Lahat ng Kabanata ng A Queen Among Gods: Kabanata 81 - Kabanata 90

~PRESENT~“Is Jartre alright?” I frantically ask, my final memory of that dagger aiming for Jartre filling my mind.Fretez gives me a compassionate look, “Depends on your definition of ‘alright’. The moment you died, your bond was broken and for any animai…that’s a pain worse than death, but for a God…I shudder to think.”I look around at the expansive white around us, surprised by how warm and welcoming this vast nothing is. “Where are we?”“This is the veil - a realm between the world of the living and the world of the dead. As Goddess of the Veil, this was always my domain; since my death, it is where I now reside. Welcoming and guiding souls as they cross over, waiting until the day you came along,” she says affectionately.I scrub my hands down my face, “Why is all of this happening? What I saw…I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. The hatred in Azadou, the anger and shame in Jartre…and then to see all those innocent people fighting something they can’t truly fight…what was

I’ve lived enough lives for every person on Earth a hundred times over. I’ve birthed planets, seen life begin and seen it end, but never have I shed a tear. Death is such an expected part of life that I feel no pain when it makes its inevitable appearance. I welcome it like an old friend and wish it well on its journey until we meet again. But watching Gabriella appear out of thin air as that shard of God’s blood pierced her human body, I now understand why humans weep for those they have lost.I feel tears swimming in my eyes as I look upon my oldest and dearest friend, holding the body of the woman he loves and has lost. I don’t need to feel his pain to know it’s inexplicable. I’ve never seen any being look so devastated, so bereft in all my years. I don’t understand what has just happened or how Gabriella even got here, but already I feel the light she brings to those around her vanishing from this Earth.“What a stupid thing to do,” I hear Azadu scoff.I look over at him in disgus

He holds his hands out in front of him, conjuring a giant ball of black energy and purple electricity. I watch as it draws darkness into itself, but then I notice where the energy is coming from. As I glance around to the barely recognisable field, I see the eyti getting pulled towards it. I don’t think he’s even aware of what he’s doing, but he’s using them to power up his attack, and that’s one thing I can’t let happen.I glance at Zarseti who gives me an encouraging nod. She told me to trust my instincts, and that’s what I’m going to do.I reach out through my mind, feeling for Merlos’ thoughts. Her eyes connect with mine when she senses the connection, quirking an eyebrow at me. 'Merlos, I need you to blind every mortal around us,' I say urgently through my mind.Her brows deepen in confusion for only a second when realisation fills her expression and her mouth quirks up into a smirk of approval. 'Now that, I can do.' With a disinterested wave of her hand, she fills the eyes of ev

“According to sources, the FBI is working with local law enforcement throughout the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho to get to the bottom of this sudden wave of unexplained disappearances. Conspiracy theorists are going wild on public forums suspecting everything from alien abductions to human trafficking. As for the real cause behind these disappearances, authorities still have no leads on the matter.”I take in a deep breath, guilt strangling me as the news shows more faces of people who have been reported missing since the eyti were released. I allowed this to happen. Those people aren’t missing. They’ve been pulled into an unfathomable dark abyss, infected by the eyti set free from their prison and fuelled by the malice that lives within every human.The TV turns off and I look over to see Jartre getting up from the couch and making his way out to the patio, anger and frustration radiating off him in waves, rippling against the radiating pure white of his essram, now spotted

As I look down into the bassinet, listening to the steady thumps of my precious baby girl, I lose count of how many emotions are running through me. My mum tried to brace me for how overwhelming having a baby is. She warned me that from one moment to the next I won’t know whether I want to laugh, scream or cry and she was right, but I still wasn’t prepared. However, the one thing she didn’t prepare me for was how to do this without her.Zara whimpers quietly in my mind as I look over at the framed picture by the television of my mum holding my daughter the day she was born, and I can feel the tears filling my eyes. She tried so hard to make herself look healthy and strong for her granddaughter that day. It’s such a beautiful, bittersweet photo. My mum’s radiant red hair almost cocooning my daughter, her thick black tufts a stark contrast against my mum’s red. Mum was so happy to meet her granddaughter and even though my daughter was fresh out of the womb, it’s like she knew what my mu