Page 16 of Our Lady of War
ASTERIA, LADY MAGIC
Lady Magic materialised, her heeled boots squelching in the mud as she spun in a circle, frantically looking for the witch who had called out to her. Something terrible had happened.
Peering down, she grasped with horror that she wasn’t standing in mud, but gore.
“Goddess above,” she whispered, crouching. Mortal gore.
She looked up to see the full extent of the carnage. Bodies littered the rocky outcrop. She realised with a jolt that a woman was standing over one, her chest rising and falling so rapidly that Asteria could see it even across the distance between them. Athania.
“Athania!” She ran, dodging the broken limbs and corpses. When she reached her friend, her sister, Athania turned on her like a crazed animal. The look in her eyes was alarming, but Asteria reached forward, pushing back her friend’s bloody hair to get a better look at her face. “Are you hurt? What’s happened?”
Athania flinched backward with a snarl. “Don’t touch me!”
“Sister, it’s me. Lady Magic. Asteria.” She put her hands up placatingly so as not to spook her further. “What’s happened here?”
With a gnash of her teeth, Athania growled—the sound like something out of Hades. “You!”
Asteria’s mind whirled. She’d gone mad. None of this made sense. “Athan—”
But her friend had launched herself at Asteria, screaming and clawing. Lady Magic threw out a blast of magic so hard that Athania went flying into a boulder at the base of the mountain and crumpled to the ground. With a gasp, she ran for her, sliding to a stop on her knees next to her. “I’m so sorry, Athania! I didn’t think. You could have hurt the baby... Please, calm down. Tell me what’s happened.”
Athania groaned, pawing at a deep gash on her shoulder, but her demeanor had not changed. She stood, fury alight in her eyes. Asteria stood and stepped back, cradling her belly with one hand and the other lifted in defense. Ready.
“Tell me what’s happened, Athania.” This time, her voice was low and commanding, and it echoed off the rocks around them.
Athania smiled, a viscous sight that almost sent Asteria reeling. Blood coated her teeth, and she had the sickening feeling it wasn’t from an injury to her mouth, or even her blood at all.
“What have you done, sister?” Asteria’s voice was hardly a whisper, her eyes welling with tears. She felt Thanasim tug at their bond, checking on her.
“What have I done?” Athania stalked forward. “This”—she gestured at the carnage around them—“this is all your fault.” A dagger appeared in her hand, glowing. She held it in front of her, slowly walking toward Asteria, her head tilted at a disturbing angle.
And all Asteria could think was: she’s learned how to use her mortal witch powers. A sense of pride settled in her heart for it, but she knew it was misplaced. This was not right. Something was not right. Athania’s words finally registered when she was a few steps from Asteria. “Me? How is this my fault? Tell me it was not you who did all this.”
Athania held the tip of the knife to Asteria’s chin, and Lady Magic did not flinch. “Oh, yes. I’m Lady War, remember? Blood is my specialty. It feels divine”—the word was a purr—“to spill it with my own hands. You see, if it weren’t for you, sister, none of this would have happened. I would have gone to Hawthrin. My Igor would still live.”
“Athania. This isn’t you—”
She dug the tip of the dagger into Asteria’s skin, drawing golden blood.
Thanasim yanked at the bond.
“Yes, it is.” She tipped her head back and cackled. “Lord and Lady Magie de la Nuit, always trying to force me into justice and honour. But this…this is who I have been all along, isn’t it? This is why Thanasim fought so hard to control my actions.” She leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Isn’t it?”
“Do not make me hurt you, Athania,” Lady Magic warned through gritted teeth.
“You don’t have it in you to hurt me.” She smiled, moving in so close their noses touched. A sick parody of their sweet friendship, their sisterhood. “But I will take everything you ever cared about.” Athania lowered the dagger to Asteria’s belly.
Lady Magic tried to laugh, feigning confidence. It was no easy feat to kill a goddess, but her children were the firstborn of two gods…they were not reborn of Hespa. They were only a step above mortals—equals to Athania; witches.
Athania pressed the knife against her, slicing the fabric of her bodice. Magic wrapped around Asteria’s body, pushing the knife and Athania back.
Without warning, there was a roar that shook the mountains, a cloud of black smog rolling in. The sky grew instantly dark with billowing storm clouds, thunder making the ground tremble. Thanasim was there, his skeletal fist plunging into Athania’s chest as Asteria screamed for him to stop. He ripped Athania’s soul free from her body, snarling like a rabid beast. Her body sagged to the bloodied ground, lifeless, but her soul screeched, trying to tear itself from Thanasim’s grasp.
“Stop!” Asteria shouted, tears streaming down her face. She knew he wouldn’t hear her, blinded by dark rage.
He pulled Athania’s writhing soul up to his skeletal face. “You dared to touch my wife?” The cadence of his voice sent shivers down Asteria’s spine. “My child?”
My love, Asteria whispered in their bond. She saw the moment Thanasim felt her, but he did not soften. He let out a mighty bellow, a rockslide beginning in its wake.