Page 13 of The Queen’s Shadow

I had never felt as stupid as I did the moment my body broke the surface of the ocean of magma that I had willingly launched myself into.

‘I’ll be right back, Dad,’ I mocked myself in my head, as I tried to propel myself forward through the thick liquid rock. I was blindly following the tether I had attached to Frira. No wonder the man hadn’t believed me when I said I would be fine. He knew I had a tendency to be reckless. Though, I supposed even he wouldn’t have guessed I would be stupid enough to literally dive face first into an erupting volcano to go for a swim.

I tapped deep into the endless internal well of power I had at my disposal. I found that to keep my shields strong enough to protect me from burning alive, I needed to burn through energy nearly as fast as I could manufacture it. Not to mention I was running out of breath. There was no air down here.

All I could see was blinding orange and red as I swam deeper and deeper into the ocean of magma. I prayed we would arrive wherever Frira was trying to take me soon.

Jeremy’s worried face swam before my vision. If I died here, it would destroy him. I couldn’t die. I had to come back to him in one piece.

Determined not to let him down, like I seemed to have done for everyone else, I opened the floodgates to my power wider and blasted forward through the viscous rock, just as the tether I had attached to Frira took a decided turn upwards.

Putting more power behind me, I exploded out of the lava after the wolf, gulping back air the moment my head crested the surface. I gasped and coughed as Frira flowed out of the bubbling pool beneath us and onto a black outcropping in what appeared to be a subterranean cave. I floated down onto the natural platform next to the Titan and collapsed onto my hands and knees, swallowing back mouthfuls of air until it felt like my lungs would burst.

The fiery wolf waited patiently for me to catch my breath. Sitting back on its haunches, it cocked its great head to the side. The liquid rock that made up its body churned relentlessly, and great beads of magma dripped onto the ground around us.

When I finally felt I could stand without losing consciousness, I slowly got to my feet.

“Woah,” I said out loud, taking in the massive black tunnel that stood before us. I glanced up at Frira skeptically.

“Let me guess. You now want me to venture into this dark, ominous tunnel?” I asked flatly. Frira lowered itself down onto its mighty belly, letting out a bellowing whine as it did. It rested its head on its forepaws, and as I looked deep into its glowing red eyes, I had the strangest feeling that the wolf was telling me to proceed with caution. Either that, or I was just smart enough to know that the echoing blackness that waited before me could be filled with any sort of horrible, dangerous creatures or magick.

I hadn’t even known this world existed until a few short months ago. I didn’t pretend to be an expert on what types of dangers I might come across in a subterranean cave, but looking at the giant wolf that was made of lava lying before me, I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out. I eyed the entrance to the tunnel before glancing back at the wolf one more time.

“You really want me to go in there, huh?” I asked it one last time. It whined again, inching closer to me on its belly, urging me forward. I sighed.

“Fine. But whatever is in there better be fucking good, Frira, or I’m going to be pissed.”

The wolf huffed a gust of black smoke out of its nose, and I watched in awe as the smoke twisted and changed into several fiery dragonflies. They buzzed and darted around me, before plunging into the tunnel, leading me into the darkness.

Conrad

After changing into my armor, I made my way to the common room to wait for Dossidian. Jeremy was there, standing by the cavernous hole in the wall that looked out over The Court of Pride. I followed the direction of his gaze to Mount Frira, which was violently erupting. I winced. Even knowing what Raven was capable of, the sight of the eruption made me feel uneasy. I couldn’t imagine what Jeremy must be feeling, knowing that was where his daughter had gone.

“She strong,” I said, coming up to stand beside him. When I had first met him in the human world, he had not exactly been my biggest fan. In his defense, he had been investigating a serial murder case in which Raven matched the victim’s profile, and I was a mysterious new stranger in her life. He had good reason not to trust me.

I braced myself for hostility, or an angry rebuttal, but received neither.

“I know she is,” he said sadly, not taking his eyes off the erupting volcano. “She’s too strong for her own good.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. The man knew his daughter.

“Yeah. Mi agree wid dat.” I replied, just as Dossidian and Meredith entered the room. They both looked pale. I immediately tensed, panic thrilling through my veins.

“What?” I asked, “Wha’ gwaan?”

“The slave woke up.” Dossidian said gravely. I frowned. That was a good thing, wasn’t it?

“Den why yuh both look like yuh seen a ghost?” I asked, Meredith met my gaze and pursed her lips.

“She claims to be Ash Nevra’s half-sister. Apparently Anjoilie had an affair.”

“Cho!” I exclaimed, glancing back and forth between the two of them, hoping they were making a joke. “Who di fadda ?” I asked, and they both shrugged.

“She says she doesn’t know. She claims to have been raised in The Court of Lust as a lady until Anjoilie was killed. She says Ash has always been threatened by her. The moment their mother was out of the picture, Ash enslaved her and sent her away to serve the Prince and Princess of The Court of Greed.”

I felt guilty asking, but it felt too obvious not too. “Why Ash Nevra keep har alive? Why dem don’t kill her?” Dossidian and Meredith exchanged another look, telling me they had been wondering the same thing themselves.

“We don’t know. Cerenah claims not to know either. Though she did hint that Ash Nevra’s hate for her runs deep enough that she suspects she gets a sick sort of joy out of torturing her.”