Page 223 of The Dark Lord’s Guide to Honeymooning (and Other Acts of Tyranny)

We reached the bottom of the stairs, emerging into a narrow corridor lit by torches that burned with an unnatural blue flame. The air was thick with magic, making my skin prickle and the Heirloom grow warm against my scalp.

The chanting hit us before we even saw the chamber—dozens of voices speaking in perfect unison, the sound reverberating through stone and bone alike.

“That’s a lot of mages,” Sebastian whispered.

We crept forward until we could see into the Chamber of Petals, and for a moment, I forgot how to breathe.

The room was massive, carved from the rock in a perfect circle. Ancient murals depicting the First Hero’s victory over the Shadow King covered the walls, though age and moisture had faded them to ghostly impressions. But it wasn’t the architecture that stole my breath.

It was the scene before us.

At least sixty prisoners were arranged in concentric circles around a raised dais, each one bound and gagged, with glowing runes carved into the stone beneath them. Men, women, even children.

But worse were the mages. Two dozen of them stood in ritual positions, wearing masks of beaten gold that hid their faces. They chanted in perfect synchronization, their hands weaving complex patterns that left trails of purple light in the air. The magic they were building made my teeth ache.

And defending them were at least six battle mages in crimson robes, their hands already crackling with offensive spells. A dozen guards stood at strategic points, weapons drawn.

“Shit,” I breathed.

Through my bond with Kazimir, I felt his rage spike suddenly, followed by something ancient stirring. The Heirloom pulsed hot.

“We need that portal open,” I whispered to Thorne. “Now.”

He pulled out the crystal Griffin had prepared. “I need thirty seconds and clear space.”

“Sebastian, can you handle the guards and start freeing prisoners?”

He nodded, jaw set.

“Good. Because I’m about to make a lot of noise.” I stood, shadows coiling around me. “When I move, you move.”

I didn’t wait for confirmation. I burst into the chamber like an avenging storm, heading straight for the battle mages.

The first one spun toward me, fire already forming between his hands. I didn’t give him the chance to release it. My shadow blade took his hand off at the wrist, and his scream disrupted the perfect harmony of the chanting for just a moment.

“The Dark Lady!” someone shouted. “Stop her!”

The battle mages converged on me, and suddenly I was dodging fire, lightning, and shards of ice. I wove between the attacks, my shadows forming shields when I couldn’t dodge. Behind me, I heard Sebastian’s vines erupting from the floor, the shouts of guards being entangled.

A bolt of lightning grazed my shoulder, sending me spinning. I used the momentum to launch myself at another battle mage, driving both shadow blades through his chest. He fell, blood pooling beneath him.

The masked mages never stopped chanting. Their voices rose higher, more urgent, as if they were racing to complete the ritual before we could stop them.

Through our bond, I felt Kazimir’s consciousness flicker, something vast and dark pressing against his mind. My worry spiked even higher, and I used it to drive me forward.

Two battle mages attacked in tandem, one high, one low. I jumped, using shadows to propel myself over their attacks, then came down hard on the first one’s shoulders. The crack of his neck breaking was audible even over the chanting.

“Ready, my lady!” Thorne called.

“Sebastian, start moving them through!”

I could see him cutting prisoners free, Thorne helping guide them toward the shimmering doorway that led directly onto the deck of the Sky Serpent. But we’d only freed a handful. The ritual was building to crescendo. Any second, the killings would begin.

I needed to disrupt those masked mages.

Drawing on the Heirloom’s power, I sent tendrils of shadow toward the nearest group of chanters. The shadows wrapped around their throats, cutting off their voices. Three of them fell, clawing at the darkness.

The remaining battle mages pressed their attack, forcing me back. One of them, a woman with silver hair, was particularly skilled. Her spells came faster than I could fully deflect, each one designed to kill.