Page 214 of The Tribrid Princess and the Taste of Chaos
“Thus, the archway, once a monument to cooperation, became a contested symbol. Its shadow grew long. Its purposebecame uncertain, and with the gods calling more and more beasts to build their armies, humans were dying out, races and nations were lost, and the world was fading. And so, a handful of gods decided to bring down the archway, wanting to force the gods to return to the immortal realm. At the Great Council of the Higher Gods, this was put to a vote. Some gods worried about their waning powers, whilst others thought rather than prayer, perhaps fear could feed their power. But ultimately, with the argument that with no humans worshipping them, that the gods’ powers would diminish vastly, the majority ruled in favour of closing the archway for good.”
The room is silent, and I pause, allowing Raihana to get that all written as Royce reads it over her shoulder.
“Then what the fuck happened?” Uncle Alejandro asks.
“Patience,” Uncle Damon answers, narrowing his eyes.
“I don’t have patience. I hate stories.”
Uncle Damon simply smirks. “These are answers. There’s a difference.”
“Shall I continue?” I ask.
“Continue.” I look up to see that Leo has arrived with Dante. Both of them come inside, and Dante takes a seat beside Grandma, and Leo leans against the wall.
I nod as I turn the page. These books may be ancient, but they are well preserved. “Yet, when the gods went to destroy the pillars, they could not, for they were created when the planets were aligned precisely, something that happens only once every 10,000 years.
And so, the gods who wanted the archway gone resurrected a veil between the two realms. Something that cannot get rid of Skotos and Nur, but creates a barrier before it. A barrier thatkeeps the mortals and the immortals separate. But I foresee a time will come when the veil will no longer stand, and the only way to truly stop a calamity from befalling our world is to destroy the pillars. Something that even the gods could not do.”
I fall quiet as a heavy silence settles in the room.
Dante sighs as he sits down beside Grandma, who tucks her legs under herself just so she can wrap her arms around his shoulders, planting a light kiss on the side of his head. “So, the veil and the archway are two separate things. That makes a lot of sense.”
“So, the prophecy about the veil falling – that means there is still a way to destroy the barrier for good,” Jax says.
Leo and Dad both nod. “Yeah, but even the gods couldn’t fucking bring it down,” Leo murmurs.
“There’s got to be a way. The crawlers said to Kataleya that they needed her blood for Skotos and Nur, but that was just a front when it was reallymyblood they needed ‘willingly’ – that is what Hera said anyway,” Enrique reminds us. “There’s got to be a reason.”
“Willing blood… You are from Hecate’s lineage…” Grandad says.
“In the book we were reading yesterday, it says gods cannot lie, but they can trick and manipulate words. So she most likely wasn’t lying,” Dad ponders.
“But we don’t really know what they wanted his blood for, was it to bring the veil down sooner? Does it say exactly how the veil was created?” Raihana asks, looking at me.
I frown, looking down at the book. “It’s at least a 300-page book, so yeah, maybe.”
“Then we all better get back to it,” Leo says as he pushes awayfrom the wall he’s leaning against and looks at Grandma. “Can I at least have a fucking smoke?”
“No,” Grandma says firmly, making Uncle Alejandro snort in disdain.
I sit back, propping my feet on the table as Royce takes the laptop from Raihana, ready to continue as everyone returns to the books they’re working on.
Dante picks one up, motioning for Leo to get to work typing it up.
I look down at the book. Is there really a solution to destroying Skotos and Nur when even the gods couldn’t? Or are we doomed?
Another four hourslater, my head is pounding from the reading. I massage my forehead as I step out into the back garden for some fresh air. I’ve never gone so long without training, and it’s annoying. I spot a ball lying to the side of the garden and walk over to it as I begin kicking it around.
My mind wanders to Sienna. Something’s going on, but what?
“What’s on your mind?” I glance up to see Leo walking out, lighting a cigarette. He and Uncle Alejandro kept needing smoke breaks to the point Dad asked if they could smoke inside, but only a glare from Mom and Grandma made him say nothing more after that.
“A few things,” I admit.
He shuts the door behind him and comes over, kicking the ball away from me. “Oh yeah? Like?”
Two brains are better than one… “Something’s going on with Sienna,” I begin, stealing the ball back from Leo. The ball thuds softly against the toe of my boot and rolls across the grass. Leo traps it with ease, barely glancing down, then sends it back with a lazy flick.
