Page 87 of The Vampire King's War

“Right.”

They dashed through the narrow part of the path and just as they made it to the other side there was a crashing sound and the ground seemed to dance beneath them. Looking over his shoulder, Christian saw that stones had rained down and blocked their way back.

“I’m glad our destination is forward,” Christian stated.

“Y-yeah,” Julian agreed.

Christian heard his best friend think, Please tell me that I haven’t brought Christian to another place in the Ever Dark to die.

“You haven’t. I wouldn’t have let you go without me. And, remember, the two of us had to go.” Christian patted Julian’s shoulder.

“You’re getting better at reading minds.” Julian gave him a mirthless smile.

“And you’re getting better at everything else.”

Christian’s gaze was drawn below them. The mist cleared for a moment and he could see the bottom of the gorge. There was a rectangular white stone structure surrounded by trees with one of those white stone pathways leading toward it. Part of the roof was caved in and Christian could see a faint glow emanating from inside. The glow was golden and flickering.

“A fire?” Julian had seen it too.

“Maybe.”

“Are my parents’ soul gems in there?” Julian asked.

The building was the only structure in the bowl-shaped depression, but there was no saying that Artemis-Kaly had left the gems inside. Christian closed his eyes and felt for the silver threads that would lead him to the Harrows’ souls. Even with his eyes closed he could still see the path in front of him, though it was in black and white instead of color. The two streaming lines of silver threads led directly into the building. He opened his eyes.

“Yes, they’re inside!” Christian’s heart leaped into his throat as he said it.

Could they really be so close to Julian’s parents? Would it be possible to bring them back? His excitement was so keen that it caused a bitter metallic taste to flood his mouth as adrenaline squirted into his bloodstream. Julian’s emotions were so huge that Christian couldn’t even feel the edges of them. Without words, the two of them started down the path again.

It goes without saying that there will be traps. Artemis-Kaly wouldn’t have let the soul gems go unprotected.

As they approached the end of the path, Christian took in the stone structure. Unlike the cities that appeared to be part of the Ever Dark landscape, almost as if they had been grown there, this structure was different. Though it was made of the same white stone that characterized most structures in the Ever Dark, there were seams showing how various hunks of stone had been placed one atop the other and cemented in place. That was not how the rest of the Ever Dark structures were at all. They were smooth and without seams. Christian also saw that there were carved decorations on the various chunks of stone. None of them matched the other though.

“Someone has built this with pieces of other Ever Dark structures,” Christian realized and frowned.

This couldn’t have been done quickly or easily. Someone had taken time to do this. They had been deliberate. There was a cracking sound and the ground began to shake again. Another slab of roof crashed down inside.

“My parents!” Julian cried.

Christian could very well imagine the gems getting crushed beneath those white stones. Both of them picked up speed.

“I’m going to teleport in and--”

Twin roars cracked the sky as the trees on either side of the structure began to bend and lean as two somethings made their way through the forest towards them. He and Julian froze in their tracks, staring, even as they both knew that they needed to run into the structure, get the soul gems and run… But to where?

There was no sign of a gate out. The path behind them was impassable. Julian could teleport them, but not without knowing where he was going. They were stuck down here unless and until they found a gate back.

More roars. They started deep and ended in high-pitched almost hyena laughs. The hair on the back of Christian’s neck stood up on end. There was more snapping as the trees made way for the two things coming. Christian got his first glimpse of them.

They stood over twelve-feet tall. Their skin looked to be mottled gray. They had stump-like legs, a barrel-chested torso and a long, bulbous head. Dozens of black eyes blinked from the faceless head. Shove-like jaws opened and shut, revealing sharp eye teeth, but also huge molars that could crush bone. Overlong arms hung to their knees ending in monstrous hands. Every finger was tipped with a claw. The flesh there was black and Christian wondered if there was some kind of poison on them.

“Head for the building!” Julian yelled.

But then one of the things brushed a brutish shoulder against the right stone wall. The wall cracked. A flare of anger appeared in the dozens of black eyes as if the building had jumped out at the creature and it slammed a mighty fist against the wall. It went through the stone as if it were paper.

“No,” Julian let out a moan.

“We have to draw them away from the building. They could bring it down and we’ll be fishing through rubble for ages looking for the soul gems if they aren’t crushed outright!” Christian cried.

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