Page 204 of The Gods Order

“Please,” I sob. “Please let this be enough.”

My chest rattles as I take a deep breath.

A desperate, agonizing command leaves me.

“Create.”

I shove out every ounce of power I have in me. The pulse sends a shockwave across the meadow that I feel down to my toes.

My heart pounds so hard as my Creation settles back beneath my skin that I nearly miss it…

Miss the heartbeat in my hands. A tiny flutter brushes against my palm.

Then another.

“Get out of the water, Thayla. Bring us the Vedarya,” Seismet commands frantically, and my attention jerks to him.

What…What is the whole herd doing? When did they even get here?

A splash has me snapping my focus back the other way, and my gaze widens as my father rushes to me.

“You must listen to them, Thayla,” he says as he grabs my shoulders and turns me toward the built-in steps.

“What is happening?”

No one answers me as my father picks me up and sprints toward the Veilatara. They stop their circling run just enough to let us slip through. My confusion grows and worry sinks deeper beneath my skin as the little creatures in my hands hoot eagerly in my mind. One sound is so deep, ancient. The other, soft, feminine.

“What is happening?” I ask again.

“Right there, Valthaneus. Thayla, put the hatchlings down,” Verlet orders.

“What? No. What is—”

“Do as they say, my shooting star,” my father begs.

No part of me wants to do that, but the fear on his face has me obeying.

“No. What are you doing? Let me go,” I scream as my father drags me away from them the second I lay them in the grass. “Stop. What are you doing?”

“Bring Creed now.”

Verlet’s bellow has my brain vibrating in my skull and dizziness wars with my confusion.

All the breath in my lungs escapes me as my eyes fall on Creed.

Gladian and Kyzen drag him to the center of the Veilatara.

“Creed!” I bawl, shoving away from my father’s chest.

He latches right back onto my arms. So do Amick and Riven.

“Stop, Mysenta. We’ve got you.”

“What is going on?” I ask, tangling my hands in Amick’s armor. “Please tell me.”

His mouth falls open, then closes.

“I don’t know.”