Page 157
I shake my head. “They’re not entirely immortal, remember? Narc’s dead. He was mid-resurrection when I incinerated him after my blood dripped on his remains.”
Pride gleams in Sterling’s eyes. “And that was before you improved upon your strength with the guardian training.”
“So what you’re saying,” Agnar’s blue eyes glow with maniacal glee, “is that we might actually stand a chance against them.”
“Sterling is stronger than ever. I am too. We might only be six mortals standing against gods, but together we’re more powerful than any of them want us to know. That’s why Zeru attacked. He’s afraid of what we might become if we fully merge our elements.”
Sterling nods, his expression shifting into a grim mask of resolve. “Five mortals and one guardian. A person who is halfway between the gods and humans.”
There’s a brief silence as we all absorb this. Sterling has never fully claimed this identity before, this liminal state between mortal and divine. It changes things, knowing one of our own straddles that boundary.
Agnar throws back his head and laughs. A sound of pure, reckless defiance that rings out across the arena floor. “I like our odds, brother.” He claps Sterling on the shoulder.
A sharp crack splits the air.
The earthen wall Agnar created shatters, spewing chunks of compacted soil.
From the stands, Zeru glares. His form expands to become vaster than the stars. More remote. Almost too alien for human minds to comprehend.
“Once again, mortals fail to understand.” His voice is no longer a single sound but a convergence of pitches that make my teeth ache and my bones vibrate. The air around him bends and warps, our realm struggling to contain his rage. “The covenant is clear. Champions will fight, one way or another.”
As he speaks, the other gods begin to vacate their seats. They don’t walk or fly.
They simply cease to be in one place and appear in another, materializing in front of us in a loose arc.
Valk, Goddess of War, lands with the cry of thousands of ravens, which suddenly fill the air above the field. Gone is the thin woman who sat quietly in the stands. Now she’s a veritable mountain, her strength obvious even with much of her body covered in metal armor.
When Hallr lurches forward, the ground trembles in response to his presence. Terro joins him, the God of Earth a formidable force draped in moss-colored robes that end at the knee. Thick leather bracers cover his muscular arms.
Nyc, a vast pillar of darkness, stands silent. If she’s moving, I can’t tell.
In sharp contrast, the flames wreathing Ziva snap and crackle with eagerness.
The air shimmers, making me think Gallera, Goddess of Air, is somewhere among them as well.
Others join their side of the field, gods whose names I know from childhood prayers and myths, their true forms far more terrible than any statue or painting could depict.
Above us, the air flickers and tears. From behind the swirling energy, creatures begin to manifest. Twisted amalgamations of light and star-filled skies. Creatures from the heavens or below. Some I have no name for.
One, a twisting, shadowy, smoky…thing, reminds me way too much of the drachen.
Others are known sacred animals to the gods, like the ravens are to Valk. Sylphs, cave cats, golems, what appears to be an entire family of pangolins, and stallions with spear-like horns and sharp fangs.
Too many nightmarish creatures to count.
The sea on the far side of the arena heaves as tentacles as wide as barrels lift from the water.
Above the ravens, the sky darkens and clouds form. In response, angry eyes glare down on us.
As if fighting a bunch of pissed off gods wasn’t enough.
In the stands, the crowd erupts in aghast screams as the cosmic horror streaks toward us. Tendrils whip out, scarring the field. An opening forms in the blob, and a hissing roar echoes out. My lungs shake while a wave of nausea ripples through me.
Agnar twirls a finger, forming a massive ball of muddy earth and hurling it down the monster’s throat. “Oh, shut your yap!”
And just like that, the first colossal creature is defeated.
Choking on the mud or pinned into place by the weight of it.
