《How Gods Die》 Chapter One: Raven ¡°Raven, you''re needed in the Thor Quarter!¡± I immediately stood to see who had called from across commons. Logan Reeves. ¡°Oh shit.¡± I thought, immediately running southeast across commons and heading to the Thor Quarter. As leader of Camp Asgard, and a child of the gods, I had some immense powers. I took after Loki more than my mother Hecate. Logan Reeves was one of the more powerful and higher up members of the Thor Clan. If he needed me, something was horribly wrong. Heads turned as I passed, they all at least knew of me. I made an effort to just be a presence among my people. Shortly after my passing, the majority ran to follow, and help where needed. A group of mostly Odin and Loki kids followed, a few of the twin¡¯s kids, Tyr¡¯s, and Njord¡¯s as well. I understood what was happening the instant I saw the chaos before me. Blood and death filled the air, lightning crackled and smoke permeated everything. Bodies lay strewn about, both demigod and assailant. ¡°What in Helhiem?¡± One of my brother''s asked, in shock. ¡°I have absolutely no idea.¡± I replied. In the near distance I saw a flash of green, zipping around, soaring and returning. Nova, with her wings and glowing sword, flew about, stealing the souls of the assailants. As far as I could tell, they were mortal or demigods, some wielding black blades that faded to mist where the spine should be. The blades they held were similar to the Godblade that Nova wielded, but felt more grounded. As if tied to the wielder. The majority wielded steel. I drew my knives, running into the carnage. As i ran, I felt my bones reposition and snap into place with a sickening crunch. My hands bent into paws, fur sprouting from all over my body. My teeth extended, sharpening and bending into fangs. My vision sharpened as I saw the world in all silver and gray. The metallic smell of blood overwhelmed my nose as I bounded and attacked one of the invaders. I bit into his shoulder, feeling the wonderful taste of blood enter my mouth. The cartilage snapped under the pressure of my teeth, and I sunk my claws deep into his chest. I felt his pain, the downside to my powers. The dreadful feeling of teeth sinking into my shoulder, and claws into my chest. I had dealt with it all my life, it felt much duller than when I had first used my abilities. This pain was nothing compared to the blade I felt enter my back. My powers immediately faded, my vision returning to color and my skin returning to its normal pale self. I felt the entire world blur, my will to fight diminishing. Before hope was lost, I saw a green blur from the corner of my eye. My vision returned to normal and I turned to see Nova, wings outstretched, drag the attacker off my back. She held his neck, and summoned her blade into it. A faintly green steel dagger sprouted from his neck. ¡°Need help?¡± ¡°By Loki¡¯s wolves, what took so long?¡± As I turned, I saw exactly why. A trail of gore, 20 yards in length. ¡°Oh Hel.¡± Nova smiled, a rare occurrence. The human side of her formed into a smile, while her skeletal half remained pale and glowing green, smiling as all skulls do. She took off once more, black wings manipulating the surrounding air. I turned into a wolf once again and attacked an oncoming invader. This one wielding steel. The rest of my brothers and sisters seemed to be faring well, though I saw some corpses of various animals. The children of Thor were struggling to regain the upper hand, lightning crackled and the smell of ozone countered the smell of blood and smoke. Their powers consisted of various electrical powers, the main one being able to summon bolts of lightning. With a touch they could cause one to be struck, or transfer electricity from themselves to the assailant. Thunder clashed as they fought, my pelt was wet with blood. The weather was changed, usually by the emotions of Thor''s clan. An axe flew past my shoulder, alight with electricity. It nailed another invader square in the forehead, I saw his eyes actually flicker as the life left him. Odin''s kids were also fighting, they wielded spears, as well as loads of ravens. They had a couple less outward abilities, they could see through individual raven''s eyes, making them hard to sneak up on in combat. They were also very good strategists, and usually had wisdom to share. Disaster struck a few minutes later, a child of Thor went super-magnitized. It was the drawback to the electrical powers, it could cause all the metal nearby to get stuck to you. Most of the children of Odin nearby losing their weapons. The armored ones, not just the Big Three god¡¯s kids, but also Freyr, Freyja, Tyr and Njord, flew towards the child of Thor. ¡°*oh shit,*¡± I thought. The enemy surged forward, but as they got to the ball of chaos, it exploded in electricity and metal. Campers and weapons flew out from the child of Thor that got magnetized. ¡°Behind!¡± Vera Ortega, of Odin yelled. I jumped out of the way, fur melting into skin, claws receding into fingers. My boots hit the blood slick ground, but I was too late. The horrible blade the attackers all wielded, had nicked my shoulder. I felt a wave of heat surge to the area. I twisted under the next strike, swinging my knife toward his neck, he hesitated as he swung his blade down. I rolled to the side and slashed at his chest. The blade connected, a sickening sound as steel sliced through skin and muscle. He staggered back trying to close the wound, blood pooling in his hands and pouring down his chest. Before I could finish him, he¡¯d disappeared up and over the wall. I cursed under my breath as I felt the pain in my shoulder swell. It was worse than any normal wound, I could feel my nerves severing and the contacted skin burning. ¡°What in Helhiem are they using.¡± I cursed. ¡°Raven, you¡¯ve been hit let me see the wound.¡± Vera yelled. ¡°No time. Where is Logan?¡± I asked. ¡°North wall, we almost have them.¡± Vera returned. She turned and ran with me, black curls bobbing in the wind. ¡°To the north wall!¡± I yelled at everyone nearby. We surged the area, my brethren shifted into animals as we so chose. I was most skilled at wolves than other animals, some of my brothers and sisters were good at different wild cats or birds. All had their uses in combat. I slashed the stomach of one open, another i sunk my teeth into his neck. Within half an hour, we¡¯d won. "Raven. What in Helhiem was that.¡± An eerie silence befell the battlefield. Invaders and campers lay indistinct in the blood and gore before us. The blades of the invaders were gone, just like the Godblade that Nova wielded. All of us stood bloody and exhausted. But then it happened. A low guttural sound from a body in the middle of the crowd. Said crowd parted, revealing a member of the invading party. ¡°What on Asgard?¡± One of my brethren asked. A wet rattling breath followed the groan, which shouldn''t have been possible. I had watched Vera strike this man down, spear through his neck. He stood shakily, uncoordinated and confused. He ran off, we were too stunned to speak. Others around, began to stand as well, wounds sealing. Before we knew it we stood among half the dead invaders remaining. Our forces had been decimated, but we had fewer losses than the enemy when the dust settled. Silence befell the crowd again, only broken when Nova jumped into the sky. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I was here when it started, they hopped the wall in droves, and spread out before we were able to retaliate.¡± ¡°The only slain were killed by those black blades, or your blade.¡± I mentioned. ¡°Everyone get some rest and heal. Nova and I have some learning to do.¡± Everyone dissipated, children of Freyja stood in small groups healing the remaining demigods. ¡°Raven!¡± Jackson Blackwood asked, running up to me from the front gates. We¡¯d just finished in the mess hall, or rather, pavilion. The sky turning purple. ¡°Jack. What''s wrong?¡± ¡°We heard reports of y''all¡¯s attack just after we finished ours. Fucking freaks dude.¡± He was the co-leader of the Greek camp Mythos not 5 miles from camp Asgard. Son of Styx and grandson of Poseidon, he was a year older than I. My heart picked up its pace, worried. ¡°The only reason we got out was Nova¡¯s godblade, the rest of the slain returned.¡± I explained. Jackson¡¯s nerves seemed to settle. ¡°How in Helhiem did you guys survive? I thought it was isolated, our people are horribly injured.¡± I gestured to the groups of bandaged campers. I touched Jack on the shoulder and we walked and talked. ¡°Our archers are top of the line, I know you guys don''t deal in archers as much as us. We were able to force them to retreat after a couple hours.¡± ¡°That''s good. It seems they wielded similar blades to Nova¡¯s, black and fading to smoke.¡± ¡°Yep. They felt unnatural.¡± His eyes darkened. ¡°Were you injured by one?¡± I asked, letting concern enter my tone. ¡°Yes. Amber saved my life.¡± He hesitated, ¡°I know how you feel towards each other, I do, I won''t mention her again.¡± Charlie Amber, my sister, had left the camp without a word 4 years ago, leaving me here. We were 15, twins, and I was starting to explore my power. She left for the Greeks because she felt more connected to Hecate. I didn''t entirely resent her for it, but she avoided me like the plague. ¡°It''s fine. It was years ago after all.¡± When I said this Jack¡¯s face showed a hint of shock. Over the years I¡¯d snapped at him and others more than a few times about this. He quickly looked away and changed his expression. ¡°Can we set up a meeting? All important witnesses of yours and of mine? We¡¯ll meet at your camp.¡± He nodded, ¡°That works for me. Tonight?¡± ¡°Around 7.¡± ¡°Meet us at the admin building. And by the way how is Nova? Its been quite a while.¡± ¡°She¡¯s as she always is. And it really has been a long time. Godspeed Jack.¡± I concluded. I gathered my people, Logan Reeves, Nova Helkin, Vera Ortega, and the head nurse, Alexis Peterson. We walked the short short trek to camp Mythos, in the cold serene forest that lay between us. The air felt crisp, biting at the skin like a feral kitten. As we walked to the front gates of Camp Mythos, fragments of marble lined the path. Pillars, slabs, walls, occasional shattered blades, spear shafts, and crumbling busts of Greek deities. The canopy above grew less and less dense, stones at our feet lay sun-bleached. Jackson greeted us, Charlie at his side, looking down. ¡°Its good to see all of you. It has been a long time.¡± Jackson stated. ¡°Same to you.¡± Logan returned. We entered the massive stone walls, passing downtrodden and injured teenagers at every turn. Faces covered in many substances, ash, dirt, blood. The acrid stench of smoke poisoned the familiar lush scent that¡¯d accompanied camp Mythos for years. ¡°Oh, Raven, I can''t just leave these kids-¡± Alexis said, distressed tone in her voice. ¡°Go. Heal.¡± Nova said, ¡°First can you give your knowledge on the injuries from the darkblades?¡± ¡°I can, are you ready?¡± ¡°No. The emotional bleed from me doesn''t end well.¡± Children of Freyja were able to heal, but not themselves. They also had the ability to lend their memories and knowledge in small increments. In return the emotions of the receiver bled into the sender. The last time this was done with Nova had gone near insane. ¡°Ah. Yeah.¡± Alexis seemed to remember about Tara Vernon. Instead, she turned to Vera. Vera nodded in reply. ¡°Well, welcome to our camp. Sorry for its condition.¡± Jackson began, feet on the desk that lay before us. ¡°Kinda to be expected.¡± Vera said. We all knew why. Invasion can''t make a camp look any better. We sat in a creme colored room, leather chairs surrounded the mahogany desk, and the walls were lined with books. Each had different Greek symbols forming words, and some were written in Latin. Jackson, Charlie, and Arya, Jackson''s sister, sat across from Logan, Vera, Nova, and myself. Arya was a child of Neptune, Poseidon''s roman half. The distinction was simpler than some of the other gods, Neptune was more regal, less about storms, and generally less wild. More controlled. Jackson and Logan kept sharing glances, understandably so, if I were surrounded by 5 of the opposite gender i¡¯d feel the same way. ¡°Well, lets begin. What time were the attacks?¡± Jackson asked. ¡°Around 3.¡± Nova replied. ¡°Same here. They vaulted our wall and started the slaughter.¡± Arya stated, Nova nodded in agreement. ¡°I don''t understand why they did it. But more importantly, what in Hel¡¯s name were those blades?¡± Logan asked aloud, inscribing Norse runes on the table with electrical arcs. Luckily the table was covered in all sorts of cuts and words and everything else demigods did with their spare energy. Arya refilled her ball jar with water she levitated across the room from the tap. Vera looked on in amazement. ¡°Those blades were like mine.¡± Nova said simply. ¡°They can''t be like Godblades, only Death¡¯s fullblooded kids have those.¡± Charlie broke her silence. I locked my eyes on hers, but she quickly looked away. Jackson caressed Charlies hand, seeming to ease the tension in the air. Arya spoke up, ¡°Well, what if it isn''t just them? What if there is another way?¡± ¡°As I said, those blades were like mine. However, they felt more grounded, more tangible. Almost tied to the wielder.¡± Nova said, ¡°Vera can explain the similarities in the carnage I caused and the carnage the invaders did. It could also explain how they stayed dead.¡± "Alexis lent me her knowledge in what she saw. The slashes are near identical, as if the bodies all caught on fire from the inside. The main difference is the darkblades or whatever caused the skin to physically burn. Nova¡¯s blade makes the skin look like its burnt, but it doesn''t blacken or char." She explained. ¡°Those things are horrible.¡± I spoke up, ¡°I lost all my will to live when I was hit.¡± ¡°As did I.¡± Jack said, pulling Charlie closer. ¡°And who are these people?¡± Nova asked, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen such violence without reason.¡± ¡°I will conference with my mother. Nova your parents dwell in the underworld so you should come along.¡± Jack asked. Nova nodded, Charlie fiddled with the cut off sleeved of her tee. I leaned back in my chair, ¡°Well, anything else we need to speak on?¡± ¡°Not that I¡¯m aware of,¡± Arya stated. ¡°Okay then. Guess we¡¯re dismissed.¡± Jack said. Chapter Two: Xyros 6 Months ago I saw glimpses into the past, flashes of my former self. Golden wings, warm smiles, wine, food. All interrupted by that horrible cold blade. ¡°Father, news from Aeran.¡± Ash interrupted my thoughts. My daughter was one of the few things I still possessed. Her violet hair and eyes complemented her personality, characterized by darkness. She was more angry about Kranon¡¯s coup than I was. Her mother Taika, goddess of death had even joined Kranon in striking me down from the divine halls. Sending me down to Terradine, into Chasmvale. Ash stretched her black wings, subtly getting my attention, trying to be inconspicuous. ¡°Father?¡± ¡°i will hear.¡± ¡°Lunira believes she found the weapon.¡± when she said this, I perked up a little. That sword through my shoulder didnt kill me, I still remained immortal, but that horrible blade cut my godhood from me. Separating me from my divine essence, and sent me to Terradine, down from the heavens. I could still feel that searing pain. ¡°We leave tomorrow.¡± I said, Ash nodded. For some reason, since my fall 6 months ago, neither I, nor Lunira, nor Ash had been attacked by Kranon¡¯s followers. I figured it was because without my godhood, I was as good as dead. It was also possible Kranon did not know of Ash¡¯s power, her blade. The trip the following morning took only a few hours. We started after breakfast, flying up through the lush green shelves of Chasmvale, through the beautiful red canopy overhanging the deep chasms. We flew up several hundred feet, and were able to glide most of the way over an hour or so. We stopped short of the Capitol city, Thalorn, and walked the rest of the way. As often as one flew in Terradine, everyone enjoyed casual strolls. The bark of the trees was a pleasant light green, silver veins running through the tree. The leaves above were more orange than in Chasmvale, but not yellow like in Ravennaar. We passed people of all cultures, except North Oryndal. Various types of dress, robes and sandals, dresses and heels, denim and boots, pants and a dress shirt. Couples sat in caf¨¦s and walked around the smooth stone streets. Children played under shop windows and on tabletops. A scarred bald man from Yakai was teaching his son how to catch a ball. An Oryndal lady in a sundress was walking hand in hand with a man from Isyk, wearing a suit. We passed the court, an open air small amphitheater, semicircle rows of benches ran around the seat of the judge and other members of each case. They sat today with a man in shackles at the defendant box. His wings were a stark white, almost as sunbleached stone. Brighter than my own wings. They reminded me of Zyafae¡¯s own. We approached the stately library, where Lunira was more often then not. Climbing its marble slab stairs, past the quartz columns and into the open air door. Glass was becoming popular in newer buildings, but its sand was expensive to send inland, with its weight. ¡°Brother!¡± Lunira said, her silver-blonde hair swaying as she ran up to me. She¡¯d run down the stairs to each side of the entrance, from the upper floor of the library. ¡°Lunira. Is good to see you,¡± I smiled. ¡°Soulblades.¡± She responded bluntly. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Soul blades, what cast you out. Follow.¡± I looked at Ash in confusion but she shrugged. Lunira led Ash and me to a table, a large one at 15 feet long and 6 deep. Lunira had layed out dozens of documents, spanning several centuries by both the style, and the fading of the paper. ¡°According to old texts, metals and souls of wielders, create soulblades.¡± Her accent was always stronger than mine, dropping words all over the floor. ¡°Like my blade?¡± Ash asked, summoning what she called the godblade. Her violet eyes glowed brightly when wielding that blade. She twisted the silvery glowing blade in her hand. ¡°Very similar, you see black color? Is different. Texts from Oryndal, the north. Not much work with.¡± Lunira said looking down. She looked back up smiling. ¡°Will do what can.¡± Vayden was a short clipped language, much simpler than the tongues of those in the west She was not cast out as I was, she was probably the weakest of the pantheon, being goddess of Wisdom. Though she was the closest to me of my siblings. Ash and I left the library, down its marble steps and into the cobblestone street. Thalorn was a beautiful city, and capital of the Aeran Princedom. The main street was lined with shops, the smell of fresh pastries and bread filled the air on that fine day. Ash and I grabbed a fresh moon roll from the Ravenaar Bakery across town. ¡°Lord Xyros. This is an honor.¡± Said the nice Ravena man, Fallenon. As most of that nation did, he had intricate tattoos on his left wrist and lower arm. His hair was cut short, a byproduct of the Ravena war for freedom. Around 60 years ago, Ravena was a part of the Vayden nation, but oppressed by the Verdana peoples. Their trade routes were severed by Verdana when the Ravena people refused the tariffs the Verdans used at the time. ¡°Fallenon, no honor due. Two moon rolls¡± ¡°You Vaydens and your moon rolls. Yes Xyros you count now. Former god and all.¡± He remarked. So many words. In only 60 years the cultures had changed and drifted so much. Ravena people had already developed western speach patterns. The layered buttery goodness just melted on the tongue. It was a flaky half moon of flavor. While it wasn''t common in Ravennaar, the Ravena bakers were known to be some of the best in the world. Their moon roles and other delicacies were widely considered better than any Vayden attempt. The Vayden Nation tended to see everything to it¡¯s west as exotic. This did not make much sense to me, seeing all the variety the princedoms themselves offered. In the Vayden princedoms, varieties of sweets and pastries were common, while breads tended to be salty and savory. Other locations offered a better mix. As we left, I grabbed a golden brown and salty twist to go. ¡°Father. I search black market for texts for Lunira.¡± Determination filled Ash¡¯s eyes. ¡°Yes.¡± We went our separate ways, Ash gliding to the north, myself strolling east. You can learn a lot from people, just by listening. War with Wynark to the North, a trade war with the Chryan princedom. People just talked, as if nobody was around to listen. The thing that grabbed my attention however was something said by a couple children playing in front of a tailor¡¯s shop. They had drawn a grid on the ground, a square of 9 boxes, and took turns drawing a cross or a circle in each box. Multiple grids appeared filled, most often with X¡¯s in a row, circled together. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°I win again, I get sword.¡± The boy with the X¡¯s said, gesturing to the other boy¡¯s sword. They could not be older than 8. ¡°No. Sooner sell to Goldwing Ravena Smugglers.¡± ¡°They kill my uncle, they kill you too!¡± The first child exclamed. Smugglers from Ravennaar sounded very promising. I walked back through the streets back toward the library. The majority of people I passed were women, usually with their husbands off to war. A very somber tone was all around. I let myself into the library and headed up the stairs. Lunira¡¯s table was still cluttered with manuscripts, however Lunira was not in sight. I¡¯d intended to let her know my plans and sleuth out the Goldwings. I took a minute or so to admire the work Lunira had done. Her chaos was more organized, several pages of handwritten notes sat neatly apart from the desk. ¡°Xyros! Help me?¡± Lunira called, she was carrying 8 or 10 books precariously in her arms. I jogged over and took half her stack. She had some workers bring in an additional table adjacent to the one she had already. ¡°I heard children, spoke of Goldwing smugglers from Ravenaar.¡± ¡°Goldwings terrorize Verdana, come across border at times. Not major concern, though known to work with Kranon.¡± ¡°Golden wings?¡± ¡°They feel grandeur, not gold wings but white normally. They claim to descend from line Zyafae.¡± ¡°They claim Zyafae? Wind goddess?¡± ¡°Not sure if true. Could be worth checking.¡± After an hour or so, Ash walked in. ¡°Found old paper.¡± She announced, unrolling a scroll on a wheeled high top table. ¡°Here, looks Vara,¡± she said, rolling the table over to us. As Lunira looked at it, her eyes grew wide, month slightly agape. ¡°Ash, what cost?¡± ¡°80 silver, cheap for age.¡± ¡°Very. Not Vara. Tavor.¡± Lunira¡¯s locks were shimmering in the light all around us. ¡°Need Tavorial books.¡± She walked off to the rest of the library. Tavor was an ancient nation, predating even those in Vara. It was huge and had spanned most of the continent, but now the only reminder was the ruins that dotted every country. They had been a powerful nation of scholars and warriors, but were once reduced to rubble. It took several minutes, with Ash and I, putting the manuscripts and various papers into bins below the tabletop. Lunira knew the library much better than we did, so Ash and I split up to retrieve her. I took the left while Ash took the far right, scanning rows of books for Lunira. There had to be 40 of them, neatly decorated in carvings. Beautiful skylights were above us and windows on the far wall lit the entire library. I¡¯d only passed a couple when I heard the crash of shattering glass. ¡°Ah!¡± I heard a scream that was sharply muted. It had to be from somewhere in the middle, one of the skylights above had been shattered. I flew in a mad dash down the aisles, finding Lunira halfway down. ¡°Moryth!¡± Ash stood in shock on the opposite side of the aisle. Moryth turned, back to a wall of books. He turned slightly towards Ash and smiled. He spoke in my native tongue, which I had lost access to. ¡°Ash. Your Mother is well.¡± ¡°Mother is a traitor, she joined Kranon. Now he comes for Lunira?¡± She summoned her white blade, causing her eyes to glow. ¡°What is this?¡± He damanded. ¡°What kind of blade is that?¡± ¡°Godblade.¡± ¡°There is nothing like the soulblades. My mother is a traitor. Lunira denies Kranon so she is to die.¡± Moryth held one arm around Lunira¡¯s shoulders, the other hand held a blade, the same type that had sent me to Terradine. He held it to her neck, but I dashed to attack. He kicked be aside and drove the blade into Lunira¡¯s back. ¡°No!¡± I yelled, drawing another knife like the one I¡¯d lost to Moryth¡¯s kick. I lunged at him again. But he knocked me back and crushed my hand under his boot. ¡°Useless former god,¡± He spat. Pain shot up my arm as he took the knife from my hand and stomped my forearm. Ash sprinted up, kicking the god of knowledge square in the back. His soul-blade disappeared from his hand as he tumbled over Lunira¡¯s body. ¡°What kind of god are you that you would kill your mother.¡± Moryth stood, his blue-black hair now ruffled. He smiled again. ¡°Never!¡± Ash exclaimed, jumping at Moryth again. He summoned his blade again in time to block her strike. Her blade disappeared as it slipped from her hand. She dropped low to avoid his counter, attempting to sweep his legs. He jumped and twisted to release the momentum still in his blade. Avoiding her sweep entirely. Ash cursed as she stood, Moryth now between us again. She met my eyes as she lept at Moryth again. I tripped the god of knowledge before he was able to get a strike on her. And Ash drove her blade into his skull. A huge feeling of pain overwhelmed me. The death of a god. Those blades never brought blood, just left a smoking wound. Lunira still lay on the floor, wound clear through her chest. ¡°Xyros.¡± She croaked. A wave of relief fell over me, I dropped to my knees in front of her. Ash attempting to clean the wound. ¡°Not much time, brother.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Not write this down, came to head. Imperfect translation, but to make soulblade, you force soul into blade forged with blood.¡± She coughed, a horrible noise. She swatted Ash¡¯s hands away and then took one. And one of mine. ¡°Will not live,¡± she said in Vayden, before switching to the tongue of the gods, Terralin. ¡°My godhood remains. I pass this to you both. My knowledge, my wisdom, and my godhood belongs to you.¡± As she said this, I felt a rush as cold as ice through my body. Colors seemed sharper, sounds more detailed, I felt alive. It was like a rush of adrenaline had been shot into my heart. Her body shuddered on the ground, shaking as she drew her last. ¡°Kranon!¡± Ash shouted in despair. The new life I felt weighed heavy on me. My immortal sister had died. She passed herself on with me and Ash. A notepad she''d been holding before the attack lay at her side. It read, ¡°Godhood passed into blade,¡± In the Vayden script. ¡°What does this mean?¡± Ash asked in Terralin. ¡°One must be partially god to create a soulblade. That is my only guess.¡± It felt very good to speak my native tongue once more. But this came with the horrible cost of my sister. Ash¡¯s eyes were glowing angrily, ¡°Those traitor gods will pay for this.¡± Lunira and Ash had been avoiding using this tongue, it was only possible to speak it as a god, which I had lost. It was wordier than Vayden, almost poetic. ¡°They will pay. I need one of those blades.¡± ¡°We must begin studying I suppose.¡± Ash sighed, and brought Lunira¡¯s books to the table. I on the other hand prepared Lunira¡¯s body for burial. ¡°I will have my vengeance,¡± I wispered.