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“Right,” I said. “Sorry about that.”
Scrimshaw landed on my shoulder, tittering softly to himself. I had every intention of interrogating him later, but I realized that the Convocation had no objections regarding his presence. We’d followed the terms of the trial, after all: I was allowed to bring any allies. There was nothing in the rulebook forbidding the involvement of imps who had snuck their way into my backpack.
Nyx had reappeared over the cairn, and she was smiling. I guess she decided Scrimshaw’s participation was fair, too. Around us, still partially hidden among the trees, were the members of the Midnight Convocation, some angered, some seemingly pleased, but most with unreadable expressions. The two ravens were gone.
Across the arena Sterling was sitting on Susanoo’s twitching body, the god’s own lightning blade piercing his back and pinning him to the ground. It looked like they were having a remarkably friendly chat. Sterling was licking at his fingers. I didn’t want to ask why.
Vanitas returned to me in silence. I could best describe the tangle of his emotions in my mind as disappointment, mixed with concrete frustration. He hadn’t gotten his fill of blood, it seemed.
“Hey,” I thought to him. “Maybe next time, buddy. Okay?”
He harrumphed in response.
Herald was standing about a foot away from the goddess of the sun, his hands poised to blast her if she moved. Amaterasu was encased in a solid block of ice, save for her head and her shoulders. Her sword was stuck in the ground some distance away.
“I swear it’s okay,” Herald said, consoling her. “We just got lucky is all. Besides, you would’ve killed us if you won. Please. Please stop crying?”
Amaterasu blinked away tears of frustration. “I’m not crying,” she said. “You’re crying.”
And closer by, his protective dome of ice half-melted, Gil was stirring, his clothes ripped, already returned to his human form. He planted his elbow in the earth, trying to get off his back, then yelped in pain. “Holy fuck, what happened?” He gritted his teeth as he clutched his wrist, glancing around him. “Did we win?”
I gazed across the battlefield, at the patch of my own blood where I’d left Tsukuyomi. The god remained on his back, staring at the moon, perhaps questioning one or two things about himself. I clapped Gil across the shoulder. He grunted in pain again.
“Oh yeah,” I said, glancing at the wound in my palm. “We won all right.”
Chapter 28
One by one, the gods faded from the hilltop, and slowly the arena shrank again, the ring of dead trees closing in around the cairn. Amaterasu had melted Herald’s ice prison off her body. Her battle raiment was ripped in places, and soaking wet, but apart from some cuts and gashes, she looked none the worse for wear.
“Come on,” she hissed, nudging at Tsukuyomi with her toe. “Time to get out of here. We’ve lost to these humans again. I never would have imagined.” She shook her head, frowning. “If the Conclave of the Sun ever hears about this, I swear to our mother – ”
“Imagine,” Susanoo said, coughing as he clambered to his feet. “Imagine if the Riders of the Storm found out.” He shook a finger in our direction. “Well played, mortals. Perhaps another time.”
I shook my head violently. “Nuh-uh. No way. Not for a long time coming.”
Especially not if this Conclave, or the Riders – by my guess the little book club to which the entities of thunder and the elements belonged – came calling for some kind of special vengeance. I didn’t like that mention of their mother, either. Izanami was essentially the matriarch to the Japanese pantheon, a supremely powerful goddess of the underworld. If she ever took interest in us – yeah, best not to think about it.
Tsukuyomi took his brother’s outstretched hand, getting to his feet at last. The handsome, laughing god from the beginning of our fight had sloughed away, leaving this dispirited creature. I almost felt bad about it.
“We’ll meet again, Dustin Graves,” Tsukuyomi said. “You have earned my respect, and the right to wear the Crown of Stars.” He raised his sword to the sky, then vanished into a shaft of moonlight.
“See ya,” Susanoo said, throwing a finger gun salute at Sterling, who, to my surprise, returned it. What the hell had gone on between the two? A bolt of lightning struck the ground, and Susanoo reached out to it. When the flash cleared, he was gone.
“One of these days, shadow beast,” Amaterasu said. A beam of pure sunlight tore out of the heavens, bathing her in its golden radiance. The clouds closed up again, dispelling the brightness, and with that, the last of the warrior gods disappeared.
And that left only Nyx.
“So we won, apparently,” I said. “And I guess you being the last to remain means that you’re my sponsor. My matron?”
“That is correct.”
I shrugged. “You were my first choice, anyway. You seem pretty cool, as far as the night gods go.”
Nyx smiled. “Consider me flattered. Permit me time to channel my power into the Crown, child of man. Dustin Graves, rather. I’m sorry. Perhaps I should begin addressing my champion by name more regularly.”
“There is one other thing,” I said, my head bowing instinctively out of reverence. “The lock of your hair that Arachne wanted.”
“Yes. Yes, of course.”
