My gamble pays off. The magic flickers, then crackles, thendims, breaking the web connecting it to the other sigils and the horrible visions it induced. I lean back against the wall, catching my breath as the sense of the sigil on the opposite side goes dark as well, then another, and another. I can’t help but grin. Sigil circuits are like a house of cards—they all rely on one another to work. Pull out one, and the rest fail.
“It’s over, Saipha,” I shout into the darkness. The lack of light wasn’t a fabrication. “It wasn’t real.” I can hear her on the opposite side, drawing in ragged breaths. My senses are my own once more. “It’s safe now, I promise.”
“How can you be so sure none of it was real?” Her voice quivers slightly, breathing reluctant to settle. I wonder what form the illusions took for her.
“The stink.” I should have put it together right away. I smelled this aroma recently. “Take a second. Take a breath,” I counsel, since I don’t think we’re in any real danger now that the artificer sigils have been disabled. Saipha follows my instructions. “You know that smell.” It’s faint now that the sigils are not spreading it throughout the room, but it still lingers.
She inhales again, sharper, faster. “Green dragon.” She probably smelled it on her father’s uniform when he returned home the other night while my mum and I were being questioned.
Their acid can eat through anything, even steel—most people focus on that. But inhaling their gases can cause horrible hallucinations.
“This room is just magic and mechanics,” I say to keep us both calm. “I bet they used some of the venom from the green dragon that attacked the other day to make the sigils.” I stand and shove my boot on, really glad I didn’t touch the stuff with my bare hand. Then I shuffle toward where I heard her voice.
“Does that mean the sigils were drawing from Ethershade?” she whispers, scandalized.
The question makes sense, given that the Creed says dragons are the embodiment of Ethershade. But… “I think the sigils merely vaporized the acid. I don’t think they actually drew from Ethershade.”
“But we breathed it in,” she whispers from only a short distance in front of me. “We breathed in green dragon vapor—thatmusthave Ethershade in it, right?”
“I don’t know,” I admit.
“How could it not? It’s a part of those monsters.” It’s her words now that are all venom.
“Maybe that was the point.” Reaching her, I grab her hand and hold it for a moment, stabilizing both of us. My next words are as solemn as a funeral horn. “The curse is brought on by a buildup of Ethershade.”
“So they’re willingly exposing us to it?” The words are small, barely more than a breath. The one thing in the world that terrifies Saipha.
“I don’t know,” I repeat. I want to reassure her by telling her Mum’s theories—that dragons are not actually beasts of Ethershade—but I know my friend, and all she will hear is treason against the Creed that guides us. “I don’t know what the inquisitors’ logic is here or what they might do next. All I know is that I don’t think it’ll be good.”
“I don’t like any of this.” I can hear the scowl in her voice.
“I don’t, either. So let’s get out of here while we can.” I guide us along the outer wall. One palm glides against smooth stone, and the other still clings to Saipha’s hand. I walk us around the room, knowing that, eventually, we’ll have to find some way out. At least both of us are breathing normally, and my heart doesn’t feel like it’s going to explode.
A vertical gap in the stone, no wider than my little finger, has me stopping. I release Saipha’s hand, and I push against the stone next to the seam. With some effort, it gives way.The moonlight is almost blinding after the total darkness of the chamber. We emerge with tandem sighs of relief, and I can’t shut the door fast enough behind us. It blends nearly seamlessly with the brick and mortar of the wall. A hidden exit.
My hands ball into fists at my sides. The inquisitors were ready to let us wander that room all night, caught in a web of focused dragon venom, scared out of our minds.The Tribunals are designed to push us to our limits, they say. But now I’m even more certain it’s to break us.
I can’t help the shudder that runs down my body at the thought of what awaits us next.
18
“I never thought I’d be so happy to”—Saipha glances around and scowls—“be in another dark corridor.”
“At least this one has a candle.” I point down the narrow passage at a sconce.
“The epitome of luxury.” Saipha fakes a swoon, and I fight a laugh that feels so out of place but so welcome right now.
I lean against the wall and gulp in air, exhale fully, and do it again. It’s a fair bet this narrow passageway is without booby traps, since I don’t think they intended for us to find it, but that’s not where my mind really is.
“You were brilliant in there.” She leans against the wall next to me, catching her breath as well. When I just stare at the floor in response, she shifts, leaning, tilting her head to try to catch my eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“I froze up.” I can’t help the surge of frustration and helplessness that accompanies those words. It’s enough to make me want to scream. “Twice.”
“Isola…”
“It happened last night, too.”
My friend pushes away from the wall to stand in front of me, grabs both of my shoulders, and gives me a gentle shake. “You did great in there.Youwere the one who got us out. Just like you did last night for Lucan. Right?”
