrom the library at Castle Wake.
“But then you found the book and Celedan Docci, and Agon destroyed WISDOM with him inside of it. Agon destroyed Docci’s body, which was filled with linionium. Wake Rrivae was standing in the aerie, and Celedan Docci’s spent power found more linionium in his hand to bind to.”
“Had Jadon not been in the room…” Elyn says.
“The linionium powder would’ve simply diminished in time,” Malik Sindire says.
And now, it’s my turn to rub my face and say, “So we’re gonna die.”
“Kai, don’t,” Elyn says.
I throw up my hands. “Don’t you get it? That…” I point at the drawing she made of Jadon’s marking. “That ink will spread until Jadon’s covered completely—he will be lost to us. If Jadon is killed, all that linionium will bind to the closest living source, which most likely will be…”
“Danar Rrivae,” Malik Sindire says, “who wears TERROR, the gem of crystalized linionium. The marking on Jadon Wake Rrivae’s hand—not Miasma—makes him the weapon.”
“What are we about to face?” Elyn asks.
“Either Wake Rrivae saves himself by doing what his father wants,” Malik Sindire says, “or he chooses the most difficult task: he kills the next source of power and the holder of the amulet—Danar Rrivae. But that practically guarantees Wake Rrivae’s own death even though he’d save Vallendor. He’s only a demigod. While Danar Rrivae could handle the total infusion of linionium, his son cannot. And since the light of Selenova at her fullest will only increase the power of linionium…”
“Jadon dies in every scenario,” I whisper, my legs weak.No.
Malik Sindire wanders over to the window to gaze up at the darkening sky. “When given the choice by his father, Jadon Wake Rrivae will choose to save himself.” He turns back to Elyn and me, his face inscrutable. “When faced with such decisions…all men choose themselves.”
30
My father abandoned my mother and me on Ithlon Realm and chose to live his life on Mera without us.
Agon chose cloistering at the Abbey of Mount Devour instead of helping his sister to raise me.
Zephar’s ego and impatience cause him to question my leadership and identity.
Even after I’d made him king, Syrus Wake chose Danar Rrivae as his god.
Danar Rrivae aims to kill me because he wants my realm…the perfect revenge against my father.
