Storm nods, and there’s not a hint of sarcasm on his face. “Breaking past the prison magic was nothing more than a walk in the park for Kit,” he tells me. He casts his eyes to the ground, his face twisting into a grimace. “I just wish I could have gotten all my people out of there,” he says, shaking his head as his broad shoulders slump. This is what leadership does to a person, I realize. Well, it’s what being a good leader does to a person. Storm cares about everyone in that prison, and it breaks my heart to see him hurting for them - enough for me to soften my gaze and clear my throat.
“Hey,” I say, turning to face him and squeezing his hand with my own. The action sends a jolt of pain up my wrist, but I hardly feel it as I look up into Storm’s eyes. “You did the best you could. And you saved my life - I owe you… Well, everything.”
“I know,” Storm says, nodding and lifting his head. “And I know I can do more for them out here than trapped in here. This thing is bigger than the prison - hell, it’s bigger than all of us. We’re talking about the higher gods here, and their ability to keep being tyrants. If I can help put a stop to them, then it will all be worth it.” A small smile appears on his face, and he bends his neck to peer at Kit. “I’m just glad this little guy was there to help us out. We would’ve been fucked otherwise.”
“I’ll say,” I agree, shaking my head in disbelief. “I mean, holy cow. I thought he was just a greedy fecker that lived under my bed that I put up with because…” I stop, grinning. “Well, he is cute at times.”
“They eat a lot to gain power, and then they sleep it off,” Storm explains. “That’s where his appetite comes from. The more you feed him, the more quickly his magical abilities will increase.” He looks at me. “You should be proud of yourself, little one - goblins only bond to gods and goddesses that they sense are powerful.”
“People keep telling me that I’m powerful,” I say, looking at the ground. “Maybe one of these days I’ll believe it.”
“Just as long as you don’t get a big head,” Storm teases, and I roll my eyes.
“That’s rich, coming from you.”
He laughs. “Fair enough. You know, goblins have a sad history in some respect; they can only be created by the deaths of their parents. They are immortal unless they have a child, which is the only way they can die. I’ve always had a soft spot for them, but I never was chosen by them for any reason. My mother had a goblin, though - that’s why I know so much about them. She died when she had her child.”
“So Kit is alone in this world?” I ask, actually feeling sorry for him.
“That’s right,” Storm replies, nodding slowly. “I understand what he felt like. No family, no loved ones, no one to feel for… I always had the other prisoners, sure, but I didn’t ever really feel a true connection...that is, until I met you.” His voice is soft and gentle, almost tentative, but his words hit me as hard as if he had screamed them at me. “Seems Kit and I have a lot in common.”
There’s a moment of silence that stretches between the two of us until it’s almost unbearable. “Did you know who I was?” I ask him quietly. “When you first met me, did you know I was immortal? Was that why you took a liking to me - because you knew I would never leave you?”
“Not until you told me you killed Neritous,” Storm replies, and I feel the knot of anxiety in my stomach ease up a little. “I swear it,” he adds. “I liked you because you told it to me straight. You didn’t balk at my power, even though by all accounts, you should have.” He shrugs. “Your cute sassy attitude is addictive. I realised the truth about you when you told me at the party, because only a higher god or a child with higher god power could have done what you did. But if you’re asking whether my feelings for you were genuine before that, the answer is yes.” No hesitation. Relief begins to spread through me. A deeper part of me doesn’t want Storm to like me just because we are so similar and both immortal. Is this going to change the way he looks at me? Will he feel… obligated to me, somehow? But he opens his mouth to speak, seizing my eyes with his own. “You ran away, and I was chasing you so I could tell you. To stop you before the higher gods found you. Then I saw Jade…” He shakes his head.
“Jade is really dead,” I say, but the words are so hard to say that I can’t help but cry as I say them. It still doesn’t seem real, even though I saw her jump in front of the blast. I can’t believe I’m not going to see her smile again, or to laugh the way only she could make me. Although we didn’t know each other for long, she felt like a real friend, like a Mads who understood what it was like to be a goddess. And poor Coxen... I wish I could give him a hug and tell him how sorry I am. “She died to save the twins. I don’t understand why she would do that; she didn’t even like them much.”
“But she loved you, and she knew how you felt for them,” Storm soothingly tells me. “You will always miss her, but she died in an honourable way that will not be forgotten. Jade was a good friend, and we all will miss her.”
“The world and her friend still think she killed a child,” I reply. “I have to find her friend and make sure everyone knows the truth.” That was her dying wish, and I’m sure as hell going to make it happen if I can. I’m not going to die in these games, or whatever comes afterwards, without telling her friend the truth.
“I promise I will help you find her,” Storm tells me, and then he looks up at the clouds. He just stares for a long time, and it really only then strikes home how he is outside the prison for the first time. It’s been hundreds of years, and his only connection with the outside world has been the door and the openings in the roof of the prison. It was magnificent to see the sky for the first time when I got out, and I was only in prison for a short while - how must he feel, after all this?
I admire how he looks in this moment, watching the sky. The dim lighting reflects across his eyes, making them brighter as he looks up. I can see the stars he is looking at, without asking him what he is looking for. Storm is free, and despite everything, I smile for him.
“Okay,” I eventually say. “Are you alright? Being out for the first time, well, in a long time?”
“I forgot how pretty the stars are and how fresh the air is out here. I forgot a lot,” he tells me, looking up at the sky still as he speaks to me, but he closes his eyes briefly. “The wind blowing against me, it’s so different and like a long lost friend. It has been so long. Too long.”
“You won’t be going back,” I softly make sure he knows. I want Storm with me always, and that means if the higher gods are still against him, he isn’t alone anymore. He is the only light in this world, and if anyone should be ruling the gods, it should be him. He was born to be the ruler after his parents.
“I will go back one more time—when I’ve killed the higher gods, because right then, I’m freeing my people,” Storm tells me, finally turning his eyes to me. “I will help them adjust to this world and everything they have missed.”
“Sounds like a plan I can get behind and help with,” I say, because I’d really like to be by Storm’s side when we open the prison and let everyone out. Even Vivian deserves to be free, despite how much I don’t like her.