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I scoffed at the idea. “And here I thought killing someone was a requirement to be chosen, when really it was just a way to weed out the huntress from the normal girls.” He watched me as I continued to scan the walls of weapons, skimming the golden handles with a feathery touch, admiring the beauty fashioned into the threat of their blades. “Why did you bring me here? I hope it wasn’t just to watch me drool.”
He laughed—the poised and confidently cool council leader actually laughed. I snapped my head in his direction, surprised to hear he could actually make the sound. “No, Arya. Although, I’m happy you enjoy our armory, I have a gift for you.” He stood from his bench and walked to a spot empty of weapons on the wall, like a tapestry had once hung there and since been torn down. His hand pressed against the stone and mortar, and a moment later, the stones shifted among themselves, separating to reveal a deviation in the wall. His hand then motioned to the space he’d created. “This is what I came to show you.”
My steps eagerly made their way to the place he gestured. Inside the large hole were three simple weapons placed delicately on a bed of gold velvet—a pair of daggers, a bow, and a double-handed sword. But these weapons were different, they were a pale material I did not recognize. I reached out a hand and touched the smooth curve of the bow. It was sturdy and strong, unlikely to break or scuff from the wear and tear of battle. “What is this metal?” I asked. “It’s beautiful.”
“It is not metal, it is bone,” Grandmaster replied, and I quickly withdrew my hand as if the bow had physically bitten me. He laughed again at my reaction. “It’s okay, it’s not human bone. These weapons were created many eras ago. They are only meant to be wielded by the ancestor of the one who killed the beast, the first huntress, who just so happens to be the—”
“Goddess of the Hunt,” I finished. The dots were finally starting to connect, history coming to life before my very eyes.
He nodded slowly. “If you want to kill a divine being, you’re going to need a divine weapon.”
My hands tingled again as I ran a careful eye over the trio. “Do you mean I get to pick one?”
“Aye. You may choose one to wield for life, and when you die, it will be returned to Estelles until the next huntress chooses her blade.”
One to take, one for life, one to destroy the queen and an era of darkness. It was a simple choice, as one called out to me almost immediately. I had no experience with dual daggers or a bow, although I had an extensive familiarity with arrows. But the great sword was familiar to my hands and to my heart. There was an instant connection as I pulled the white blade from its hibernation in the wall and held it securely in my fists. Similar to the sword Azriel had handed me in the boat, the handle fit snugly against my palms, and the weight of it balanced perfectly as I thrust its length defensively from my chest.
“A fitting choice,” Grandmaster said quietly, moving to the opposite side of the room to give me space to feel out my new weapon.
“What’s its name? Every good sword has to have a name,” I said, admiring the intricate carvings in the pale white handle. If he hadn’t told me it was bone, I would have never known.
“That is the job of its wielder. Every era, the blade has a new purpose, a new identity. What would you name your new weapon, Arya?”
I thought for a moment, flipping the blade around my wrist as I had watched Azriel do once before. It felt natural in my hands, like it was always meant to be there. I volleyed the weight between hands, testing the strength of my forearms as they warmed to its encumbrance. This sword’s identity was similar to my own, I imagined. The same destiny forged inside my bones now sung through the one in my hands, and I couldn’t think of anything better than the calling of my own spirit.
“Very well. I shall call it Dawnbringer.”
The Grandmaster let a broad smile cross his lips. “And bring the dawn it shall.”
I lowered the blade from its hover, letting it fall slack at my side. It was all so confusing, being here with him after arguing only minutes before about returning to the mountain. “What made you change your mind? Why did you suddenly agree to help me?”
He leaned back against a break in the wall, the black expanse of his wings spread slightly behind him. “You remind me of someone I knew long ago. A mortal woman, a huntress in all but title. She was still special in her own right and fierce to the core. She saved me from a fatal ending, one I was foolish to find myself facing. She sacrificed herself for me, and I must carry the burden of her blood on my hands for the rest of my existence.” He shifted his position, clearly on edge about touching on a sensitive subject. “You said many things that were true, Arya, but you were wrong about one thing. I do not believe humanity is a stain on the gods’ creation. In fact, I believe so highly of mankind I would rather abandon my most favored watcher, and my closest friend, than risk unleashing Adzehate in the process.”
“And now? What makes you willing to take this risk?” I asked.
“You said you loved him,” he said quietly, as if resigning his decision to something so simple.
I glanced down at the blade in my hands, pretending to buff the handle with my thumb. “But is love worth risking it all?” I asked quietly, feeling a sudden wave of guilt follow my doubts.
The Grandmaster stood from his place against the wall and stepped near my anxious figure. He lifted my chin with a cold hand, demanding I stop my fumbling and look him in the eyes. “Love is the only thing worth risking it all for.” He offered a knowing smile, and I knew this cold man had once known the feeling, had once lived through what I was experiencing. He dropped my chin and retreated to the wall, leaning once more with supernatural grace. “Hopefully, the great risk will yield an equally great reward.”
“But it doesn’t have to be one or the other, Grandmaster—”
“Evander,” he interrupted.
My mouth hung open between my words as the confusion set in. “What?”
“My name is Evander. You don’t have to call me by myfancytitle all the time, just in public.”
I gave a small smile, catching a glimpse of the mortal heart inside this divine being. In a lighter voice, I said, “I can destroy the queen without setting her free, and once she is dead, everyone beneath the mountain, including Azriel, will be free.”
“You can’t destroy her as long as she’s bound by her chains, Arya.”
The contents of my stomach unsettled at his words. “What do you mean?”
Evander sighed, any hint of a smile disappearing from his softened expression. “If it were that simple, we could have killed her a hundred years ago while she was cornered in her cage. You must unleash her true form with the leystones, otherwise, you’ll just kill the physical body she stalks. But it is important you are there when the binding is broken, or else she’ll regain a little more of her power every second she is free. No doubt she has a few souls waiting around to help her recharge when she’s free.”
I thought of Fenris and the other runners, and a shudder crawled down my spine. “So, I have to set her free?”
