I narrow my eyes. Freia, the Goddess of Vengeance. Questions swirl through my mind. Who could have imprisoned a God? And why? Thal and I exchange worried glances. Whatever we expected to find in this cage, it certainly wasn't this. Freia is more potent than most of the Gods, her special love for revenge encompasses love, war, wickedness, knowledge, and more. She has few worshippers, but the ones she has are particularly cruel—just like their Goddess.
Freia purses her lips at Sadal. “Perhaps I spoke too soon.” She drifts to the side so she can take in the rest of our party. Her eyes are bright, amused. “And look, you’ve brought friends.”
“I would hardly call them that,” Sadal says, frowning with distaste.
“Then are they toys? Minions?” Freia asks with a broad grin.
Sadal’s eyes flick over us, resting on me. “No.”
“Of course not,” Freia says. She giggles, lifting her hand to hide her cruel smile. “How could they be when you have no powers to speak of? You couldn’t even convince your own little demons to obey you anymore, could you?”
Sadal grits his teeth, jaw pulsing with anger. “How would you know anything about that?”
Freia waves a hand dismissively. “Word spread quickly through all the Gods. You know they’re already searching for someone to replace you?” She makes a tsking noise. “Of course, it didn’t take long for my friends above to let me know. It’s all very amusing and has helped me pass the time. I should thank you for that—all of you.”
“Someone to replace me?” Sadal asks, looking outraged.
Quietly, Verity slips away, drifting behind Sadal towards the cage. She studies it as Sadal and Freia bicker. Verity fingers the cage tentatively but hisses in pain, tugging her hand away. Freia looks away from Sadal to narrow her eyes at Verity. “It’s imbued with a pain spell,” she explains, “To keep me from ripping it apart and escaping. Cruel, wouldn’t you say?”
Verity meets her gaze, the hand behind her back holding her weapon shakes. “I think that depends,” she finally says.
"You can do away with that little spell you've been hiding." Freia lounges back, cushioned by the air. "It won't do you any good anyway, and I certainly can't harm you from in here."
“No one can replace me,” Sadal mutters furiously. “Clearly no one is worthy if it’s taken them this long.”
“You poor thing.” Freia looks sympathetically at Sadal as his shoulders curl in on himself. I watch as he fights another bout of madness. “Who could have known that losing your immortality would have eaten away at your mind?”
“Let’s get what we came for,” Erzur murmurs. She has been watching the bickering between the two Gods closely, but I can feel her temper flaring. She’s right. We don’t have time to waste. And although Verity has already started picking her way around the cage, all of our efforts should be focused.
“We need to replicate your prison,” I say, stepping forward. Freia’s eyes snap towards me with frightening speed.
“Go ahead.” She sneers. “I could use the company.”
My arms are beginning to ache from holding Erzur for hours. I know she needs a place to rest so she can heal quickly. I hold Verity’s gaze for an instant, trying to reassure her that I am not leaving her—that I never will leave her. Her pale blue eyes waver but then she drops them back to the prison. As I move away from Freia to a safe distance from her, my thoughts turn back to the first nights I met Verity. She was fiery and stubborn and drove me out of my mind. She was quick to laugh and quick to anger. Now, she’s morose and trapped in a plot to save the world from darkness. She should be in my library, reading in the sunlight. Not here, baking in the heat and studying a complex, ancient spell.
Guilt washes through me. Guilt and disappointment. It's my fault Verity is here. I should have protected her, I could have protected her better. Hiding a frown, I lay Erzur onto the baked earth carefully. She winces in pain and I grimace sympathetically. Sadal's little creatures were not kind to her in the tunnels. Erzur sighs when she lays flat on her back. She tosses an arm over her eyes to block out the sun, and I leave a bladder of water beside her. She'll need it more than any of us, except perhaps Verity when she begins weaving the spell.
“I don’t trust her,” Erzur murmurs.
“I don’t either,” I say. I glance over my shoulder towards the Goddess of Vengeance. “And I don’t trust Sadal.”
“It would be wise to keep an eye on both of them. And perhaps keep them separated.” Erzur lifts her arm to meet my gaze.
I nod. “Agreed.”
“For once, we see eye to eye.” Erzur smiles.
“Don’t get used to it,” I murmur. “Will you be alright here?”
She waves a bloodied hand. “Go.”
I rise, turning back to Freia and the cage. She watches me approach with bright, intense eyes and I feel a strange, unnatural stroke of awareness in my mind. I flinch back and Freia grins. “Don’t,” I snarl, hand on the hilt of my blade.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Freia says innocently.
“He means your burrowing into our minds,” Verity murmurs, circling back around the cage.
Freia scowls at Verity. “You witches are really so tiring. Boring, even.” I open my mouth to snap at Freia but she pins me with her stare. “And don’t you jump to her defense. This little witch is more than capable of defending herself.”
“Verity?” I flick my eyes towards her, searching her stony face.
She fiddles with the ring on her finger, my promise to her. “Just give me some time here. I don’t understand the spell yet.”
Verity busies herself near the cage, touching it here and there
