Ileaned back in the chair, wiping fresh tears from my sodden cheeks. My eyes burned from all the endless crying. Manmi had learned something and she’d been killed for it. Stars.
I took the journal, and a few other ledgers, shoved them all into a torn satchel I found discarded onto the floor, and shoved them inside. She’d written that Evanae had found a tome on the Fallenspawn. I needed that scrollbook. Racing out of Manmi’s office and rushing to Evanae’s chambers, I scoured through the mess looking for the scrollbook Manmi had mentioned.
Evanae’s bedchambers had been thoroughly thrashed, left in utter shambles. Every piece of furniture was broken. Her bedcloud had been shredded. Every scrollbook was on the floor. Half had been set on fire. There were marks of obsidian majik everywhere.
What in the Hèls did Evanae have that her room had been torn apart like this?
I was about to give up when that little voice from earlier pushed me to check her wardrobe. I plucked up the broken piece of the door, pushing hard so it would pop open. Then I dug in.All I found was a pile of junk. But at the bottom, in the corner, was a lever.
My eyebrows rose to my hairline.
I pulled the lever and marveled as another compartment opened. There were several tomes inside. IncludingHistory of the Fallenspawn: the Truth of How They Came to Be.
“Holy stars,” I breathed.
Looking around me, I found I was still alone. My hearts beat wildly as I snatched each tome and shoved them into the bag before someone snuck up on me. I had to get back to the temple with this satchel without getting caught.
A rumbling noise from the backyard spooked me. I whipped around, adrenaline flooding my bloodstream. I looked around, seeing if I’d been spotted.
“Who is there?” I called out, unable to fully see the hall from where I was.
The rumbling happened again. It sounded like something quaking from the back of the garden.
Throwing the satchel over my shoulder, I raced to Evanae’s balcony, climbing over fallen stone and rock that had been cracked from our villas exterior walls. In the distance, I saw the unmistakable shimmering of a star gate.
“No burning way,” I breathed. “Who is that?”
I ran across the balcony jumping into the air. Satchel secured, I raced after the star gate. As I neared, I noticed two angels slipped through it. One had the mark of a thorn embedded into his exposed skin.
“What is one of the Marked doing here?”
You must search diligently, and find the dissenters amongst us, and bring them back with you.
I wrinkled my nose. I’d flown closer, scanning the backyard. There were trails of footprints, all leading to where I believed this star gate was perched. I rushed across the landscape,praying the gate wouldn’t close. As I neared, it began trembling, getting ready to shut. Without a second thought, I tucked my wings close to my spine, aimed my body, and shot myself straight through the star gate.
The moment I crossed through, the star gate sealed shut.
Chapter 56
Istumbled on slick rock as I landed at an awkward angle. The star gate spit me out over a rocky base that crawled up into a mountainside. I tried standing, only to slip and fall, bending my wrists at an odd angle.
“Stars,” I hissed.
One of my palms had an open gash from catching onto one of the crumbling stones wrong. Where in the stars was I? I cast about trying to make sense of my environment.
There were clouds everywhere, thick and billowy, obstructing my view. I took a step and slipped again. I grit my teeth, squeezed my thighs, and forced myself to take a few steps. Each one was wobbly and uncertain. As I crept across the rocks, I saw in the distance a breach between the clouds. And through the clouds, I spotted the Goldstone Bridge.
“What in the?—”
The sound of shuffling caught my attention. I whipped my head around and saw the last remnants of a set of wings slipping around the corner of the mountain base. Careful not to slip, I began prowling after the angel. I couldn’t tell which rank they were since they’d been moving so quickly.
I shuffled across the rock, still slipping over my feet no matter how hard I tried to keep my balance. I wasn’t crossing the bridge any longer, but I didn’t doubt for a second I’d find myself without my feathers if I tried flying out here.
I made it to where I’d spotted the angel and rounded the corner. In the distance, embedded in the rock was a gate made of gold, barring entry into an entrance carved into the side of the mountain. The gate was ajar as I saw the silhouette of the angel again. I watched them slip inside. The angel held two swords, one in each hand. And on his arm was the branded thorn of the Marked.
But even from here, I could tell I didn’t know who the angel was. They weren’t one of Quazar’s Talons. I hadn’t seen them in Xadari Legion either. I made my way across the rock, shifting the weight of the satchel on my back. The tomes were heavy. I got a good grip on the satchel, using a pair of wings to hold it up as I made my way to the gate the angel had slipped through.
When I reached the golden entry, a putrid odor smacked me in the face. I stumbled back, losing my balance. It was sharp and gross, a mixture of stench, urine, and old blood filtering into the air.
