THE BURIED GOD
Chapter 28: The Blade Within
Damon sat on the cold stone floor.
The heart hung above him, dark and still. The walls were black, the shadows deep, the silence absolute. Vespera sat beside him, her silver eyes fixed on his face. Lyssa stood by the entrance, her green eyes watching. Rook leaned against the wall, his gray eyes closed.
No one spoke.
There was nothing left to say.
Damon closed his eyes.
He reached inside himself.
Not with his hands. With his will. With his fear. With his hunger.
He found the blade.
It was small. Cold. Dark.
It was not made of glass. Not made of stone. Not made of bone.
It was made of him.
He opened his eyes.
The blade was in his hand.
Not the blade the first priestess had given him. A different blade. Smaller. Darker. Colder.
The blade of ending.
The blade that he had become.
“How do you feel?” Vespera asked.
Damon looked at the blade.
At the dark glass.
At the cold hunger.
“Like I’ve been asleep my whole life. And now I’m finally awake.”
He stood.
The heart pulsed.
Not with light. With darkness.
Not with hunger. With fear.
“The god knows,” Vespera said.
“The god knows what?”
“That you have the blade. That you can end him. That you can bury him.”
“Then why isn’t he fighting?”
Vespera was silent for a long moment.
“Because he wants you to try.”
Damon walked toward the heart.
The blade was cold in his hand.
The heart pulsed faster.
The darkness deepened.
The hunger grew.
He raised the blade.
“Wait,” Rook said.
Damon stopped.
“The elder said you must cut yourself. Not the heart. Not the god. Not the hunger.”
“Why?”
Rook’s gray eyes were dark.
“Because the heart is inside you. The god is inside you. The hunger is inside you.”
“Then how do I destroy it?”
Rook was silent for a long moment.
“You destroy yourself.”
Damon looked at the blade.
At the dark glass.
At the cold hunger.
“I can’t.”
“You can. You must. There is no other way.”
“Then I’ll find one.”
Rook shook his head.
“There is no other way. There has never been another way. The priestesses knew. The elders knew. The high priest knew.”
“And they died.”
“They died. The god slept. The world lived.”
“And now?”
Rook’s gray eyes were wet.
“Now it’s your turn.”