Page 52

52

Lore

O ur hands stayed clasped as Reyla and I cautiously entered the tunnel. The walls pressed close, their jagged edges scraping against my left shoulder. She moved easily, but I had to hunch to keep from smacking my head on the low ceiling. The light at her fingertip glimmered, enough to show the damp stone, but not enough to push back the weight of the darkness. It sat heavy on my chest, and each step forward made me feel as if I was sinking into something alive and waiting.

“This is unbelievable,” she said, wonder in her voice. “No one knew this was down here?”

“I’ve read a lot about Evergorne Court, but nothing mentioned this area. I’m not sure how something like this could break—” The curse tightened around my throat, strangling anything more. “If any of my ancestors knew that this had meaning, they didn’t pass that information down.”

“Maybe it’s older than them.” She glanced up at me with that spark of reckless curiosity I admired so much. “Makes sense. They wouldn’t be the first to build over something ancient.”

Had the fates driven the first king of Evergorne, Aricor, to build in this location to ensure someone would find whatever it was we were seeking? I had to trust it was so.

Reyla’s hair stuck to the side of her face, but she didn’t seem to care. I wished I could focus on the way the light caught the sweet line of her cheek. Stop here and show her all over again how much she meant to me. But the air around us shifted, getting colder, tighter, and I couldn’t ignore the pull I felt to continue. I reinforced my magic, keeping it ready to shoot out at any threat, as was the blade in my hand. At least I felt I could use my magic here.

We came to what looked like the tunnel’s end.

“Blank rock,” I hissed, glaring at the wall.

Farris sat on the ground, staring in the same direction. He whined.

Reyla’s light flared brighter, revealing an arched seam. “It’s a stone door.”

My stomach dropped as a glowing symbol etched into the smooth surface crawled into view: the Evergorne Crest.

“Someone knew this was here, then,” she said softly. “Symbols like this don’t appear on a surface on their own.”

“They do if the fates or magic are involved.”

With a nod, she stretched her hand toward the symbol before she snapped it back. “Touch and beware, I assume.”

I grunted. “We go back, or we find a way to go forward.” Stepping closer, I brushed my hand over the worn stone surface. Ice cold and… whispering? Distant yet close, it echoed in my ears and throbbed through my veins .

The carvings lit up, burning too bright, too fast. I jerked in a breath, and my pulse thundered in my ears.

Reyla grabbed my arm, her fingers digging in. “What’s happening?”

I shook my head, easing back to stand with her. My gut twisted. “Maybe we shouldn’t?—”

I sensed something on the other side of that door was waiting, and I couldn’t tell if it wanted us to open the panel and expose it or leave it alone.

“Why dragons?” she asked so softly, I barely heard.

“No, ravens .” The size of my torso, they faced each other, their wings outstretched, their faces angling toward each other to form a graceful circle. That’s what the crest had always shown.

Or so I’d thought.

I blinked hard, moving closer. Ice roared through me when the image…shifted. “ Not ravens.”

“I've always seen dragons,” she said dryly.

“And you were right.” They’d never been ravens. “Dragons,” I said again, my hoarse voice cutting through the chilly air.

“Finally,” Reyla's grin softened the ache building at the base of my skull. “Took you long enough.”

“To me, they’ve always been ravens.” I shook my head. The curse appeared to have stolen even something as simple as this. “Why?”

“Why does this curse hide anything ? I’d bet my crown there’s a good reason, one that you-know-who doesn’t want us to discover.” She ran her fingers over the crest on the door, her light glittering across the carving, outlining the wings that arched above the curling tails. “Beautiful.”

I leaned in to study the lines etched around the crest, discovering faint seams tracing into gaps almost hidden by time. They curled around and coiled into a circle in the center of the dragons. “ A lock?” Swallowing back the excitement and dread dueling in my chest, I traced my finger over the faint grooves. A vaguely unpleasant tingle shot up my arm. “There’s incredible power here. Magic's holding the door closed. What's waiting for us beyond?”

“I believe we're supposed to find out.” She swiped her hair over her shoulder and stepped closer, following the markings with her eyes. Leaning in farther, she pressed her palm against the carved area in the middle. Her eyes slid closed, and her light wavered, dimming before brightening again as if it was being sucked into the stone like water into dry earth. With a shake of her head, she stepped back. “You try. My magic’s too inconsistent.” Regret tinged her voice.

“I love you. What you do is more than enough. I'm… me because of you. Never forget that.”

Farris backed up until he reached the wall. Sitting, he looked back and forth between us, his ears perked forward, toward the door.

I pulled in elemental power and cast a spell on the lock, but nothing happened. Remaining patient, I tried a different spell. Again, nothing. I called in water, dust, and every element I could find in the tunnel around us and sent the mass at the door, without result.

“Maybe…” Her hand tightening on my arm, she frowned. “Let me see if I can nullify the lock.” She closed her eyes, and I watched proudly as she called in power unlike any I'd seen before. Not what we’d called the nasty stuff but something more electrifying. More evasive.

Nullification magic? It must be. I could sense more than see her coiling it into a tight ball in the center of her chest, determination etched into her face. This woman… I was honored to stand by her side, to be loved by her .

Exhaling sharply, she thrust the power and a spell at the bundle between the dragons.

The door shuddered and groaned.

Reyla jerked her backward, her eyes widening and her blade lifting.

The fissures in the door expanded, glowing and pulsing. Swirling in tight before flinging themselves outward to beat against the dragons.

The fissures in the door spread, and a glow spilled from them, so bright it washed the tunnel walls in molten gold. Light pressed against my skin, humming with energy. My every instinct screamed to tell Reyla to get back. Her eyes stayed locked on the door, her hand holding the blade trembling enough to catch a glint of that eerie glow.

The swirling lines coiled tighter, spinning faster until I couldn't make out their shape. My pulse jumped. The dragons carved into the stone started to writhe. Or maybe it was a trick of the light, but the way their scaled bodies twisted and jerked made the hairs on my arms lift. A low rumble built beneath our feet, suggesting the hillside itself was waking up.

Farris whined, pressing his body against my leg.

“Reyla…” I grabbed her arm, my mouth flashing dry.

The glow exploded outward, a shockwave of heat and light hitting us with a physical force. We staggered back, and I blinked against the flare. When my vision cleared, the door wasn’t only shuddering—it was alive . It writhed, coiling and snapping like a serpent.

The light extinguished, leaving us in darkness again.

The fur on Farris’s spine stood at attention. He remained standing, staring at the door.

Reyla lit her finger and held it up.

A hiss escaped the edges of the massive slab of stone, and the entire panel cracked open, splitting down the middle seamlessly. Stone ground against stone as each of the two panels were dragged into the walls on either side, leaving an opening behind.

We stood with dust filtering around us and arcing through Reyla’s light, staring into the shadowy room beyond the entry.

“Well,” she said, flexing her fingers before sweeping her arm toward the opening. “After you or do you want me to boldly step inside?”

“Wait here?”

“Not happening.”

Which was why I’d formed it as a question. Still, I stepped inside first, entering a cave made up of pure white stone. Dirt lay scattered on the floor, and it crunched beneath my boots. Reyla followed, her finger light arching off the smooth, sloping surface around us.

Farris came last, peering around with as much curiosity as us.

Completely round, the walls of the cave curved inward toward a domed ceiling, the latter woven with patterns too intricate to have been created by simple magic. Strange figures had been etched into the white stone, though I couldn’t figure out what they were. They nudged against something deep within my core, however. I couldn’t place the origin or purpose of the room, but I knew in my heart it had once meant everything to whoever ruled this area.

How could this be related to the curse?

At the center, an altar rose from the floor as if it had been carved from the earth’s bones. Made of obsidian, its surface gleamed enough I needed to shield my eyes. No dust or flaws broke the smooth stone, and it was detailed with carvings that rippled in Reyla’s light. Each rune, each groove, made me think of puzzle pieces waiting to be aligned.

Reyla prowled around the altar. “This is unbelievable.” She brushed her fingers over the altar’s carvings, her brow pinching and her eyes ablaze with excitement.

Her wonder was contagious.

But it was only when Farris pawed at the floor that I paused and truly peered his way. More runes. Covered with dirt but peeking through where the nyxin had scraped some away.

Despite the scream of caution echoing inside me, I reached down to brush my hand across the floor, then ran my fingers over one of the large patterns etched into the surface. Studying the floor, I found others carved in a circle around the altar. Warm to the touch, the patterns vibrated beneath my fingertips.

“It’s a language of some sort.” I straightened, letting my gaze sweep across the text embedded in the smooth floor. “Ancient.” Then a thought occurred to me, and I strode around the altar, studying each image placed on the floor, suddenly realizing what I was seeing. “Messages from the fates?” It couldn’t be.

The symbols shifted and whispered their meaning the longer I looked.

I eased around the altar again, tracing the ancient runes sliced into the obsidian stone with a delicate touch, stopping each time they burned. Unscrambling all at once, words formed in my mind as though the stone itself whispered their meanings to me.

Reyla’s light flickered, highlighting the carvings. She stood by my side, silent as I studied each image before moving on to the next.

“Each is one piece of a bigger puzzle,” I hissed.

Her breath caught. “Can you understand what they say?”

I jerked out a nod.

As the meaning unraveled, I spoke the riddle aloud, my low voice throbbing through the room .

Through true love, the split becomes whole,

Unbound by curse, unifying the soul.

Then bring forth the jewel of the sky’s tear-bled hue,

Only with your bond will truth shine through.

I straightened, my gaze on the patterns encircling the altar. While the riddle teased at answers, it left enough veiled to keep us guessing.

I turned to Reyla. “Thoughts?”

Her brows furrowed as she let the words settle, her glowing fingertip absently sliding across the altar’s surface. “The jewel of the sky’s tear-bled hue…” She turned bright eyes my way. “A blue stone.”

“The ring Isodine left for you?” I breathed.

A deep, guttural rumble climbed up the walls, vibrating through my bones. Dust trickled from the ceiling, catching in the wavering light of Reyla’s finger. The grinding was slow at first, like ancient stone waking from an eternal slumber, before it deepened, rolling through the floor beneath us. Reyla stiffened, her hand frozen by her face. Shadows rippled through the room, pressing into the walls and stretching outward before snapping back against the smooth slabs.

Reyla's gaze locked on mine. “Are we causing this or…”

The sound was alive now, coiling around us, rippling the air. I felt like I was holding my breath, waiting for a storm to crash through. I wanted to grab her wrist and pull her back. But back to where? Every part of this room appeared to be breathing.

Waiting.

Shadows rolled over us in violent waves.

The runes I’d traced glowed, pulsing in rhythmic bursts that matched the quake around us. My stomach churned; the whole thing felt like a warning we couldn’t outrun.

Farris’s growl rumbled through his chest before even he went silent.

A boom erupted from the altar, the sound as sharp as a scream.

A jagged crack ripped across its surface.