Farris backed up until he reached the wall. Sitting, he looked back and forth between us, his ears perked forward, toward the door.
I pulled in elemental power and cast a spell on the lock, but nothing happened. Remaining patient, I tried a different spell. Again, nothing. I called in water, dust, and every element I could find in the tunnel around us and sent the mass at the door, without result.
“Maybe…” Her hand tightening on my arm, she frowned. “Let me see if I can nullify the lock.” She closed her eyes, and I watched proudly as she called in power unlike any I'd seen before. Not what we’d called the nasty stuff but something more electrifying. More evasive.
Nullification magic? It must be. I could sense more than see her coiling it into a tight ball in the center of her chest, determination etched into her face. This woman… I was honored to stand by her side, to be loved by her.
Exhaling sharply, she thrust the power and a spell at the bundle between the dragons.
The door shuddered and groaned.
Reyla jerked her backward, her eyes widening and her blade lifting.
The fissures in the door expanded, glowing and pulsing. Swirling in tight before flinging themselves outward to beat against the dragons.
The fissures in the door spread, and a glow spilled from them, so bright it washed the tunnel walls in molten gold. Light pressed against my skin, humming with energy. My every instinct screamed to tell Reyla to get back. Her eyes stayed locked on the door, her hand holding the blade trembling enough to catch a glint of that eerie glow.
The swirling lines coiled tighter, spinning faster until I couldn't make out their shape. My pulse jumped. The dragons carved into the stone started to writhe. Or maybe it was a trick of the light, but the way their scaled bodies twisted and jerked made the hairs on my arms lift. A low rumble built beneath our feet, suggesting the hillside itself was waking up.
Farris whined, pressing his body against my leg.
“Reyla…” I grabbed her arm, my mouth flashing dry.
The glow exploded outward, a shockwave of heat and light hitting us with a physical force. We staggered back, and I blinked against the flare. When my vision cleared, the door wasn’t only shuddering—it wasalive. It writhed, coiling and snapping like a serpent.
The light extinguished, leaving us in darkness again.
The fur on Farris’s spine stood at attention. He remained standing, staring at the door.
Reyla lit her finger and held it up.
A hiss escaped the edges of the massive slab of stone, and theentire panel cracked open, splitting down the middle seamlessly. Stone ground against stone as each of the two panels were dragged into the walls on either side, leaving an opening behind.
We stood with dust filtering around us and arcing through Reyla’s light, staring into the shadowy room beyond the entry.
“Well,” she said, flexing her fingers before sweeping her arm toward the opening. “After you or do you want me to boldly step inside?”
“Wait here?”
“Not happening.”
Which was why I’d formed it as a question. Still, I stepped inside first, entering a cave made up of pure white stone. Dirt lay scattered on the floor, and it crunched beneath my boots. Reyla followed, her finger light arching off the smooth, sloping surface around us.
Farris came last, peering around with as much curiosity as us.
Completely round, the walls of the cave curved inward toward a domed ceiling, the latter woven with patterns too intricate to have been created by simple magic. Strange figures had been etched into the white stone, though I couldn’t figure out what they were. They nudged against something deep within my core, however. I couldn’t place the origin or purpose of the room, but I knew in my heart it had once meant everything to whoever ruled this area.
How could this be related to the curse?
At the center, an altar rose from the floor as if it had been carved from the earth’s bones. Made of obsidian, its surface gleamed enough I needed to shield my eyes. No dust or flaws broke the smooth stone, and it was detailed with carvings that rippled in Reyla’s light. Each rune, each groove, made me think of puzzle pieces waiting to be aligned.
Reyla prowled around the altar. “This is unbelievable.” Shebrushed her fingers over the altar’s carvings, her brow pinching and her eyes ablaze with excitement.
Her wonder was contagious.
But it was only when Farris pawed at the floor that I paused and truly peered his way. More runes. Covered with dirt but peeking through where the nyxin had scraped some away.
Despite the scream of caution echoing inside me, I reached down to brush my hand across the floor, then ran my fingers over one of the large patterns etched into the surface. Studying the floor, I found others carved in a circle around the altar. Warm to the touch, the patterns vibrated beneath my fingertips.
