“What?” I asked, stepping up next to him. Excitement and relief speared through me when I saw what he’d uncovered with his digging. I reached out and grabbed his biceps, shaking his arm lightly. “Good job!”
He played it off like he knew it was there all along, but we both knew it was an educated guess at best.
“Well, I learned from the best.” He winked at me.
“You’re so smart.” I grinned. “Now, these look like runes of some sort. Do you know what it says?”
We stared down at it, both of us tipping our heads as if that would help us decipher it.
“Umm,” he said, rubbing his chin. “I actually don’t know.”
I sighed, placing my hands on my hips as he looked at me. “Well, we made it this far. We aren’t going to get stuck on—”
A powerful screech killed my words, and Samkiel tackled me to the ground, my body hitting hard beneath his bulk. I glanced over his shoulder as the dust settled to see one of those massive four-winged beasts screaming at us.
The only feature I recognized was a beak, protruding from its otherwise blank face, no eyes, no ears, or at least, none I could see. The hairless and featherless pallid gray skin was loose and wrinkled except where it stretched tight over its membranous wings. We rolled as it charged, jumping to our feet as it used those wings to crawl at us. Samkiel and I dove in opposite directions, and it lurched between us. Samkiel lunged to his feet and raced to my side, pulling me up and backing toward the rock wall.
“Want to be bait or me?” Samkiel asked, never taking his eyes off the ugly beast.
“You ask me this now?” I hissed through my teeth.
“I’ll be bait,” he said, pushing me to the side.
The beast roared, and seeing us split, it darted at me. So much for him being bait. I dove to the ground, scraping my front as I rolled to my left. Powerful talon-tipped wings speared toward me, but I was too quick. The beast screeched and swung its head, the large beak yawning wide. Flames burst from my fingertips, drawing the creature’s full attention. It was so focused on me that it didn’t even notice the silver eyes glowing eerily against the surrounding wasteland.
Samkiel charged forward. The beast had only a second to react, but it was a second too long. It roared as Samkiel summoned an ablaze weapon and brought it down, sending its head bouncing across the uneven terrain. Green blood oozed from the stump of its neck, pooling around the dead creature.
“Well, that was fun,” I said, wiping the debris from my clothes as Samkiel helped me to my feet. “For absolutely no one.”
Samkiel sighed deeply, checking me from head to toe. “I really wanted to be bait.”
I poked his abs playfully. “Too much muscle. You’d be tough to chew.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut when the ground shook. His hands gripped me protectively, and he pulled me close, as if he feared the mountain would crumble and bury us, but it wasn’t the mountain that trembled. We spun and watched the runes light up one by one as the creature’s blood filled the deep grooves. With a hiss, a wall opened in the rock face behind us, revealing a dark cavern.
77
SAMKIEL
“Are you sure this is just like your dream?” I asked her as we stuck close to the cave wall. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, moisture dripping from their tapered ends as we followed the spiraling rocky path.
“Yes, now just follow me,” Dianna said, tossing an exasperated look at me over her shoulder. The air here wasn’t as pungent as it was outside, so we’d removed our face coverings. She turned back around, continuing her hike deeper into the mountain. I really hoped this didn’t lead us straight into the heart of one of those volcanoes.
“I will say, I do enjoy the view.”
She cast a quick look around the cave. “This place?” she asked, glancing back at me, her voice rife with disbelief.
I grinned, the lasciviousness of it letting her know where I was actually looking. She shook her head and laughed, the sound of it flooding the cave, and I thought I felt something shift in response. It was as if the walls had finally remembered that they were once witnesses to happier times. The narrow path spat us out into what looked like a circular antechamber.
“How many moments of our relationship do you think will be underground?” I asked as we stopped in the center.
She sighed, putting her hands on her hips and spinning slowly, looking up at the towering walls. “This is what? The third time?”
“Yeah.” I glanced around, peering into the gaping mouths of the three tunnels. Runes were carved above each one, and I wished I knew what they meant.
“I don’t see any more monsters for us to slay if this requires more blood to open,” I said.
Her brows furrowed as she thought for a second before looking at me. “It’s over three doors. This may be a test for the chalice, but a different one. I doubt whoever made it this hard to find would make the clue that simple.”
