“Wait,” said Not-Elea. “I want all the Zaidi safely away first.”
Grumbling sounded from the small company of warriors, but the Sire spoke in such a thunderous voice, they quickly silenced. “The sacrifice is correct. You may go.” The Sire pointed to a nearby gateway, which flared with pale purple light. One by one, the Zaidi marched off the Meadow of Many Gateways. The younger version of Kila Kitu was last in line.
When the last of the Zaidi were gone, the executioner raised the Sword of Theodora. The blade seemed to move in agonizingly slow motion as it was brought down on Not-Elea’s neck. Another flash of purple light appeared, just as when not-Viktor was killed, only brighter. Not-Elea instantly fell over, dead. There were no marks on her body. She hadn’t even gasped, let alone screamed.
Somehow, that felt worse than how Not-Viktor died. At least, that was a real murder with agony and magick. This painless death seemed to mask the loss.
Beside me, Kila Kitu stirred. “I must end the vision now.” His voice shook with emotion.
He’d loved his Elea.
“Please,” I said. “I know this is hard for you, but I must see how the gateways take in magick.”
Kila Kitu nodded. In the scene before us, a gateway flared to life once more. The younger Kila Kitu rushed back out from the arch, his body bright with purple light and hybrid magick. I popped my hand over my mouth. What Kila Kitu could do with his hybrid power was just what I’d hoped for. His younger self had reactivated the gateway with ease.
The younger Kila Kitu raced toward the executioner, his speed enhanced by magick. Quick as a whip, the young Kila Kitu grabbed for the Sword of Theodora. At the same time, a cloud of purple mist enveloped them both. I’d seen that particular kind of swirling haze before. The younger Kila Kitu was casting a transport spell.
When the haze cleared away, the executioner was left standing alone on the meadow. The younger Kila Kitu had transported away. I stepped in for a closer look. Sure enough, the executioner now held only the blade of the Sword of Theodora.
I turned to the present-day version of Kila Kitu. “You only took the Sword’s hilt. Is that because the executioner held onto the blade?” Such things often happened with transport spells. If one part of an object was outside the sphere of the spell, it would get left behind. When it was a thing that got split into pieces, that wasn’t so terrible. It was only when human beings tried to join a transport in process that things got truly ugly.
“Yes, I was able to leave with the hilt. And my having it is what brought you to me.”
“And now you wish to keep your promise to your Elea.” I looked down at the ghostly version of my body. More blood dripped from my fingertips. Spots appeared in my vision. “And will you help me?”
“I do not yet know if you are worthy,” answered Kila Kitu.
My back teeth locked with frustration. Why didn’t Kila Kitu simply give me the hilt? Still, he hadn’t said he wouldn’t do so, only that he was unsure. There was still time to convince him, and I could be rather compelling when necessary.
In the scene before us, the Sire lifted the body of Not-Viktor. Meanwhile, the Lady did the same with Not-Elea. After that, the deities carried their burdens toward the nearest gateway. All the while, the executioner watched on silently.
My chest constricted, making it hard to breathe. The vision before me seemed too terrible to be real. Not-Elea and Not-Viktor were gone. This was like witnessing my own death.
The Sire and Lady set the lifeless bodies onto the thresholds of two nearby gateways. Instantly, the corpses of Not-Elea and Not-Viktor seemed to come to life once more. The pair convulsed on the threshold, their eyes wild and unseeing. Their Necromancer magick poured into their casting hands, making the bones there light up blue. It was something I’d done a thousand times.
Blue light arced from the dead mages’ palms, flowing directly into the gateway stones. In the sky, the Martyr’s Comet flared a brighter shade of red, casting a crimson glow over the scene. I’d read that the comet bathed the world in red light before it disappeared. Now, I understood why that was so important.
The blue power of the Necromancers mixed with the red energy from the comet, creating a violet colored brightness.
Hybrid magick.
These combined purple lights spread from one gateway to the next, until all the arches blazed with violet light. The long cracks in the earth sealed up before my eyes. The bodies of Not-Elea and Not-Viktor shone with purple light as well.
Then the comet disappeared from the night sky. The brightness that had illuminated Not-Elea and Not-Viktor faded too. As the light left the corpses, the bodies turned more translucent and ghost-like. Within a few seconds, they were completely gone.
For a long moment, the Sire and Lady stared at the spots where the bodies had recently been. The Sire was the first to break the quiet. “I don’t like this obsession with hybrid magick. It gets worse with every Elea.”
The Lady snapped her fingers. “I have it. Perhaps we should keep them apart next time. If they don’t know about each other, they can not work as a team.”
The Sire shook his head. “Those two always found each other if they’re in the mortal realm, no matter where we placed them. It’s like how souls always found us, even before there were gateways.”
“In that case, we shall raise the next Viktor with us in the Eternal Realms. We can then place the next Elea with the mortals. We can give her a godling to watch over her when the time comes. As long as she learns the ways of magick eventually, she’ll be a great conduit for the gateway.”
“Yes.” The Sire nodded. “A godling. Tristan would be a fine choice. No woman can resist him.”
“Agreed.”
I couldn’t believe what I’d just seen. The Sire and Lady just admitted that I’d been entrusted to Tristan. Now, I realized the truth. My so-called sacrifice was why I’d been saddled with Tristan’s cursed so long ago. It was all so I’d learn Necromancy. After so many years of practice, my body would then automatically channel magick to the gateways.
And it was all for the Sire and Lady.
My blood heated with anger. Where once I had worshipped these two, now I felt nothing but white-hot rage.
The Sire tapped his chin. “Yes, when the time is right, Tristan can force the next Elea to learn how to access her power.”
“But there’s a flaw in my plan.” The Lady sighed. “If the Viktor is raised with us, then he could suss out ways to generate hybrid power using the knowledge of the Eternal Lands. We can’t keep him from every library and archive.”