Chapter 39

• LYDIA
• My eyes flutter open to a sky filled with stars. Above me, the moon glows a deep amber, bathing everything around in a quiet, almost sacred calm, like the soft pause before something immense happens. For a moment, I don’t understand why I am lying on the cold ground. Then the sounds reach me—the thunder of explosions, the echo of screams, the scent of metal and blood heavy in the air. Pain vibrates through the earth beneath me, and I realize I am in the middle of a battle.
• Lifting my face, I see towering marble pillars all around. We are inside what looks like an ancient Greek temple. Stone stairs rise ahead, leading to an altar at the center. Behind it stands a grand statue of a sleeping goddess, carved in pale stone. The air hums with power around her. Somehow, I know without anyone telling me that the statue is me.