Apparently, threatening gods was significantly easier than finding them.
I had tried both.
Neither was particularly effective.
I slammed another book shut.
Dust exploded into my face.
I coughed.
"Wonderful."
The book joined the growing pile on my left.
Useless.
Completely useless.
I reached for the next one.
Ritual Practices of the Northern Water Tribes.
Promising.
I opened it.
Funeral rites.
Blessings.
Marriage ceremonies.
A disturbingly detailed section about sacrificing fish.
I flipped faster.
Prayer.
Meditation.
Dream interpretation.
More fish.
Nothing about forcing an ancient deity to stop ignoring you.
I shut it.
Another book joined the pile.
The Water Kingdom archives were enormous.
Beautiful too, technically.
Three floors carved deep into the palace foundation, protected from moisture by some combination of Water magic and architecture I didn't understand.
Shelves stretched farther than I could see.
Scrolls.
Books.
Stone tablets.
Records dating back centuries.
And apparently not one useful sentence explaining how to kick down a spiritual door.
I leaned back in my chair.
"You're all very irritating."
Silence.
I looked upward.
"I mean you."
Nothing.
"Kagutsuchi?"
Nothing.
"Njord?"
Nothing.
"Gaia?"
Nothing.
I waited.
Then—
"Moon Goddess?"
Not even a flicker.
My eye twitched.
Cowards.
All four of them.
I had spent the better part of two days searching.
Not continuously.
Muir had insisted that humans required ridiculous things like food and sleep.
I'd informed him I wasn't entirely human anymore.
He'd threatened to have Revik physically remove me from the archives.
Revik had looked far too enthusiastic about the idea.
I'd eaten.
Mostly out of spite.
Then returned.
I pulled another book toward me.
The Veil Between Flesh and Spirit.
I froze.
Slowly...
I opened it.
Finally.
The first several pages discussed death.
Less promising.
Then dreams.
Visions.
Prophecy.
My finger followed the faded script.
The mortal and divine realms exist not as separate worlds, but as overlapping states...
I sat straighter.
Yes.
Those chosen by the gods may occasionally experience moments in which the veil thins...
Keep going.
Through prayer, fasting, ritual meditation—
"No."
I flipped the page.
More meditation.
Incense.
Seven days of fasting.
Absolutely not.
I skipped ahead.
Nothing.
I checked the index.
Doorways, spiritual.
My heart jumped.
Page four hundred twelve.
I nearly tore the book getting there.
There.
A heading.
Spiritual Doorways and Divine Communion.
"Finally."
I bent closer.
The doorway between mortal consciousness and divine presence cannot be opened by mortal will.
I stared at the sentence.
Read it again.
"No."
The book remained inconsiderately unchanged.
Divine communion occurs solely at the discretion of the deity. The worshipper may knock, but only the divine may open.
I sat back.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me."
A laugh came from somewhere behind the shelves.
I knew that laugh.
"Tadewi."
She appeared around the corner carrying a cup.
"Language."
"You're worried about my language?"
"No."
She took a drink.
"I simply enjoy irritating you."
"Excellent. Apparently everyone has found a hobby except me."
Her gaze travelled over the table.
Books covered nearly every inch.
Several scrolls hung over the backs of chairs.
I had parchment scattered across the floor.
Her eyebrows rose.
"I see you've been productive."
"I've learned seventeen ways to prepare a body for burial, nine meditation techniques, four forbidden Water rituals and enough about ceremonial fish sacrifice to concern me."
"Useful."
"Not remotely."
Tadewi approached.
I pushed the book toward her.
"This says I can't open the doorway."
She read the passage.
"It says mortals can't."
I stared.
She looked at me.
I looked back down at the page.
Then at her.
"Are you suggesting I technically qualify for an exception?"
"I'm suggesting books are written by people who like rules."
That sounded promising.
"And?"
"You have made a habit of breaking them."
Much better.
I sat forward.
"So there is a way."
"I didn't say that."
"Tadewi."
She sighed.
"I don't know."
My excitement died.
"But..."
There it was.
I narrowed my eyes.
"But?"
"The Water Kingdom's records are primarily concerned with Water traditions."
"I had noticed the fish."
"The Air tribes approached the gods differently."
My irritation disappeared.
"How?"
"We have always placed greater importance on the spirit."
She pulled out the chair across from me.
"Dreams. The soul. The boundary between the physical and whatever lies beyond it."
"Spiritual doorways."
"Possibly."
That one word was enough.
"Where?"
Tadewi didn't answer immediately.
My stomach sank.
"Where?"
"There were temples."
"Were?"
"Are."
"That sounded very much like past tense."
"Because getting to them is somewhat complicated."
Of course it was.
Nothing could simply be on a shelf.
"What kind of complicated?"
Tadewi took another maddeningly calm sip.
"The kind involving an occupied nation."
I went still.
Air.
The Air tribes.
Mortimer's dead.
My stomach tightened.
"Which temple?"
"The oldest records were kept at Aerie Temple."
"Your central temple?"
"One of them."
"And Mortimer controls it."
"We don't know."
I gave her a look.
She corrected herself.
"We don't know exactly what controls it."
Much better.
"Last reports before communication stopped placed the dead throughout the surrounding territory."
"How many?"
"Enough."
"That's not a number."
"It's the number I have."
I leaned back.
Wonderful.
"So the only place that might contain instructions for forcing a spiritual doorway open is inside territory occupied by an army of dead people."
"Yes."
"Naturally."
"I thought you'd appreciate the simplicity."
I stared at her.
She smiled.
I was beginning to understand where Revik got some of his worst habits.
Footsteps sounded somewhere beyond the shelves.
Fast.
Not archive-fast.
Emergency-fast.
Tadewi heard them too.
Her expression changed immediately.
Muir appeared around the corner.
Revik directly behind him.
Neither looked amused.
My stomach tightened.
"What happened?"
Muir held several folded reports.
"Council chamber."
That was all he said.
I stood.
---
Willow joined us before we reached the room.
Apparently Muir had already sent for her.
That wasn't reassuring.
The council chamber looked different without thirty people arguing inside it.
Quieter.
More dangerous.
Maps covered the table again.
Muir walked straight to the largest.
"Three reports arrived this morning."
He dropped the first onto the table.
"Fire cavalry moving south."
Second.
"Archers repositioned toward the border."
Third.
"Supply wagons using secondary routes."
My stomach dropped.
Raiden.
No.
Mortimer.
Revik leaned over the map.
"Numbers?"
"At least one hundred mounted confirmed. Scouts estimate more behind them."
"Infantry?"
"Moving in smaller groups."
Revik's expression hardened.
"Trying not to look like an army."
Muir nodded.
"Exactly."
Willow stepped closer.
"Where?"
Muir pointed.
One location.
Then another.
Then another.
I watched the pattern form.
A curve.
Slowly closing.
Revik saw it too.
"They're converging."
"Yes."
"On what?"
Muir moved his finger.
A small city.
I'd never heard of it.
The name meant nothing to me.
Apparently my expression showed it.
"Veyra," Muir said.
"Population?"
"Just under eight thousand."
"Military?"
"Small garrison. Mostly border watch."
"Strategic value?"
Muir looked at me.
"Almost none."
There.
My skin went cold.
Revik frowned.
"Trade?"
"Minor."
"Port?"
"River access. Nothing worth starting a war over."
"Resources?"
"No."
Willow stared at the map.
"Then why?"
Nobody answered.
I did.
"Me."
Four faces turned toward me.
Muir frowned.
"What?"
"It's me."
"Lyra—"
"Think about it."
I stepped closer.
"Mortimer takes Raiden."
The words still hurt.
I forced them out anyway.
"He returns to the Fire Kingdom wearing the prince's body."
Revik's jaw tightened.
"We don't know that's how he returned."
"I watched him disappear in shadows."
I looked at him.
"And Raiden wasn't awake inside the bond."
Silence.
"We know Mortimer can control him now."
I pointed toward the map.
"Then suddenly the Fire Kingdom starts moving soldiers toward a Water city that none of you can find a strategic reason to attack."
Muir's expression darkened.
"That doesn't prove you're the target."
"No."
I looked at him.
"But I'm not stupid."
"Nobody said you were."
"You're about to."
His mouth closed.
I continued.
"If Mortimer wanted territory, he'd choose something valuable."
I pointed toward the coast.
"A port."
Then inland.
"A fortress."
Another point.
"A trade route."
My finger returned to the little city.
"Instead, he's threatening civilians."
My stomach turned.
People.
Families.
Children.
Exactly the sort of thing I couldn't ignore.
And Mortimer knew it.
"He wants someone to respond."
Revik stared at the map.
"Water forces."
"Yes."
I shook my head.
"But not only Water forces."
Understanding crossed his face.
"Fuck."
Muir looked between us.
"What?"
Revik straightened.
"He wants her."
Silence.
Muir's eyes snapped toward me.
"No."
It came too quickly.
Too firmly.
Almost offended.
I raised an eyebrow.
"Very compelling argument."
"You aren't going anywhere near that city."
"Didn't say I was."
"Good."
"Yet."
"Lyra."
"I'm not walking into an obvious trap."
Muir exhaled.
"Thank the gods."
I glanced upward.
"Let's not thank them for anything at the moment."
Tadewi coughed into her hand.
Willow almost smiled.
Muir did not.
"He may be using Raiden."
That wiped away what little humor remained.
I looked at the map.
"I know."
"If Fire soldiers are moving under the prince's authority—"
"They probably think they're obeying Raiden."
"Exactly."
My throat tightened.
Somewhere, Raiden was inside his own body.
How much could he see?
How much did he know?
Was he awake?
Was Mortimer locking him away for minutes?
Hours?
Days?
I reached instinctively toward the bond.
There.
Faint.
Quiet.
Alive.
Raiden.
I didn't push.
I still didn't know what Mortimer could feel through him.
But the thread remained.
That had to be enough.
For now.
Muir planted both hands against the table.
"Whether this is a trap or not doesn't change what I have to do."
I looked at him.
"Veyra is Water territory."
King now.
Not Muir.
Not the man who teased me.
Not my friend.
A ruler.
"If Fire troops continue advancing, I have to treat it as an act of aggression."
Revik nodded.
"He's right."
Muir pointed toward several positions.
"We reinforce the city without making it look like we're preparing an invasion."
"Evacuate civilians?" Willow asked.
"Quietly."
Revik shook his head.
"Not all of them. If Fire scouts see eight thousand people suddenly fleeing, Mortimer knows we've spotted the movement."
Muir frowned.
"Children first."
"And anyone unable to fight."
"Agreed."
They were already doing it.
Pieces moving.
Routes.
Soldiers.
Supplies.
I watched Revik and Muir fall naturally into strategy.
Revik had spent years beside Raiden.
Muir had a kingdom to defend.
They could do this.
Muir looked toward Willow.
"We'll need Earth support if fighting reaches the walls."
Willow's head turned.
"No."
Muir blinked.
"No?"
"I'm not staying."
Revik looked up.
"You're not?"
"No."
Willow glanced at me.
"I'm going with Lyra."
Silence.
Muir slowly turned toward me.
"Going where?"
Ah.
Right.
That part.
Revik's eyes narrowed.
"Why do I suddenly dislike this conversation?"
"You dislike most conversations."
"Usually because they involve you making decisions I haven't heard about."
"I haven't technically made it yet."
Tadewi spoke.
"Yes, you have."
I glared at her.
She ignored me.
Muir looked between us.
"Where?"
I smiled.
"Air Nation."
His face went blank.
Revik's didn't.
His became immediately furious.
"No."
I blinked.
"Interesting. That's exactly what Muir said about the border city."
"Because apparently he's the only intelligent person left in this room."
Muir pointed at him.
"Thank you."
"Don't encourage him."
Revik stepped toward me.
"The Air Nation is occupied."
"I know."
"By Mortimer's dead."
"I know."
"Then why in every god's name would you go there?"
"Because apparently that's where people kept useful books."
Revik stared.
I shrugged.
"What?"
"Books."
"Old texts."
"You're going into an occupied nation for books."
"When you say it like that, it sounds unreasonable."
"It is unreasonable."
Tadewi stepped between us before Revik could begin properly shouting.
"The Air temples may contain records concerning spiritual passage."
Muir frowned.
"Spiritual passage?"
"Doorways," I said.
His confusion deepened.
"To the gods."
Now both men stared at me.
Revik spoke first.
"Absolutely not."
"You don't even know what I'm doing."
"You just said you intend to force your way into wherever gods live."
"See? You understand perfectly."
Willow covered her mouth.
Revik looked personally betrayed by her amusement.
Muir rubbed both hands over his face.
"Why?"
That took the humor out of me.
I looked at him.
"Because they know."
Silence.
"They know what Mortimer meant."
My fingers found a strand of white hair.
"It's the same."
I didn't need to say it aloud.
Everyone in this room knew those words now.
"They know what he recognized."
I released the strand.
"They know what happened between Light and Darkness."
Tadewi's story sat between us.
Incomplete.
Broken.
Missing the most important pieces.
"And they have decided not to tell me."
Muir's expression softened.
"Lyra—"
"No."
My voice remained quiet.
"I'm done asking."
Nobody interrupted.
"I have four connections."
I touched my chest.
"Fire."
A second finger.
"Water."
"Earth."
Then—
"Light."
Muir's eyes flickered at the last one.
He still wasn't used to that revelation.
Neither was I.
"They can hear me."
I knew that now.
"The Moon Goddess proved it."
Grief flashed through my memory.
Ancient.
Devastating.
Gone before I could understand it.
"They're choosing silence."
Revik frowned.
"And you think these texts can change that?"
"I think they might tell me how to open the doorway from my side."
"Which could also kill you."
"Possibly."
"Lyra."
"I'm joking."
His expression didn't change.
"Mostly."
"Not helping."
Tadewi stepped forward.
"I will be going with her."
Muir looked at her.
"Chief—"
"And so will Willow."
Willow nodded.
Muir looked genuinely stunned.
"You're taking the Earth Princess into an occupied Air territory."
Willow's eyebrow rose.
"No one is taking me anywhere."
"That's not what I—"
"And Lyra is the Primal Dragon."
"I am aware."
"And Tadewi is an Air dragon."
"Painfully aware."
I looked around at the three of us.
Me.
Willow.
Tadewi.
Then at Revik and Muir.
"Girls' trip."
Silence.
Willow snorted.
Tadewi closed her eyes.
Revik stared at me.
Muir looked as though I'd personally insulted every military strategist in history.
"What?"
I asked.
"Absolutely nothing about this qualifies as a girls' trip."
"Three women travelling together."
"Into occupied territory."
"Details."
"Filled with dead soldiers."
"You're really ruining the mood."
Willow finally laughed.
Even Tadewi's mouth twitched.
It lasted only a moment.
Then Tadewi looked toward the men.
"I know those mountains."
Her voice changed.
Leader again.
"I know the temple routes. The hidden passes. The old entrances."
She placed one hand over her staff.
"And the dead do not know every secret of the Air tribes."
Muir's jaw tightened.
"We don't know that."
"No."
"We don't know what Mortimer knows."
"No."
"Or what he's left there."
"No."
Tadewi stepped closer.
"But Lyra needs answers."
Her gaze shifted toward me.
"And if those answers still exist anywhere..."
"The temples," I finished.
She nodded.
Muir looked unconvinced.
Revik looked worse.
Willow stepped beside me.
"I'll protect her."
"I don't doubt that," Revik said.
"Good."
"But—"
"So will I."
Tadewi's voice cut through his.
She looked from Revik to Muir.
"We will protect Lyra with our lives."
My stomach tightened.
I immediately pointed at her.
"No."
Tadewi blinked.
"No?"
"Absolutely not."
"Lyra—"
"Nobody is dying for me."
Her expression softened.
"That wasn't what I meant."
"Then choose different words."
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then Tadewi inclined her head.
"Very well."
I exhaled.
"We protect each other."
Willow nodded.
"Agreed."
Tadewi smiled faintly.
"Agreed."
Better.
I turned toward Muir.
"You need Willow here."
"I do."
"But you need answers too."
His expression tightened.
"If Mortimer is moving Fire soldiers toward Water territory, I need armies."
"And you'll have them."
I looked at Revik.
"You know Fire tactics better than almost anyone outside their command."
He didn't argue.
"You know Raiden."
Something passed over his face.
Pain.
Brief.
Controlled.
"You know how he thinks. Which means you might be able to tell which parts of this plan belong to Mortimer and which parts are built from Raiden's knowledge."
Revik looked back at the map.
That landed.
Muir followed his gaze.
"I have generals."
"Good."
I stepped closer.
"And you have Revik."
Revik glanced at me.
"Was that almost a compliment?"
"Don't make me take it back."
"There she is."
I looked at Muir.
"I trust you."
That silenced him.
"I trust both of you."
My voice softened.
"Veyra needs you more than it needs me right now."
Muir's brow furrowed.
"That may change."
"I know."
"And if Fire attacks before you return?"
I looked down at the little city.
Mortimer's bait.
Because that was what it was.
I was certain.
"He won't."
Revik's eyes narrowed.
"You don't know that."
"No."
I touched the edge of the map.
"But if I'm right, he doesn't actually want Veyra."
"He wants you."
"Yes."
The word tasted bitter.
Muir straightened.
"Which is precisely why I don't like you disappearing into territory he controls."
"Neither do I."
That surprised him.
I smiled faintly.
"I said I'm not stupid. I didn't say I'm fearless."
My smile disappeared.
"But I need those gods to talk."
I looked inward.
Four doors.
Closed.
"For whatever reason, Mortimer looked at me and remembered something."
My fingers curled.
"And whatever he remembered scared four gods badly enough that they've decided silence is safer than telling me."
Nobody argued.
"That's not something I can ignore."
I looked at Revik.
"If we go into this blind, Mortimer keeps knowing more than we do."
Then Muir.
"And people die when your enemy knows the battlefield better than you."
He knew that.
They both did.
I straightened.
"So you two prepare Veyra."
Muir opened his mouth.
I kept going.
"Reinforce it without making Mortimer think we're taking the bait. Get the civilians out however you can. Figure out what those troop movements are actually building toward."
I looked at Tadewi.
"Meanwhile, we find the temple."
Willow nodded.
"Find the texts."
"And figure out how to open the doorway."
Tadewi's eyes sharpened.
"If such a method exists."
"It exists."
She raised an eyebrow.
"You sound certain."
I smiled.
"Because the gods clearly don't want me to find it."
Revik sighed.
"That is not evidence."
"It's excellent evidence."
"It absolutely is not."
"Agree to disagree."
Muir stared at me for several seconds.
Then—
"When do you leave?"
Revik turned.
"You're agreeing?"
Muir gave him a tired look.
"Have you discovered a method for stopping her?"
Revik considered.
"No."
"Neither have I."
"I am standing right here."
"We know."
Muir looked at Tadewi.
"How long?"
"If the winds cooperate, we can reach the outer Air territories before nightfall."
"And the temple?"
"Another day."
"Two days."
"Approximately."
Muir looked at me.
"You come back before Fire reaches that city."
"I will."
"Lyra."
"I will."
He searched my face.
I let him.
No joke.
No deflection.
Finally he nodded.
"Fine."
Revik muttered something unpleasant.
I turned toward him.
"What was that?"
"I said this is a terrible plan."
"You've said that about most of my plans."
"Because most of your plans are terrible."
"And yet I'm alive."
He looked at me.
I looked at him.
We both glanced toward the frozen guards still vaguely visible through the glass panel beside the doors.
Revik sighed.
"That proves nothing."
I smiled.
Then I hugged him.
He froze.
Completely.
Which was impressive for a man who had survived d