Page 12

Shiri

I followed Helian through the dark, cold tunnel that smelled of mold and something oddly familiar, like pungent cheese, cursing my impractical, soft soles while slipping across the mossy stone floor. Every so often, I’d lose my footing, grappling for the shield strapped to Helian’s back to keep from falling. The lights Tari had sent us had already burned out, so we relied on a torch Helian had found hanging on one of the damp stone walls. He balanced the light in one hand and brandished a sword in another, in case that horned flesh eater made his appearance. We listened and looked for any sign of the creature but found nothing.

We hadn’t been able to contact Tari or the dragons through thought. The moment we’d descended into the underground tunnel, their voices were silenced, the bond connecting us feeling severed. It was the strangest and most lonely feeling, and I wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that we were buried in a tomb of Thunderstone.

I heaved a frustrated sigh while rubbing my throbbing temple. The more we wandered, the more my head hurt, the pain causing a fog to settle in my skull.

Smoke. Follow the smoke. That’s what Ember’s friends had told her, yet neither of us scented nor saw any smoke, other than the faint embers coming off our torch.

“Helian,” I whispered urgently while tugging on his sleeve, “we’re going in circles.”

He paused, the torchlight casting an ethereal glow across his chiseled features and long, silvery hair. “We’re not.”

I shook my head, scowling. “I recognize some of the cracks in the stones. And look.” I pointed to the empty bracket hanging from the wall. “The cradle where you found the torch.”

“I don’t understand. How can we be going in circles?” He turned toward me, holding up the torch so that his features were clearer.

I gave a start at the dazed look in his eyes, as if he’d had too much to drink. Tari said Helian had given up drink, so why did he appear so disoriented? Then that pungent smell hit me again. Old cheese? I had a sudden flashback of Father Derrick planting a special weed with spiny leaves around our little shack. Confunderis. He’d planted the cheese-smelling herb in an attempt to disorient Malvolia’s assassins, should they ever find us. Mother had made him replant them farther away because they’d given her headaches.

“Does your head hurt?” I blurted, my hand instinctively going to that throbbing spot above my eye.

“Yeah, it feels foggy.” He shook his head, as if he was trying to clear water from his ears.

I took the torch from him, shining it against the walls and then casting the glow upward. That’s when I saw the spiny leaves hanging from the dark ceiling overhead. I pointed toward the plants. “Look!”

He lowered his sword and scratched the back of his head. “What is it?”

“Confunderis.” I gritted my teeth, wondering how we would be able to find the book when we couldn’t even remember walking in circles. “A plant that causes confusion.”

Helian rubbed his chin while scowling up at the plants. “They obviously work.”

“If you see any, rip them out by the roots,” I said while shining my light over them. They coated the length of the tunnel. We’d never be able to get rid of them all, which meant we might never find the book or our way out.

Helian cursed. “What about burning them?”

“No.” I arched back, clutching the torch. “The smoke from burning them will only cause more disorientation.”

My nose wrinkled as I was struck by a foul, pungent odor, the stench reminding me of a cross between a rotting corpse and a sick baby’s crap.

I gave Helian an accusatory look. “Did you do that?”

His eyes widened, then narrowed. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”

A low rumble sounded behind us, so dark and ominous, a chill swept through me like a thousand snakes were slithering across my skin.

Helian spun around with a holler, pushing me behind him while he brandished his shield and sword. Standing in front of us was the most frightening creature I’d ever beheld, a bullish beast with a human torso and hooved feet that stood on two legs. It was at least seven feet tall, with two horns jutting from its skull that were each as long as Helian’s sword. His eyes glowed crimson, a stark contrast to his leathery face. As he approached, dragging his back leg behind him, I was filled with a mixture of horror and dread when I saw pieces of his flesh had fallen off his body, revealing rotting sinew and bone beneath. Great Goddess, he was undead, just like the resurrected King Fachnan and Tari’s wyvern. Father Derrick had told us about the undead demon army that had nearly defeated Maiadra four centuries ago, and I feared another legion would soon return.

“He’s demon possessed and undead,” I warned Helian. “Don’t let him bite you.”

“Fuck biting me.” Helian raised his sword higher while stepping back. “How about I don’t let him eat us?”

The creature let out a garbled roar, kicking up the ground beneath him with his one good leg. The other was nothing but hoof and bone.

Helian pushed us back. “Now would be a good time to summon that siren voice of yours.”

I swallowed back bile, mustering the nerve to speak. When the demon let out another roar, steam pouring from his nostrils, my siren took over. “Demon, stand down!” My voice ricocheted across the tunnel walls, echoing behind and in front of us.

The demon gave us a curious look, then charged.

What? My siren voice always disabled demons. Always!

“Stand down, demon!” I hollered, my voice so powerful, it blew Helian’s long hair off his shoulders.

The bull kept advancing.

I screamed when Helian shoved me against the wall and spun around the charging bull, slicing open his gut.

The bull ran into the opposite wall, shaking the ground so hard, debris rained down on our heads, and I nearly fell to the ground.

Helian faced him, his sword and shield dripping with what looked like black tar, but, no, that was demon blood! The unholy stench that radiated off Helian’s sword was enough to make me want to vomit.

Bracing his legs, Helian called over his shoulder. “Run, Shirina!”

I threw up my hands. “Where the hell am I supposed to go?”

The demon’s chest heaved, its ribs visible through cracks in its leathery flesh. It had no organs that I could see, just skin, bones, and tar oozing out of its gut where Helian had sliced him.

Helian dropped his shield and the hilt of his sword when the shield and shaft melted into a pool at his feet. The demon blood had turned them into liquid! Helian grappled for the dagger strapped to his belt, holding it in front of him with a trembling hand.

The bull took one look at Helian’s meager dagger and let out a dark, demonic laugh that turned my gut to water. Great Goddess, we were going to die. When the bull’s hoof hit the ground like flint striking stone and he bent low, aiming his massive horns at Helian’s chest, I knew we were out of time.

I threw out my hands with a violent scream, smoke curling from my fingers like arrows twisting through the air, striking the demon’s shoulders. The creature flew back against the wall with an anguished cry before disintegrating into a plume of dust. Helian lunged for me, pushing me down the tunnel, as if we were being chased by dragon fire.

“Get away from the dust!” he hollered.

We ran and ran, every muscle in my body burning from the tension, down one tunnel and then another until we ended up in a chamber that I didn’t recognize with wet stone walls. The smell of Confunderis weeds was thankfully gone as my head slowly cleared. We walked until the walls dipped and slanted, thick slabs of pale gray rock starting where the thunderstone walls ended and creating a new tunnel so shallow, we’d have to hunch over to traverse it. I cringed at the thought.

It took me a moment to realize that I’d dropped the torch long ago and that we could still see because pale light poured from my fingers. My heart beating erratically, panic set in when the light thrumming from my fingers began to fade.

Helian snatched another torch off the wall and grabbed the flint rocks from his satchel, striking the stones until he lit the torch. It took a few moments of him blowing on the its dried and cracked rags before they began to burn. By this time, the glow in my fingers had all but faded. No telling how old the torch was. I prayed the flames lasted.

He nodded toward my hands. “New magic trick?”

I peered at my fingers as if they were foreign objects. “I guess so.”

Then he nudged my side, pointing to the smoke wafting from the torch. “Look.”

I swallowed back my unease when I watched the smoke curl and twist, disappearing into that shallow tunnel.

“Follow the smoke,” Helian whispered.

I gritted my teeth, tempted to give up and turn back, but I remembered that demon in Drae’s body and forced myself to press onward.

Helian and I moved like crabs through the winding tunnels, some so narrow, I feared we’d get stuck in them. We followed the torch’s smoke until we finally arrived at a dark cavern with slate walls that looked like they’d been painted in diamond dust. At the back of the cavern was a stone altar that held a pale box.

Helian handed me the torch. “I’ll get the box, just in case it’s a trap.”

I swallowed bile while holding up the torch, scanning the walls for any signs of danger.

Helian tiptoed across the cavern, turning to me as he dug a stone from his satchel. “Duck,” he said to me before throwing the stone at the altar.

I ducked just before several blades shot out of holes in the wall, my teeth chattering with fear when they sliced through the air with a deadly twang. They smashed against the opposite walls, rendered inert while clanging to the ground.

Helian threw another stone at the pale box, knocking it to the ground. He slid across the floor, kicking the box toward me. Then he slithered back toward me on his stomach and grasped the box.

“We’re crawling out of here,” he whispered.

“Why?” I asked.

“Some of the blades didn’t set off,” he answered.

My stomach roiled. I hadn’t noticed. Elements, I would’ve made a terrible spy. No wonder Helian had survived these past five years while being hunted by Fachnan’s and Malvolia’s mercenaries.

As slow as slugs, we crawled out of the cavern, then through the low, winding tunnel. By the time we emerged into the Thunderstone tunnel, the rough ground had chafed my hands and arms, and my torchlight had faded into a pale flicker.

Helian held a hand down to me, helping me up, just as the flame went out, leaving us in complete darkness.

“Can you summon your light?” Helian whispered.

Throwing down the torch, I tried to summon that light in my fingers, but I didn’t remember how I’d done it the first time.

I tried and tried, even using my siren voice to force my fingers to comply, but I realized my siren didn’t work on myself.

“Never mind,” Helian said through a sigh. “Hold on to me. We’ll feel our way out of here.”

He grasped my hand in the dark, his fingers cold and clammy, the opposite to my firemage mates. Had they been here, they could’ve led us out with their flames. Damn, I missed them so much. How were we supposed to navigate our way out in the dark, when I doubted Helian remembered the way? Not to mention, if we managed to get anywhere close to the entrance, there were Confunderis weeds that would probably disorient us. We were so hexed.

* * *

Tari

I PACED BENEATH RADNOR’S and Isa’s long shadows, wringing my hands. The noonday sun was almost upon us. The girls were whining that they were hungry, and so was the acorn in my belly, vacillating between making me want to either gorge on a feast of tarts or vomit in the bushes.

Triss whimpered, too, ignoring Radnor and Isa as they scolded her to hush.

“Please let me teleport us to the castle for some tarts,” Aurora pleaded, hands clasped in a prayer pose. “I can bring us right back?”

I stopped pacing long enough to give her what I hoped was a stern look. “We’re not leaving Uncle Helian and Aunt Shiri.” I knelt beside her, taking her hand in mine when she pouted. “Please be a good girl and play with Triss and Ember.” I motioned toward Ember, who was sitting atop the hatchling, pretending as if they were soaring through the air.

When Aurora made another whine of protest, Isa hovered above us with her long, snakelike neck. Go, Goddess. We’ll be here.

“No.” I stood, dusting dirt off my skirts with a scowl. “They might need me.”

As you wish . Isa heaved an audible sigh before resting her head on her paws like a hound curling up beside the hearth.

I turned from her while chewing my nails to the quick. Where were they? I felt uncomfortable in this forest with so many places for demons to hide. Its dense foliage and humid air reminded me of the jungles in the Fallax Islands. To make matters worse, we had swarms of unwelcome visitors. As a green witch, I’d prided myself on the ability to communicate with nature, getting furry and feathered creatures to bend to my will. Not mosquitoes, though. I wasn’t entirely convinced they hadn’t migrated from hell with the demons. I swatted a mosquito on my neck, thanking Isa when she blew back the bugs with her smoke. If there wasn’t the matter of me needing to breathe, I would’ve asked her to keep smoking them away. Viciously scratching at the welts forming on my arms, I cursed the bugs. I hadn’t had to deal with this many bugs since leaving Fallax.

Radnor turned to us with a snarl, his voice ringing like a death knell in my mind. It’s taking them too long.

Ripples of unease cascaded down Isa’s jagged spine as she sat up. What do you want to do?

Radnor shook his scales. What can we do?

“I can go down there,” I blurted.

No, Goddess. Eyes narrowing, Isa arched back. You must stay here with us.

Throwing my hands in the air, I resumed my pacing. “It’s driving me mad that I can’t even communicate with them through thought.”

Neither can we , Radnor answered. It’s the Thunderstone blocking our thoughts.

I glared down at that cellar doorway while the midday sun beat down on the back of my neck. “Maybe they’re lost.” I chewed my lip while trying to listen for any signs of life beyond that door.

How long do those lights of yours last? Isa asked.

I turned toward her, a hopelessness slicing a blade through my chest. “I’m not sure.” I had only recently learned how to make them. What if the lights had gone out, and my mate and sister were trapped in the dark? I wrung my hands together again. They should’ve been out by now. “What if that flesh eater killed them?”

Isa arched a scaled brow, giving me the same expression she gave Triss when she was about to scold her. What does your heart tell you?

I clutched my chest, feeling the heavy pounding of my heart beneath. And though it beat wildly like a rudderless wyvern, it was still whole and strong, and I knew they lived. Tears watered my eyes as I peered up at my dragon. “They still live.”

Perhaps they are lost and need us to help them find the way , Radnor said.

“How?” My voice broke on a plea, desperation ringing in my words.

You were a green witch before you became a white witch , Radnor said as he hovered over me with his long, snakelike neck. Call to the creatures to help you.

The creatures?

The fireflies! Closing my eyes and opening my hands, I projected a silent plea through my mind. The magic was slow to manifest at first, but then it came on a slow trickle. Finally, a gush of white light shot out of my hands, swirling through the air before falling upon our heads like rain.

Aurora and Ember giggled and danced in my magic that painted the air in stardust.

“Find them,” I whispered. “Find Helian and Shirina and lead them back to me.”

The lights coalesced and then flew in a stream toward the cellar door before disappearing between the cracks.

Radnor let out a low hiss. Impressive, witch. Now what?

I blinked up at him, still not sure my magic would work. “Now we pray.”

* * *

Helian

“H ELIAN, SOMETHING’S coming.”

That voice sounded so familiar. Was it Tari? No. Tari wasn’t with me. I would sense her presence, the pull from my heart to hers. Then, who?

“Helian,” the female voice whispered again, urgency ringing in her voice. “What are those?”

I rubbed my aching temples and then blinked at the lights that fluttered into our dark chamber.

“Fireflies,” I breathed.

I was somehow on my bottom, the chill from the hard floor numbing my legs. How had I gotten here? I looked at the woman leaning against the wall beside me, whose fair face was illuminated by fireflies that had formed a halo around her dark hair. She looked too much like Tari, though I knew my mate, and this wasn’t her. No, it was Tari’s twin, Shiri. I cursed, remembering why we had come here. My eyes darted to the box in Shiri’s hands, the box that hopefully held the spellbook, because I didn’t think we could survive another voyage down here.

Shiri’s hand flew to her temple, and a firefly landed on her knuckle, bouncing across her hand before floating to her hair.

How strange. What were they doing here?

“From Tari?” I asked while letting one of the bugs settle on my outstretched hand, tickling my palm.

“Who else?” Shiri stumbled to her feet, holding a hand down to me. “They’ll show us the way out.”

“The way out.” I repeated her words in a daze while taking her hand.

She helped me up with surprising strength, her eyes much sharper than how I felt, and she held my hand while pulling me in the direction of a swarm of fireflies. Were we escaping this place? I hoped so. The strange, pungent smell, like old cheese, filled my nostrils as the damp air clung to my skin.

By the time we stumbled out of the cellar door, the sun was so blinding, I had to hide my eyes behind my hands. I took a deep gulp of fresh air, relieved to finally be free. Though I heard Tari cry out, I was too shaky and tired to run to her. I felt the pressure of Radnor’s wings beating down on my face, and then I was being lifted into the air, hanging from my dragon’s claws like a rag doll in a child’s fist.