Sera's POV
The silver-eyed man takes another step into the room, and everyone moves at once.
Kael draws his sword. Cassian positions himself in front of me. Lyra grabs a knife from the table.
But the stranger just raises his hands peacefully. If I wanted to kill her, she'd already be dead.
Who are you? Kael demands, his blade pointed at the man's throat.
My name is Nyx Star fall. Those inhuman silver eyes lock onto me. I was human once, a hundred years ago. Then the gods 'blessed' me turned me into their weapon. I hunt people who defy prophecy. I've killed forty-three people over the last century. He pauses. Until I found you.
My mouth goes dry. What makes me different?
Because when I touched your mind to track you, I felt something I haven't felt in a hundred years. His voice drops to almost a whisper. Hope.
The golden lightning outside flashes again, brighter this time. The whole house shakes.
Nyx glances at the window. We don't have much time. The gods know I haven't killed you yet. They're coming to finish the job themselves.
Why should we believe you? Cassian asks. You just admitted you're their assassin.
Because I'm choosing to be human again. Nyx looks at each of us. The gods keep humanity enslaved through prophecy. They tell you it's divine love, divine order. It's not. It's control. Fear. If people knew they could choose their own paths, the gods would lose all power. He points at me. She's proof that free will exists. That's why they want her dead.
Thunder booms so loud that the windows crack.
They're almost here, Nyx says urgently. You need to get everyone underground. Now.
Kael makes a decision. He sheathes his sword and runs to the door, shouting orders. Everyone to the shelters! This is not a drill!
People start running outside, herding children toward what looks like a barn. Lyra grabs my arm. Come on!
But I can't move. I'm staring at the sky, watching it tear open like fabric.
Through the rip, I see them. The gods.
They're massive beings made of light and shadow and something else, something that makes my eyes hurt to look at. There are three of them, descending toward Sanctuary like falling stars.
Sera! Cassian pulls me toward the door. We have to go!
They'll destroy everything, I whisper. Everyone here is in danger because of me.
Then we fight, Kael says, appearing beside us with a bow and arrows. We've faced temple guards before. We can
You can't fight gods, Nyx interrupts. But she can.
Everyone looks at me.
I don't know how, I say, panic rising in my chest.
You broke prophecy chains, Nyx says. Prophecies are the gods' power made physical. If you can break the chains, you can break the gods' hold on this world.
The first god lands in the village square with a boom that knocks people off their feet. It's as tall as three houses, made of golden light that burns too bright to look at directly.
Its voice echoes inside my skull: SERA LUMINHART. YOU HAVE DEFIED DIVINE LAW. YOU WILL BE UNMADE.
I step outside. My legs shake, but I force myself to walk toward the square.
What are you doing? Cassian hisses, following me.
Keeping everyone else alive. I don't look back at him. This is my fight.
The god raises one massive hand. Golden light gathers in its palmthe same fate-magic the guards used, but a thousand times stronger.
I close my eyes and search for the silver power inside me. It's there, buried deep, waiting.
Please work, I think. Please.
The god fires.
Golden light screams toward me.
I throw up my hands
Silver light explodes from my palms, meeting the golden beam in mid-air. The two forces crash together with a sound like breaking glass. The impact throws me backward, but Cassian catches me.
I've got you, he says in my ear.
The god makes a sound like thunder mixed with anger. IMPOSSIBLE. A MORTAL CANNOT RESIST DIVINE POWER.
I'm not just mortal anymore, I say, finding my feet. I'm free.
I push forward with my silver power. The golden beam starts to bend backward, back toward the god.
The god actually steps back, confused.
That's when the other two gods land on either side of the first one.
My heart sinks. Three gods. How am I supposed to fight three?
THE VOID-BORN MUST BE DESTROYED, the second god says. SHE THREATENS THE SACRED ORDER.
ALL WHO SHELTER HER WILL SHARE HER FATE, adds the third.
Kael steps up beside me, bow raised. Then you'll have to go through all of us.
Lyra joins us, knife in hand. She's not alone.
More people emerge from the shelters men and women with weapons, with magic, with nothing but determination. Fifty people, maybe more. All standing between me and the gods.
We're all Void-Born now, says an old man with a scarred face. You can't kill us all.
The gods pause. They weren't expecting resistance.
Nyx moves to my other side. Silver light begins to glow around him the same power the gods gave him, turned against them. I choose her. I choose humanity. I reject you.
Something shifts in the air. The gods seem less solid somehow, like they're fading.
What's happening? I whisper to Nyx.
You're all choosing to defy them, he says. Free will is their weakness. Every person who chooses freedom over prophecy makes them weaker.
The first god raises both hands. THEN YOU WILL ALL DIE TOGETHER.
All three gods gather their power. The sky turns gold. The ground shakes. This isn't just an attack it's annihilation.
I feel the silver power inside me rising, but I know it's not enough. Not against three gods at once.
Then Cassian takes my hand. Use me. Use my power.
You don't have power, I say.
I have will. He squeezes my hand. Use it.
Kael takes my other hand. Mine too.
Lyra touches my shoulder. And mine.
One by one, every person in Sanctuary reaches out and touches someone else, creating a chain that leads back to me. I feel their will, their choice, their defiance flowing into me like a river.
The silver light around me grows brighter. Stronger. It spreads to everyone touching me, connecting us all.
The gods fire their combined attack.
I raise my hands, and fifty people raise theirs with me.
We meet the gods' power with our own.
The explosion is blinding.
When the light fades, I'm still standing. We're all still standing.
The gods are gone fled back through the tear in the sky.
We won.
Everyone starts cheering, hugging, crying with relief.
But I'm not celebrating. Because I can see something they can't.
My silver power is still active, showing me the truth. And what I see makes my blood turn cold.
Sera? Cassian notices my expression. What's wrong?
I point at Sanctuary's main gate.
Everyone turns to look.
Standing there, surrounded by a hundred temple guards, is High Prophet Maren. And beside her, chained and beaten, is my father.
But that's not what terrifies me.
Behind Maren stands my sister Maya, wearing a crown made of prophecy symbols. Her eyes glow gold the same gold as the gods.
Hello, sister, Maya calls out sweetly. Did you miss me? The gods made me an offer. Give them you, and I become their voice in the mortal realm. Their new prophet. She smiles. Funny how things work out.
Maren steps forward. You have one minute to surrender, Sera. Or your father dies, followed by everyone in this village.
I look at my father's broken face. At the hundred guards with weapons ready. At my sister who's chosen the gods over me.
Then I look at the people who just helped me fight gods. They're exhausted. Powerless. They can't fight again so soon.
Cassian leans close. We'll find another way. Don't surrender.
But there is no other way.
I take a step toward Maren.
Sera, no! Lyra grabs my arm.
I pull free gently. It's okay. I'm not surrendering.
Then what are you doing? Kael asks.
I smile not a happy smile, but a fierce one. I'm choosing.
I walk toward Maren and Maya, my hands raised.
But with each step, I'm gathering my silver power inside, hiding it, storing it. They think I'm giving up.
They have no idea I'm about to break every prophecy in the kingdom at once.
And there's no telling if I'll survive it.