Delighted, she kept going.
The noise of the workers faded, and the path twisted and turned, walls towering around her like a maze, every so often revealing theentrance to another tunnel. Ravenna kept to the main path, going deeper into the earth. Even then, she didn’t think to be afraid. The veining shimmered under her touch, and she thought of what she might make of it, if the stone belonged to her. She crept farther, entranced, images of lightning bolts streaking across her mind.
She made another turn, deeper into the gloom.
Ravenna stilled, awareness creeping over her. She had wandered too far, and now her mind filled with her mother’s scolding, reminding her of the creatures that thrived in the dark, wolves and sleeping bears and vampyres who lived off blood. She turned around, intent on following the glimmering veining back out into the sunshine. A hint of it clung to the shadows, illuminating enough of the pathway for her to see.
A shape materialized from out of one of the tunnels, a hulking outline of a man towering over her. Ravenna stopped, her breath catching. Was he human—? Her grip tightened on the chisel, the wood rough against her palm.
His voice was a gruff whisper. “Now, where did you come from?”
“I came with my aunt,” she said. Her voice sounded so small compared to his.
“I saw,” the man grunted. “An old woman.”
Her words were dust in her mouth. She could barely swallow from her terror. “She’s waiting for me.”
“You ought to go back,” he said. “This is no place for a child.”
Tension eased off her shoulders, but only a little. He was still a stranger. Ravenna nodded, backing away from him, not looking where she was going. He stayed where he was, keeping his distance, but then frowned suddenly.
“Careful, there’s a shaft behind—”
Ravenna’s heel slipped, and she lost her balance. Her arms went wide, windmilling, but she was still falling backward, down a sharp incline. The man lunged for her, fingers curled like claws, and latched on to her arm.
“Careful,” he yelled, the sound reverberating in the dark.
The pebbled ground gave way beneath them, and now they were both sliding down. The man yanked her back, and Ravenna’s teeth clacked together. She glanced over her shoulder. A dark pit loomed behind her, nearly obscured in darkness. Stark terror filled her—it made it hard to think, it made her dizzy. Her body trembled, violent shakes she couldn’t control. Something strange unfurled within her, bubbling to the surface in a cresting wave that soared over her. Whatever it was, it moved like a current, sweeping outward, flowing through her veins, shooting past her fingertips. Blue light filled the tight space of the tunnel, glimmering in the dark, washing over them both.
“Che cazzo!” The man exclaimed as he tugged them up to level ground.
Ravenna gaped at the magic flowing out of her, watched it wrap around the man in a tight grip. Confusion speared her. “What—I don’t—”
He released her, but the magic still clung to him. It clawed its way beneath his clothes, forced itself into his mouth, rushed into his ears, filling him up.
She shrank back, her back hitting the jagged wall. “No,no!”
The man screamed as his skin wrinkled with age, slowly at first, but then faster and faster. His back bowed, his tall frame shrunk, worn down in a matter of seconds. The man’s hair went from brown to gray to stark white.
Shame clouded her mind, making her head swim. “I’m sorry,” Ravenna sobbed. “I’m sorry.”
Footsteps pounded down the tunnel. Her aunt came into view, panting, chest heaving. She gasped at the sight of the magic swirling around the man, covering him as he turned brittle, old before their eyes. He let out a rattling cough, the last sound he made in life, before slumping to the ground.
But the magic still wasn’t finished.
It hovered over the body, feeding off the sagging flesh, licking it clean until there was only a pile of bones left. Ravenna dropped to her knees, tears dripping down her cheeks. Horror climbed up herthroat; it tasted like acid. Nausea grabbed ahold of her; she was going to be sick.
The magic hovered over the remains, and then it drifted back toward her, shimmering blue. Ravenna cried out and held up her hands to ward it off, but it swept into her again, racing up her veins and settling deep in her chest. It snaked through her like a serpent who’d found its prey.
She looked up to her aunt, cheeks scalding hot, tearstained. Emotions battled within her: shame, terror, confusion. She didn’t understand what was happening to her. Her life had changed in an instant, she’d been human mere moments ago, and even at thirteen, she understood that perhaps she…wasn’tanymore.
It was unthinkable.
The quarryman’s screaming reverberated through her, relentless. She’d killed him. She hadsinned.He was gone, dead because ofher.Ravenna trembled, flooded with guilt. An odd sensation curled between her ribs, as if there were something resting near her heart.
Ravenna knew what it was: evil.
She recalled suddenly a time when, one cold winter years ago, a witch had come to the inn, begging for a safe place to spend the night. Her parents had allowed her to stay one night. The next morning, they told her never to grace their door again.
