ZAIN
DOMAIN OF THE DREAM GODS
"She won't live long, Zain. She only has a few hours. My advice is that you say your goodbyes," Bee-roth, the goddess of maternity, told me, her voice trembling with exhaustion.
Her eyes were sunken, her once radiant skin dulled by fatigue. She had been working tirelessly for three days straight, pouring every ounce of divine energy she possessed into keeping the child alive. Not just any child—my child. A child born of chaos, of desperation, of betrayal. A child that was never meant to exist, yet now held the fragile thread of my soul in her tiny, gasping breaths.
I stood there, numb. The air around me felt thick, like it was trying to choke the truth into my lungs. I hadn't planned for this. Lou hadn't planned for this. Or maybe she had. Maybe this was her plan all along—to trap me, to bind me to her through blood. But now she was gone, and all that remained was the consequence of our choices.
"What of her mother? Did she survive?" I asked, the words tasting bitter in my mouth. I didn't care for Lou—not anymore. She had lied to me, manipulated me, and now her recklessness had brought a child into a world that would never accept her.
Bee-roth hesitated, then spoke softly. "No. She didn't. She wasn't supposed to be able to carry that child for this long in the first place. It's only thanks to the demon blood she drank."
I clenched my fists. "Can you figure out who gave it to her?"
"I tried," Bee-roth said, her voice barely above a whisper. "She wouldn't say. Not even under threat. She remained tight-lipped."
I was about to press further when a blinding light filled the room. Instinctively, I reached for my blade, ready to strike. But then a voice echoed through the chamber.
"I wouldn't try that if I were you. Not if you want to save the life of that baby," said Seth, god of war, as he stepped into the room.
His presence was suffocating, his aura thick with power and arrogance. Bee-roth's expression hardened.
"What do you want here, Seth? You are not welcome," she said, her tone defiant.
"It would be in your best interest to mind the way you speak to me, Bee-roth," Seth replied, his voice laced with menace.
"Leave us, Beet. We'll talk later," I said, dismissing her. Then I turned to Seth. "What do you want, Seth? And don't think you can threaten me like you did her."
Seth smiled, that insufferable smirk that made my blood boil. "That baby of yours—I can save her. You just need to pledge allegiance to me."
There it was. The offer. The trap. The price.
"What did you do, Seth?" I asked, dread curling in my gut.
"Your human whore came to me for help, and I helped her," he said, his words dripping with disdain.
"What. Did. You. Do?" I repeated, my patience unraveling.
"She wanted to carry your child as a means to tie you down to her. But she knew you did something to her—something to block her womb," he said, as if it were all my fault. Maybe it was. Maybe I had tried to prevent this, and in doing so, had only made it worse.
"I swear, if you don't tell me what you did, I will haunt you until your death."
Seth's eyes gleamed. "I gave her the blood of my demon, Taberah. As you must have heard, her blood cures infertility."
Taberah. That name sent a chill down my spine. I had fought her once, long ago. Her blood did cure infertility—but it also killed humans. A detail Seth had conveniently left out when Lou came begging for his help. And the children born of that blood were not ordinary. They were part demon—a race cursed by Ra himself. A race that could kill gods.
Ra had wiped them out when their threat became clear, cursing them to live only a few hours after birth. But Seth, the ever-scheming bastard, must have found a way around the curse.
"I don't need your help. I'll just kill her and spare myself the headache," I said, though the words felt like acid in my throat.
Seth saw through me. He always did. That smile of his widened, and I wanted nothing more than to carve it off his face.
"My offer stands. You have about an hour to save her and pledge yourself to me. You know where to find me," he said, then vanished.
I stood there, the silence pressing down on me like a weight. What a mess. Nothing good could come from keeping this baby alive. But I couldn't kill her. She had already stolen my heart the moment she entered this world.
"Don't do it," Bee-roth said, stepping back into the room. She had been listening. Of course she had. "Nothing good will come out of getting involved in Seth's schemes."
"I'm already involved, Beet. Can't you see? I played into his hand the moment Lou went to him for help."
"You can still find a way. If you want to keep the baby alive, that is."
"Who do I go to for help? There's nobody who will touch this child, not with the blood that birthed her. And even if there was, there's no time," I said, my voice cracking.
Bee-roth sighed. "Very well. Let me clean her up then. I'm sure you'll be taking her to him."
"Thank you, Bee-roth. I owe you a debt that can't be repaid," I said, taking her hand.
"Anything for you, Zain," she said, patting my cheek with a sad smile.
And then I woke up.
No—not woke up. It wasn't a dream. It was a memory. A curse. A moment I revisited every time I closed my eyes. The moment that sealed my fate. The moment I became Seth's loyal ally—no, servant. The moment I turned my back on everything I once stood for. On friends. On honor. On myself.
I rose from my bed, the weight of the past pressing down on me. Seth was summoning me to his island. A chance to see my daughter. A chance to report to him. A chance to remember, once again, the price I paid.
And the question that haunted me still: Was saving her worth it?
I didn't know. I still don't.
But I made my choice.
And now, I live with it.