Page 130 of Under Restless Skies

I open its door and look. The steps only go down—or perhaps not.

There is a door here, in the same wooden finish as the wall surrounding it, but with no handles. I press my palm flat against it and push. Nothing. But the smell is strongest here, rock and moss, something cold and earthen bleeding through the wood. I feel along the frame until my fingers catch on a keyhole near the top, where no one would think to look for one, and I slide the key in. It catches, holds, and I work it back and forth until something inside the lock clicks, and the door gives.

A passage stands before me, made of rough, unpolished rock. No light comes from it, so I go back, take a lumos jar from the stairs, then step in and close the door behind me.

The path climbs gradually, the tunnel narrowing around me until the rough ceiling forces me into a crouch. My nose still searches for Auranius, finding mostly humidity and moss, instead of the scent of the dragon.

I reach a spiral, rusty metal staircase, and climb it, its steps groaning under my weight. The air grows heavy as I go up, until a foul stench hits me—a putrid wave of decay, worse than a bucket of shrimp left to rot in the sun.

Not an unfamiliar smell. I’ve felt this dreadful reek once, when Auranius landed in front of me. I’m on the right track. I stop trying to focus on my nose, and even then, the foul odor assaults me. Still, I want to see Celine being cremated. Since I must be close, I leave the jar on the steps and keep climbing carefully, my heart faster with each step.

The stairs stop, leading to a dark hallway. With my hands outstretched to feel for obstacles, I press forward until a subtle bluish light reveals the cave walls and an opening ahead.

A loud growl tells me I’m in the right place. As silently as I can, I move forward, and realize the passage leads to an opening from where I can see a huge cavern lit by thin threads of light coming from small, natural openings.

Auranius crouches over something, his massive form hunched, as scraps of dark flesh litter the cave floor around him.

On the other side, a robed man walks in, coming from a small tunnel, bringing a package. Not a package. A body—undressed—with blond hair.

Celine? My stomach drops and nausea takes hold. They have to undress the bodies for Auranius to burn them? It makes some sense, but it feels so… horrific.

Another man walks behind him, carrying a thurible with burning herbs. They lay the body on the ground and walk away through a small tunnel etched on the rock. Auranius advances toward the body, his back to me, lashing his long tail around the cave—and blocking my vision.

Something in my stomach recoils and contracts as I smell no fire,and keep hearing the wet sounds of biting, chewing, and swallowing.

Auranius might still be eating something, and he’ll burn my friend once he finishes, but I have a horrific feeling that it’s not the case. A ray of light illuminates some of the “meat” around his tail, and I recoil, nausea taking me. It can’t be. My addled mind, consumed with shock, must be conjuring horrific images that don’t exist. I look again where the light meets the cave, look carefully—and want to retch.

There’s no mistaking the depravity before my eyes. A human foot lies beside some long, dark hair, and a piece of an arm, fingers still attached. Bones cover the rock, some snapped, some gnawed to a dull shine. Human-looking bones. A shiver runs from my neck to the base of my spine, and the cave whirls around me as a swallowed scream constricts my throat.

Auranius turns, and I lurch backward into the dark as a loud roar cracks the air. Disgusted and horrified, I run down the spiral staircase, my eyes blurry with tears. Angry, furious, tears.

So this is what Auranius does? This is the “honor” reserved to the recruits? The sentinels?

And Celine! Lovely, sweet, kind Celine. She didn’t deserve that. Nobody deserves that.

I grab the lumos jar, then get back to the tunnel that brought me here. When I reach the door, footsteps sound outside, and I freeze, my pulse throbbing in my throat. After many seconds of silence, I leave, lock the door behind me, and put the lumos jar back in its place.

Except that nothing is where it belongs. The world is a strange lie, a horrific nightmare, a dreadful illusion.

My feet can barely carry me, but somehow I manage to run down the stairs and find my room—empty. So much emptiness. Alone, safe, I finally collapse on my bed, my body convulsing with sobs.

If only I could wipe this morning’s event from my mind, if only I could go back and convince Celine to leave the academy. If only I could go back and not let her finish cleaning those windows!

Bang, bang, bang. Someone’s knocking on the door, as if anything could be urgent, as if anything mattered. It can’t be Nelly, who has the key. Can’t be anyone important.

“Go away!” I roar.

The knocking stops, and I take a deep breath, still unable to contain the torrent of tears coming to my eyes.

The door then opens, and I sit up, startled. Commander Mallor stands in the room and whispers, “Take a deep breath, compose yourself, and follow me.”

I’m too numb, too shocked to even react, but an echo of fear resonates within me. Did they figure out what I saw?

My body’s trembling as I face the stern commander. “Why?”

It’s not defiance; it’s just that I need to know what’s about to happen.

“Cardiana’s festival, Mayara. It’s time to reassess your position in the academy.”