Yeah, no thanks.
Eyeing the stumps, I nervously rubbed at the film of soot still coating my face. Considering I’d so far come up against a trench of manure, an aquamarine pool, and a river of blood, you would think that I’d feel more confident about crossing a simple ditch. But the others hadn’t been so deep—anyone who fell into them could also climb out.
This crevice, however? It not only seemed depthless, it had perfectly smooth walls. Unless you had wings, which I did not, you weren’t getting out of that ditch.
And it was home to something that growled.
Well, it bore repeating.
Come on, you can do this.
I could. Absolutely. I’d be fine.
Without taking another moment to think about it, I stepped onto the first spire. It didn’t wobble.Relief.
Holding out my arms for balance, I moved to the next spire. Again, there was no wobbling.
There was, however, a slightcrack.
Wicked fast, I hopped onto the third spire, one foot almost slipping off when I realized how slim the circular stump actually was—I could barely fit both my feet on it at the same time. Something I stupidly hadn’t noticed until it was too late.
Seeing that the fourth spire was wider, I stepped onto it. No wobbling, no cracking.
The same went for the fifth spire. And the sixth. And the seventh.
Notthe eighth and final spire. It swayed like a drunken idiot. I leapt to the other side of the crevice as quickly as I could, managing to land on my feet.
Relief blowing through my blood, I hurried to the end of the passage, took the upcoming U-turn, shoved my way through hanging moss … and found only blackness.
Seriously, it wasn’t simply dark, it was pitch black. I couldn’t see anything—not even my own hand when I held it in front of my face.
The loud noise from the previous circuit had been rapidly replaced by an eerie silence. The terrible heat had disappeared. Here, the air was cool and clammy. Just the same, the smells of dust, moist stone, and decaying greenery had replaced those of smoke, ash, and burning wood.
No waywas I going to try to feel my way through the circuit. Heaven knew what surprises were around. So I called to my power, using the little sparks for light.
I squinted as I scanned what I could see of the passage. The ceiling was low here, and the ground was very uneven. Moss crept along the discolored stone walls. Water steadily dripped from ceiling fissures, forming little puddles. Weeds grew between the cracks that spiderwebbed along the ground.
There were statues, but no totems or spires. Instead, there were caskets, urns, and sarcophagi. Many of which had fallen.
My breath caught as my mind again flashed to the ‘nightmare’ I’d had last night. This was it. This was the ‘crypt’ where I’d seen the little boy run.
No, no, no, no, no.It had been real. Talon had been forced to run through this labyrinth as a child. I struggled to wrap my head around it.
The freaking place was hard enough for an adult to navigate and survive. A young boy? He must have been so afraid, must have come close to dying more than once.
It could only be one or all of the Sovereigns that had made him do this. Which meant, in my mind, they were all-out evil.
A rumble raced along the ground as it abruptly heaved and shifted. Statues swayed. Pebbles shook. Urns trembled. Coffins clattered. Dust sifted down from the ceiling cracks.
My pulse quickening again, I shot out my hand, bracing it on the knobby stone wall for balance. If this wasn’t a singular occurrence, it would explain why so many items had toppled over.
As soon as the quake passed, I got moving. With only my moonlight sparks to light my way, I had to be extra careful where I stepped—especially when there so many large fissures in the ground, not to mention many fallen items to trip over.
Dust and pebbles crunched underfoot, taking away any shot I had at stealth. But it didn’t seem wise to move slowly anyway—not even in the name of cautiousness. A falling statue could easily knock me unconscious, just as a hole in the ground could easily swallow me up.
Something brushed against my ankle as a dark, small creature skittered along the ground and disappeared into the thick shadows. I squeaked in surprise, my heart skipping, my hand jerking … at which point my sparks winked out, flooding the passage in darkness.
Cursing beneath my breath, I conjured flickers of moonlight again. I had no clue what little beast had just given me a fright, nor did I care to find out. I just wanted out of here.
