Why couldn’t I? Better yet, who said I couldn’t?
Another crack sent a jolt of fear through me as pieces of the tunnel under Emil began to break. Casteel cursed. If the section went, not only would we lose them, we’d be unable to return.
I had to do something.
I had to try.
Forcing myself to calm enough to focus on the image I was building in my mind. I closed my eyes, pouring all good thoughts into what I was creating. I didn’t want the eather to harm. My chest hummed as I saw the webbing of shimmery light seeping over the floor. I pictured it slipping into the hole and surrounding Vonetta. I saw it lifting her—
Vonetta gasped. My eyes flew open. A silvery glow crept along the walls of the cavern. Kieran pitched forward, reaching into the tear as strings of light lifted Vonetta. He grasped his sister’s hand, pulling her up as I pulled the eather toward me. Emil let go, scuttling back on his belly as Kieran and Vonetta collapsed to the side.
Letting out a ragged breath, I pulled the eather back toward me as I sank against Casteel. The radiance retreated and then disappeared.
“Are you okay, Netta?” Casteel demanded.
“Peachy.” Vonetta rolled onto her back, breathing heavily. She tilted her head back toward Casteel and me. “That…that felt weird.”
“You could feel it?” I asked.
“Yeah, it felt…warm and tingly.” She dragged her arm over her forehead. “Thank you. All of you.”
“How did you do that?” Casteel asked as Emil stood.
“I pictured it. Like you said.” My heart still hadn’t slowed. “And I just hoped it didn’t…you know, break her bones.”
Vonetta halted in the process of rising, her gaze finding mine in the dim firelight. “You didn’t know if it wouldn’t do that?”
“No,” I admitted sheepishly.
She put her hands on her hips. “Gods, I think I need to lay down again.”
Chapter 40
We traveled on, wary of the stability of the tunnel. Again, it felt as if we continued on for a small eternity, but the sudden and familiar scent of lilac sent a bolt of hope through me. Pressing through the narrow turn, a pinprick of light appeared in the darkness.
We had reached the end of the tunnel and Iliseeum.
“Mist,” Casteel announced. “I can see it coming through the opening.”
I tapped his shoulder when he didn’t move. “Cas.”
He growled low in his throat but flattened himself against the wall, holding the torch high. As I passed him, I pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.
“That doesn’t help,” he grumbled.
I would’ve smiled, but I saw it—tendrils of thick mist seeping into the opening in the tunnel, drifting toward us. I moved forward, sending up a prayer that Jasper had been right about my ability to pass through the mist and that my suspicion that it would not only allow me to do so but also scatter, making it safe for the others, was true.
The Primal magic rose from the floor of the cavern, forming wispy fingers as it stretched out toward me. I lifted my hand.
“I don’t like this,” Casteel muttered from behind me.
“It shouldn’t hurt her,” Kieran reminded him, but concern bled into his words.
The mist brushed against my skin, the feel of it cool and damp and alive. The eather retracted, lowering to the ground and then disappearing.
I exhaled roughly, looking over my shoulder. “It’s okay.”
Casteel nodded, and I moved ahead. The opening wasn’t all that large, only about three feet high and two feet wide. “You’ll have to crawl through.”
“Just go slowly,” Casteel advised. “We have no idea what is on the other end.”
“Hopefully, not a draken looking to serve up some flame-broiled red meat,” Emil muttered from somewhere in the darkness.
“Well, that put a pleasant image in my mind,” Delano replied.
Hoping for the exact same thing as Emil, I went down on my knees and inched through. “Hold on,” I told them. There was more mist, so thick it was like the clouds had descended to the ground. I reached out tentatively, and the magic scattered and thinned as bright sunlight penetrated what remained of the fog. Squinting at the sudden light after being in the dark for so long, I slid out, my knees and hands skimming from stone to sandy, loose dirt.
One hand going to the blade at my chest, and the other to the wolven dagger on my thigh, I stood and took a step forward.
The ground trembled faintly under my feet. I froze, looking down to see tiny rocks and clumps of sand and dirt shiver. After a heartbeat, the trembling ceased, and I lifted my gaze. The mist had completely disappeared, and I was able to take my first look at Iliseeum.
My lips parted as my hands fell away from my daggers. The sky was a shade of blue that reminded me of the wolven’s eyes, pale and wintry, but the air was warm and smelled of lilacs. My gaze swept over the landscape. “Gods,” I whispered, lifting my chin as my gaze crawled up and up the massive statues carved out of what I assumed was shadowstone. They were as tall as the ones I’d seen in Evaemon, those that had appeared to scrape the sky, and there had to be hundreds of them standing in line, continuing on to the left and right as far as I could see. Maybe even thousands.
The statues were of women, their heads lowered. Each hand held a stone sword that jutted forward. The stone women had wings sprouting from their backs, splayed wide, each touching the wings of the ones standing on either side of them. They formed a chain of sorts, blocking whatever resided beyond. You could only pass through under the wings.
They were beautiful.
“Poppy?” Casteel’s voice neared the opening. “You okay out there?”
“Yeah. Sorry.” I cleared my throat. “It’s safe.”
Within a handful of moments, Casteel and the rest made their way out, coming to stand beside me in silence. They all stared at the statues, their wonder bubbly and sugary.
“Are they supposed to represent the draken?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” Casteel’s hand touched my lower back. “They’re stunning, though.”
They truly were. “I guess we walk ahead and see if what they’re guarding is what we’re looking for.”
We started to cross the barren land, searching for any signs of life. There was nothing. No sound. Not even a breeze or the distant call of a bird.
“This is kind of creepy,” I murmured, looking around. “The silence.”
“Agreed. Perhaps this should be called the Land of the Dead,” Delano said as he walked under the shadowed wing of a stone woman.
A faint tremble stirred the ground under our feet. Casteel threw out a hand. We all stopped. “This happened before,” I told them. “It stopped—”
The ground erupted in several geysers all around us, sending clouds of dirt into the air and spewing small rocks in every direction.
“I’m assuming that didn’t happen last time,” Vonetta remarked.
“Nope.” I threw up a hand as clumps of dirt pelted my face and arm, and the ground burst open between Casteel and me.
Another funnel of dirt exploded directly in front of Emil, forcing him back several steps. He coughed. “That was rude.”
The ground steadied as the dust and dirt fell back to the earth. “Is everyone still with us?” Delano asked, wiping at his face.
We were.
“Careful.” Casteel knelt near the opening between us. “This is one hell of a hole.” He looked up, meeting my gaze and then Kieran’s. He rose slowly. “I have a feeling we may have triggered something.”
“Triggered what?” Emil asked, peering over the edge, squinting. “Wait.” His head tilted to the side. “I think I—holy shit!” Jumping back, he stumbled over his feet, catching himself a second before he landed on his ass.
“What?” Vonetta demanded, reaching for her swords. “Details. They would be helpful at the—”
Between Casteel and I, the bleached bones of a hand appeared, fingers digging into the lo
ose soil.
“What in the world of nightmare fuel is this?” Casteel muttered.
Those fingers were connected to an arm—an arm that was nothing more than a skeleton. The top of a skull appeared. My eyes widened in horror. Dirt poured out of empty eye sockets.
“Skeletons!” Vonetta shouted, unsheathing her swords. “Couldn’t you have said that you saw skeletons in the hole?”
Casteel cursed as another bony hand appeared, this one clutching a sword in its grip.
“Armed skeletons!” Vonetta yelled. “Couldn’t you have said you saw armed skeletons in the hole?”
“Sorry.” Emil unhooked his swords. “I was kind of taken aback by the sight of fully functional, fucking skeletons with weapons. My apologies.”
I stared at the sword—the blade was as black as the statues. The same kind of blades I’d seen in the crypts with the deities. “Shadowstone.” An image of my mother flashed before me, of her pulling a slender, black blade from her boot. “Their blades are like the one my mother had. That had to be a real memory.”
“Poppy, I’m glad you know it was real.” Casteel withdrew his swords. “But we should probably discuss that later, like when we’re not facing an army of the dead?”
“Question,” Delano called out, blade in hand as the top of a skull appeared from the hole nearest him. “How exactly does one kill what is presumably already dead?”
“Like super dead,” Vonetta clarified as the one before her was now halfway out of the hole, a ragged, dull brown tunic draped over the skeleton’s shoulder. Through the torn clothing, I saw a twisted mass of dirt beat behind its ribs.
Casteel moved as fast as bottled lightning, thrusting his sword into the chest of the skeleton and piercing the lump of dirt. The skeleton shattered, sword and all, breaking apart into dust. “Like that?”
“Oh,” Vonetta replied. “All right, then.”
I turned as Kieran shoved his sword into the chest of one. There were about a dozen holes behind us—a dozen skeleton guards halfway out of the ground. Another image filled my mind, one not of my mother but of a woman with silvery-white hair—the one I’d seen in my mind while I stood in the Chambers of Nyktos. She’d slammed her hands into the dirt, and the ground had cracked open, bone fingers digging their way out.
“Her soldiers,” I whispered.
“What?” Casteel demanded.
“These are her—”
Free from whatever hole it had literally crawled out of, one of the skeleton soldiers rushed toward me, lifting its sword. Slipping the dagger free from my chest harness, I snapped forward, thrusting the blade into the mess of throbbing dirt. The skeleton exploded as another took its place. Behind it, another skeleton soldier lifted its sword. Kicking out, I planted my boot in the soldier’s chest, pushing it back into another. Casteel shot forward, stabbing his sword into the dirt heart of the one closest to him. I spun, slamming my dagger into the chest of the skeleton, wincing as the blade nicked bone before hitting the heart.
“Cutting off the head does not work,” Emil shouted, and I turned to see a…a headless skeleton tracking the dumbfounded Atlantian. “I repeat. It does not work!”
Vonetta whirled, thrusting one sword through the chest of a soldier, and her other blade through the headless skeleton. “You,” she said to Emil, “are a mess.”
“And you are beautiful,” he replied with a grin.
The female wolven rolled her eyes as she spun, taking down another as Emil shoved his sword into the chest of one coming at him.
Casteel shoved a soldier back as he jabbed the sword through its ribs. Behind him, a soldier raced toward him. I shot past Casteel, stabbing the creature in the chest—
The ground trembled once more. New geysers of dirt erupted, streaking into the air. “You have got to be kidding me,” Kieran growled.
I spun around, heart thudding as…hundreds of eruptions happened across the barren ground, from the side of the Mountains of Nyktos, all the way to the stone women. These soldiers were faster, tearing out of the holes in a matter of heartbeats.
“Good gods.” Vonetta stumbled back into Emil. He steadied her before they turned to stand back-to-back.
A skeleton soldier ran forward on bony feet, sword raised. Its jaws unhinged, opening wide to reveal nothing but a black void and the sound of screaming wind. The force blew my braid back and tugged at my tunic.
“Rude,” I muttered, nearly choking on the scent of stale lilacs.
Black, oily smoke spilled from the skeleton’s mouth, thickening and solidifying as it poured to the ground, forming thick ropes that slithered forward—
“Oh, my gods!” I shrieked. “Not ropes! Not ropes! Snakes!”
“Holy shit,” Delano gasped as Casteel shoved his sword through the back of the screaming skeleton. “That is so not right.”
“I regret the decision to join you all,” Emil announced. “I regret this decision very much.”
Snakes. Gods. I hated snakes. Bile rose in my throat as I danced out of the way of the serpents. My scream built in my throat as several of the other skeletons howled. More black smoke followed. More snakes.
Twisting, I shoved my dagger into a soldier’s chest. I would have to table what I was seeing and deal with the lifetime of nightmares later.
Casteel took out a soldier as he slammed his boot down on a snake. The smoke-serpent flattened into an oily stain, turning my stomach.
I’d also have to vomit about that later.
“Poppy.” His head jerked up. “I know you said you didn’t think you should use the eather, but I really think now would be a good time to go full deity on these fuckers.”
“Second that,” Vonetta called as she kicked a serpent away from her. It landed near her brother, who shot her a dirty look.
I had to agree as I thrust my dagger into the chest of a soldier. The freaking smoke serpents outweighed whatever risks using the eather in Iliseeum introduced. I sheathed my daggers. Focusing on the hum in my chest, I let it come to the surface of my skin. No, I realized. I summoned it to the surface. Silvery-white light crowded the sides of my vision as it sparked over my skin—
The skeleton soldiers turned toward me. All of them. Their mouths opened as they screamed. Smoke poured from the voids, falling to the ground.
“Oh.” Kieran straightened. “Shit.”
That didn’t remotely articulate what I felt as hundreds of serpents slithered over the earth, around the holes. Cursing violently, Casteel stomped his boot down again. The soldiers moved in unison, sprinting toward me—
In my mind, I didn’t picture the fine webbing. I needed something faster, more intense. Something final. And I didn’t even know why, but I thought of the torches inside the Temple of Nyktos and their silvery flames.
Fire.
Gods, if I was wrong, I wouldn’t be the only one regretting this, but I pictured the flames in my mind, silvery white and intense. My hands warmed and tingled. My entire body throbbed with heat—heat and power. I didn’t know if it was instinct or if it was because the serpents were so close, but I lifted my hands.
Silver-white flames spiraled down my arms and erupted from my palms—erupted from me. Someone gasped. It could’ve been me. The fire roared, licking the ground and catching the serpents. The creatures hissed and screeched as the flames consumed them. The inferno rolled across the land, hitting the skeletons with a wave of flames. Crackling, fiery light streaked between Casteel and Kieran, washing over the soldiers there and then spread out from me, following exactly what I saw in my mind, burning only the skeletons and serpents, leaving everything else untouched. And then I pulled back the eather, picturing it receding and returning to me. The fire pulsed intensely, straining toward Casteel and the others as if it wanted to consume them, too, but I didn’t want that. The flames turned bright white, spitting sparks high into the air and then fizzling out until only faint wisps of pale smoke remained.
Everyone was staring at me.
“I…I didn’t kno
w if that would work or not,” I admitted.
“Well…” Vonetta drew the word out, her pale eyes wide. “I’m sure I’m not the only one who is grateful that it did.”
I looked down at my hands and then up, finding Casteel. “I guess I am the Queen of Flesh and Fire.”
Casteel nodded as he stalked toward me, his eyes a heated amber. “I know you’re the Queen of my heart.”
Blinking, I lowered my hands as he stopped in front of me. “Did you seriously just say that?”
One dimple appeared as he clasped the back of my head and lowered his head to mine. “I sure as fuck did.”
“That was so…cheesy,” I said.
“I know.” Casteel kissed me, and there was nothing ridiculous about that. His tongue parted my lips, and I welcomed his taste.
“This is a little awkward,” Vonetta observed.
“They do this all the time,” Kieran sighed. “You’ll get used to it.”
“Better than them fighting,” Delano remarked.
Casteel grinned against my lips. “You’re extraordinary,” he murmured. “Don’t ever forget that.”
I kissed him in response, and then unfortunately, pulled free. “We should probably get moving. More could come.”
“Let’s hope not,” Emil said, sheathing his swords.
“Everyone okay?” Casteel asked as we started walking. “No snake bites?”
Luckily, everyone was fine, but as we neared the shadows of the stone women, I said, “Maybe I should go first.”
Delano bowed, extending an arm as Vonetta shook dust from her braids. “Be my guest.”
My grin froze as I tentatively stepped into the shadow of a wing. The ground did tremor, but it was the holes, filling back with dirt. The landscape was once again flat and whole. “Okay,” I breathed. “That’s a good sign.”
Casteel was the first to join me and then the others. We continued on, passing under the wing. The sandy dirt hardened under our feet. Patches of grass appeared, giving way to a lush meadow of bright orange flowers.
The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood And Ash Series Book 3) Page 53