Machine of Fire and Blood

THIRTEEN

Maia smiled down at her visitor.

"How kind of you to stop by," she drawled.

Her visitor gave her a sharp smile in return.

"Of course. I had to stop by and see how you were fairing. There is a dangerous man on his way to get you, after all."

Maia nodded. "Yes, I suppose there is."

"But you are not worried, though, because a brave warrior is coming to your rescue. Not to mention the band of friends he totes along with him. Yes, you will be well protected, Goddess."

Maia's lips pulled back in a snarl. "Do not use that word against me like an insult when you yourself have enjoyed the worship of humans."

She regarded the dark haired woman who stood before her. Her skin gleamed and her green eyes were bright. She had the ageless beauty that Maia herself was supposed to have gotten. She glanced down at her own frail body, at the limbs she could barely move because she was too weak and her snarl grew. It had all gone horribly wrong.

"When Chaon Danson comes for me, Adithreel and his band will come to my rescue. Adi may block me out but he cannot deny the scale of my power or the fact that it would be catastrophic if it fell into Danson's hands. And when Adi comes to save the day, it will put him right where I want him. I neither need nor want your help. So, Ayall, I must ask: what brings you to my Temple?"

Ayall shrugged, the devilish grin never leaving her face. "No particular reason. The wind carried me in this direction and I thought it would be nice to pop in and say hi since it had been so long since we last saw one another. Our friends are getting restless on the other side. They want to join us in this new world, and they feel that you are not doing everything you could to help that process along."

Maia sighed. "I am sure they do. However, since I am, in fact, doing all that is in my power, they will simply have to wait. And surely you have better things to do than come here and give me thinly veiled threats."

"You have never been much fun, Maia. They call you the neutral goddess. How horribly banal. I always know what to expect with you, and it is never anything good. Before I go, I should mention that I saw Chaon Danson on my way here. He is headed for the Eastern coastline to look for recruits amongst the king's guard. I've seen a vision of what will happen. Many of them will leave their posts to follow him. It looks like he will have quite the little army by the time he gets to you."

Maia scowled, gritting her teeth slightly. "Like I said, Adithreel and his party will be plenty enough to protect me. Chaon Danson was never fated to win this fight."

Ayall raised her eyebrows but nodded. She bowed slightly before turning to leave.

"Ah," she added, her back still to Maia, "that reminds me. That young woman your young Adi is with. She is interesting, no? Her fate seems to deeply entwined with his. Will it be a good or bad fate, I wonder?"

Maia refrained from rolling her eyes at the back of Ayall's head. "It will not matter soon enough. Try not to dwell on such insignificant matters."

"If you say so," Ayall replied.

With that, she leapt into the air and vanished, becoming the wind itself and sweeping from the room. Maia frowned at the spot Ayall had been. It hardly seemed fair that she was stuck in a broken body when she was the one who was revered as a goddess, while Ayall—who had been rejected by the people—had a perfect capsule that she could travel the world in as she pleased. Maia turned her gaze up, out the large open door and to the horizon beyond.

"It will all change soon enough," she murmured to herself. "Just a little while longer."