Page 127 of Crown of the Dunes

Itwisted in Calix’s grip, gritting my teeth against the searing pain in my scalp. I could barely feel it over the burning fire in my lungs. It had built to the point it was akin to being crushed beneath the lava wyrm.

My gaze fixed on the green vial in Calix’s fingers, but my vision blurred.

The riders had surrendered Kelvadan to Prince Calix’s rule, and I was a fallen queen on death’s door. I had failed this city. Already, Calix’s men forced the riders to their knees and bound their hands. As soon as Erix handed Calix half the Heart, I would have failed the whole desert too—the clans that I had promised Lord Dhara I would not forget about.

Erix didn’t trust himself to be able to heal the Heart. I could tell from the hollow feeling in my gut and the despair on his face as he took in the broken gem. As long as Calix held the power to heal me, Erix would be willing to give up the Heart. But I knew him—I knew his strength better than I knew myself. Erix would do whatever it took, and I trusted him.

I trust you.

I pushed the thought down the tether at my core as Calix raised the vile to my lips. A sharp, pungent aroma drifted to my nose, and even the smell of it seemed to clear some of the haze in my mind.

It was just enough for me to pull my lips back into a snarl. “Get eaten by a bone spider.”

I swung my fist up in an uppercut, knocking the antidote from Calix’s hand. As my fist connected with the underside of his jaw, he dropped me. My legs collapsed, and I slid to the ground.

“No!” Erix shouted, diving forward, but he was too late. The green glass shattered on the stone, splintering into tiny fragments and spilling the concoction over the ground. The dry stone soaked it up, the chance for my salvation disappearing like smoke on the wind.

“Take the Heart and run,” I gasped at Erix as he froze, fingers outstretched toward the shattered glass as if he could will it back together.

“Save the desert and then save Kelvadan,” I insisted, forcing every bit of strength left in me into the plea. The riders of Kelvadan were already disarmed and bound—at Calix’s men’s mercy. With so many hostages, it was too late for them to turn the tide and retake the city, but Erix still had the Heart.

He looked up, shaking his head. I could barely focus on his silver eyes as my vision swam, but I grit my teeth and tried to focus on them. It would be the last chance I ever had.

An angry shout sounded from my right as Calix regained himself after my lashing out caught him by surprise. My muscles responded too slowly for me to respond to his attack—the flash of a blade the only warning I got in my peripheral vision.

Calix’s cry of rage turned into a scream of pain, and he collapsed to one knee. I flopped over onto my side to see Neven, propped up on his knees, one of Aderyn’s knives in his left hand, with his mangled right one still clutched to his chest. He must have snuck the blade from her belt as she held him, and now it dripped with Calix’s blood, a deep gash in his calf.

Erix lunged toward him, grabbing him by the front of his billowing white shirt. “How do we fix her,” he demanded.

Calix groaned, still obviously shaken by the blow to the face and the stab to his leg. Erix shook him violently.

“Tell me,” I snarled. “Or I’ll chop off your limbs and feed them to a bone spider myself.”

Calix shook his head. “That was all of the antidote I had.” A dry laugh escaped him. “This city is still mine. Your riders are my hostages, and she is going to die for nothing.”

A roar of rage tore from Erix, and I tasted magic on the air as he raised his fist. He didn’t even bother with magic, punching Calix so hard he instantly went limp in his hold. His fist fell again and again, and blood splattered the ground.

“Stop or we execute your riders!” one of Calix’s men shouted where he stood over an unarmed kneeling warrior, but either Erix didn’t hear it or didn’t care. I tried to tell him that he needed to stop, but all that escaped me was a wracking cough.

Erix raised his arm again, but it was caught in a firm grip. He looked up to find Aderyn had caught it. Her gaze was icy again, hard enough to crack iron.

“Keera needs your help, and we are running out of time,” she insisted, her voice brooking no argument.

Erix grip in the front of Calix’s shirt loosened, the fabric that had once been white now splattered with blood. The prince crumpled to the ground.

I tried to reach for Erix, but my muscles weren’t responding. Each breath I drew was a concerted effort and came with a sensation like being stabbed in the chest. I could barely keep my eyes open, and I let them flutter.

“Keera. Keera, no.”

Erix’s voice came from very far away as I swam in a hazy darkness.

“Don’t let go, my feral little fighter.”

I wanted to tell him he was going to have to fight for me while I caught my breath. Another voice sounded nearby—a familiar rough grumble. General Warrick?

“I recognize this poison. Viltov has used it against Doran before. I carry antidotes to Viltov’s favorite poisons, and I can give you this one if you make me a promise.”

I tried to peel open my eyes, but they were too heavy, and all I could do was listen as there was a scuffle and some snarling, followed by Aderyn’s clipped tone.