The Ancients created the universe. A human will save it with love.
Aikaterina is the mother of legends—the creator whose gifts shaped the Valdier, Sarafin, and Curizan worlds. But after eons of sacrifice, even she is running out of time.
The Ancients have given Bear Running Wolf one month to save the woman he loves, his own lifeline, and the worlds of the Valdier, Sarafin, and Curizan.
They believe they have set him an impossible task.
Bear intends to prove them wrong.
Aikaterina is an Ancient, one of the original beings born with the universe itself. For eons, she has given pieces of herself to the creation and protection of the worlds and beings she has come to love. But even an Ancient can be weakened. Even a golden goddess can fall.
And not all Ancients believe she should be saved.
Some see her compassion as interference. Some would condemn her for caring too much. Now they have their chance to destroy one of their own by demanding the impossible: find a being who can love Aikaterina for who she is without her powers—and awaken her before the sands of time run out.
Bear is only human.
He cannot command stars, bend time, or battle the universe with immortal power.
But he can love.
He can stand when others expect him to kneel. He can fight for the woman who has become his heart. And he can show the Ancients that humans possess a power far greater than they have ever understood—the power not only to wake a golden goddess, but to love her.
Even if it means facing forces no mortal was ever meant to survive.
“Can the threads surrounding Aikaterina still be separated from those she has touched?”
Sythara lifted her hands. Thousands of glowing strands appeared between her fingers. Some burned gold. Others shimmered silver, blue, violet, or red. They stretched through the chamber walls and vanished into distant places. Her brow furrowed.
“Not completely,” she replied. “Her essence is deeply woven into the Valdier symbiots. There are connections to the Sarafin and Curizan worlds as well.”
She paused, frowning as she drew a royal-blue thread between her fingers. She followed it, her expression growing troubled.
“And through them,” she continued, “to Earth and the realm of the Seven Kingdoms.”
A ripple of unease moved through the chamber. Xyrie stepped forward to protest. She stopped when Xerxes lifted his hand.
“And to individuals?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Is there one who carries none of her essence but is connected directly to her?”
Sythara searched through the threads. The strands shifted. A faint red thread appeared among the blue and gold. It was thin but remarkably strong. The moment it surfaced, Aikaterina’s symbiot brightened. Aminta inhaled sharply. Xyrie stepped closer.
“What is that?”
Sythara studied the thread.
“A mortal.”
“Valdier?” Xerxes asked.
“No.”
“Curizan?”
“No.”
“Sarafin?”
“No.”
Arosa leaned forward.
“Who is he?”
Sythara’s eyes lost focus as she followed the connection across the vast distances separating worlds.
“Human,” she murmured.
Xerxes laughed. The sound was filled with disbelief and contempt.
“A human?”
Coming soon.
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