the uneasy truce which held there. Visions of the handiwork of moat, the
Bandaran imitation of divine paradise, came as an unwelcome-indeed,
unimaginable-surprise.
You should be ashamed of yourselves, she, who tolerated no other deities in that
portion of paradise she called her own, roared at the pantheons and protogods
who shared a suddenly imperfect omniscience with her. THAT. An ephemeral finger
pointed toward the blazing column that was Janni and the ominous bulge beneath
it. That is what comes of giving mortals their own dreams. That is what they
have built with free will: a gateway for demons-for the destruction of us all!
Mother Bey reserved special ire for her erstwhile lover, Stormbringer, but her
mortal avatar was spared that confrontation. The goddess withdrew, leaving
Shupansea somewhat flushed and tingling with righteous indignation.
“How could you allow this to happen?” she demanded of Molin.
Molin straightened his robe and his dignity. “You knew all that we knew. Roxane
took control of Niko’s body; another magician has stolen the Globe of Power. The
rest, the consequences, we are only just beginning to understand.”
“I have seen with my mother’s eye, and the force within that young man,” she
gestured toward Niko with a bloodstained finger, “has nothing to do with
witches! Can’t you fools tell the difference between a demon and a witch?”
Tempus freed himself from Jihan’s restraint. He towered over Shupansea. “We know
exactly what we’re dealing with, bitch,” he said in a softly menacing voice.