He laughed. “In that case, you may ask one question before proceeding. You may not ask what is behind the door, but if there are any answers you seek within the mortal realm, ask now.”
One question? None of the Divine Allura had explained this part. She would have liked more time to think about such an opportunity.
He kneeled down and gathered his tools, then started walking toward the house.
She followed.
Ures, the beloved War God—all the pictures had depicted him as mighty and ruthless, fully encased in golden armor with the ability to wield an arsenal of weaponry. Yet here he was in clothes no better than the servants’ within Oakmire. He was nothing like she expected him to be.
He stopped in his tracks. “You have thought of your question.”
She blinked at him. Of course he knew when she decided.
“What happened... back then. Why do the Hell Gods hate us so much?”
He regarded her in that affectionate way.
“It was my fault, I suppose,” he mused. “Valhoor was my friend—death and war have always existed together. He and Fessa had found each other first, but she was my bonded. My disbelief and doubt didn’t allow me to realize it until he had fallen in love with her.”
“Your bonded?” she asked.
“It was Brahm’s doing. A way to keep us closely connected to our creations. All gods have one—only one. A mortal that calls to our very soul. One that possesses the traits we lack, the traits we need. They make us whole. It is an inner plea that begs you to be everything they need. Not all of us discovered ours in the time we roamed your realm. The ones who did will tell you it is a powerful thing. An irrefutable connection.”
Bonded, a fated partnership between god and mortal.
“I had no control over it. Valhoor raged at Brahm, threatening him, demanding he undo it, make Fessahisbonded. Brahm was never the type to undo his works. The connection had been made. She was mine, and I was hers.”
Helaina felt something deep in her chest that she couldn’t explain.
Ures brushed through his thick beard as he recalled his memories. “Valhoor went mad, killing many of Brahm’s creations. He was a dark bringer. Letting his shadow cast throughout all that Brahm had worked so hard to build. Everything we had worked so hard to maintain. And he took a new lover to satiate his jealous grief... the goddess Drayella.”
Helaina’s legs became unsteady.
“They both went against everything we had set in motion. Lying together though it was forbidden, out of contempt for the rest of us. Drayella always hated this realm, how her creatures were considered less than Brahm’s, less than her sister Adonna’s. She was more than happy to aid Valhoor’s cause.” Ures released a deep exhale. “So we did the only thing we could think of. We banished two of our own, trapping them alone in their individual realms with no way of seeking us out, or our mortal creations.” There was pain in those golden eyes, maybe even a hint of betrayal.
“But before we could unite our powers and send them away, Valhoor sought his revenge. ‘A soul eclipsed in moonlight,’ he said the day he came for her. Fessa’s day of birth was on the solar eclipse, you see. It’s why he named it as his own day of praise and celebration. He wanted her to feel guilt, knowing that the cursed soul he placed in my bloodline would help them return and destroy the mortals we loved so dearly. He wanted her to think it was her fault for abandoning him.”
Helaina was certain this could never happen. Even if Drayella and Valhoor both got their hands on her, she would never destroy, never fight for them.
“Accept who you are, Helaina. The curse, the guilt, the failures. Stop trying to run from the darkest parts, stop pretending they don’t exist.” He approached her and placed his hand over her heart. “Our darkest times birth our greatest strengths.”
He broke the contact and walked up the small wooden steps to the front porch of the house. He took his rest on a wooden rocking chair, lazily rocking back and forth. Waiting for her next word. Her next move.
She paused at the base of the steps, pondering the answer to her question and the advice he offered.
“May I ask one more question?”
He nodded without argument. “I suppose the bearer of my bloodline’s curse is owed more than one truth.”
“What was it like? To be with her.” She had to know who this mortal was that stole the hearts of not one but two gods. She had to know how the love of a bonded could be worth such a price.
A twinge of pain struck those eyes. He took a deep, contemplative breath. “I would endure a thousand deaths, over and over until the end of time, in exchange for one more day with her.”
Helaina’s heart cracked. She brought her hand to her chest in an attempt to ease it.
“Can you not visit her?” Surely the powerful gods they worshipped had the power to connect with those in the ether.
He shook his head. “There are rules even a god cannot break. And there are many rules when it comes to the living, the eternal... and the dead. I had her in her mortal life. Until her ebony waves turned gray. Until I lay beside her as she took her final breath. I had her then; I cannot have her in death.”
