They snaked upwards, spiraling high into the ceiling.
And she could see … before more darksouls obstructed her vision … a figure on a raised dais in the center, clad in black.
Arms raised to the sky, as shadows shot upwards and away from their body. Like they were feeding the dark cloud that hung over the Sawteeth, far,farabove.
It was pure power, horrifying. Beautiful and deadlier than she ever could have guessed.
‘The Acolyte,’ Ezer whispered.
The darksouls began chanting and roaring, loud enough to make Ezer’s blood go cold, loud enough to rumble the cave around them.
Dust rained down from the walls as another burst of shadows erupted into the sky.
‘It’s time,’ Kinlear whispered. The line of darksouls was shortening. The doors began to creak as they started to close.
She nodded, but fear was filling her veins with ice now.
They slid down from Six’s back.
‘Stay,’ Ezer thought and pressed a kiss to the raphon’s beak. She sent a vision to her.Six, settling into her life with the raphons here.
Six, wild and free.
She could have sworn Six whimpered as the vision reached her.
‘I love you,’ Ezer whispered, as she wrapped her arms around the raphon’s neck.
‘Ezer,’ Kinlear whispered. ‘The door’s going to shut. We have to gonow.’
A dark wing wrapped over her back.
And Six’s tail thumped once in goodbye.
Ezer felt like she left a part of herself behind as she turned and took Kinlear’s hand.
Together, they stepped out of the safety of the tunnel.
And joined the darksouls inside, just before the doors slammed shut.
40
It was an enormous amphitheater inside, lined with carved stone seats. And darksouls so numerous, she couldn’t count their number. Ezer and Kinlear were simply swept up in the current as the line descended the stairs. Every few seconds, they paused, as someone at the very bottom reached the dais.
It sat in the middle of an enormous pool of pure dark water, connected by a single runway of stone. It was lined with darksoul guards in shimmering black armor, helmets concealing their faces.
And at the very end, guarding the enormous black throne …
Ezer’s stomach lurched.
Two shadow wolves. The largest she’d ever seen, chained by manacles large enough to hold Six. As if, even beside their creator, their wild nature could not be trusted or tamed.
Turn back,Ezer’s mind whispered, but that was her own fear speaking, not the wind.Turn back now or you die.
Kinlear’s hand squeezed hers as the crowd shifted.
And they caught a glimpse of the Acolyte for the very first time.
He sat upon the onyx throne and was clad in all black robes. Shadows – living shadows – swam around him, concealing his face from view, but she could see his body was that of a man. And hishands … they were not claws, as the stories had said. No, they were fully human, covered in fat rings as he rested them on the arms of his throne. Each arm ended in a carving of a raphon’s head.
