Total pages in book: 248
Estimated words: 236909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1185(@200wpm)___ 948(@250wpm)___ 790(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1185(@200wpm)___ 948(@250wpm)___ 790(@300wpm)
I took a shallow breath. “I…I would like to know what your prior plans were.”
Nyktos remained silent.
Clamping my jaw shut until I thought my molars might actually crack, I ignored the sting of disappointment I felt.
“You were right, you know?” he said, breaking the silence. I had no idea what I was right about. “The day you asked me if I’d accepted this way of life. I haven’t. From the moment I Ascended, I’ve searched for a way to destroy Kolis. To weaken him enough that he could be entombed. As you already know, I couldn’t find anything.”
It could’ve been the surprise flickering through me that prevented me from making the same mistake I did before by pointing out that he had. “Is that why you have an army?”
“It is why I began to build one.” He was quiet again for several moments. “Are you at all familiar with war, Sera?”
“Lasania has been on the verge of war more than a few times, usually with the Vodina Isles, but there were other kingdoms that thought to exploit us as the Rot started to spread,” I said. “Even if I wasn’t party to the conversations between my mother and the King, I always knew when we were on the precipice again. The armies would intensify their training, there were drafts of those of age, and all was done to ensure the soldiers were as well-fed as the nobles.”
“But your kingdom never went to war.”
“Not during my lifetime, thankfully.” A rattle of dry branches drew my attention to the woods. I stiffened at the sight of a large, onyx-hued draken gliding over the dead trees.
“Ehthawn,” Nyktos observed. “He must’ve been near and saw us leave. He’s just keeping an eye on us.”
I nodded, relaxing.
“There have been times when Primals have fought over one offense or another,” Nyktos continued. “In the end, they are left standing while thousands fall. And all because one felt insulted. But those skirmishes were never wars. If I were to go to war with Kolis, it would be a war of Primals, and it would spill into the mortal realm. Hundreds of thousands would die, if not more.”
My skin chilled.
“But then I found you.”
I tilted my head back to look at him. “You didn’t find me. Your father basically…gave me to you.”
“That’s one way to look at it.” He shifted, his arm tightening around my waist, drawing my back flush to his chest. I faced forward, unsure if he was even aware of the act. “Up until the moment I learned that you carried the embers in you, I had no hope of avoiding such a war. It seemed inevitable. Not only because of what Kolis has wrought upon the Shadowlands, but because, eventually, he will turn his sights on the mortal realm. He’s already started.”
The back of my neck tingled as we finally passed the length of the Rise and a sea of untouched, crimson trees rose along the road.
“Kolis believes all mortals should be in service to the Primals and gods. That their lives should be dedicated to appeasing the whims of those more evolved than they are,” he continued, and my stomach tightened. “That those who do not worship the Primals with dedication and respect should be punished. He has already ordered the Primals and gods to punish mortals more harshly, even for the simplest indiscretions. You may not have seen this play out in your kingdom yet, or were simply unaware, but failure to even bow before a statue of a Primal could result in death in other places.”
I jerked in shock.
“While I do not relish the idea of wreaking the kind of havoc a war among Primals would cause, war seemed, as I said, inevitable.”
“Until me?” Weight settled on my chest, and I forced myself to take a deep, even breath. “Your plan. You think it will avoid a war if it works?”
“My plan will work,” he corrected. “Once I have the embers, Kolis will be stripped of his glory as the King of Gods. That alone will weaken him, but it might not be enough to entomb him. He won’t go down easily. He will fight.”
“And the other Primals?” I could now see the damage the draken had left behind in the Red Woods. Empty areas where trees once rose to the sky. “What will they do?”
“Some may opt to remain neutral.”
My lips peeled back. “That’s bullshit.”
Nyktos chuckled at my curse. “It is, but Kolis will have his loyalists. Not just his gods but Courts that have been able to rule with little to no order, able to do whatever they want to whomever they want, with their only concern being that of avoiding Kolis’s ire. Primals who enjoy the way it is now and would not like to return to how it was when my father ruled.”