Dreadgod (Cradle Book 11) (44)

That was the more immediate worry, but there was another disaster everyone had witnessed. They had all seen the sky go black and the world shake. Not everyone comprehended the battle in the heavens, and not everyone realized that the shattering of stars was a threat beyond Monarchs, but they had all seen it.

Some asked her if that had been the work of a fifth Dreadgod. Still others assumed Malice had sheathed the world in shadow because she was displeased with them, or because she was fighting with another Monarch.

Mercy met with everyone she could, staying vague about the cause of the incident, but spreading the word that her mother was personally keeping them safe.

Most of her visitors went away from her in good spirits, which pleased her. She preferred it when she could send people away happy.

But her own confidence was shaken when a messenger construct darted into her room in the form of a white hawk. It burst as it conveyed its message in a loud male voice.

“The Titan has changed course. It has not stayed to feed on the Tower. I repeat, the Wandering Titan has not remained in place to feed. It is marching due northwest. We project that it is on a straight-line course to Moongrave. I repeat…”

The messenger didn’t identify himself, but technically it wasn’t necessary. He was clearly one of the clan scouts they had left to observe the Titan’s movements.

Mercy made a mental note to find out which team had sent the message first and reward them, but it stayed in a distant corner of her mind. Most of her thoughts were buzzing.

She’d fought a weakened Titan, and she would hesitate before doing that again. Now it was coming here, to the city where she’d been born, with its full power.

Mercy called an end to her visitors for the day and deactivated the rune-lights in her office. The shutters slid down over the windows until she was in darkness. Shadow aura was strong here, and she had an easy time conjuring her Book of Eternal Night.

The construct floated in front of her as she flipped through its thick pages. The fifth page contained her Dream of Darkness, and she spent most of her training time immersing herself in the technique.

Which was kind of like bathing in nightmares, so she looked forward to mastering that technique so she could leave the page behind.

This time, she sent her spiritual awareness to the sixth page. The Archlord-level madra was too much for her to handle right now, and Aunt Charity had advised her to slowly reach the peak of Overlord before she moved on.

She had already advanced faster than her aunt thought was wise, so now she couldn’t express interest in the sixth page without causing trouble. But she could peek on her own…

From the darkness of the room, Akura Malice strode out.

Mercy’s mother was sheathed in a violet dress and wore silver chains in her hair and around her neck, all set with amethysts. Her hair drifted like part of the shadows, and she tapped black lips with fingernails of purple crystal as she walked.

In shock, Mercy made her Book vanish like a child shoving a cookie in her mouth to hide it.

Instantly afterwards, she realized that it would have made her look less guilty if she had just left the Book hovering there, but by then it was too late.

Malice smirked. “Looking ahead, are we?”

“I’m sorry. I heard about the Titan.”

“Yes.” Her smirk twisted into a grimace. “It’s been an eventful week, hasn’t it? It’s hard to remember a time I’ve hated more since advancing to Monarch.”

Mercy hesitated to ask, but everyone in the city was worried about the Dreadgod. Including her. “How much danger are we in?”

“Less than we were from the heavenly invaders.” Malice pulled a chair out of the darkness and folded herself into it. “It is hard to appreciate the scale of mundane threats when one has watched the stars vanish, isn’t it?”

“That’s why I was looking at the sixth page. I don’t like these terrible things happening when I can’t do anything about them.”

“Nor should you. Let that weakness and that helplessness drive you, and soon you will never be weak or helpless again.” She bit a corner of her lip. “Or so I thought.”

Mercy appreciated any opportunity to talk to her mother as a person, rather than as a Monarch, but she was frightened by how much the war in the heavens had disturbed Malice.

Frightened, because that had been Eithan.

And she worried what that feeling of helplessness would drive her mother to do.

“I’m sure Lindon and Yerin didn’t know,” Mercy said.

“I have no doubt. I am concerned about how Eithan may have positioned them without their knowledge. How he may have positioned all of us.”

Mercy tried to appeal one more time. “I know them. I can make sure they stay our friends.”

“You can befriend anyone,” Malice said, “as long as you’re not in competition. They are valuable allies to us, and if they help us weather this crisis and join their master in the heavens, then I will remember them fondly.”

“They’d be more likely to cooperate if I could talk with them.”

Malice sighed. “Let’s assume that, for whatever reason, they began to see me as a rival.”

Mercy’s mouth fell open. Why would Lindon and Yerin consider Malice a rival? Even if they advanced to Monarch, they had never shown any desire to conquer territory. If anything, they would see Malice as an ally.