He smiled to himself. From the looks on the faces of the Voices, her arrival wasn’t part of their plan.
Auraya stopped abruptly, hovering above the White and the Voices. She wore an expression he had never seen before.
One of fury and hatred.
Watching from far above, the knots in Auraya’s stomach tightened as the White and Voices moved closer together. She could see Mirar walking with the Voices. She could see Companions and Servants following a hundred paces behind their leaders. She could see advisers, priests, priestesses and Dreamweavers following.
Can I do what the other immortals want me to do? If they wanted to kill Huan, I would give them all the help they asked for. But Chaia...
What of Chaia? He had tried to kill her.
Yet he had been so good to her in the past.
I suppose that makes his betrayal all the worse. If I had taken his bait, I would have died not knowing that he had turned on me.
And the other gods? They had done nothing to her.
And nothing to help me, either. I’ve seen them shift their alliance from Chaia to Huan to suit their whims.
And the Pentadrian gods? She knew nothing of them. But they had sent their people to invade Northern Ithania. They had ordered Nekaun to break his vow and chain her up under the Sanctuary.
Then something occurred to her.
They must die too. If the Circlian gods die, Northern Ithania will be vulnerable. The Pentadrians will invade again. There will be so much bloodshed.
If all the gods were killed this day... there would be no reason for a battle. She could prevent many, many deaths.
Except the gods’, of course. But that seems just. For so long they led us to believe they could provide life after death when in truth they just told us lies so we would obey them. Maybe it’s time they faced the same fate.
But what would the world be like without gods? Would mortals descend into chaos and barbarism without their guidance? Without a priesthood to nurture and guide the Gifted, would sorcerers abuse their power?
And this war isn’t barbaric? This isn’t the gods abusing power?
Ahead, the White slowed. They were within a hundred paces of the Voices now. The two groups finally stopped a dozen paces away from each other.
Where are the gods? She felt a jolt as she realized she couldn’t sense them, and stretched her senses out. Suddenly she did detect something - the Circle. They were flashing between the White and Voices so fast she would not have noticed unless she was watching for it. Puzzled by this behavior, she descended to be closer, and concentrated harder. Though she could not read the minds of the White or the Voices, she could still hear the gods’ voices.
Snatches of conversation reached her.
:... we never agreed to this.
She recognized Huan.
:But we did. We knew there would be elements we could not control, Chaia replied.
:Small things. Weather or disease. Not these cursed interfering immortals. You’ve encouraged them—
:I have never encouraged any of them.
:You didn’t get rid of him! You told Auraya we don’t take souls!
:I did not.
:Will you stop arguing. This was Lore. The best part of the game is about to begin.
A game? Auraya shook her head. What game? And why are they in the minds of both sides? How can the gods even enter the minds of the Voices? Surely the Pentadrian gods would stop that. And where are the Pentadrian gods?
The answer dawned on her then. It was so obvious she felt like a fool for not seeing it before.
The Circlian gods are the Pentadrian gods.
The truth set her body trembling with rage. They had all been duped. The White, the Voices, all mortals, everywhere. Chaia wasn’t pretending to be Sheyr when he appeared in the hall. He is Sheyr.
The gods were still arguing. Still stunned by the revelation, Auraya had to drag her mind back to the gods’ conversation.
:... not interesting! Huan spat. It’s not a fair match.
:The Wilds are a random element. That is exciting, Lore disagreed.
:I’m with Huan, Yranna interjected. We agreed on certain rules from the beginning. If one side wins because of the Wilds it won’t be a proper contest.
A suspicion was dawning on Auraya. She resisted it. The possibility was too appalling.
:We can’t do anything about it now, Chaia said. Let’s just enjoy the battle.
Auraya’s heart froze.
Enjoy the battle.
If Chaia hadn’t tried to kill her, she would never have believed he could say something like that. But he had, and she had overheard him. He hadn’t realized she was close by and listening to him and his fellow gods. She could hear their argument continuing. The word “game” repeated over and over. Each time her resistance to the truth broke down a little more. She looked at the Voices and the White. White-clad men and women. Black-clad men and women. Game pieces. The board was the whole world.
All we are to them is pieces of a game.
She propelled herself downward, aiming for a place just above the Voices and the White and the gods that buzzed around them like carrion birds.
When Auraya had descended from the sky, blue cloth swirling about her, Mirar’s heart had stopped. For a moment he was full of doubt. She was going to join the White. She would betray the immortals.
Now they would face each other in battle. Unlike him, she was willing to kill.
Then she stopped and hovered above them. The White and the Voices stared up at her.
Someone gave him a small nudge. He turned to look at Second Voice Imenja. Her expression was grim.
“I guess our deal’s off,” she murmured. “Go, if you wish. I will ensure he doesn’t stop you.”
He looked around. All of the Voices and the White seemed transfixed by Auraya. Catching a movement beyond the White, Mirar saw that Emerahl was striding forward, followed by a puzzled Arleej. Looking to one side, he saw Tamun peering over the edge of the road. He glanced to the other side and saw Surim duck out of sight.
Everyone is in place but me.
He backed away from the Voices. Nekaun turned to glare at him, but Imenja stepped forward to stand between them. Mirar hurried away, then turned. He looked up at Auraya.
She met his gaze and nodded.
“Now!” she cried.
Mirar drew in magic faster than he had ever needed to before.
Reivan gasped as a glowing sphere of light surrounded the White and the Voices. It was blindingly bright, too painful to look upon.
“What’s going on?” someone shouted. She recognized the Elai king’s deep voice.
“They’re attacking each other!” a Servant exclaimed. “Attack the enemy!”
“How? We can’t see them!”
“And they can’t see us,” Reivan found herself saying. “All we can do is protect ourselves and wait.”
To her surprise, the men and women around her quietened. Heart pounding, she covered her eyes and mouthed a prayer to the gods that Imenja was alive and unhurt.