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His reassuring words did little to assuage my concern, but before my mind could formulate a response, Nakoa tugged me through the portal.
* * *
Thanks to its wealthy citizens, Vyssini was usually a bustling town boasting stunning architecture and artwork. It was one of the exceedingly few places in Atratus that seemed to have benefited from Zurie’s reign. Thanks to its spectacular location, surrounded by pristine mountains and lakes, many of the Lords and other aristocrats of Atratus that fed from Zurie’s bosom had secondary homes here.
However, the closer we rode, the more dread settled heavily in my gut. The town seemed all but abandoned. Businesses and homes shuttered. The streets vacant of life. Only the occasional face peeking out from behind a curtain evidence that anyone remained.
Pomona had told Malekai to retreat… Why were tendrils of dread coiling around my throat and my limbs? I suddenly felt stupid to think Malekai would have listened. Sacrificing his livelihood and, in turn, incurring Zurie’s wrath simply because I asked him to.
As if reading my mind, Pomona met my gaze from where she rode beside me. She appeared equally as distressed.
The oppressive weight in the air weighed heavily, only increasing with every hoof step forward.
Nakoa’s grip on me tightened the moment a soft hum began to sound in the distance. The group of us silently exchanged wary looks as the humming grew louder, eventually rising to a buzz. And then came the stench.
In all my years of battle, murder, torture, executions, and all the horrific smells associated with it… It had been a long time since it had inspired such a visceral reaction within me. I had long thought myself numb to death, yet I found my hands trembling and restless. I looked down to see my magic, reappearing as those dark red tendrils seeping from my skin. I promptly called it back to me and glanced to either side to check if anyone else had seen it, but everyone’s gazes were locked on what laid in front of us.
We finally rounded the corner of Vyssini’s central square, boasting beautiful bronze sculptures, gilded storefronts, and colourful awnings. Though our attention was focused solely at what laid in front of the bronze fountain depicting a female holding a large bouquet ofaetrablossoms. Crimson water crashed from the sculpted waterfall behind her, pooling at her feet, reminding me of last night’s nightmare.
That wasn’t what had bile crawling up my throat. Nor was it the flies swarming like a thick fog.
At the foot of the fountain, at least 20 metal pikes had been speared through the cobblestone, boasting just as many heads, and beneath them laid their headless bodies.
I stared, slack-jawed, as that all-too-familiar numbness washed over me.
Despite the ridiculousness of my hope that Malekai would have heeded my request… I couldn’t help but feel that twisting knife of defeat. Despite what had happened after I'd tried to escape Nakoa, I recognized not all of them would be corrupt, like those who'd tried to violate me. The males and females who had been executed before us were integral Uprising Members.
My breath came to a halt as my gaze snagged on a familiar face. The generically handsome features… The long brown hair, still tied in its knot… The piercing blue eyes now dulled and bereft of his life force.
Confusion, mingled with disbelief, swept over me…
I squinted, trying to make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me.
Was that…
Galvor?
“Do you recognize them? These aren’t any members of The Uprising that I know…,” Nakoa asked hisolana kah’hei.
My gaze drifted across each face, all of which were familiar, to ensure that Malekai was not among them. My voice barely came out a whisper.
“That’s because they’re not Uprising members…”
I turned to look at Pomona, her face pale at the gruesome display but… mirrored none of the shock slackening my own.
“Who are they?” Nakoa asked, his voice almost breathy with disbelief.
“Zurie’s soldiers…”
Chapter
Forty-Six
MAREINA
After leaving Vyssini’s central square behind, that sense of foreboding gradually lifted the deeper we rode into the forest andawayfrom the carnage that I could only assume The Uprising had left behind… Praise the gods, Malekai hadn’t been among them. Though I couldn’t sense what specifically, something was off…
I kept throwing discreet glances at Pomona, who seemed intent on avoiding me. She hadn’t seemed surprised in the least… Had…
