The moment she touched Xigon's bare hand, Kolo disconnected from time and space. Far away, she heard herself scream. The world spun and disintegrated.

Through a veil of swirling dust, she saw the grinning dog that made her necklace burn. His tail wagged and his eyes twinkled like fireflies caught in a spiderweb. He stretched downward, as if he were bowing to her. Then, against her will, she returned to that moment.

Linn had eaten every life in her family's commune. Entirely at Kolo's command.

But to think he would stop once only she remained – what a fool she had been. He had never aspired for her freedom, only her soul. Linn's urge was to consume, and he would devour her with as much glee as he'd devoured her family.

Family was a strange way to put it, Kolo thought. Howl Hollow was a world of madness where her worshippers and captors were one and the same. They had begged her to be their angel, yet they had broken her wings.

To Linn, she had never been a goddess. Only prey.

That night, she lost everything but her name and her power. If not for her talisman, he would have swallowed her completely.

It all came back in an instant that dragged on forever.

When she pulled away from Xigon, no time had passed at all, but she knew what she had to do.

She pictured the poison eating Xigon's mind like Linn had eaten hers. In her mind's eye, it became a predator tearing at the master's bones. The mere idea made her burn. Xigon was not prey and neither was she.

Kolo did what she wished she could have done to that grinning demon. She gathered all her strength and annihilated the poison from existence.

When he thanked her, Kolo replied with more certainty than she had felt in a very long time. "Not devil. Goddess."

She turned to the others then. While Lalek and Rizval fussed over Channei, Azvalath stared at Kolo like she had sprouted horns.

"I've got it from here," said Xigon. He detached himself from Qila and knelt by Channei's side. "Go now, all of you. You too, Qila."

No one disobeyed. No one except Kolo. She stood firm as everyone else left the room.

Xigon looked up. "Did you hear me?"

Kolo folded her arms. "Yes. But until I have any reason at all to believe otherwise, you're not my master."

White sparks burst from Xigon's hands as he pieced Channei back together. Then he glared at Kolo. There was fire in his eyes unlike any she had ever seen. She almost wondered if he were still insane from the poison. "I don't like your tone, Kolo. Just what is it you saw when we touched?"

"Nothing I wanted to see." Kolo looked down. "I'm not who I thought I was. But that's beside the point." She glared straight into his eyes. Her spine tingled. "What is it you saw in me? Why did you want me so much that you'd send Aza to hunt me down?"

"You're still upset with Azvalath?" Xigon turned back to Channei. More white sparks erupted. "I thought you two were finally getting used to each other."

"No." Kolo scowled. "It's you I'm upset with. Now answer my question."

"Don't distract me." Xigon didn't take his eyes off Channei.

"It's a simple question. Shouldn't be all that distracting." Kolo paced behind the tall man. "Why me?"

He let out a long sigh. "When I look at you, I see the same fire I once saw in the Iron God."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

"Kolo, I..." Xigon hesitated. He clenched his fists and swallowed hard. "I can't put all my trust and faith in a god who can't help us. Not anymore."

Her eyebrows rose. "What...?"

"Our god is gone, and the more time passes, the harder it is for me to believe that he can or will ever return." Xigon pulled Channei into his arms and held her against his chest. "Then we found you, and I knew you were beyond any dead god."

"Xigon." Kolo broke out in a cold sweat. "What the hell are you talking about?"

He stared at her, his eyes wide with emotion she had never thought him capable of. "Really, it was a selfish pursuit." Xigon blinked and averted his gaze. "I needed someone to believe in. Someone to give me purpose. Not our god who left us nothing."

"Selfish." She ran a hand through her white hair. "At least you admit to it. But you're out of your mind if you think I'm anyone's savior."

Xigon's head snapped in her direction as she started walking toward the bluehole. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, so it's a lie?" With a bitter laugh, Kolo stopped. "We can't really leave?"

Xigon seemed baffled. "You have nowhere to go."

"True, but not at all what I asked." She turned back to face him. "What's a better reason for me not to leave?"

Xigon looked down at Channei, who was still unconscious in his arms. "If you really want to leave, then I won't stop you. But I have a sense that's not what you really want, is it?"

"No." Kolo extended an invisible arm and brushed it against Xigon's shoulder. "But I'm not anyone's prize. I will be strong." She balled her hands into fists. "Before you come to me begging for miracles, give me my second ascension."

[27] Kolo: He Who Left Nothing

0 Comments