Somewhere beyond the cave, the mountain rumbled again. Cade and his soldiers, growing closer as they dug. Were they almost to the cave? Sonara’s attention couldn’t grasp on to which direction it was coming from, for Markam lifted himself on hands and knees,his face turning blue as Jaxon’s skeleton squeezed the life from him.
Save me.
Sonara slammed her pommel against his head, but Markam did not falter.
“I must have it!” His voice was ragged, breathless and desperate.
Sonara went behind him and gripped his legs, pulling backwards. He flailed, kicking as she began to haul him away. Karr finally joined her side.
“I MUST HAVE IT!”
“Azariah!” Sonara commanded between gritted teeth. “Now would be a great time to step in!”
Lightning shot across the space, hitting Markam so hard he was blasted backwards until he slid to a stop, slung across the golden steps with the rest of the skeletons. His head lolled to the side.
Silence swept over the space.
“The heart,” Azariah said with a gasp, as she slowly made her way down the steps to the rest of them. Blood trickled from her nose and soared away. “It calls to some stronger than others.” She frowned down at Markam.
“Why am I not surprised it called tohimin such a way?” Sonara said.
Its whisper still beckoned, drawing her near. She stalked towards it, as close as she dared.
“Don’t get too close,” Jaxon said. He wiped sweat from his brow as he sat on the steps to catch his breath. “It feels wrong, Sonara.”
The heart was like a black seed sprouted from the earth,pulsing gently in its bed of stone.
Save me.
“I did,” Sonara whispered back to it. But beyond the space, the cave rumbled once more. The walls began to shake, loose rocks tumbling from the ceiling to crash down around them.
Far more rubble than before.
“How close do you think Cade is?” Sonara asked. She sensed the answer was not one she wanted to hear.
Dust had begun to fill the cave, casting it in an eerie glow. “It won’t be long,” Karr said. He closed his eyes. “I can… I can feel pain.” He rolled his shoulders and winced. “Like someone is cutting into my own body.”
His eyes fell to the heart as it pulsed, the sigh of its breath pushing his hair back from his forehead as its wind soared up the amphitheater steps.
“It’s calling to me. But not like it called to Markam.” He closed his eyes again. “Like… like it wants me to come closer, and listen.”
Save me,the heart whispered again.
Sonara glared at the heart, suddenly hating it. Suddenly wondering why in the hell she’d come here.
The heart pulsed, and an aura came with it.
An aura that had words, and the words said,Come to me.
She took a few more steps downwards, dropping to her knees as she got as close to the heart as she dared.
“Sonara, don’t,” Jaxon warned again, his eyes narrowing as Karr followed her. “Please.”
“It’s okay,” she said over her shoulder. “Trust me.”
She dropped to her knees, leaning forward at the same time Karr did. Their eyes met as they stretched out their hands. Together, they placed them upon the heart.
Sonara wasn’t entirely surprised when the heart rippled.
