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I held their hands, and we all hugged each other. The war was over—it was really over!—and I bit down on my lip to hold back my tears.
They were tears of joy, but still, I held them in. A part of me didn’t want to celebrate just yet. We’d been on this journey for a long time, and now that it was all over, I didn’t know what to do.
“Do you believe it’s really over?” I asked Rumir through our telepathic link.
He kissed the top of my head. “Yes,” he answered. “It’s really over.”
Lucian pulled away. “Natalie…” he said, and I brought my fingers to his lips.
“I know,” I replied. “I'm sorry. I know I scared you both, but I had to do something.”
Lucian only shook his head. Now in his human form, Armen joined us, along with a few of the gods. However, I couldn’t help watching the Goddess, who remained at the back of the cave. When she caught me staring, she teleported.
“She’ll be okay,” Rumir whispered in my ear. But I wasn’t so sure of that.
* * *
When we returned to the City of Souls, we discovered that the damage was extensive—worse than the other two attacks. More than half of it had been leveled, so the city would have to be rebuilt from scratch. But I supposed that wouldn’t be so bad.
The city would be made new, and that would help everyone move forward.
No one would forget this war, and we still had to give a proper send-off to those who'd lost their lives. Perhaps a monument could be made in their honor in each city.
It took a few hours for everyone to find each other.
Ruby, Elinor and the others had returned from the Mortal Realm, where they’d fought valiantly for several hours. And like in the God Realm, when all infected souls suddenly fell unconscious, they knew the war was finally over.
Another bonus was that Elinor had been able to reconnect with her best friend Skye after many centuries. And, since Skye and Cyrus were now free, and Elinor could travel between the realms, they'd be able to see each other regularly.
"There she is," Ruby whispered, and I looked in the direction she was pointing.
The Goddess was slipping through the crowd, obviously trying to avoid us. But we'd been searching for her for half an hour, and we weren’t about to stop now.
The city was alive with chatter as gods tending to souls and each other. The displaced native animals were being sent back to their habitats, especially the bigger ones. Lucian was off, trying to create order among the packs and Rumir said he needed to speak with Armen.
I didn't tell him about Yelena, but I remembered his reaction when I mentioned Cedric had a daughter. Yelena said she'd seen Rumir, but they hadn’t spoken. Perhaps Rumir had figured it out, but I felt this was something he needed to do on his own.
As for me, upon arriving in the city, I’d been showered with praises and gratitude. But I hadn't won this war alone. In fact, I hadn’t even been the one to kill Cedric. Still, everyone was grateful, and I appreciated their kindness.
“Let’s go,” Elinor said to me.
I’d told Elinor and Ruby about what Time had said to the Goddess, and her reaction. They were as bothered about it as I was. The Goddess seemed to have shut down. And I needed to make sure she was okay.
So we followed her through the city rubble until we found her standing in a less crowded area.
“I knew you three would follow me,” she said, her back turned to us.
"We just need to know you’re okay," I said. Elinor nodded.
“But if you want us to leave, we will,” Ruby added with a gentle smile.
The Goddess shook her head. "I knew you'd follow me. That’s why I came here," the Goddess replied. But still, she wouldn’t face us.
“Goddess, are you okay? What did Time mean…?”
The Goddess held her hand up, cutting me off, and finally turned to face us.
Elinor gasped. I held my breath and Ruby placed a hand on her chest. The Goddess wasn’t hiding her face anymore. She pulled her hood down, allowing her hair to flowed down to her feet. My eyes roamed over the scars across her face.
