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“BRITTA!” I shout, but I keep going. It won’t do any good trying to save anyone. I just need to get to my kelai.
But when I rush toward the mass of vines holding it, they move, darting across the floor with such speed, I know Etzli is concentrating all her focus on it. Nevertheless, I persist, until finally, the box is within reach. Just a few lengths more and—
“Your body is dying, Deka.”
Etzli’s triumphant declaration sends me whirling back toward the throne at the center of the room. The goddess is now seated there, my dying body slung over her lap, all its wounds bleeding so profusely, my entire skin seems golden…which is the only reason I can spot the blue now beginning to seep from deep inside it. The blue that’s slowly overpowering the gold.
My and Ixa’s body turns heavy, and suddenly I can no longer move.
Deka, Ixa whispers, frightened. Why Ixa so tired now?
I don’t reply, because I know the answer. I know why Ixa feels so exhausted, why I’m now barely able to think, barely able to move. I’m dying, but because I’m in Ixa’s body, I’m taking him with me.
Across the room, Etzli dabs a finger in one of my wounds and holds it up. The blue is vibrant against the golden brown of her skin. “The final death. After all this time, it’s finally here,” she says, those white eyes glowing. “All your struggles, all your fighting—it’s all at an end now, Deka. Rejoice in it. Glory in it. Finally, you can rest.”
She gestures, and my knees buckle.
When I look down, I’m slumped over the floor, muscles weighted down by the encroaching darkness. The immovable heaviness. I can’t even move when sandaled feet walk down the stairs to rest in front of me.
“Will you take your godsworn with you?” Etzli asks, kneeling at my side. “Or will you die there”—she points—“in your own body, brave to the end?”
“NO, DEKA!” This shout comes from Keita, who’s still fighting against Etzli’s vines. He’s managed to pull them out of his mouth, even though they keep slithering back in. “Run away, Deka! You can get away, you can fight this!”
But there’s no fighting this, certainly not with Ixa’s body as exhausted as it is. Not with all my remaining friends in Etzli’s grasp. There’s only one thing I can do now. “Promise you’ll free them,” I say, looking up at her.
The goddess laughs, seeming startled. “Oh, Deka, do you really think you’re in a position to bargain?”
I glance around me. “No, but I can make this difficult for you. I can try to run. Perhaps even surrender my kelai to the Idugu. This is their territory, after all. I assume there are rules that bind your conduct when in each other’s temples? Divine covenants and such?” When Etzli glowers, I nod. So I was correct to think the divine covenants Okot told me of would impact other gods as well. “But if you let them go, I’ll come willingly.”
“A graceful defeat.” Etzli seems to ponder this.
“Yes,” I say. “So will you let them go?”
“Very well.” Etzli is almost pouting now as she makes a negligent gesture.
Just like that, all the vines loosen, and all my remaining companions are free. They’re alternately gasping for air and staring at me, devastated.
Adwapa is the first to move. She rushes to her sister’s side and pulls her corpse out of the water, her wails so loud now, they drown out every other sound. She doesn’t even seem to notice anything else anymore.
But Britta turns to me, her body still unsteady from its recent revival. “Deka, no,” she begins. “Ye don’t have to do this. We can fight, we can still win….”
I shake my head. “You have to go.”
“I won’t leave you.” Keita rushes forward, not even caring when the vines hiss and snap at him. He makes his way to my and Ixa’s side, and then he picks up our hand, our blue skin stark against the brown of his.
Belcalis, for her part, says nothing as she approaches. She just kneels by my side, quiet, as does Acalan.
I shake my head—Ixa’s head—as I regard them all. “You have to go. I’m dying, and I can’t fight anymore.” I look at Katya’s corpse slumped on the floor. Rian’s. Kweku’s. Asha’s. So much loss. So many lives ended so painfully. And for what? We were never going to win in the first place.
We were never gods.
“We fought bravely,” I say, returning my attention to my remaining friends. “But we have no more strength. I have no more strength. All I can give you is this, the chance to get out of here. The chance to choose death on your own terms. To be together at the end.”
My words seem to devastate Keita. “What about you and me?” he asks, tears in his eyes. “What about me and Britta and Li and Belcalis? You promised to stand by our side.”
“Eternity, ye said,” Britta reminds me.
I turn from them, that heaviness growing steadily over my and Ixa’s body. “I lied,” I whisper. “So go.” When no one moves, I imbue as much power as I can into the word. “GO!” I roar. “And take Ixa with you.” I begin sinking into the combat state once more.
