Free Trinity by Clare Davidson Page B

hand impacted with the ground.
    Kiana felt her body shudder as
tears began to overwhelm her. He was right. She should know; she
was a god. “Is everything a lie? Am I just a decoy for the true
incarnation of Miale?”
    “ No.” Both Nidan
and the Wolf spoke in unison.
    It almost made Kiana laugh
bitterly. “Then why don’t I know?” She stared at each of them in
turn. Neither one spoke. Her chin trembled as she covered her face
with her hands.
    She heard Nidan’s footsteps walk
closer. “You’ve done this! You’ve confused and upset her!”
    “ Stop it!” Kiana
lowered her hands.
    Nidan was standing over the Wolf,
his fists tightly clenched.
    “ Please, stop
it.” Kiana’s voice had come out as a faint whisper but it was
enough to catch Nidan’s attention.
    He took a step back and turned so
that he was standing side on to both Kiana and the Wolf. Tension
lined his face and muscles. He was at boiling point and Kiana knew
she was about to make him even angrier.
    Kiana drew in a deep breath before
trusting herself to speak. “I don’t want to go into Valgate.”
    Nidan’s mouth dropped open.
    “ His questions
have made me doubt everything I’ve ever been told about who I am.”
Kiana stared at Nidan, willing him to stay calm while she
explained. “I was told I was the incarnation of Miale and I never
questioned that. But the Wolf is right… I should have her memories.
I should be more than… than a person. More than just a girl… but
I’m not, am I?”
    Nidan knelt down beside her, his
back to the Wolf. He gripped her shoulders gently. “The power of
Miale was greatly weakened by her first death. Imprisoned in the
body of a mortal, her power is stretched thin. It’s the same reason
why no one can channel her power anymore.”
    Kiana sniffed back tears. “I was
told that.”
    Nidan looked at her hopefully and
squeezed her shoulders. “Then that should be enough. That explains
everything. Your power is spent on keeping the balance of your
domain in order.”
    Kiana shook her head sadly. “I
don’t think I can believe that anymore.” She felt his grip tighten
until her shoulders began to ache. She must have shown a hint of
pain on her face because he let go.
    “ All because of
the questions of your enemy?” Nidan said.
    Kiana nodded. But she didn’t just
feel confused. “This has to stop.”
    “ What
does?”
    She ignored Nidan’s question and
glanced at the Wolf. He had raised his head and was returning her
stare. A look of curiosity played over his face, and she thought
the anger in his eyes was thawing a little.
    “ All this hatred
and fighting… it has to stop. The Wolves will keep trying to kill
me. No matter how many times Miale is reincarnated, they will try
to kill her every time. And we will always retaliate.”
    “ Why shouldn’t
we?” Nidan said. “They’re the ones in the wrong.”
    Kiana shrugged. Right and wrong
seemed like odd concepts all of a sudden. “It can’t go on.” She
pursed her lips as she continued to stare at the Wolf. “Why are
your people fighting?”
    “ To avenge Ysia.”
His response was impassioned. It sounded like a phrase he had been
ordered to believe.
    Kiana looked at Nidan. “Why are we
fighting?”
    “ To protect
Miale.”
    Kiana shook her head. She’d asked
the wrong question. “A thousand years ago… why did the fighting
start?”
    Nidan frowned. “To avenge Miale.”
His mouth became downturned in dismay. “But it’s the Wolves who
have prolonged the fight!”
    She shrugged. It didn’t matter. It
had to stop.
    “ Our hatred is
justified!” Nidan said. “Miale was killed by the hand of a
Wolf.”
    “ One man,” Kiana
said. “And all of us have been paying ever since. The fighting… the
madness during the times of Thanatos… we have to end it
all.”
    “ How?”
    That time, Kiana did laugh at the
joint response. Oddly, the laughter eased the tension in her body.
A crazy idea began to form in her mind. “We restore