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Chapter 52

Osiris

I wiped the sweat from my brow, clutching the gaping wound that stretched across my abdomen. The slice of a holy sword seared the skin, burning right through tissue and a few of my ribs.

I had no idea how long I'd been here, long enough for my stomach to revolt and blood lust to leave me weakened. Unable to even heal. My mouth watered, my mind flipping to Aaliyah as I ducked into another cell, one of the many I'd found since I'd managed to slip away from Cael. Wherever we were was even deeper than the fighting ring we'd been in. There was a curiosity to the air, a plucking, almost taunting nature that had me constantly looking over my shoulder. It was a feeling I'd only ever experienced once before, and the drag that seemed to linger here, the way time seemed to slow … it was like the Void.

The cells were laid out in a spiral, a decline looping them down into an expanse I couldn't see the bottom of. In the center was what looked to be liquid silver, falling down in endless waves from a place far above me, crashing into the limitless depths.

I moved my hand over the brand of Darius, urging it to keep searching for the steady hint of him, even as it made me physically ill. It was stronger now, the pulse more consistent as I wound my way down the spiraling cells.

A small spell lingered on the ground, like a trail of gold along the withered steps, sticking close to the cells and away from the emptiness that sat outside them. Away from the taunting calls of the furious Cael as he tried to find me a few rungs up.

He would. I didn't have any doubt about that. Angels were able to sense sin in a way that I'd never been able to rationalize. They were like bloodhounds, and I had more than enough innocent blood on my hands for him to track. I could see him now, his nose to the ground as he goaded and hunted me. It was only a matter of time, which had me picking up my pace, even as fresh hot agony shot down my spine. I couldn't handle another bout with him.

The first fight had been brutal, hours of trading blows and grievous wounds, neither strong enough to end the other. If I wasn't actively fighting without my magic, I might have had a better chance.

Lie. Steal. Cheat.

It didn't matter; all of it was a setback, one that the path I followed would clear. I needed to find Darius's tie.

The path glittered on the ground like little gems, shifting and moving as it led me along. Only bones remained in the cells here, proof that Cael wasn't the only one to be left abandoned, a desolate quiet dragging up the eeriness of the endless spire.

I went on, until the path grew hazy, and noises began to fill the air. Quiet at first, like the skitter of mice in rotten walls, before they grew savage. Until I was in front of another cage.

Another cell.

It was no different than the rest, not even at the end of this long line. Just a random set of bars that held more than bones … another prisoner. A man, or rather what used to be a man, the path ending at his chest, his back against a crumbling wall of limestone and wood.

The thing in front of me now was nothing more than a feral beast. His head thrashed from side to side, foam on his mouth as he struggled against rusted chains that hung tightly to the wall. The skin on his wrists was long gone, bones showing where I could see, and his long, matted hair fell all the way to the floor, wrapping up and snagging in the links.

The words he spoke were foreign even to me, the guttural intonation not even sparking familiarity. The entire cell smelled of mold, feces, and decaying blood, its age showing in the fissure-like cracks that spanned the floor. It seemed to move, the entire thing swaying as though a ship in turbulent waters.

I'd expected an idol when I came looking for Darius's weak point. Kri'Valta had assumed the same. Not a man , let alone one so crazed and bumbling, one that reeked of power so vast it bled onto the ground with the rest of his blood.

Buried in it, as if entwined with the cells inside of him, was a scent like an arid desert oasis. It stuck to even his skin. Without a doubt, this man was who Kri'Valta had spoken of. The tie that gave Darius his endless supply of power and luck. The one obstacle between me and the fall of that monster.

I reached in myself, searching for more, hoping to find anything to allow me to break his bonds. My magic, as before, was barely a hint of what it could be, and even then whatever spell this was extended past what I could do. It wrapped around him, weaving between his breaths and the genetic makeup inside of him.

I lifted my hand, a different spell slipping out. Less like poison and more like habit again, the only one I could manage with as little power as I had. His speech slowly shifted, his words morphing into English.

It didn't clear up the meaning.

Useless.

I pressed on the laws of the Eternium, assessing the pressure that came with the intent to kill. It was there, but rather than an overbearing presence, it lingered like a devil on my shoulder.

I could kill him. Rid us of Darius's charm at the source and pave the path forward for a seamless Retaliation. It would be easy. Not my first kill, not my last .

But something about him made me pause. My fingers fell slack, my caster hand dropping as my final hints of magic fizzled away. This man, he'd been a victim as well. He'd fallen prey much like I had. This savage, feral beast had been someone once. He didn't deserve to die purely because of Darius's cruelty.

I sighed and reached for the bars, the rusted hinges turning to dust under the force as the magic crumbled. The shackles that held him fell apart next, but he was too far gone to have noticed it. He slid to the ground, his legs unable to hold him up. He grunted and groaned before he went silent, curling in on himself.

I reached down, hauling him over my shoulder, holding his weight long enough for me to go searching for my magic once again. It didn't respond beyond a quick flash that was swallowed by the Pits. Not near enough to teleport me out, and I hadn't expected it to.

I'd prepared accordingly.

I didn't look for the powers in me. I looked for the ones I'd made, for the necklace that Aaliyah had around her neck. I called for the spell I'd placed in it, benign, and waiting for activation.

One that allowed me to go to her, no matter where I was. I smiled when I found it, felt the heat of her skin through the stone like it was my own, and reveled in the weight of her breath. I pulled on it, allowing the flow of teleportation magic to wash over me and the man that was supposed to be the key to Darius's fall Kri'Valta had promised.

I was no fool. Getting him out didn't secure victory. The only thing it'd do was bring us closer to dragging Darius to heel, and that itself wasn't a certainty. I'd found no other allies, found no other way forward.

Which meant Exilium was going to fail. I hadn't wanted to say it before, but I'd seen the numbers, the panic that had risen with Sebek's announcement that first night. Some had turned against us when they'd been made aware of what Aaliyah was. Which meant there was no choice, no alternative, even if the others still wanted there to be. I needed to Challenge Sebek.

Or none of us would be leaving this Eternium alive.

"What do we have here?" Cael called, whistling a sharp tune. He was still bloodied from our bout, one of his eyes sealed closed as he spit a mouthful of blood onto the ground.

The sigil grew under my feet, red hot.

There was a flash of confusion when he saw the flux of teleportation, his wings flaring wide before a smile so foul it could have leaked poison crossed his face.

I pushed the will of the spell as hard as I could, forcing the bindings to close as he shot forward. The pull was vicious as we were dragged through the magical tar that was the Pits, the Eternium's magic fighting it every step of the way. The incantation was fast, reacting in an instant, cracking closed.

But Cael was faster. He touched me just as the magic binding me to Aaliyah strained tight, snapping before closing around me.

We left the Pits behind with a puff of arid dust.

Dragging Cael out with us.