Page 91 of Gilded Curses

But they didn’t have any other choice.

“I’m going to try crossing over to them,” she said. “Are you going to run over there?”

Pip didn’t respond as, with her easy grace, she raced over to the crystals and clambered onto them. Determined to ignore the terror trying to keep her in place, Sahira crept through the doorway; the second she crossed the threshold, it slid shut behind her.

Sahira gulped as she glanced back at the door, but unlike the others, this one had a simple red button beside it. She should continue to the stone and completely ignore the red button screaming no at her, but her fingers found and pushed it.

The door slid open with a small whoosh. At the other end of the hall, the other one opened too.

Too stunned to truly process what was happening, Sahira glanced at Pip, who had risen to the top of the stones. She rested one hand on them as she grinned at Sahira.

“It looks like we can get back,” Pip said.

“It does.”

The door slid closed again, and Sahira took a deep breath before stretching her foot out to test a stone. With care, she inched her way across the room. The closer she got, the more she wanted to sprint for them, but she restrained herself in case there was another trap.

That certainty proved futile when she reached the stones after far too many minutes of torture. As her hands fell on the beautiful structure, power vibrated through her palms, into her arms, and out to the rest of her body until her toes curled.

“They’re so strong,” she murmured. “It’s going to be a shame to destroy them.”

“Can you break whatever spell they cast with them?” Pip asked.

“I don’t know what that spell was, and their magic is different than a witch’s. The only way to destroy the spell is by destroying the stones… or at least I hope that works.”

“It’s not guaranteed the spell will end if we ruin the stones?”

“Nothing is guaranteed, but the stones amplified the power that sealed this realm away. Without them, the spell should fall. This is the best we can do.”

“Then let’s do it.”

As much as Sahira regretted having to destroy something with so much power and beauty, in the wrong hands, these crystals were a treacherous thing. Even if there was a way to break the spell without destroying them, she’d still batter them into the ground. No one should ever wield this kind of power over another.

Gathering a current of air beneath her palms, she lifted them and pushed it as hard as she could into the stones. It hit them with a loud thud that reverberated off the stones and shattered three of them from the base.

From there, she and Pip set to work. Without any weapons, it went slower than she would have liked as she kicked and battered the stones apart. Pip hammered at them with her fists, creating small fractures and breaking away pieces.

When Sahira succeeded in tearing the biggest stone away from the base, she lifted it over her head and smashed it into the ground over and over again until it broke and pieces of it scattered around the room. She did the same to the smaller stones and then danced, kicked, and stomped over their remains until little more than powder and broken chunks littered the floor.

Breathless and with sweat dripping down her forehead and cleaving her clothes to her, she stepped back to survey the wreckage. Pip continued to pulverize a rock into dust by jumping up and down on it.

Small pieces of the crystals remained, but the power that had vibrated against her was gone. It had been sucked from the room as effectively as a tornado ripped trees from the earth.

Finally satisfied with her battered stone, Pip turned to Sahira. Her shoulders heaved as the burnt end of her tail swayed back and forth. “Now what?”

Now came the test. Now came the part where they got to see if the stones truly were the key to freedom or one more game to these creatures. And if they were another game, that meant everyone in this realm was against them.

The possibility was too daunting to ponder for long. She hadn’t let dread hold her back from getting here, and she couldn’t let it keep her from doing what she needed to do now.

Swallowing heavily, Sahira held her breath as she lifted her hands before her. She couldn’t count the number of times she’d tried and failed to open a portal since arriving in the Cursed Realm.

But she hadn’t given up yet, and no matter how much it would crush her if it failed, she had to try again. Releasing her breath, Sahira envisioned Orin’s room above while weaving her fingers before her.

Unable to look, she closed her eyes as she worked, but when Pip’s breath sucked in and she squealed, they flew open again. At first, the portal before her seemed too good to be true, and she couldn’t fully comprehend it was really there.

A sob lodged in her throat, and her legs nearly gave out as she staggered forward. She had to stop to steady herself before she sprawled across the floor.

It was too good to be true; it couldn’t be. After everything they’d endured and every horrible thing they’d encountered, there it was… the key to their freedom.