Page 55 of The Sirin Sisterhood (The Sons of Echidna #2)

Lucy

Lucy was still aching from the second trial.

Her chest hurt, her muscles were stiff, and the deep bite marks made every step agonizing.

Her head was still spinning from the late-night revelations, too.

There hadn’t been much sleep after that, and it had been morning before she knew it.

Freya had grabbed her hand with a curse as the sky lightened and ran with her to the chicken-legged hut on the edge of the woods.

She hoped the last trial would test their puzzle-solving abilities or something.

She didn’t think she could handle another hike or swim.

She could barely get dressed on her own that morning, forced to let Klein help lace up her dress.

Anything would be better than more movement.

She’d take a math test if she had to and not care if she failed.

She was just about to give up on waiting and go back to her bed to sleep off the pain when, at last, Baba Yaga emerged from her hovel.

Lucy shuddered. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to the ancient hag’s presence.

Every one of her instincts screamed at her to run away from the creature, that she was putrid and dangerous, a primordial force that was older than evil or good, a being that saw Lucy and the others as little more than ants beneath her, ants that she could crush or feed, at her inscrutable whim.

The gnarled crone greeted them on her porch. This time, she had a chest with her, wooden with rusty iron brackets holding it together, its shiny golden lock stood stark against the tarnished metal.

Freya looked at the key in her hand and then at Lucy.

They exchanged small nods. Whatever was in there, they would handle it together.

Something about almost dying together again had put things into perspective.

They had too much at stake for petty rivalries to get in the way. Besides, they were family.

The wooden chest shook, shifting to the side as something inside struggled to escape.

Lucy took a step back. So did Freya.

Baba Yaga only smirked, motioning to the lock. “You want your names back? Use the key.”

Please be a puzzle. Just be a really stubborn lock to test their patience. Please be anything but a test of strength or agility.

Freya was reluctant to approach, holding the key between her fingers, frozen in place.

“Do you want me to open it?”Lucy offered, instantly regretting her sudden bravery. Who knew what was inside? A beast? Wild magic they couldn’t possibly control? A few dozen rats would have been enough to send Lucy running in terror, aching limbs be damned.

But Freya hadn’t moved, and Lucy had offered. She didn’t have a choice in being brave.

She took the key from Freya and inserted it into the lock.

Something stirred inside. The rustling noise reminded Lucy of a trapped animal. She was certain now that their trial involved a creature of some kind.

Only one way to find out for sure.

The key turned. With a click , the lock fell open, and the latch that held it closed was released.

Lucy screamed as the lid suddenly popped open, feathery wings slapping at her face as whatever was inside burst out, shoving past the girls. Wild-eyed, she spun around, scanning the skies for whatever horror had just been unleashed, grabbing Freya by her hand.

She heard a quack.

Her eyes lowered from the sky to the ground.

A duck. Just a duck, like any other duck. It waddled down the porch steps and stopped at the bottom, aggressively grooming its ruffled feathers back into place.

“Our names are in a duck?”Freya spoke first, sounding just as confused as Lucy felt.

“Yes.”The ancient witch grinned her sunken grin, laughing as the bird plucked at the clover in front of the hut. The fat little bird waddled through the grass, twitching its tail, feeding on the fresh shoots without a care in the world.

It didn’t look afraid of them, so Lucy settled on the most simple solution first. She approached the duck, and it tried to grab it.

Tried.

She was nowhere near successful. The duck effortlessly jumped out of the way with an indignant quack and settled nearby, watching her suspiciously.

It was not going to be as easy as she’d thought.

Freya attempted to slowly approach it, pretending to offer something in her hand, tempting the duck with an imaginary treat. The duck didn’t fall for it. Even if she really did have something, the now cautious creature kept a wary distance between it and the girls.

“I can use my power,”Lucy whispered, as if the duck could understand her and she had to hide what she was saying. “I won’t kill it, but I’ll weaken it enough so it can’t get away.”

Freya considered it and nodded. “Do it.”

Closing her eyes, Lucy focused on the golden threads around her: the crowd of witches behind her, Freya, the hag.

She shuddered and released that thread– Baba Yaga’s thread wasn’t just black; it was a void, greedily tugging at Lucy’s own life until the connection was broken.

There were so many powerful golden glows that it almost blinded her, but eventually, Lucy found the energy that remembered cool pond water and a fresh summer breeze.

She reached for it, and it passed through her fingers like trying to catch the wind. Lucy couldn’t hold on.

She opened her eyes, hearing gasps, and spotted the wings disappearing high above them.

They needed a pair of those themselves to have any hope of catching it!

In stunned silence, both women looked at each other, the realization that their names might be gone forever sinking in. The duck mocked them, quacking loudly as it circled above.

Freya suddenly sucked in a breath and ran into the center of the clearing, keeping her eyes on the duck.

“Get back.”

Lucy hesitated.

“Now!”Freya stepped away from Lucy. Away from everyone.

Something glimmered in her hand.

“What are you doing?”Lucy cried out, anxiously watching the duck.

Her question was answered with the wet noise of tearing flesh. Freya had pushed the entire length of a wicked-looking dagger between her ribs and straight into her heart.

Lucy wondered just when exactly something like that had become normal to her.

A few weeks ago, she would have screamed in horror and rushed in to try to save her.

Now, she just watched as the beige fabric of Freya’s blouse turned a dark shade of crimson.

The spread of the stain slowed down time enough for Lucy to count Freya’s final breaths.

One.

Two.

As she exhaled on the third, the woman was no more. Her skin stretched until it burst, bones exploding into thin, long shards that grew, changed, and solidified into something else—something black, something huge.

Her leathery wings cast a shadow over the entire village as the monstrous creature emerged from the tiny human form that had once contained it.

Lucy thought she heard Lai curse. She might have imagined it, but she agreed all the same.

Now that was a dragon .

Freya’s body alone was twice the size of the long-hall. Her head was the size of a logging truck, with two long, wicked horns jutting back from her skull, as if all of the other spines and claws and teeth weren’t overkill enough.

Lucy was in awe, focused solely on the magnificent creature towering above her.

Freya released a puff of smoke and lowered her wings, launching herself in the air with heavy beats that made the ground shake and the trees bow.

The duck stood no chance. It quacked in mindless terror, frantically gaining altitude, but the dragon seized it effortlessly. One snap of her jaw and the bird disappeared; it was like watching Lai as a wyvern, devouring a Skittle.

“This is so fucking unfair.”Lucy heard Lai’s voice from the crowd as Freya landed back on the grass, graceful despite her size. She knew he wasn’t upset on the duck’s behalf. He was mourning his own genetics.

Lucy couldn’t help but think of how easy it would be to take back the house with Freya on their side. Eleanor’s ships would rain from the sky when faced with a proper dragon. One breath of fire, and their home would be theirs again.

No matter how nice that dream felt, no one was going anywhere until they got their names back. Lucy had to force her mind back to reality and the trial at hand.

Their prize was trapped within the cage of long teeth.

Lucy heard the frantic beating of wings against them as she approached the dragon.

Would it be weird to pet it? It was Freya, but it was also the greatest and most famous creature of legend in the history of the world, unlike anything Lucy had ever seen before.

She had always believed Lai when he’d insisted he was practically a real dragon, but in comparison to this, he was a pet shop gecko.

He didn’t have her size, her control, her majesty.

Why was she so much bigger if they were twins? It really didn’t seem fair.

She shook her head. She had bigger problems to deal with right now. She was still nameless, and she needed that duck.

“I’ll catch it. Open up slowly,”she called up, placing her hand on a tooth that was almost as tall as she was, hoping the dragon could understand her.

Freya obeyed, parting the powerful jaws ever so slightly, just enough for Lucy’s hand to get between the teeth.

Lucy reached in, expecting the duck to dash for freedom straight into her arms, but no matter how much she waved her hand, looking for a wing to grab, her fingers met nothing but the rough, hot surface of the dragon’s tongue.

Then, something slipped past her.

No wings, no feathers. It felt like fur as it grazed her ankle.

A large gray hare had leapt through the narrow gap and froze still, its red eyes watching them. Its back legs twitched in anticipation, ready to run at the first sudden movement.