CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
At night, the Messenger took the maiden’s form, the only sliver of his race shining in his eyes like stars. Love took root, its vines wrapping around the young maiden’s heart and mind in the sweeping, savage way only love can.
—Fabia’s Fables, “People of the Stars.”
Lord Astraeus’s wide eyes shot to mine. The slight whistle of several bowstrings whined, and I stiffened, waiting for their release.
I blinked as I spotted at least ten warriors, eerily hidden against the walls of the small chamber, camouflaged in white leathers, with matching paint adorning their hands and faces.
“Remove your hand from the resting place,” an accented voice commanded.
I picked up my hands from the lid, bringing them to my sides as I slid my gaze back to Lord Astraeus. A cold calmness had come over him as he carefully removed his hand.
Footsteps padded from far beyond as the white stone on the far side of the chamber smoothly slid away, revealing a hidden hall. I flinched as a short figure stepped into the chamber, bonesclacking as their steps slowed. A massive skull of some great horned beast sat atop their face, obscuring it from view. Rows of bones hung draped across a white, furred tunic and pants.
The skull rotated slowly, scanning our group, one by one. A white spear, its blade hewn from bone, lifted its point at Vienah. I caught Ronan’s eye before he moved in front of the water witch, and a blade appeared at his throat.
The ivory point of the spear slowly shifted, and I pulled my gaze back to the strange leader as they leveled it at me. The Obscura power bucked at the wall in place and the sudden arrival of a threat.
The skull tilted, as if the giant beast cocked its head, curious about its prey, and the figure slowly stepped closer to me. I willed my pounding heart to settle.
I blew a slow breath through my lips as the figure placed the ivory tip at the center of my chest. They stopped, the dark eyes somehow bright beneath the mask, and lifted a gloved hand, covered in long, curved claws, which clicked together in some unspoken command. A sudden push of air whispered across my cheek, and my stomach turned.
“Your Holiness,” Lord Astraeus crooned from across the sarcophagus, hands still in the air, head angled down. “May I present to you Tynan’s Accepted, Lyvia of Sultira, Bonder of the Bellators, here to claim the bone of power.”
Lord Astraeus lifted his eyes to me, and a small grin appeared on his lips. I blinked, processing his words as the room stiffened. He held my gaze for a heartbeat before I pulled it away and settled it on the form of bones and claws in front of me. Willing my heart to calm, I rotated my wrists, palms flipping to the low ceiling, and showcased the luminous eight-pointed matching stars on my hands.
The arrowhead poised at my neck dipped. Despite the feeling of dread it invited, I plastered a look of subservience on my face and purred, “I am at your service, Your Holiness.”
The figure before me waited several agonizing heartbeats before responding. “No.”
The word rang through the chamber in a clear, damning female voice from the small form before me. The stone ceiling let out a soft hiss, and my powers pounded wildly against the thick wall in response.
“Languidus smoke!”Kresida warned in a panic.
Ivory smog floated from the ceiling. I clamped my mouth shut and held my breath as my pulse banged against my neck.
A white, ashy substance clouded the chamber, stealing my sight. I whipped my head back, creating a small amount of distance between my neck and that ivory spear, as I shoved the base of my palm up the shaft. I ducked into a crouch and swiped my leg out, clipping the armed ankle of the small woman. My shin barked in pain at contact with the sharpened bone, and the woman staggered.
Grunts and thuds echoed from across the chamber as we engaged the hidden warriors. A shout from my right, and Ronan backed into me as he sliced through the archer behind me. The woman in front recovered her stance and blindly thrust into the white haze. I kept low and barreled into her, the force of my tackle knocking the wind from my chest. She toppled over, barking a curse. I took a damning breath as instinct took over and the languid smoke snaked its way into my lungs.
My fingertips tingled as I struggled to get to my feet. The white staff of the woman’s spear shoved against my chest, and I flipped onto my back as nausea clawed its way into my gut. I attempted to shove her off with waterlogged limbs.
Fuzzy darkness encroached on my vision. I blinked rapidly, resisting the urge to succumb to the smoke. The woman shovedagain, pinning me to the ground, knocking the air out of my chest, and forcing me to take one more fateful breath before darkness took me.
A hallof sparkling jewels spread before me as I put one foot in front of the other, crystals of varying blues creating a swirling stream of stones beneath my feet that led me down the center aisle. A different view of the Crystal Castle, my semi-conscious mind realized, as once again I watched through Enya’s eyes.
A group of warriors stood at the front of the dais, many eyeing me with distrust, others, fear. A grin formed on my lips, and I snapped my teeth at them. The woman in the center tsked her tongue.
Such manners,the foreign voice chided in my head.Ordell promised you’d behave.
I resisted the urge to rake my darkness down her face, seething at her intrusion.
Ordell has a soft heart,I murmured before slamming my mental wall down, cutting off the queen who stood at the center of the dais.
Olienna.
There was something strangely familiar about her, my half-conscious self noted, as I gazed at the beautiful queen. A loud crack clapped from behind, and I whipped around to find a warrior’s dark, almond eyes glaring at me as he strode past and joined the group at the front.
