Page 54 of Glass Wings
Amis and Roksana, steps outside of the fated light, were enveloped in the smoke and gasped for air, coughing and gagging. Reign was quick on her feet as she ran towards them, covering her nose by pulling up her dress over her head. The black leather pants she wore underneath suggested she came prepared for a battle.
Within two blinks of an eye, Amis and Roksana slammed into the ground near Djoser’s feet, clearly having been thrown, their wings limp as their bodies convulsed while oxygen began to clear out their lungs. Arryn noticed the blue patches of blood on their skin, on their wings, mixed with the burns from the ash in the sky.
He prepared himself for the sun's arrival while watching the chaos it brought down to the realm with its physical presence. A menace, a death sentence. There was a sudden understanding as to why this being was more of a story, a myth, never to have created something living like a Kinnari, mother to no one. Arryn didn’t think that anyone had ever even seen Ayurveda physically before. The sun’s presence seemed to carry nothing but destruction, energy that was impossible to contain.
You cannot falter. You cannot fail.
Djoser stood with his arms crossed across his chest and stared at Arryn with daggers in his eyes. Smoke billowed behind Djoser like a prince emerging from hell. After several minutes, the smoke began to thin, leaving a dark sky. Amis and Roksana moved to their feet, their burns healing and lungs being purged of soot.
“Soulkin,” Karmakara sang out, practically bouncing off towards the descent of the peak, bringing her protective starlight with her. The Kinnari struggled to trudge through the puddles of melted ice and snow, now steaming as if they’d erupted from a geyser. A pale blue flame radiated before them, and Karmakara raced towards it, throwing her hands out to embrace it.
“Soulkin?” Amis questioned quietly.
“It is a word for family not of your blood,” Precession chimed in, unbothered as her body was once again frail and shaky under the tether of the moon. “Just like we are to one another, bonded by magic and kinship, not by biology.”
The group watched as the goddess Karmakara hugged a walking blue flame. The movement brought with it a slight extinguishing as a translucent, nude body formed underneath Karmakara’s arms.
Arryn saw Djoser take a few steps back, his fists tight and his eyes anxious at the figure's appearance.
Ayurveda began to close the distance between her body and Arryn’s, the ground blackening under every footstep.
“You were not called,” Djoser shouted boldly. “This is between us and our creators. You have not created intelligent life in either realm.”
Roksana gasped, her eyes looking horrified at Djoser’s abrasiveness.
“Fostering life as the sun is not the kind of creation I mean,” Djoser clarified as the translucent face made of blue flame broke out into a wicked smile.
“You don’t know of my contribution to your world?” Ayurveda’s deep, husky voice smoldered any soul within her vicinity. She held her hand up, letting fire erupt in her palm before shaping it. Arryn felt a wave of panic followed by a deep burning under his skin as he realized what figure had taken form: a miniaturized red-eyed, Vrae.
“I remember the day I set them free. They found another entrance into your Earth realm. They had actually found several . . . they feasted that day, a full-powered Kinnari child lost. So much for you and the Gifter’s perfect creations,” she purred while Karmakara stood regal, unaffected by the sun’s words.
“You sent in the Vrae that mutilated Tristan,” Djoser realized. Arryn could see the atoms gathering at Djoser’s palms rapidly, producing a black shadow following his fingertips. Arryn found himself running towards Djoser, his hands reaching to stop him. Djoser pushed his wings back violently to throw Arryn to the ground and beelined for Ayurveda.
A high-pitched song, the call to the Gifter, broke out across the peak once again. The ancient call came from Precession, who slumped into the melted snow, no longer able to stand between the moon tether and the song.
Djoser stopped in his tracks, and the shadow on his fingertips disappeared. He turned to face Precession, a look of regret and mourning lingering in his eyes. Arryn moved to catch up to him, panting from the brute force and adrenaline.
“He did not die. He was somehow reborn. It didn’t work,” Arryn said, making sure Djoser didn’t make any more sudden movements.
Arryn watched as disinterest dawned on Ayurveda's face, and she closed her palm, putting out the fire of the small Vrae figure that danced and provoked like a miniature devil.
“What were you planning on doing, dumbass?” Roksana’s pointed words were directed at Djoser.
Arryn wanted to know, too. Where was the pain and the anger coming from? Had they not all healed from the tragedies hundreds of thousands of years ago?
No, Djoser certainly had not.
“Your best-case scenario,” Precession said in a mere whisper, “is that you destroy the sun and leave both realms in utter darkness.”
“The death and the fear that the Vrae have caused,” Djoser growled, “seems like a better cause of war than what we came here for.”
“You came here for war?” Ayurveda's smile graced her face again.
“We know why you’ve come,” Karmakara mused behind her. “Reign, please step forward.”
All breathing stopped momentarily. Reign had been silent the entire time, and now, Arryn watched as she presented herself to the goddesses while struggling to hold her head high.
“Eliminating you serves no greater purpose other than imposing more fear of breaking universal rules set in place,” Karmakara began. “I had to weave new destinies and timelines for the entirety of your Earth realm due to what you revealed from traveling through time. That is not something I was too fond of doing.”
