Page 58 of Queen of Legends and Lies (Dragons of Tirene #4)

Chapter Forty-Six

The wind rushes past me as I plummet down the enormous split in the earth. Getting out of sight as fast as possible is critical. The last thing I need is a slew of drachen trailing me. I don’t want to contend with them and Narc.

This plan hinges on everyone else’s ability to distract the majority of the enemy forces. Both the drachen and the corrupted.

Almost too late, I realize I won’t be able to see the ground rushing up below me in the dark. I flare my wings out and cup the air to slow my fall. Pain shoots through my body at the jolt, but I keep my balance.

Calling forth my fire, I send a blaze streaking down to light the path.

The hidden ground is suddenly in view. And entirely too close. I decelerate enough to land hard but safely on the rocky ground.

Darkness encases me, the only illumination the flickering flame dancing in my cupped hand.

I have no idea what to do next. But I can’t just stand here.

Holding my makeshift torch aloft, I pick my way through the winding tunnels and head in what I hope is the direction of the abandoned palace. The tunnels are cracked open in places, jagged rents exposing glimpses of the night sky.

Eyril roots snake down through the fissures, their inky black sap oozing in sticky drops. I shudder and veer around the puddles, keeping my distance. Can’t risk the potent substance getting on me.

My heart pounds as I creep forward, straining for any sign of danger. Only an eerie quiet greets me. No hint of the chaotic battle I know is raging above. Just the echo of my footsteps, my ragged breathing, and my thundering heart.

Panic flutters in my chest, and I force myself to breathe.

Where are Narc’s bones?

Easy. Don’t lose your head. Too many people are counting on you.

With careful steps, I continue. Time loses meaning as I carry on, guided by instinct and sheer determination.

After what feels like a small eternity, I round a bend and freeze.

There, looming out of the gloom ahead, I finally glimpse the crumbling ruins of the gods’ ancient palace.

I made it. Now I just have to figure out my next move. My team can’t keep the enemies at bay forever.

The towering doors hang askew on their hinges, with one completely wrenched free.

No need to pick the locks this time. The raw power unleashed when I split the earth did the job for me.

The light from the glowing crystals seeps around the broken portal, lighting my way.

I extinguish my torch and slip cautiously inside.

“Ziva’s flames.” I gasp at the destruction.

The once grand hall lies in ruins, its vaulted ceiling partially collapsed.

Gaping holes let in shafts of wan light.

The cracked ceiling is domed, with massive chandelier-like fixtures hanging dark and pendulous over my head.

Distorted murals that depict the ancient tales of the gods decorate the ceiling.

The only deities still intact enough to recognize are Cyphero, the God of Hidden Knowledge, and the two Victory Goddesses. I can’t help but wonder if that’s some sort of sign. Fate’s way of revealing the truth and a favorable outcome for this battle.

Rubble and broken furniture litter the cracked floor. Clouds of dust swirl in the air. The giant crystals lay splintered, broken. Shattered ends stab into the ground and walls. Gingerly, I pick my way through the debris and peer into the shadowy corners and alcoves.

Where would a god’s bones be kept?

I overturn a table, hoping for some flash of insight. A track. A clue of any kind.

Nothing.

Just layers of dust settling from the fissures above.

My nerves twitch with the pressure of time ticking away.

If I fail...

I shove that thought aside. Failure’s not an option. I have to figure this out.

A glint catches my eye from across the room.

I hurry over to investigate, nearly tripping on a jagged chunk of pillar in my haste.

There, set into the far wall, is an arched obsidian door.

The dark surface seems to repel rather than reflect the light.

One of its two doors hangs crooked but open, as if jarred loose from some great impact.

My impact.

With cautious steps, I approach, hackles rising. The air down here is warmer. More humid.

I reach out to touch the door’s edge, the ancient symbols etched into the stone rough under my fingertips. Not only can I not read them, but I don’t even recognize them.

Where does it lead?

I crank my neck to peer into the inky darkness beyond.

The entryway opens into a tunnel. A huge, cavernous burrow at least twenty feet high that stretches out past where the light falls.

That tunnel is even warmer than the one I’m standing in.

Something tells me what I’m seeking lies down there in the depths. Call it gut instinct. But it’s the same one I had when I got closer to the room where I had the vision of Queen Aero in the Lost City.

Narc’s bones have to be hidden away in this mysterious passageway.

I straighten my shoulders and set my jaw. I know what I have to do, terrifying as it is. For the sake of my kingdom, my love, and my friends, I’ll confront whatever horrors lurk in that tunnel. No matter the cost.

Buried alive…

Steeling myself, I light another ball of fire in my palm and step toward the yawning darkness with my heart in my throat.

I duck through the doorway and into the tunnel. Warm, heavy air envelops me. The earthen walls seem to press in on both sides as I move forward, my flickering flames casting eerie shadows. With each careful step, an unnatural chill seeps into my bones and my blood gets hotter.

Ahead, something skitters in the darkness.

I freeze, pulse pounding.

Pull your shit together. You’ve faced worse than this creepy cave.

Despite my pep talk, unease churns in my gut.

This place is…wrong.

Like the tunnel itself is alive and listening to every word, every thought, every beat of my heart. It’s tainted by an ancient, rotting evil that raises all the tiny hairs on the back of my neck. The dank smell of decomposition hits my nostrils, and I gag.

I can’t give in to the terror clawing at my mind. Not when I’m so close to ending this. Forcing my feet to carry me onward, I stretch out my palm farther to illuminate the oppressive twilight. The tunnel curves, and I round the bend.

Only to stop short.

Before me, the passage opens into a vast cavern. In the center, I find a stone altar stained dark with centuries-old blood.

A tangle of bones lies atop it, glowing with an ethereal luminescence. The femur is longer than average. The corpse of a giant.

Or a god. I gasp.

Narc’s remains.

Horror fills my limbs with lead. “Goddess have mercy. Now what?”

Jaw clenched with grim determination, I stride forward, fire sparking at my fingertips. This is it. All I have to do is destroy his body. And then this is all over. Everyone will be safe. The corrupted will be cleansed. All will be?—

The silence shatters like glass as a squelching sound—followed by an ominous thud —vibrates through the soles of my boots.

I hold my breath as I scan everywhere all at once, searching for the source of the noise.

Something is alive and on the move in here.

But where?

And then I see them.

Near the altar that holds Narc’s bones, figures slide through the cracks in the earth. There’s a distinct wrongness to their twitching, lurching movements.

Corrupted humans.

So many of them.

A veritable army is forming as more cracks show in the far wall, disgorging more corrupted. Rents in the ceiling appear, and bodies begin to drop. They land with a series of thuds before they struggle to their feet again. Bodies hit bodies as the flow accelerates.

My tears can cure them… except that I am one and they number in the hundreds. And after the intense magic merging earlier, I’m parched.

I couldn’t cry now if I wanted to.

Shock keeps me frozen in place as I bear witness to this depravity. I recognize a few of the students and staff from Flighthaven.

Another familiar shape wanders into view.

Otis.

My old friend and guard from Castle Axton. I can still remember what he told me the day he dropped me off at the flight academy. That I was strong where it counted. A fighter. That I could handle things.

Narc is trying to protect himself, to keep me from his body. And the bastard is willing to use my feelings against me.

While I wanted to avoid killing as many people as possible, I cannot let them stop me. The rest of the world depends on this. The pile atop Narc’s body is multiplying by the second. I call fire to my hands, ready to unleash the full force of my merged magic, when another familiar face emerges.

I’d know that silver-streaked hair and athletic build anywhere. Eyes black and face blank, Instructor Broderick Kinneck lands on the altar.

I half expect him to blow that shrill whistle of his and call the shambling mass to order.

The assembled, mud-caked army ambles toward me. Their intention to stop me from reaching the corpse is clear.

For one heart-stopping moment, I nearly lose my resolve. These are real people. Even corrupted, they still have souls. Still have families. They didn’t choose this. If they had, what I’m about to do would be so much easier.

But I only have one way to get past them.

Working with earth magic doesn’t come as naturally to me as the others, but I still manage to seal some of the openings the corrupted are slipping through. Agnar could probably do it by touch, but I’m not that experienced yet.

Digging inside for my cache of merged elemental power, I mix air with fire magic and light up the cave. The non-native air magic flows easily through my veins, as though it was always a part of me.

A girl could get used to having all four elements on tap.

Within seconds, the dazzling light forces me to squint.

The corrupted are already pouring over the altar, obscuring the corpse.

Even if I was heartless enough to try and burn through them to destroy Narc, I’m not sure my fire would actually reach his dry bones.

I rush forward, burying as many as possible and pummeling them with powerful gusts of air and water.

Black goo splashes on the floor next to me.

I jump back at the sudden movement and glance up. The noxious, cloying eyril roots overhead twist and drip around me. I can’t let any of the sludge touch me.

A corrupted phoenix-blessed queen in the hands of a rogue god.

That would be…unimaginable.

I’m only feet away from the altar, swatting away corrupted like they’re mayflies, when a small shape staggers into view.

The breath seizes in my lungs. My feet falter, and I nearly stumble. For a moment, I lose control of the merged magic, and the light I created sputters out.

Rose.