Wrath of the Forgotten: Descendants of the Fall Book II by Hodges, Aaron (best romance books of all time txt) 📕

inadequate now, and she found her gaze drawn again to the gauntlet encasing her hand.

“Maybe you deserve it,” Cara snapped.

Erika found herself nodding. “Maybe,” she replied.

Silence answered her reply. When she finally looked up, Erika found the Goddess staring at her, lips turned down in a frown.

“I’m sorry,” Erika croaked finally. “None of this makes sense to me, Cara. Ever since I uncovered this gauntlet, since I discovered that map, it feels as though I’ve been cast adrift. I’m barely keeping my head above the water—and now the tide is coming in.”

Cara said nothing, only stared back at her, amber eyes unreadable. Erika let out a sigh and rested her head back against the bulwark. Above, the sky was an endless blue, barely marked by a single cloud.

“Why are you here, Cara?” she whispered finally.

“Good question,” the Goddess replied archly. “I think I mentioned something about a kidnapping…”

“I meant, why has a God returned to the lands of humanity?”

The Goddess did not reply immediately, and when she did speak, the words were whispered: “It was…an accident.” Erika looked sharply at Cara and was surprised to see her cheeks had coloured. “I’m not meant to be here,” she added, her voice becoming hoarse.

“What?” Erika asked. “How is that possible?”

Cara shrugged. “I’m, err…somewhat of a rebel.” The Goddess offered a sheepish smile. “We aren’t allowed to leave the mountains, according to the Elders, but…” She trailed off, a tinge of anger appearing in her eyes. “I mean, how would you feel, being able to soar through the clouds, go wherever you want…but not having the freedom to do it?”

“I…ah, the Elders?”

Cara scowled. “My family, you might say…” She hesitated. “It’s not like I haven’t done it before,” she mumbled. “Only this time…”

“You were attacked by the Tangata,” Erika surmised, remembering Romaine’s story. “He said…you had a broken arm?” She frowned. “But…you fought off dozens of the Tangata on the Illmoor. How could two have done anything to hurt you, even with your injury?”

“It wasn’t just my arm that was broken,” Cara replied, her face losing some of its colour. “I…fell.” A shudder ran through the diminutive figure. “That’s never happened before.”

“You fell?” Erika asked softly.

“There was a snowstorm,” Cara answered shortly, then paused before going on: “I was caught in it on the way home, it drove me out of the sky. Before I knew how low I was…the tree came out of nowhere! My wing…” Her voice grew taut, as though she were remembering some terrible pain. “I almost passed out from the pain. And then those Tangata caught my scent.”

Erika shook her head. “That doesn’t make any sense; why would the Tangata follow you? Why stay in Fogmore? Why come with us to Calafe?”

“I stayed because they were kind,” Cara whispered. “Because I wanted to help Romaine and Lukys and all the others. Because I wanted to help you.”

The intensity in Cara’s voice forced Erika to look away. Her gaze fell upon the sailors moving below, on the soldiers as they lounged about the deck, the packs of supplies and weapons. The sight reminded her briefly of her other expedition under Flumeeren rule, the miserly supplies and poorly trained recruits that had been sent to protect her. There could be no comparison to the preparations Nguyen had made for her, to the bearded veterans that would march with them.

But…could she trust them? Lukys and the Perfugians might not have been the most skilled of warriors, but they had been earnest, without a bone of treachery in their bodies. And Romaine, Cara—they had volunteered to come, despite the danger. These men and women, how far would their loyalty to the king stretch, when faced with the dangers in the Mountains of the Gods?

“I think they’re desperate as well,” Cara said suddenly.

Frowning, Erika looked across at the Goddess, but her gaze was on the open plateaus. “Who’s desperate?”

“The Tangata,” Cara replied, meeting Erika’s eyes now.

“The Tangata?” Erika shook her head. “Desperate? I doubt that. They’ve enjoyed a decade of victories against our forces, taken an entire kingdom from the hands of humanity. What do they have to be desperate about?”

“I don’t know,” the Goddess said, “but I could sense it in their voices when they chased me, when they tried to capture me on the banks of the Illmoor.”

Erika blinked. There was a lot to unpack in the Goddess’s statement. “Their voices?” she started, before adding: “They were trying to capture you?”

Cara smiled. “You know, for an intellectual, you’re not the most observant.” She hesitated, before continuing. “They’re afraid of something, the Tangata.”

“Fear?” Erika snorted at that. “You think that was fear?”

The Goddess stared back at her, those amber eyes seemingly aglow in the morning light. Finally Erika swallowed and changed the subject. “Why would they want to capture you?”

The way the Tangata had launched themselves at Cara, it had not seemed like the creatures were interested in taking the Goddess prisoner. And yet…there had been a moment when Cara had been knocked to the ground, pinned beneath a horde of the creatures. Surely then one of the creatures could have managed a fatal blow…

“I don’t know,” Cara replied with a shrug. “There is much about their people I do not understand.”

“Maybe they wanted to capture your magic?” Erika suggested. After all, that was how the Tangata had first been born.

“My magic?” Cara looked at her blankly. “Whatever…power I have, they could not take it. I don’t think.”

Erika let out a long breath, turning her memories of the battle over again in her mind, trying to piece together the clues. But recalling the fight, another thought occurred to her.

“Why didn’t you kill them?” she asked, running her hand over the metallic links of her gauntlet. “I didn’t think much of it at the time…but the Tangata you struck all got back up.”

Cara bit her lip, suddenly looking nervous. Rubbing her shoulder, she looked away, and Erika didn’t think she was going to answer.

“My people…do not kill,” Cara croaked finally.

“What?” Erika frowned. “But