The Grey God

"I warned him," Jule whispered. "Czerno's marked you. I suppose this rights your wrong, though I will never forgive you."

He rose and left, his visit so quick, she wasn't sure she really saw him.

The roar of the earth grew louder. Unable to move, barely able to breathe, she watched the sun climb into the sky. It was blood red, casting a shadow the color of blood over the immortal world. The ground rumbled more violently as the sun rose, until it began to split open. At long last, she heard a familiar voice.

"Darian!" Damian's white-blond hair was familiar to her before his face came into view. "My gods!"

Claire heard him drop beside the body he thought was his brother's and begin to sob. She used what strength she had to roll onto her back, desperate for a Healer. Damian clutched his brother's necklace in one hand, the reins to his horse in another. Two Guardians pushed him out of the way but hesitated, unable to lift a body she'd completely obliterated.

"Don't worry, Claire," Damian said, regaining himself. "We'll find out who did this and kill them. I won't let anyone hurt you."

She felt him lift her, falter with the shaking earth, then manage to heft her on top of a horse. She sagged against the horse's neck.

"Ikir." One of the Guardians stepped towards him. "There's nothing anyone can do."

Damian wiped his face, staring at the pulpy mess of the body before him.

"We need to go, Damian," Jule said, pulling his horse to a halt. "The gateway between worlds is barely holding up. We have to get you to the other side."

"I won't leave him, Jule," Damian said, sinking to his knees beside the body.

"You must." Jule slung himself down from the horse and dropped beside the boy-god. "There is more at stake here than your brother's life."

"I can't!"

"The human world will fall to the Black God if you aren't there to protect it. What would Darian tell you to do?"

Damian's shoulders shook.

"He'd tell you to fulfill your duty, Damian."

"Build a pyre here," Damian whispered at last. "He deserves a decent burial."

"Take her to a Healer," Jule ordered, motioning to Claire. "We'll find out what happened later."

Claire's horse was led away. She watched the Guardians gather wood in the eerie light of the bloody sun and start the funeral pyre for her father's body. Exhausted, she closed her eyes, Jule's words to her from earlier echoing in her thoughts.