Page 56 of Beneath the Veil of Tides
Noctis’s head dropped, and his pain somehow ached through my own blood.
“There are trials. I will complete them. The ultimate test of character, right?” I questioned from the god’s side. If I could pass the trials that tested my character, maybe then they would see that his decision was worthy—thathewas worthy. That his descension towardmewas worthy.
The men hesitated, caught off guard by my rash interruption. Their eyes each roamed from me and back toNoctis as if measuring my merit to their worshipped god. I understood their hesitation. Understood the pain and fear that accompanied his banishing when he descended on his own free will.
But I also understood Noctis. The god who left his people to follow something for himself after decades of brutality, leaving behind enough power to protect. The god who would die for his people and even those in other Bounds.
“You are ruled against participating in the Maerjko trials,” Finnegan declared, his chest puffed.
Noctis’s gaze shot upward, anger replacing the guilt across his face. His nose upturned as he seethed, “Who ruled against her?”
“Us.” The words spilled from the man without any hesitation.
“Finnegan,” the god seethed. “Anyone who rules against her, rules against me.”
“Then so be it,” Bru spat.
Absolutely not.
“Are you afraid I will complete the challenges? That my character will be just, and you will be forced to forgive the god who finally chose himself for once?” I jumped in, afraid the taunting was near pushing Noctis past his limits.
“There will be no forgiveness,” Finnegan murmured, his expression tight with barely concealed pain.
“Tell me—what happens if I am good? If I mean well for the god that ensures your Bound lives in peace? The Bounds below are in peril, and they need that trident piece to survive. Are you going to keep it locked away over a grudge? Let thousands of innocents die? Let’s truly talk about a test of character.” I felt the burning rage seeping into every vein of my body as I awaited a response.
The council stood still, their shoulders barely lifting as they shallowly breathed. The silence scraped against me as Istudied the males, their eyes snapping from color to a dead, empty white. Then, they appeared back to normal instantly.
“No mortal deserves to speak about our character. Your two trials will be back-to-back as written in law by the council beforeyou. They will begin now.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The realm flashed white and then eerily dissipated, leaving behind only a night sky and a chasm of nothingness. Lightning split the darkness, crackling in white illuminated vines against the cool night. I startled, stumbling backward as the rolling thunder boomed behind the electric jolts. Strike after strike bolted the cloudy ground, only allowing me to barely make out my surroundings as chunks of stone erupted at the collisions.
I am alone.
The sun that kissed my skin mere seconds ago had vanished, its light dancing on the other side of the realm. Space and time had moved without warning—along with the council. And Noctis.
Something shifted ahead, and I tensed, unsheathing my daggers. The land cracked into masses, suspending midair. Surrounding the chunks of cloud-covered ground was a deadly plunge back to the Terraguard Bound. The shards of land glided across the night sky with meters gaping between them, hovering effortlessly. They moved by an unseen force in unidentifiable patterns.
Finnegan’s voice filled the air, low and resonant, though I could not see him, as if he lingered just beyond sight, watching from the shadows. I couldn’t see anything except the shifting, floating land segments ahead.
“Get to the end first, mortal. Such a relic is reserved for those who have proven their strength.”
A shoulder rammed into my back, sending me tumbling through the low hanging clouds across the dirt. When I stopped, my head lolled over the edge of the piece of land I stood upon.
Would I die before my body crashed into the Bound below, the drop stopping my heart?
“Out of the way, or I’ll push you over,” a female growled, voice dripping venom as she stalked toward me.
Lightning crashed beside her, and I fumbled upright away from the ledge. Surges lit the sky, revealing the woman who approached, stalking forward like a predator assessing its prey. Her straight auburn hair fell across her face, shaved around the nape of her neck and ears. Scars littered her bronzed skin, and for a second, pity settled low into my stomach—for the anger the woman held for a complete stranger and the life she must have endured to distrust people so easily. But it was quickly overwhelmed in creeping dread that clawed at my chest, leaving me unable to move or speak.
The woman launched herself over me, feet nearly clipping my scalp. She jumped from one platform to the next effortlessly, blades strapped across her body—her thighs, back, waist. The lightning surges glinted off the metal, momentarily blinding me in the flashes.
I’ll lose if I don’t go now.I sprang to my feet in a burst of frantic determination.
The only way to win was by surpassing the woman and crossing the end first, but my eyes could not make out the shifting platforms well enough to feel confident in the leaps. Cracks of light filtered into my vision, offering only slight visibility, and then, I jumped.
My feet planted on the gliding square of land, and I took off running to the ledge of the next as the sky lit the path.
