Caelan's POV
Three days until the gods declare war.
The words echo in my mind as I watch Sera train in the courtyard. She's exhausted, barely standing, but she won't stop practicing.
Again! Corvus calls out, setting up another target.
Sera raises her shaking hands. Silver light flickers weakly, then dies.
I can't, she gasps. There's nothing left.
There has to be! Corvus insists. In three days, you'll face multiple gods. Not just one weakened Kyros, but four fully powered deities. If you can't maintain your energy
I said I can't! Sera screams. The silver light explodes outward in an uncontrolled wave, shattering every window in the courtyard.
She collapses to her knees, sobbing.
I'm at her side instantly, pulling her against my chest. Through our bond, I feel her terror, her exhaustion, her desperate fear that she won't be strong enough.
That's enough training for today, I tell Corvus firmly.
She needs to be ready
She needs to not collapse before the battle even starts! I snap. Push her any harder and you'll break her.
Corvus opens his mouth to argue, but Elara steps forward.
The prince is right. Rest is as important as training. She looks at Sera with kind eyes. Child, you can't pour from an empty cup. Rest tonight. We'll try something different tomorrow.
I carry Sera inside to her room. She's so light in my arms, so fragile despite her incredible power.
I'm sorry, she whispers against my chest. I'm not strong enough. I'm going to let everyone down.
You could never let anyone down. I set her gently on the bed. You're the strongest person I know.
I destroyed one god and broke a barrier. Now I have to face four gods at once. Her voice cracks. How am I supposed to do that?
You're not doing it alone. I kneel beside the bed. I'll be there. Kael will be there. Corvus, your father, the entire rebellion we're all fighting with you.
But the prophecy
There is no prophecy anymore. You broke that system, remember? I take her hand. Whatever happens in three days, we write our own ending.
Sera looks at me with those silver eyes that haunt my dreams. Why do you have so much faith in me?
Because you taught me what freedom feels like. I brush hair from her face. Before you, I was just a weapon. Now I'm a person who gets to choose. And I choose to believe in you.
She pulls me closer and kisses me. It's soft and desperate and tastes like tears.
Stay with me tonight, she whispers. I don't want to be alone.
Always.
I climb onto the bed beside her, and she curls into my arms. Within minutes, her breathing evens out as sleep takes her.
But I can't sleep. I'm too busy thinking about the impossible task ahead.
Four gods. The remaining deities who watched Kyros fall and decided they needed to personally destroy the threat Sera poses.
We're going to die.
Unless we find a way to even the odds.
I carefully extract myself from Sera's embrace and slip out of the room. I find Corvus and Elara in the library, surrounded by ancient texts.
Can't sleep either? Corvus asks without looking up.
We need a better plan than hoping Sera's power is enough, I say bluntly. What aren't you telling us?
Elara and Corvus exchange a look.
There might be a way to amplify Sera's abilities, Elara admits. But it's dangerous.
More dangerous than facing four gods?
Potentially. Corvus pulls out a black leather book covered in warning symbols. There's an ancient ritual called the Convergence. It allows a Fate weaver to temporarily channel the power of everyone bonded to her.
My heart skips. I'm bonded to her through blood. Could she channel my strength?
Yes. But it's more than that. Elara's expression is grave. The ritual would allow Sera to draw on the life force of everyone who willingly offers themselves. Their strength, their magic, their very essence all flowing into her.
That sounds perfect. Why is it dangerous?
Because if Sera loses control, she doesn't just drain power she drains lives. Everyone connected to her would die. Corvus closes the book. It's a last resort. A suicide technique that's killed more Fate weavers than it's saved.
Does Sera know about this?
Not yet, Elara says quietly. I was hoping we wouldn't need it.
Tell her, I demand. She deserves to know all her options.
The ritual requires willing participants, Corvus warns. People who know they might die and choose to offer themselves anyway. Could you ask that of the rebels? Of her father?
I'd offer myself in a heartbeat.
We know, Elara says gently. You're already bonded. You'd be the first person the ritual pulls from. If it goes wrong, you die first.
I don't hesitate. I don't care. If it gives Sera a chance to survive, I'll pay any price.
The next morning, we gather everyone in the throne room my father's throne room, though it feels strange calling it that now. Sera sits in the actual throne, looking uncomfortable with the authority it represents.
We have three days, I tell the assembled group. Rebels, former guards, citizens who've chosen to fight maybe two hundred people total. The gods are coming. And we need to decide how we're going to face them.
Elara explains the Convergence ritual. The risks. The potential.
You're asking us to possibly die? someone calls out.
I'm asking you to help me give Sera the best chance to save all of us, I respond. But it has to be your choice. No one will be forced.
Silence falls over the room.
Then my father stands. I'll do it. I've spent too many years serving divine tyranny. If my death helps end it, that's a worthy end.
Papa, no Sera starts to protest.
I'm doing this, little one, he says firmly. I lost twenty years with you because of the gods. I won't lose you again.
One by one, people stand. Rebels who've lost families to prophecy. Citizens who've watched loved ones die for divine whims. Even some former royal guards, tired of serving cruel queens and capricious gods.
Within an hour, over a hundred people have volunteered.
Sera is crying openly. I can't ask this of you. Any of you.
You're not asking, Kael says, stepping forward. I didn't even know he'd returned. We're offering. There's a difference.
He looks at me, and for once, there's no hostility in his eyes. Just understanding.
Take care of her, he tells me quietly. If I don't make it through this.
You'll make it, I say.
Maybe. Maybe not. Kael turns to Sera. But either way, you were worth fighting for.
The next two days blur together in preparation. Elara and Corvus teach Sera the ritual. I train with the rebels, preparing for battle. My father helps evacuate civilians to safe locations.
We all know most of us won't survive this.
But no one backs down.
The night before the battle, Sera finds me on the palace balcony. The sky is already darkening with divine power gathering for tomorrow's assault.
I'm scared, she admits, leaning against the railing beside me.
Me too.
What if I lose control during the ritual? What if I kill everyone trying to save them?
Then we die free, I say simply. Better than living as slaves to divine will.
Sera takes my hand. Through our bond, I feel her love, her fear, her determination.
No matter what happens tomorrow, she says, thank you for choosing me.
Thank you for teaching me I could choose.
We stand together in the darkness, watching the storm gather.
Tomorrow, we face the gods.
Tomorrow, we probably die.
But tonight, we're free.
Dawn breaks too soon.
The four remaining gods descend from the sky in pillars of coloured light gold, red, blue, and green. Each one representing a different domain: War, Death, Magic, Nature.
They're not alone.
Behind them march an army of divine servants. Hundreds of them, blessed with god-power.
Ready? I ask Sera.
She stands in the center of the ritual circle Elara drew. The hundred volunteers surround her in a ring, hands joined.
Ready, she says, though her voice shakes.
Elara begins the chant. Ancient words that make the air shimmer.
The volunteers start glowing their life force flowing toward Sera through invisible connections.
Sera gasps as power floods into her. Her silver light intensifies, growing brighter, stronger.
But I can see the strain on her face. So much energy, so many people she's struggling to control it.
Hold on! Elara shouts. Just a few more seconds
One of the gods Death herself laughs. Her voice is cold and terrible.
You think your little ritual will save you? How precious. She raises her hand, and black energy crackles. Let me show you what real power looks like.
Death unleashes her attack directly at the ritual circle.
The black energy slams into the barrier Corvus erected. The shield holds for three seconds.
Then it shatters.
NO! I scream, throwing myself in front of Sera.
The death magic hits me square in the chest.
Pain explodes through every nerve. I can feel my life being ripped away, my soul being torn from my body.
Through our bond, Sera feels it too. She screams.
And something inside her breaks.
The Convergence ritual spirals out of control. Instead of a controlled flow, it becomes a flood. Power rips from every volunteer simultaneously, pouring into Sera in a massive, unstoppable wave.
The silver light erupting from her body is so bright it turns night into day.
Sera! I try to reach for her, but I can't move. The death magic has me paralyzed.
I'm dying.
Through fading vision, I see Sera transform. The silver light consumes her completely, lifting her off the ground. She's become pure energy, pure power, pure rage.
YOU HURT HIM! Her voice echoes with the power of a hundred souls. YOU TRIED TO KILL THE ONE PERSON I LOVE!
She turns that terrible gaze on the Death Goddess.
Now you face the consequences.
Sera unleashes everything.