Blood Flows Deep in the Empire (2 page)

Ritrioan – People from Ritrio, Dimithinia’s people.

Sesengt – Guardians who watch over the Universe and all its dimensions.

Sivigh – Door to the Underworld of Renentr.

Szolites – Group of gods defending the Universe.

Terets – Weapons, molecule destabilizers.

Utorou – Portal to the Haklanayasas.

Ziaphrite – Mating ritual.

Prologue

– Enzyria, Viewing Chamber

Salicyar felt warm air caress his cold flesh. He clenched his fists, his nails almost breaking through his gloves and digging into his palms. Stars zoomed past, their white light surrounding him on all sides. The projected image moved at the speed of his thoughts—thoughts that were frenzied and crashing together. His chest tightened, the muscles stiff and aching.

A blink of his eyes brought the image to a halt. All around him, the circular chamber cast a three-dimensional replica of the Universe upon the walls. He refused to turn away, even as the anger in him spread and made his eyes heavy. A planet that had once held life was gone. His jaw ticked as he took in the large rocks left floating in its place.

He told himself not to look any further. Wasn’t this proof enough?

His nostrils flared, and his blood boiled hotter. Fuck that. He needed to see more. Not being on the dimension was fueling his denial. A pitiful voice whispered inside his head and reasoned that perhaps
that
corner of the Universe had been spared.

Stop. Do not do this to yourself, you ass. You already know.

He was not good at listening, even to himself. A sharp turn of his head had the image in front of him rotating, spinning. Stars once more flew past. Salicyar took one step closer to the image, the dread inside him turning acidic. His mind raged, tried to stop him. Another quick movement and he was staring at what had been another planet with intelligent life.

Sentient beings, weaker than his kind, but no less aware, destroyed for no reason. He had seen destruction since the beginning of time, but that had been before living creatures had begun to inhabit the planets.

Why the hell would they do this? The waste. The callous destruction of the thing his kind was supposed to hold so sacred.

Energy crackled at the tips of his gloved fingers. He bit through his cheek to keep himself from flinging bolts at the walls of the chamber. Air burned through his lungs. Salicyar reached inside himself for the courage needed to seek out the other planet. The one that was most important to him.

He was a fucking god. There was no way he would let something like fear hold him back.

But still, it roiled inside him, warning him that he might not be able to handle what he was about to see.

Growling under his breath, he focused on the projection before him and willed it to move again. It took mere seconds to find what he was looking for, though it felt like an eternity. The slow muttering of chaos inside his mind, the what-ifs, only served to increase his apprehension.

Would it be as the rumors said, flooded and devastated? Or would it be gone, obliterated like the others?

The moment the image stopped, he stared at the small blue planet on which he’d spent so much time. Horror settled deep. The changes he saw, even from afar, made him feel as if he’d been pummeled by one of the meteors projected in the room.

The reports circling the dimensions had been true. The planet before him had once been mostly land, land which was now missing. He didn’t need to look closer to see they had melted the ice caps. The oceans continued to rise, swallowing up whole countries before his eyes.

It had been half a day since those cocksuckers had unleashed this havoc, and the devastation had only begun.

Stop. You have seen enough. You have your proof.

He ran his fingers through his hair, tugged roughly, and blinked away.

That one small motion put him eye-level with Earth's destruction. As if he were standing on the planet itself, the roar of crashing waves filled his ears. Lingering screams echoed around him as he witnessed the people running, fleeing stone-forged cities with panic written on their faces.

They ran for naught. Even as they tried to find shelter, there was no escaping the ocean. No way to avoid the tsunami that headed toward them. It was so large that, once it was close enough, the sky was no longer visible above it.

The deafening roar it made barreling down on the land was enough to even shake him, a
god.

Those fucking bastards. I swear to everything . . .

The urge to kill something, anything, was growing. He managed to slide his eyes closed. For a second. Like a masochist, he could not keep from opening them to look again.

“Salicyar?”

Nylicia. Fuck. He didn’t have time to deal with her right now. He growled as the images flickered and then disappeared, leaving the chamber silent. He wasn’t done. He wanted, needed, to see it all. Every last ripple of destruction. He deserved it.

She had willed it off, but the sounds of despair continued to reverberate inside his mind, careening inside his skull.

He couldn’t blink, couldn’t process
.
The gods be damned, he needed to tear
into something.

Dimithinia was gone. He had no choice but to admit it to himself. The one mortal he’d truly cared for was gone. As were millions. Millions had been wiped out with her. How many innocents had been amongst the dead? He could imagine the fear, the panic—the faces of the children and their parents as they realized there was nowhere to go. No escape.

Everything. They’d almost destroyed everything.
Why?

“Salicyar?”

He stared off into space, barely able to control the violence inside him, let alone give Nylicia his attention.

She repeated his name.

“What!”

The Watcher of Destinies moved closer. “Things will get worse.”

“How much worse can they get? The Aviraji said they intended to punish a few beings. This . . . this was an apocalypse!”

“Not quite. An apocalypse would have killed all the humans and almost every living thing in the Universe.” Nylicia sounded way too calm for his liking.

“Why?”

She responded softly, her voice near a whisper. “This was not about punishment of the mortals. It’s about war, Salicyar.”

“War?” Although he should have not been surprised.

“This is nothing compared to what the Aviraji plan to do.”

It was enough to make him turn toward her. His eyes landed on her see-through form, her body as much of a projection as the one he had been viewing. He had met Nylicia, the self-proclaimed Watcher of Destinies, a few hundred years before. To an immortal, it was a short acquaintance, but he’d already come to trust her. From the moment she’d made herself known to the Szolites, everything she had foretold had come to pass.

“Salicyar—”

“I do not wish to be called by that name anymore. That is the name the Aviraji gave me, along with my duties, and they have betrayed me.” His tone was harsh, but it was only a fraction of the bitterness consuming him.

“They have not only betrayed you. They have betrayed thousands. Perhaps even millions. But come sunrise, they plan something worse.”

“Worse than this?”

“I told you. War. Many of your friends and allies are destined to die—”

“More death!” His body flared, white light surging through his veins. It lit up his skin, his eyes. Even the ends of his hair glowed with the intensity of the anger he felt. He looked down at himself, sneering. Disgusted
.
The light flowing through his veins reminded him of who had given him those powers in the first place. The very beings he now ached to destroy.

He’d been faithful to what they’d asked of him. As God of Fertility, he’d practically whored the hell out of himself in order to help the human species survive. He had given his body to any human female who had asked, for the sake of fulfilling the purpose the Aviraji had given him. All that, yet the moment he actually came to care about one of them, she’d been murdered.

“Yes, more death. This is why we need you to get yourself together and fight—”

“No!”

Nylicia tilted her head, piercing him with a stare. “And if I told you there is a way you can find your true happiness? That you can have that
and
bring Dimithinia back?”

The question intrigued him. Just as she knew it would.

He stormed up to her. Whatever she was, her form wasn’t really there—no one had seen Nylicia “in the flesh”—but he still sneered down at her. He stared into her multicolored eyes and let her see every bit of the rage churning inside him, trying to intimidate her.

“Explain.”

She gave him a look that clearly told him such tactics were not going to work.

He gritted his teeth together as she deflected his demand in that airy, frustrating way she possessed. “First off, what do you wish to be called now?”

“Damn it, that does not matter to me—”

“It does to
me
. Hmm, perhaps I shall name you then? Let me see . . .” She tilted her head, one finger tapping on her small chin. “Oh, I know. You strike me as a Dyletri!”

“Which means I am destined to be named that. So be it. I could not care less about that.”

“Are you not even going to ask me what the name means?”

His teeth ground together, and his patience dwindled rapidly. He could find out the meaning of that name himself, if he so chose, but he knew to indulge her. At least for a few seconds. After that, he might just snap and treat her to the sight of him tearing apart the chamber.

“What does it mean?”

“The handler of change. Constant change, to be exact.”

He had no idea why that applied to him, and he did not really care. His brows tensed, his patience shrinking down to one atom’s worth. “As I said, that does not mat—”

“I have a talent for naming. I think I shall stick to it. Name a few more.” Nylicia’s expression was gleeful, although she had come with news of disaster.

“Focus, female!” he snapped. “Bringing Dimithinia back? How? It is already said that she will not be allowed to reincarnate. The Aviraji made sure of that.”

Nylicia waved her hand, appearing utterly unconcerned. “Eleven thousand years from now, give or take a few hundred, her soul twin will be given life. This twin can, and
should
, be sacrificed to the Higher Fates—”

“You can’t be serious! The Higher Fates? Why would I want to fuck with them?”

Barely sentient, the energies which compromised the Fates were barbaric. Simplistic and vicious. As such, the laws that governed them, and the rest of the Universe by extension, could be just as brutal. One didn’t make sacrifices or pledges to the Fates lightly. Fail to follow through and they would do what they did best. Those energies would destroy everything, and in a way even the Aviraji would never be able to accomplish.

“As I was saying. Sacrifice this girl to the Higher Fates, a soul for a soul, and when it’s complete, Dimithinia will be returned.”

“You said eleven thousand years? I am supposed to wait—”

The sadness in Nylicia’s tone was unlike her. The resolve behind it, however, was quite familiar. “Yes,
Dyletri
. You are supposed to wait. And survive. Do you understand? If you do not, the Universe is lost. You are too important to perish. Do not ask me why, because I cannot tell you. Not yet.”

Taking deep breaths, Dyletri tried to imagine what could possibly be waiting for them on the morrow. Not that he couldn’t guess. When it came to the Gods and war, things tended to get destructive.

As evidenced by what those bastards had already done.

“Is that why they killed so many?” he asked.

“Yes. To weaken you all. This suffering is feeding them. They have been planning this for a long time, I assure you.” Nylicia stared at him, seeming to be gauging his reaction.

“Where is Dimithinia’s soul?”

“With Crius, inside
Renentr
. He will keep her safe. He has already volunteered to fight at the gates of the Underworld, if he must, to keep them out, should you fail up here. Much rests on you making it through this.”