Page 21 of The Broken Prince

“Typhon.”

“Where is Typhon from?”

Now he turned quiet.

“Where is he from?” Ian repeated.

“Ring—ring of fire.”

I glanced at the guard to make sure he was still elsewhere, but then turned back to the prisoner, unsure if I heard him correctly.

“What?” Ian asked, as confused as I was.

“The ring of fire,” the man whispered. “Once it appeared, it never went away.”

“What is the ring of fire?” Ian asked.

“No one knows.”

“Have you seen Typhon in the flesh?”

He shook his head.

“Have you seen others like him?”

He nodded, his eyes down.

“He’s not human?”

“No…”

“What is he?”

“A-a monster.”

“What kind of monster? Does he have rows of teeth?” I asked. “Does he unhinge his jaw and push his teeth outward?”

Too frightened to even speak, he kept his eyes on the floor.

“Please… I need to know.”

“He doesn’t have lots of teeth…”

“Then tell me what they’re like.”

He was quiet for a long time, the other prisoners staring from their positions against the walls of the hut. His eyes finally lifted. “He’s made of fire.”

I could feel my arms prickle with bumps.

Ian hesitated, like he felt the same disturbance. “Made of fire?”

“His veins are red, and he smolders like hot embers,” he whispered, as if one of the guards would overhear. “A single touch…can melt the flesh off your bones. They’re not human, they’re not beast, they’re…demons.”

Ian stilled as he stared at the man. Even his breaths stopped.

I forgot to keep track of the guard around the camp, too absorbed in the horrible revelation we’d just uncovered. My breathing stopped too, because as a man who didn’t scare easily…I was petrified.

Ian slowly turned to look at me.