Page 13 of Born of Blood and Ash

“You have not slain the monster,” Polemussaid.

“But you have wounded it.” This from Peinea.

“Because of that, you have been found worthy,” Loimus added.

“Of us answering upon the time you summon us.” Polemus’s cloaked head lifted slightly, just enough for meto catch a glimmer of glowing, eather-lit eyes.“Until then.”

Before I could say a word, their white-shrouded forms becametransparent, like they were made of nothing more than smoke. Within seconds, Iwas alone in the torchlit cavern—alone with the knowledge that the monster Ihad been ordered to slay had been…

The one inside of me.

CHAPTER THREE

I stood in the center of the cavern forseveral moments, waiting to feel disturbed or, at the very least, shaken by therealization that the monster had been me. That the riders had somehow knownwhat existed within me. A coldness that had always bothered and often horrifiedme.

Instead, I was amused by the symbolism of themulti-headed beast. That one could inflict as much damage as they wanted to theother heads, the parts of themselves that reacted to turmoil and conflict byinevitably causing more pain and heartache. One could continuously hack away atthemselves, but it was the center head they had to face head-on. It was sort oflike 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. Hewas still somewhere in the Abyss, living his worst life. Either way, he’dobviously represented the part of me that could so easily be provoked andreacted 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 Icould control myself—my anger. That made sense since I’d have the ability tosummon them, which, from what I could gather given what I’d been told and whatmy intuition confirmed, would bring about the end of everything. Clearly, theywouldn’t want to serve someone who could get angry over something small and endthe realms because of it.

My gaze flicked to the etchings in the stone. What left meunsettled 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 suchchoices.

But that was who I was.

The remaining question was why had they found me worthy whenI hadn’t succeeded? And even more importantly… “How am I supposed to get out ofthis damn cavern?”

The torches brightened in response, the golden fire rushingtoward the ceiling once more. As the flames calmed, that crimson lightreappeared in the markings, filling them in a wave that encircled the entirechamber. Stone groaned against stone. Half-afraid the cavern might fall on topof my head, I unfolded my arms. Dust and small rocks dropped in patches fromthe ceiling.

Before me, a glowing fissure appeared in the center of thewall, spreading toward both the ceiling and the floor. The crack increased insize, opening as rock ground against itself. It shuddered to a halt when thespace became large enough for me to walk through.

“Um, thanks?” I said as if the cavern could somehowunderstand me. Maybe it could. What did I know?

Wanting to get back to Ash and make sure he was okay andhadn’t, well, overreacted, I moved forward. The moment I entered the opening,the wall closed behind me.

Cold, inky darkness enveloped me, wrapping itself aroundeach of my senses until all I could hear were those distant, haunting moans. Isucked in a sharp breath. “Damn it.”

My steps slowed. I couldn’t see anything as I forced onefoot in front of the other, but I could feel a faint humming in the very coreof my being. A spark of power—eather—ignited insideme.

“Thank the gods,” I murmured, taking a deeper, longerbreath.

Feeling a little better about the fact that I wasn’tactually 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 coolslickness of a wall. Using it as a guide, I picked up my pace. Every couple offeet or so, I treaded across shallow puddles I absolutely refused to thinkabout.

I followed the winding tunnel that twisted and coiled like aserpent, lost in the darkness until an orangey-red glow appeared in thedistance. 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 sawwas 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’sfriend 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—

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