Page 301 of Axis of Fire

“At this rate, I’m going to get dizzy,” I finally muttered.

It had been a long time since wearing heels had exhausted me.

I wore them almost every day.

But apparently even that wasn’t enough preparation for whatever strange route Airis had planned.

“Stop complaining, Fireling,” Airis said without slowing down.

“We’re almost there.”

I raised a brow and glanced farther down the staircase.

There was still no end in sight.

“There are several levels,” he explained.

“Ours is on the first one.”

Only after descending a little farther did I finally notice a rounded archway carved into the wall on our right.

It was completely swallowed by darkness.

Maybe that was why I hadn't noticed it before.

The second we stepped through the archway...

The darkness swallowed us too.

The moment it closed around me—

absolute blackness.

Unease tightened beneath my ribs.

I turned around.

Nothing.

No staircase.

No doorway.

No trace of the world we'd left behind.

As though it had never existed at all.

And somehow...

That made the darkness even more terrifying.

I could already feel magic rushing toward my fingertips.

Except...

Instead of flames—

soft but steady hands reached me first.