AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It opens up to a network of tunnels in what looks to be the Blackrock Cliffs,” she answered.
He shimmied in behind her, grunting at the press of unyielding rock against his body.
“Well, this is fun,” he replied sarcastically.
“These must be Embassy tunnels. My father talked about them once, but it seems strange that Sardoth wouldn’t have closed them off.”
“He may not have known about them. Which puts Izral on my radar as one sneaky motherfucker.” Gireth’s eyes dropped to her dancing flamelight. “What do you think Vesara’s doing right now?”
Tenah pursed her lips, brows kneading. “If I had to guess, possibly using Izral’s body as a sheath for all her knives.”
“She still owes me two hundred krotens.” His voice held a note of sadness.
Tenah had the thought to ask what happened to the dinner he’d claimed Vesara owned him. She reconsidered. It wasn’t her business anyway.
The tunnel expanded into a cavernous hall. Her jaw dropped. Thousands of blue and white gemstones shimmered from a city hewn out of black stone. An entire civilization hidden within the cliffs.
“Plan or wing it?” Gireth asked, creeping a few steps toward the ledge that dropped off a hundred feet into a pit.
But Tenah was too far gone into despair as she took in the three shadows chained to the rocky floor, two of which she didn’t recognize. But the third…her lungs collapsed, shriveling inside her ribcage. She couldn’t suck in enough air to refill them.
“Plan,” she forced the word out, eyes honed on Renton’s hunched form, shirtless and bound with blood-soaked bandages.
It was too late though. Gireth had already bolted after her father, who was casually descending the outer spiral of stairs down into the pit where Renton was held prisoner.
“Plan!” Tenah screamed after him, her fists dripping golden flames that no longer soothed her.
Her gaze cut back to Renton, fear blooming at his unnatural state of calm, as if he’d accepted death.
She blasted a nimble bolt of flame at her father across the cavern. It arched over the pit like a shooting star. Her father latched onto it with thin, crackling strands of Chaos, redirecting it into Gireth’s chest.
A spike of horror jabbed at her sternum as Gireth teetered on the edge of the stairs. Mind racing, she shot her next bolt of holy magic into the pit. It struck the body of a winged beast, purging Chaos in an instant.
Save him, Tenah ordered.
It was a vision of beauty to watch the cleansed welkin rise from the pit, white feathers rippling with purity. Two tails flicked behind it for balance as it leveled out in the air. It caught Gireth on its back right as he tumbled off the edge of the stairs.
Tenah’s head snapped back to her father. With each stride she took after him, she delivered another bolt of golden magic. All she needed was one good hit, and maybe it would clear his mind enough to stop this.
In his current state, she couldn’t trust that he would value the lives of his prisoners. He’d dedicated his life to destroying Cirel, just as she’d been determined to take down her father for his own crimes. What were three shadows to him in the wake of all those he’d already sacrificed to purge the world of a greater terror?
But those toxic, all-consuming emotions would never lead to salvation. They would never fill the hole in his chest. They would only drive him further into his own personal hell, where Chaos pulled all of the strings.
Kherathi turned and squared up with her, only a flight of stairs between them. Insanity blazed in his black eyes, reflected in the light of the cave crystals. “There is no stopping this.”
Arms thrumming with adrenaline, Tenah brought a wave of Rama down on her father. It sloshed and cascaded over the stairs into the pit. Feingrot howled at the touch of her magic, purified of Chaos, only to be slaughtered by those still infected.
Her father remained untouched.
“I can’t break them,” Gireth roared from the pit. He was hammering at Renton’s chains with his glaive. “Blasted Vozarian steel!”
Renton just stood there, head bowed and face hidden by his long hair. His hands remained folded in submission.
Tenah’s heart broke.
When she looked at her father again, he was watching Gireth’s violent outburst without emotion. Anguish overtook her composure as her father descended the last flight of stairs.
“You wanted me, remember?” she said to Chaos. “Release my father, and you can have me instead.”
