“Champion?” Vi shook her head. “I’m the Crown Princess of the Solaris Empire.” She’d look a lot more the part if she picked herself off the ground. But her muscles wouldn’t obey her commands. She felt frozen under his gaze.
“Solaris…” He scrunched his nose with what Vi would dare say was disgust. He looked her up and down one final time. Vi knew when she was being sized up, and this was certainly one of those times. She also knew when she didn’t measure up. “Why would she choose one of the Dark Isle as her champion?”
“I have no idea who you are or what you’re talking about. I’m not the person you think I am. What I’d like to know is—”
“I know who you are,” he said quickly, sharply. His accent had a harshness when whispered that silenced her immediately. “You are the one who has tortured me, year over year.”
“You have the wrong girl.” Vi stressed every word, as if that would somehow get it through his thick skull. “Who are you?”
“I am the voice.” A frown crossed over his lips. “You do not know who I am. You don’t know who you are. Do you even know you stand at an apex?”
“Do I dare ask a question or are you just going to berate me and not answer it anyway?” Vi asked with a frown. Frustration and anger were beginning to win out over the wonder and fear at the mysterious visitor. He wasn’t answering her questions. She doubted he was even listening to them.
Vi thought she saw a small smirk cross his lips, but she couldn’t be sure, for it was gone as quickly as it came.
“You’re useless to me as you are now and time is running short.” He stood, taking a step backward.
“Useless? Excuse me?” Vi tried to push herself off the ground. Her whole body felt heavy. “How da—”
He lifted a hand. Magic spiraled out from his palm, a swirling glyph similar to the one around his feet—similar to what had glowed before her watch. “Samasha,” he whispered.
The word struck her like a punch to the gut. It knocked the wind from her, leaving Vi gasping and doubled over once more. She squinted up at the man, fighting for words. But behind her eyes were explosions of light that rippled across her skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake.
“Wh-what did you do to me?” she forced out the words. Her whole body rattled, her flesh searing hot against the ice-cold air of the underground.
She was going to be incinerated from the inside out. Her magic was going to break free of its tethers and, somehow, she would be burned by it. Firebearers could only be burned by the flames of stronger Firebearers, levied with the intent to harm. It should be impossible, but every searing nerve ending screaming in pain told her otherwise.
“Find the apexes. Seek me out.” The man vanished, taking his unnatural light with him, leaving Vi gasping, struggling for consciousness against the bone-rattling tremors that shook through her, alone in the darkness of what she hoped would not be her tomb.
Chapter Nine
It could’ve been seconds,or hours.
But eventually, the shakes faded. Her jaw had been locked, preventing her from making any noise greater than a whimper in the darkness—forcing her to suffer quietly. Yet when those bolts of agony finally vanished, Vi felt better. Great, almost.
She pushed herself away from the ground, straightening. Behind her, the hall stretched onward, but she’d had enough exploring for one day and didn’t exactly feel like going for a swim in the dark. She wanted to put it all behind her, for now, and return to the world above where things made sense. Where she knew what was up, and down, and most importantly… what wasreal.
“… maybe five minutes now?” Ellene’s voice echoed back to Vi as she emerged from the collapsed archway.
Five minutes? Had it really just been five minutes? She felt as though she’d lived an entire lifetime, died, and been reborn in that cavern.
“That’s it, I’m going down there,” Jayme declared.
“There’s no need for that.” Vi stepped back into the circle of sunlight, looking up at her friends. “I’m right here.”
“What happened to you?” Jayme gasped.
Well, if that wasn’t a question with an answer worthy of a thousand gold. Vi didn’t really know where to begin. But she knew Jayme was focused on the bruises, scrapes, and blood still rolling down her knees from where the wounds had been ripped open again.
“I fell into a hole.” Vi shrugged. Her friends wouldn’t understand—or believe her—if she’d told them what she’d seen. Frankly, Vi didn’t believe herself. Standing in the sunlight, it all truly felt like a dream… more like a nightmare. “I got banged up a bit, but I’m fine. Ellene, can you help me out of here?”
“Gladly.”
A vine slithered down into the hole, bending itself unnaturally into a U shape. Vi grabbed her bow and sat on it like she would a swing. Holding on to both sides, the vine lifted her up and out, depositing her on solid ground next to both of her friends before falling limply behind her.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Jayme asked, looking her up and down.
“It’s not as bad as it looks. It’s all superficial—bruises and cuts—nothing serious,” Vi assured them. “I just may be a little slow getting back.”
