Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
The one inside of me.
CHAPTER THREE
I stood in the center of the cavern for several moments, waiting to feel disturbed or, at the very least, shaken by the realization that the monster had been me. That the riders had somehow known what existed within me. A coldness that had always bothered and often horrified me.
Instead, I was amused by the symbolism of the multi-headed beast. That one could inflict as much damage as they wanted to the other heads, the parts of themselves that reacted to turmoil and conflict by inevitably causing more pain and heartache. One could continuously hack away at themselves, but it was the center head they had to face head-on. It was sort of like treating the symptoms but never the disease. And Tavius? I exhaled loudly, folding my arms over my chest. I doubted that had actually been the bastard. He was still somewhere in the Abyss, living his worst life. Either way, he’d obviously represented the part of me that could so easily be provoked and reacted violently to feelings of helplessness.
The part of me that could be horrific in its cold cruelty.
The monster inside of me.
And I got why they’d tested me. They wanted to know if I could control myself—my anger. That made sense since I’d have the ability to summon them, which, from what I could gather given what I’d been told and what my intuition confirmed, would bring about the end of everything. Clearly, they wouldn’t want to serve someone who could get angry over something small and end the realms because of it.
My gaze flicked to the etchings in the stone. What left me unsettled was the fact that the riders had known I hadn’t slain the monster.
I’d only wounded it. And did that by the skin of my teeth. Only because I didn’t want to be the kind of person who made such choices.
But that was who I was.
The remaining question was why had they found me worthy when I hadn’t succeeded? And even more importantly… “How am I supposed to get out of this damn cavern?”
The torches brightened in response, the golden fire rushing toward the ceiling once more. As the flames calmed, that crimson light reappeared in the markings, filling them in a wave that encircled the entire chamber. Stone groaned against stone. Half-afraid the cavern might fall on top of my head, I unfolded my arms. Dust and small rocks dropped in patches from the ceiling.
Before me, a glowing fissure appeared in the center of the wall, spreading toward both the ceiling and the floor. The crack increased in size, opening as rock ground against itself. It shuddered to a halt when the space became large enough for me to walk through.
“Um, thanks?” I said as if the cavern could somehow understand me. Maybe it could. What did I know?
Wanting to get back to Ash and make sure he was okay and hadn’t, well, overreacted, I moved forward. The moment I entered the opening, the wall closed behind me.
Cold, inky darkness enveloped me, wrapping itself around each of my senses until all I could hear were those distant, haunting moans. I sucked in a sharp breath. “Damn it.”
My steps slowed. I couldn’t see anything as I forced one foot in front of the other, but I could feel a faint humming in the very core of my being. A spark of power—eather—ignited inside me.
“Thank the gods,” I murmured, taking a deeper, longer breath.
Feeling a little better about the fact that I wasn’t actually weaponless, I reached out blindly. My vision, as improved as it was, wasn’t adjusting to the utter absence of light. Finally, I felt the cool slickness of a wall. Using it as a guide, I picked up my pace. Every couple of feet or so, I treaded across shallow puddles I absolutely refused to think about.
I followed the winding tunnel that twisted and coiled like a serpent, lost in the darkness until an orangey-red glow appeared in the distance. The scent of brimstone increased as I hurried toward the light, breaking into a run.
I burst out of the tunnel, and for a heartbeat, all I saw was fire—mountains of fire and winged creatures flying above the flames, shrieking as they carried thrashing bodies.
I knew what those creatures were. They were the ones Ash’s friend believed had been visiting him at night and stealing his breath.
The sekya.
But I also knew their other names. Shrew. Ni’mere. Furie.
One of them dove, catching some helpless soul in its talons. Screams tore through the air—
Everything went dark.
I threw out my hands, coming into contact with smooth stone.
I jerked back, stumbling. My hip knocked into something hard. I looked down, recognizing the glossy shadowstone railing. The hem of my borrowed shirt snagged my attention. Confusion erupted. The material was worn but pristine, free of gore. Lifting my hands, I held them under the silvery glow of…stars. My knuckles weren’t stained from blood or swollen as they should’ve been.