Auriel rushed in front of me and brandished his sword. “She’s given you enough! And I can vouch for her strength. She was prepared to slay Rhyan as an akadim!”
“So she’s said. Now, she’ll prove it.”
His sword clashed to the ground, and slid away from his feet, just as a gale force wind pushed him to the side, forcing him to stumble back against a wall.
The same wind pulled at me with invisible hands that dragged me forward. I dug in my heels, using all the muscle I’d earned, and that my magic had enhanced. But it was no use. My feet were perched at the edge of the pool.
The water vanished, revealing a large hole in the ground. It was too dark for me to see the bottom. A deep roar sounded from below—a horrific cacophony of noise unlike anything I’d ever heard before.
Something was alive down there. I stepped back, true terror rushing through me. I had no idea what could make such a sound. And I didn’t want to know.
Straining, I tried to step back, to keep myself from falling forward.
But then the edges of the pool began to widen, the floor retreating beneath my feet. I gritted my teeth and stumbled back, fighting against the unnaturally powerful wind that was determined to propel me forward.
I stepped back, and then stepped again, using every bit of power I could muster.
But the edge of the pool was under my toes, my balance failing as the floor vanished beneath my heels.
A scream exploded out of me, my stomach rising to my heart, as I fell straight down. Not into the pool. Into the Queen’s playground.
Chapter
Nineteen
LYRIANA
My feet hit the ground, and my knees buckled, my entire body shaking as I stumbled forward. My palms slammed against the dirt floor, my skin scraping across random debris as dust flew into my eyes. I groaned in pain, disoriented, and reached blindly around, trying to sit up, but I grabbed hold of a loose rock that only cut deeper into my palm. I spat into the back of my hand and wiped at my eyes, desperate to see. There wasn’t much. The terrain was filthy, and uneven, riddled with random sticks and rocks. It seemed to go on forever, the edges of the room vanishing into shadows.
Gingerly, I shifted back on my heels, and blinked, tightening my core as I found my balance and stood. I brandished both my dagger and sword, tight in my hands, the blades reflecting moonlight that poured in from above. I took in my surroundings, surveying Ma’Nia’s playground. Endless swaths of rocks were strewn across the dirt field, broken up only by a few small hills. But that was it, no sign of the creature I knew stalked me.
There was a soft groaning above, and the ceiling began to close, returning the floor of the throne room to its originalshape. Now only a small circular opening remained above my head; right where the pool had been, casting me into an even deeper darkness. The Afeya watching from above, peered down as they leaned over their balcony ledges. Some of the Afeya lay on the floor of the throne room, their hands gripping the edges of the pool, their heads leaning over to watch me.
Their excitement and bloodlust, the energy of their auras pulsed with a kind of morbid curiosity that twisted my stomach. If I died I’d be nothing more than entertainment to them. Entertainment that they were far too eager to observe. Because if I failed—it was nothing to them. I’d reincarnate, I’d return. And I’d end up in this shit-hole again.
The hell I would.
I took a deep breath, and instantly regretted it, the smell was horrific. Whatever lived down here clearly had for a long time—shedding, eating, and relieving itself.
A smoky snarling erupted in the shadows. I went still, barely daring or wanting to breathe, and turned slowly, tuning out the throne room’s cheers and applause.
The snarl came again. Foreign, monstrous, and deadly. It wasn’t human or Afeyan. And it wasn’t an akadim either. I didn’t get the feeling I had when near them. Whatever was down here, this was something else. Something I’d never encountered before.
The knot in my stomach tightened.
“Behold,” Queen Ma’Nia shouted. “Goddess Asherah, Guardian of the Valalumir has been reborn. Once a great warrior and Arkturion of old—let’s see how she faces off today against one of her lost, ancient foes.”
I turned again, searching desperately for my opponent. I didn’t like this. Not knowing, not seeing. And I didn’t like being so damn exposed. There was nowhere to hide, nothing to use to my advantage aside from the weapons on my body. I couldn’tuse the terrain in my favor, or climb to higher ground, or use anything beyond a small rock as a weapon if needed.
The cheers and applause suddenly shifted to encouragement. But not for me. They were urging the creature to come out, taunting it to attack.
And it seemed to listen. It snarled again, the sound low and vicious. I still couldn’t see it. But I knew it had moved closer to me. Its scent of decay had grown stronger. I nearly gagged as I tried to identify the stench, to recall the sound of its snarl. But nothing I’d faced or read about came to mind. Pulse quickening, I turned again, feeling the distinct sensation of being watched in secret, of eyes set upon me. An answering sniff in the air told me that the creature was now scenting me out.
Fuck.
But a minute passed, and still there was no attack. No sight of my foe.
“What is this?” I yelled. I was losing patience, my fear growing with anticipation of its reveal. If this thing was going to play and hide and seek with me, the least Queen Ma’Nia could do was tell me what the hell it was.
