Chapter 36 The Goddess of Ash
The giant wolf’s teeth were like white pillars of salt. Its breath smelled like cold wind and ancient dust. I stood frozen, holding Leo and Elias against my legs. Xavier was on his feet, but his face was pale. We had just escaped the "Readers," only to be hunted by the very goddess who was supposed to protect our kind.
"The evidence?" I yelled, my voice shaking. "We are your children, not evidence! We survived the labs for you!"
The giant wolf didn't move its lips, but the voice boomed inside my skull. "You survived because I allowed the agency to test you. I needed to see if the Silver Line was strong enough to replace the old world. But you have become a virus, Elara. You have infected the real world with your magic. Now, the humans know too much."
"You used us!" Xavier roared. He stepped in front of me, his eyes glowing gold. "You let them cut us open? You let them steal our babies just to see if we were strong?"
"A forest must be burned to grow back stronger," the goddess said.
She lowered her massive head until her silver eyes were inches from mine. "The 'Readers' are gone. The author is dead. But as long as you live, the humans will hunt every wolf and dragon on this planet. To save the pack, the queen must die."
"No!" Leo screamed, his silver light flaring up. "You won't touch my mommy!"
The Goddess let out a low growl that knocked the boys to the ground. "Do not speak to me, little spark. You are just a mistake born in a jar."
I felt something cold and hard snap inside my chest. I had spent my whole life being told what I was. A test subject. A mother. A queen. A character in a book. I was tired of people trying to decide if I lived or died.
I looked at the giant wolf. I didn't feel fear anymore. I felt a hunger for revenge that was deeper than any ocean. If the Goddess wanted to delete the evidence, she would have to face the virus she created.
"You think you’re in control?" I whispered.
I reached down and touched the dirt. I didn't try to grow scales. I didn't try to breathe fire. I reached for the blue spark of data still living in my mind. I connected to the satellites in the sky. I connected to the phones in the pockets of the fans in the forest.
"I’m not a wolf anymore," I said, my voice turning into a digital echo. "I’m the thing that broke the machine."
The blue light exploded from my skin. It didn't just glow; it turned into thousands of thin, silver wires that shot out of my chest. They wrapped around the goddess's legs, digging into her fur.
The giant wolf let out a cry of shock. "What is this? My power is from the moon! You cannot bind me with human toys!"
"This isn't a toy," I hissed. "This is every memory of every wolf you let die. This is the pain of the mothers you ignored."
I pulled the wires tight. The goddess began to shrink. Her massive body started to flicker, turning into gray smoke and silver light.
"Xavier! Now!" I yelled.
Xavier lunged. Even without his full strength, his strength was enough to tear through a mountain. He slammed into the goddess's chest, his hands glowing with the golden energy of an Alpha. He wasn't just fighting a god; he was fighting for the years we lost in the dark.
"For the pack!" Xavier screamed.
The goddess let out one final, piercing howl. The light was so bright I had to close my eyes. When I opened them, the giant wolf was gone.
Standing in the grass was a woman. She was beautiful, with long silver hair and a dress made of starlight. But she was bleeding. Her blood was silver, and it was staining the green grass like spilled ink.
"You... you have broken the cycle," the goddess gasped. She looked at her hands, which were shaking. "Without a goddess to lead them, the wolves will turn into beasts. You have doomed your own people, Elara."
"They’ll be free to choose," I said.
I walked up to her and held the silver dagger I had taken from the King of Ash. "And they won't have to die for your experiments anymore."
"Wait!" the goddess held up a hand. "Look behind you."
I turned around. The girl from the forest, the fan who had tried to shoot me, was standing there. But she wasn't alone. Thousands of people were walking out of the shadows of the trees. They weren't being controlled anymore. Their eyes were normal.
But they were all holding cameras. They were all recording us.
"They saw everything," the Goddess whispered, a sick smile on her face. "They saw the magic. They saw the blood. The 'Readers' are gone, but the World Government is watching this live. They are sending the jets, Elara. You have thirty seconds before this forest becomes a hole in the ground."
Suddenly, a loud whistling sound came from the sky. I looked up and saw three silver streaks moving faster than sound.
"Xavier, get the boys!" I yelled.
But as I reached for Leo, a red dot appeared on his forehead. It wasn't a laser from a gun. It was a digital countdown.
00:05... 00:04...
The goddess laughed, her body fading into the air. The author had a backup plan. If he died, the 'virus' would be deleted along with her children."
I lunged for Leo, but my hands passed right through him. He was turning into pixels again.
"Mommy!" Leo screamed.
Then, the world stopped.
A man in a black suit stepped out from behind a tree. He was holding a briefcase and a cell phone. He looked at the falling missiles in the sky and snapped his fingers.
The missiles stopped in mid-air.
"The story is getting messy," the man said. He looked at me, and I saw a barcode tattooed on his neck. "I’m from the Legal Department. We need to talk about your copyright."
He pointed his phone at me, and a new message appeared on the screen of my own mind.
New Contract Offered: Sign Or Delete.