Page 9 of Born of Blood and Ash

Flames roared, billowing toward the ceiling. Crimson lightfilled the markings etched into the stone. I took a step back, and the carvingsall along the cavern suddenly appeared as if they were soaked in glowing blood.

“What…what’s going on?” I asked.

There was no answer. Dust fell from the ceiling in a fineshower, drawing my gaze upward. A dark red glow filled the fissures there, thelight becoming so radiant that it stung my eyes. My vision blurred as the lightseeped from the cracks, spilling into the space between the riders and me.

With wide eyes, I watched the light pulse and grow,expanding until it took shape before me, becoming solid. Terrifying.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I spat, and the golden flamescalmed, casting dancing shadows across the cavern walls as I stared at themenacing green-and-blue-scaled creature looming over me.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

The beast was massive, at least twice as tall as I was, andhad the body of a draken. Powerful legs and sharpclaws that could not only clearly slice through flesh as if it were nothing buttissue paper but were also part of paws large enough to encircle the entiretyof my waist. Its chest and torso were broad and muscular. The tail was thickand spiked, but that was where the similarities between it and the draken ended.

The thing had multiple heads.

Three, to be exact.

And its eyes, all three sets of them, were a brilliant shadeof glowing silver, glinting with eather.

Possibly as bad as the three heads was its smell. It wasrank. A stench somewhere between that of a rotting corpse and brimstone.

“Prove yourself,” one of the riders ordered. “And slay themonster.”

They expected me to fight this thing with nothing more thana sword? No armor? Not even a pair of boots or pants? And on an empty stomach?

“I feel like I’m extremely underprepared for this,” Imuttered, tensing.

Forked tongues hissing, the creature’s left and right headsswayed in unison while the center remained still. It extended its long limbs,dragging wickedly sharp claws across the stone floor.

Breathe in. Reality or not, years of training withHolland had taught me that the first thing to do was to silence the mind. Hold.I couldn’t think about Ash. What was happening outside the cavern, or what Ifaced after this—if I didn’t get eaten by this thing. Breathe out. Icouldn’t even think about why this was happening. Hold. I had to shutit all down and focus only on the nightmare standing before me.

It wasn’t like donning the veil of nothingness and becomingan empty vessel or a blank canvas. This was far more natural. There was nostruggle or resistance when I silenced my thoughts and tensed my muscles. Ibecame something I was far better suited for than being a Queen.

A fighter.

A warrior.

But that wasn’t the only thing Holland had taught me. Ifirmed my grip on the sword. Sometimes, it wasn’t best to strike first,especially when you weren’t at a safe distance and were facing a new adversary.I had no idea what this beast was capable of, so I braced and waited.

I didn’t have to wait long.

The middle head rose, coiling back in a fluid, serpentinemanner that sent a chill of revulsion coursing through me. A heartbeat passed—

Striking as fast as the pit vipers found near the Cliffs ofSorrow, the left head shot toward me, its mouth stretching open to reveal fangsas long as my finger. I lurched to the side and then jumped back, expecting theright head to make a move. It did. The second head snapped toward me, leavingme only seconds to spin out of its reach.

Holding the sword level, I gritted my teeth and dartedforward, my bare feet quick on the stone. I dipped under the sweep of thecreature’s claws and lunged, driving the sword into its chest. Or trying. Theblade hit scales, and the impact jarred my arms.

Shock rippled through me, and I danced back. The scales werelike some sort of armor.

Inching back farther, I caught sight of the shrouded ridersand indicated with the sword. “You couldn’t have given me something thatactually works?”

“Prove—”

“Yeah,” I cut Loimus off, focusingon the beast’s scales. There were slivers of flesh between them, each maybe aninch or two long. “Prove yourself. You don’t have to keep repeatingit.”

Like a mountain of muscle and scales, the beast charged, itsclaws digging into the stone. I spun to the right and dipped as it rose,thrusting up with the sword with more precision than before. I hit a spotbetween the scales, and there was little resistance this time. Flesh gave way.Cold, rancid blood spurted into the air, spraying my chest and face.

Gods.

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