Page 48 of Blood Court (Cursed Darkness #2)

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

LYSITHEA

The shadow-crowned figure swoops down, and I don’t wait for introductions.

My scream rips through the antechamber, a focused blade of sound aimed directly at the bastard’s chest. The note hits him, and he staggers, his bone crown cracking, but something’s wrong.

The corruption in my veins flares white-hot, racing up my arms like liquid fire.

Each pulse of my power feeds it. It’s the exact opposite of what happened previously, where the corruption recoiled. Now, I’m fuelling it.

More opposition forces pour through the breach above us. Winged creatures with too many teeth, ground troops in armour that drinks light, mages wreathed in hostile magic. They flood the chamber like a plague, their boots thundering against the bloodstone floor.

Verik’s hellfire erupts around us, a protective wall of flame. We run.

The antechamber stretches further than it appears, pillars rising into shadow on either side. Between them, silver-fire blueprints burn across the obsidian walls. I catch glimpses as we sprint past of technical drawings that move on their own.

A winged attacker dives at me. I twist, letting loose a short, sharp note that sends it crashing into a pillar.

The impact shatters the bloodstone, sending razor-sharp fragments raining down.

But the corruption surges through my chest in response.

Black veins spread across my hands, pulsing with each heartbeat.

Carved faces stare down from the walls between the blueprints. Women with white hair and violet eyes. Nox Sirens. My predecessors. Their mouths open in eternal screams, their eyes hollow.

A squad of ground troops charges us in formation. I scream at them, the sound wave lifting them off their feet and hurling them into the far wall. Their armour cracks on impact, spilling shadows like blood. Fire shoots through my veins. The corruption races up my neck.

More attackers fly down from above. Dozens of them. Evren creates a barrier of ice to our left, channelling them into a killing corridor where Dathan’s nightmare magic tears them apart.

A mage launches shadow-spears at my head. I duck, my scream catching the projectiles mid-flight and reducing them to dust. The effort sends corruption racing further up my throat. Black lines spread like cracks beneath my skin.

We fight our way deeper into the chamber. The blueprints on the walls show the Midnight Spire in cross-section. Layer upon layer of focused magical energy, all feeding downward. The Sovereign Forge waits below, vast and hungry.

Three-winged creatures dive at once. I scream upward, fragmenting the sound into multiple notes. All three crash down in a tangle of broken wings and bone. But my throat burns. The corruption reaches my jaw. I can feel it. It’s aching, burning.

Verik’s hellfire clears our path, burning through opposition ranks. We reach a spiral staircase, winding down into shadow. Closer to the Forge. The corruption in my veins pulses faster.

Opposition forces pour down after us. I turn and scream upward, the focused sound wave crushing stone and bone alike. Bodies tumble past us, but the effort leaves me gasping.

We fight our way down the spiral steps. More carved faces line the walls. Older Sirens, their stone features twisted in agony.

A beast swings a serrated blade at my neck. I lean back, my counter-scream shattering his weapon and most of his arm. Blood sprays across ancient stone.

More enemies flood down the staircase. Too many to count. Their magic crashes against our defences like a storm. Dathan’s nightmares contort through their ranks, tearing minds apart. Evren’s ice spears punch through armour and flesh. Verik’s hellfire burns everything it touches.

But they keep coming.

I let loose another scream, this one wide and unfocused, trying to clear the entire staircase. The sound reverberates off the walls, multiplying, amplifying. Opposition forces drop like stones. But the effort nearly brings me to my knees. The corruption races under my skin, a tainted wildfire.

We reach the bottom. Another chamber opens before us, smaller but more intense. The walls pulse with contained energy. I can feel the Sovereign Forge below, synchronised with the corruption in my veins.

The shadow-crowned leader sweeps down ahead of his forces. His bone crown has reformed, sharper now, more aggressive. Behind him come dozens of fresh attackers.

I open my mouth to scream him into oblivion, but something’s wrong. The sound that emerges wavers, cracks. The corruption has reached my vocal cords.

Panic floods my chest. I try again, pushing harder. A weak, fractured note escapes. The black veins spread across my throat like strangling hands.

The shadow-crowned figure laughs. His forces surge forward, emboldened by my weakness.

Verik’s hellfire erupts around me, a protective cocoon. But I can see in his eyes that he knows. We all know. The corruption has found my voice.

I reach for my power, desperate. The corruption chokes it off. Black veins spread across my face like a mask of failure.

A mage hurls lightning at us. I try to deflect it with my voice, but only a whisper emerges. The bolt hits Evren in the shoulder, spinning him around. Blood stains his ice-pale skin.

More attacks follow. Shadow-spears, crystallised malice, beams of pure destruction. My guys deflect what they can, but there are too many enemies and only three of them.

I try to scream again. Nothing. The corruption has wrapped around my vocal cords like wire.

Opposition forces close in from all sides. Their leader raises his hand, dark magic gathering around his fingers. Behind him, more enemies pour down the staircase. Behind us, another passage leads deeper into the Spire.

Closer to the Forge.

Verik grabs my arm. We run again, deeper into the Midnight Spire. My throat burns with each breath. The corruption spreads further with each heartbeat.

The passage narrows, forcing us to single file.

Pursuit echoes behind us of boots on stone, shouts of command, the whistle of incoming magic.

But the walls here show different carvings.

Not just faces, but scenes. Nox Sirens standing before a great forge, their mouths open in song.

Power flows from their voices into the structure itself.

The corruption pulses harder, responding to proximity. We’re close now. Close enough that I can feel the Forge’s hunger in my bones.

But my voice grows weaker with each step.

A crossbow bolt whistles past my ear. I spin, trying to scream at the archer, but only manage a broken whisper. Dathan’s nightmare magic catches the attacker instead, turning his mind inside out.

We reach another staircase, this one leading down into deeper shadow. The air grows thick with magical energy.

I stumble, catching myself against the wall. The corruption has spread across most of my face now, black veins pulsing under my skin. Each heartbeat sends fire through my system.

More enemies appear behind us. Fresh forces, better equipped. They cut off our retreat.

I try one more time to access my power. A rough rasp escapes.

We’re running out of time.

Behind us, opposition forces give chase. Ahead, the Sovereign Forge waits in the depths of the Midnight Spire.

But reaching it is another thing altogether.