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The impacts shake the earth beneath my feet, but I stand my ground. “I didn’t agree to kill Lark. I agreed to be your champion. Big difference.”

“There is no difference!” The god jets forward, his form expanding to loom over me like a tsunami. “The challenge has been issued. Champion against champion. To refuse is to forfeit, and forfeiting means you and everyone you love will pay the price.”

A humorless laugh scrapes my throat. “So you threaten me? That’s how gods maintain loyalty these days?” Another wave approaches, but I’m not in the godsdamned mood and shove the water back. Foam splatters the ground around my boots.

“Not a threat. A reality. Let me make something crystal clear.” Rivlan’s form morphs and shrinks, his skin rippling like a stream. “If you go back on our agreement, Tirene ceases to exist.”

My heart assaults my ribs. “You can’t do that.”

“Can’t I?” Rivlan circles me like a predator, and as with any predator, I keep a wary eye on his movements. “You know what your kingdom is built on?”

“Lies?” I spit out the word through gritted teeth.

“Funny.” The god’s hollow laugh rumbles like water in a cave. “An island surrounded by water.”

My hands twitch impatiently. “Thank you for that informative geography lesson.”

Rivan shoots me a warning glare. “I own water. I am water.”

Cold terror stabs me. Not for myself, but for Lark. For Agnar. For Rose. For Leesa and Bastian and all the other innocents in my kingdom.

The soldier in me demands I destroy this threat, but the military also taught me when to retreat and strategize. Impulsively launching into an unwinnable battle does no one any good.

Wrestling my emotions under control, I straighten my posture and meet the god’s eyes. “What are you saying?”

“If you do not fight as my champion, I will submerge your island nation into the sea so deep it won’t even be recalled in the annals. It will be as if Tirene never existed.”

This motherfucker. Only years of practice allow me to cling to the last shreds of my control. “Why would you do that?”

“Do you not understand?” Rivlan’s volume increases as he shifts closer. “However grotesque you found Narc’s plans, they are nothing compared to what some of the gods have in store for mortals.”

A red haze fogs my vision. “Oh, I understand perfectly. But if you think I’ll choose my kingdom, the world, over the woman I love, think again. You may believe I’m a good man who’ll choose the higher moral ground, but screw that. I’ll watch the kingdom sink to the depths of the ocean and the whole world burn to ash before I lift a single hand against Lark.”

Not again. Never again.

“You’re angry, and I don’t blame you, but consider the consequences. The bigger picture.” Sorrow flickers across Rivlan’s face before vanishing. “Your hatchlings? All your dragons? Dead. Even the wild ones. Power? Another distraction. Trust me, Zeru will find a way to destroy every trace of mortal magic. The gods will steal everything from you, leaving humans worse than puppets.”

His form steams as mist rises from the ocean.

A gigantic wave barrels for the cliff. I brace myself, spreading my legs and planting my boots on the wet stone. My wings flare instinctively for balance.

Rivlan drifts closer still, speaking in a low whisper that somehow carries over the roar of the sea. “Know this. They plan to turn all humans into their livestock. To kill, breed, sacrifice, and use as their whims dictate.”

The image sickens my stomach and almost causes me to stagger.

My people reduced to cattle for celestial amusement. Lark, who fought so hard to be queen, stripped of her agency. Any children we create together born into divine slavery.

My fingertips boil with the force of gathering power. I curl them into fists at my sides.

“Do you truly not understand?” Rivlan presses. “Do you not remember what I said? Guardians aren’t gods, but neither are they humans. A guardian ranks somewhere in-between. Why do you think you’ve gained such power?” He gestures at the sea below, which continues responding to my emotional state despite my lack of conscious direction. “You’ve used magic your whole life yet couldn’t do half the things you can now. And you will only get better.”

Halfway to a god? What in the three hells does that even mean?

Rivlan isn’t finished. “Refuse, and everything you cherish, everything you love, will be lost. Lose, and it will be the same. You will simply not be here to listen to the cries of the dying. Do you truly care for humanity so little that you’d turn your back on them to save Lark?”

I peer out over the churning sea. The choice before me is no choice at all.

Either way, I lose what matters most. “The options you’re offering are shit.”