She scampers ahead.
I trail the rhythmic bounce of her tail tuft, like a pale paintbrush flicking through the darkness. Pull Kyzari closer, tuned in to her slow breaths.
If they grow too shallow, too dense, I’ll stop, drop against the wall, and let her pass with my attention wholly on her. Not running.
We come to a fork in the tunnel. Uno peers down all three passageways, tips her nose, and scents each option, tail twitching as an anxious tension stiffens between us.
“Any clues?”
“Uno not know—” She whips around, spine arching into a defensive position as the hairs on the back of my neck lift.
I turn in time to see a huge silver creature prowl free of the gloomy tunnel we just came down, moving with all the flexing might of an adolescent Sabersythe. Twin sabers protrude from its wide maw, catching light from the flaming sconces, its mane a cluster of ribbons toying with the stagnant air.
My heart slams to a stop.
Fate Herder …
Uno hisses like she’s ready to go to war, perhaps forgetting she’s small enough to be used as a dusting cloth by the massive majestic beast. Or a sock.
Its slit eyes home on Kyzari, and every cell in my body stills.
I squeeze her against my chest, about to join Uno and fucking snarl at the thing, but then the beastwhines, dropping low on its haunches until it’s almost flat with the ground—just beneath my eye level.
Uno’s hiss loses all its power.
The beast inches close, whining in such a way the backs of my eyes sting. A whine that suggests it’s inpain.
Despite it, I move back. Match it step for step until my shoulders hit a wall.
I spin, shielding Kyzari with my body. Growl as the beast sniffs me, then probes me with a gentle nudge, its warm, wet tongue dipping out to lick the side of my arm … right next to Kyzari’s face.
Movement draws my eye to the Aether Stone, like something inside it—
Glinted.
Frowning, I look over my shoulder, back into the Fate Herder’s big eyes, its slit pupils going round like twin moons. Its ribboned mane tides forward to cushion Kyzari like a pillow …
What the fuck is going on?
Another whine, and I mutter a curse before I tilt my body and offer limited access to Kyzari’s cheek.
The Fate Herder nudges me farther from the wall so it can slather her entire face in a few big licks. Like an adoring pet.
I look past the beast into Uno’s wide, watching eyes.
She shrugs.
Another rattling breath taunts the serpent of anxiety coiled in my chest.
The Fate Herder leaps back, snarling as it hunches low and prowls in slow but steady arcs, herding us toward the right tunnel—all the softness gone from its demeanor.
Leaving only the fierce, savage command for us toobey.
I’m brought to my knees before the rising bars, a sword’s tip pressed into my exposed nape. My iron cuffs are removed, offering a burst of hope that’s quickly extinguished as I recognize the pressurized pull at my eardrums, just like it feels beneath the arches in Bothaim.
I don’t bother hunting the walls for the neutralizing runes they’re no doubt riddled with, preventing communication with the Creators.
Choking on a blow of smoke and the smell of baked blood, I’m booted forward onto my hands and knees. Embers chew through my palms while the bars stab into the ground at my back. I work through a series of short, rasped breaths, gathering enough energy to push up, sitting on the heels of my boots.
