No!
Serina swept forward and caught the shrike’s beak, holding it in place above Dilan’s chest. Then she ripped it free with a single wrench before using it to club away the disfigured shrike, sending it smashing into an ancient fountain. She dropped the beak and pulled Dilan to his feet. “Mother, we must run,” he said.
“I do not run from battles.”
Even now, the shrikes were finishing with the last of her ghouls, tearing them apart as if they were only paper. Now we know why the Illthori needed weapons like Sight-Bringer, she realized, in case they lost control of their sentinels. Great sorcerers the Illthori may have been, but they had also been necromancers—like her. Despite surviving all these centuries on the blood of animals, the shrikes were still just necromantic creations—not true blood fiends.
And if necromancy had created them, necromancy could destroy them.
She began to cast a spell, a variation on one used to sever souls from the realms of the dead. Occult energy flowed into her, like a river into the sea. Shivers of ecstasy coursed through her, far more satisfying than coitus could ever be. Long before Ator had rewarded her with the blood-fiend kiss for the souls she had sacrificed to him, Serina had been a master witch, far more powerful than any mage she had known—including her one-time ally, Kalishni’coor, despite what that fool may have believed. Now, as the shrikes advanced on her and Dilan, she reached the pinnacle of her spell, sending invisible tendrils of dark magic spiraling out from her fingertips in a web that swept over the glowing red blood gems embedded in the chests of the shrikes.
Standing protectively before her, Dilan hissed in challenge.
Serina, her head tilted back, shrieked as the spell rippled outwards, expanding in a concentric eldritch wave that washed over the nearby ruins and on into the city. The force of the spell cracked each gem into shards and shattered the closest ruins. Serina fell to her knees as the shrikes turned to ash and feathers, the broken blood gems tinkling onto the stones of the courtyard. Dilan knelt and wrapped his arms around her, his concern strong through the bond they shared. “Mother...”
“It’s all right, my childe,” she whispered. Holding onto his arm, she staggered to her feet and buried her face in his neck. “We must keep going. My heart is near. I can feel it now, calling to me.”
“What about those things?”
“Gone… but I must learn this island’s secrets. Such wonders.”
Chapter 54
Danika
Danika stumbled up the stairs, torn by the need to go back and save Owen and Fioni and her duty to find Serina’s heart. When she heard the metallic clamor of what could only have been the scaffolding collapsing, she knew there was no longer anything she could do for Owen and Fioni. They were on their own once more. Kora swept by, grabbing her arm and pulling her along. “Hurry! Move!”
“But where?”
“Away from this cursed place.”
They came out through a wide, broken opening into the cool night air and a star-filled sky. The stairwell had come out in the midst of a shattered shell of a ruin, now overgrown by weeds and choked by snakelike vines. The rusted remains of Illthori machines surrounded them. Danika, loss wrenching her heart, spun in place, trying to find her bearings. There, rising nearby and blocking the stars, was the giant temple pyramid.
“I think we’re north of where we entered the city,” she overheard Kora saying to the others.
“What are we going to do?” one of the others asked, a plaintive whine in his voice.
What indeed?
“What about Fioni?” another asked.
“Fioni will catch up to us if she… if she can. For now, her orders were clear. We’re to head back to the beach and take Iron Beard.”
“That’s suicide,” another woman said. “There’s less than twenty of us. We can’t take that ship.”
“We take that ship, or we die!” Kora’s voice became heated.
Danika stepped in front of her, forcing her to face her. “And what if you do take the ship, what then?”
“Then we sail from here and never come back.”
“You can’t do that! We have to find the heart.”
“No, we don’t. I’m sorry, but this time, I’m going to obey Fioni. I’m going to save as many of the crew as I can. We’re done here. This quest is over.” Kora spun away.
Suddenly overwhelmed, Danika was barely aware as Gali took her arm and led her away to sit and recover as Kora and the others made their plans. We’re leaving. We’ve failed. She sat there, hugging herself, feeling feverish with manic energy. Serina will kill thousands. She drew Sight-Bringer and held the jagged blade up before her eyes, staring morosely at the moonlight glinting from it. “Why did you come to me?” she whispered. “I don’t understand how we can come this far…” The constant lightning over the Godswall flared once more, clearly showing the tower in the distance with its top broken and hanging at an angle. Danika inhaled in sudden realization as Sight-Bringer throbbed with occult power, sending a vibration up her arm. Once again, she saw the skeletal remains of Denyr and his broken staff thrust upright into the stones—its tip broken so that it hung at exactly the same angle as the tower. He must have known those things were coming for him. He was trying to leave a message.
“Are you okay?” Gali stared at her in concern.
“I’m fine,” she lied. “But thirsty.”
“I go find water,” the young woman said before darting off.
While Kora and the others conversed about the best path back to the beach, Danika rose and slipped away into the ruins, heading for the tower.
Part 4
Promises
Chapter 55
Owen
Owen and Fioni had been running down the passageway when the entire underground rocked violently, sending them reeling. Dust and stones cascaded down onto them, coating them. The glow from the gem in Fioni’s sword abruptly disappeared, leaving only the guttering remains of the torch Owen held, which would die out in minutes at best. “What was that?” Fioni asked, coughing and hacking. “It was like the entire city just ran aground.”
Owen pulled her to her feet and dragged her along with him, dust and gravel continuing to sift down upon them. “Once, in Wolfredsuntown, when I was little, the ground shook like that. Homes fell apart. Men said that a part of the mountain had collapsed.”
“You think a mountain fell? This island is a mountain.”
“I don’t know what happened, but we need to find a way out of this underground now.”
They came to another intersection. Fioni stared at Owen and then the flickering tongue of flame on the torch. “If we choose the wrong way, there may not be enough—”
The torch went out, plunging them into complete darkness.
Fioni exhaled. “Fenya’s tits!”
“This way,” said Owen, still holding her wrist and pulling her to the left. “I think the flame was blown out, which means fresh air… maybe.”
They shuffled along the left-hand tunnel in darkness. He kept his grip on her wrist and trailed his axe head along the wall, expecting to see the glow of red eyes behind them at any moment. He stopped abruptly, smelling fresher air. “Do you—”
“I do. Just ahead.”
When his foot struck something, he fell forward, slamming into what felt like steps, smashing his elbow and knee. His axe clattered against the stones, and it took some grasping about blindly before his fingers touched the wooden haft once more.
“Are you all right?” she asked in amusement.
He was probably lucky she couldn’t see his face in the dark. “I’ll live,” he said as she helped him back up. “Stairs.”
“Then let’s go up.”
As they mounted the steps in the dark, he found himself imagining broken sections of stairs where he’d fall, but then the stairs came out on a landing, twisted about, and carried on, exposing the opening and the stars above. Clean, fresh air caressed his skin—they had somehow found another e
xit. “Thank you, Father Craftsman,” Owen whispered.
Fioni snorted as she pulled herself free of his grip and began to climb the steps. “Your god has no eye on this land, Owen. You’d be better off thanking mine—Wodor, Freya, and Orkinus… although truth be heard above the wind, I don’t think they’d give a whale’s wet turd what some kingdom knight had to say.”
“I’ll thank whoever gets me back outside.”
He followed her out into the open, to the rubble of another fallen Illthori structure, barely the shell of what had once been a large stone building. “What now?” he asked, looking about him.
“I don’t know,” she answered with resignation. “Nor do I know why those monsters just stopped pursuing us.”
#
Owen and Fioni moved slowly through the ruins, searching for Kora and the others, who must have come out of the underground nearby. After the complete darkness of the underground, the starlight and moon provided more than enough light to make their way. They neither saw nor heard any sign of the monsters, but just the same, they both kept a watchful eye on the gem in Fioni’s sword, which, thankfully, remained dark.
When he saw movement in the shadows nearby, he grabbed Fioni’s arm and pulled her down beside him, hiding behind a shattered stone column. He put his lips near her ear. “There’s someone there, but I think they dropped out of sight at the same time I saw them.”
She put two fingers into her mouth and whistled into the darkness, a short trill that he had heard many times before aboard Fen Wolf, usually when someone wanted to get the attention of someone farther forward, or up on the mast. A moment later, they heard an answering whistle from the shadows. Owen’s pulse raced. “Does Galas—”
“Maybe. If I take a crossbow bolt through the mouth, you’ll know to run.” Before he could stop her, Fioni climbed to her feet, sword in hand, and advanced forward.
Owen, grinding his teeth in exasperation, gripped his axe and hurried after her. Then a shadow detached itself from the darkness ahead of them, materializing into a person. Moments later, more shadows appeared. “Fioni?” Kora’s voice called out hopefully.
Relief coursed through Owen, and Fioni rushed forward, embracing her friend. More of the crew appeared now, slapping him on the back and welcoming them.
“What about those monsters?” Kora asked.
Fioni shook her head. “Don’t know. They stopped after the ground shook.”
“We felt it, too.”
Gali appeared, tugging frantically on his arm. “Do you see lady?”
“What do you mean?” Now, for the first time, he noted the absence of Lady Danika among the crew. He stared at Gali’s worried face. “Where is she?”
“We don’t know,” answered Kora. “It took us a few minutes before we even realized she was gone. We’ve been looking for her, but...”
“Damn it,” said Fioni softly.
“I’m sorry,” said Kora. “She was unhappy when I told her we were going back to the beach.”
Owen stared about the ruins, his thoughts racing. Why would she just run off? Fioni was staring at him, her eyes shining in the starlight. He watched her, feeling his helplessness welling within him. “Fioni, I –”
She sighed, smiling at him. “We’ll find her together.”
“Please,” interrupted Gali. “I see lady’s face when sky light up. There was a tower, that way,” said the young woman, pointing into the distance.
Owen stared, seeing nothing now but darkness. Just the same, he felt certain Gali was right.
“Well,” said Kora, “let’s go find her.”
“No,” said Fioni with finality. “You’re taking what’s left of the crew and heading back to the beach.”
“Fioni,” said Kora, heat in her voice. “You can’t—”
“I can. I’ve lost too many people already.”
“Damned stubborn goose, this is crazy!”
“Am I still Fen Wolf’s master?” Fioni demanded. “Do I still have your loyalty?”
Kora inhaled deeply and then looked down, practically grinding her teeth. “You are. You do.”
“Then you will take what’s left of the crew and take back Iron Beard, before Galas and his men—if any still live—make it back to the beach as well.”
“This is a bad idea.”
Fioni’s white teeth flashed. “I’m the queen of bad ideas, Kora Far-Sails. Give us until high tide tomorrow. If we’re not back by then, sail from here.”
“I can’t do that,” Kora said in anguish.
“You can. Do it for me.”
A long, heavy moment passed in silence, and then Kora’s shoulders slumped. “Aye, I’ll do it,” she whispered.
“We need to go now,” said Owen.
Fioni turned to follow him, but Kora shot forward, embracing Fioni and burying her face in Fioni’s neck. “Someday you and I will swim together as black fish,” she said, her voice breaking.
“If the gods are kind,” Fioni whispered, kissing Kora’s cheek before turning away to follow Owen.
Chapter 56
Danika
Danika stood beneath a broken archway, gazing upon the dark tower. It stood at the far end of a shattered courtyard filled with statues of the strange beastlike Illthori women. A ten-foot-tall vine-covered wall surrounded what must have once been a special place to the Illthori centuries ago. At the far end of the courtyard, a large stone bridge spanned the remains of a deep moat that, in turn, circled a small hill upon which sat the solitary tower. Six-sided, like the strange passageways the Illthori built, the tower was seven stories tall, with narrow, triangular-shaped windows running diagonally up its side. Vines grew in and out of the windows and the wide cracks in the tower’s walls, giving it the appearance of being woven from vines. The uppermost level of the tower leaned at an angle, as if ready to fall off at any moment.
“You left a clue after all, Denyr,” she whispered. “You did your duty.”
How long, she wondered, did you survive here on your own, hunted at night by those monsters—a day, two… longer? A shudder coursed through her.
Lightning flared, once again turning night to day, revealing the courtyard, its statues and broken fountains, and what must have once been a beautiful mosaic set into its surface, thousands of meticulously placed colored tiles forming a winding pattern, like the eye of a storm. Sight-Bringer’s magic flowed through her, bringing the shadows and tiles into sharp relief. She smelled the intermingled scents of mildew, stone, dirt, and rotting vegetation of dead leaves captured in the depths of the moat.
It’s in there, she knew, her vision tunneling in on the tower. Serina’s heart—the end of this quest, revenge for my brother, my father… Brice. All she need do was step forward. Yet she remained in place, frozen in fear, rivulets of sweat running down her spine, her lips trembling. Her hand clutching Sight-Bringer shook so forcefully, she had to grip it with her other hand to hold it steady. “Duty is a double-edged sword,” she whispered breathlessly before stepping into the courtyard. Only the stone faces of the Illthori statues saw her, mute witnesses to her courage.
#
On the far side of the stone bridge, a terraced stone path led up to the tower on the hill. Danika climbed the path, her thoughts a storm of emotions. The entrance to the tower had collapsed long ago, leaving a ten-foot mound of ruins: loose stones, weeds, and broken pieces of wall. Winding completely through the mound, like a spider’s web, were the same thick vines that choked the tower. Atop the mound, a wide fallen gap in the wall led into the tower’s dark interior.
Facing the mound, she considered how best to climb it. She’d need both hands, so she slid Sight-Bringer once again into its sheath, immediately regretting the loss of its magic. She inhaled deeply before grasping one of the thick vines with both hands, intending to use it to pull herself up the steep bank. A moment later, fire burned through her palms. She cried out in agony, dropping the vine and staggering back. At first, she thought something had bit her, but then she realiz
ed it had been the vine. It had burned her palms somehow. Waves of pain coursed up her arms, filling her eyes with tears. The vines are poisonous.
“No,” she said through gritted teeth.
Her fingers trembling, she drew Sight-Bringer and used its razor-sharp edge to cut away strips of cloth from her shirt before wrapping them tightly around her hands. Once again, slipping the broken sword into its sheath, she glared at the vines. “You’re not stopping me.”
She gripped the vine and began pulling herself up the steep bank hand over hand, climbing as quickly as she could. Her skin, through gaps in the strips, burned with the vine’s poison, but she forced herself to keep going, to keep pulling herself up, knowing she’d never be able to do this again if she quit now. She cried out in agony, pulling herself up atop the mound. Drenched in sweat, she threw the vine away and fell to her knees, moaning, squeezing her fingers, and sobbing. Had Kalishni’coor’s torturers possessed these vines, she’d have broken the first time they used them. The pain was indescribable. “It’s too hard, Brice,” she moaned, eyes closed. “Please help me. I can’t do this by myself.”
There was no answer.
When she finally felt capable of moving again, she slowly drew Sight-Bringer, but numb with pain, her fingers could no longer grasp it, and it fell between her knees. Moaning in frustration, she forced herself to pick it up again. Balancing it atop her palm, she somehow managed to wrap one of the cloth strips around it, securing it to her hand. Then she glared at the opening in the tower, breathing deeply as she struggled for the strength to carry on. “Duty,” she whispered as she staggered through the tower’s fallen wall.
Chapter 57
Owen
Owen and Fioni stepped onto the tower’s courtyard as lightning flared once again over the Godswall, highlighting the broken tower. “Does that tower—”
The Vampire Queen Saga: Books 1-3: (The Vampire Queen Saga Boxset) Page 82