Page 60 of Shadow's Heart

Kosmina leaned forward, as if she’d just receivedgoodnews. “Then that’s where my chance lies. Tell me about this hive.”

The demon said, “It’s a mountain teeming with ghouls. They dig tunnels throughout it, dumping rock all around. We don’t know why.”

“No one has ventured inside?”

“Whenever we get too close, their sentries spill out like a kicked ant mound.”

“Silt and I contended with a legion of wendigos in unfavorable conditions,” she said. “Ghouls shouldn’t prove more difficult. If enough of us unite, we can take that mountain. We have strength in numbers.”

Silt glanced down the table. These libertines weren’t about to abandon their lair. Kosmina’s drive was like a shining beacon, separating her from those who’d learned not todare.

HaveIlearned not to?

Enti said, “There’s one other problem. If you somehow got past the ghouls in their favored habitat, you would then face one best avoided. What do you know about the primordials?”

“A bit. They’re the strongest and oldest of a species, either because they were born first or because they’ve outlived all others. A firstborn primordial can spawn child terrors—monsters—with their blood.”

Rumor held that Sequara, Silt’s scorpion, had descended from a child terror. Though she’d been a loyal creature, original child terrors were vicious, arising from a single drop of blood to defend the primordial to the death.

Kosmina asked, “Are you saying the primordial ghoul lives in that hive?”

“One of them.” At her frown, Enti explained, “Everyone thinks that the ghoul king of the mortal realm was the primordial of that species, but he shared an egg with his queen and mate. She rules Nightside’s hive.”

“Twin primordials,” Kosmina murmured, deep in thought. “So who laid the egg? Wouldn’tthatbe the primordial?”

Silt had to say it: “We’re debating which came first, the ghoul or the egg?”

Enti shrugged. “There’s no debate. When I read the Gaolers’ minds, I learned that all of our immortal species were seeded by gods. The answer of all answers: the egg came first.”

Silt raised his brows. “So who created the gods?” Perhaps with her mind-reading ability, she’d come across that information. The Gaolers might have known.

“No idea. Nor do I know who created the worlds. That line of thinking will drive you either to insanity or religion. Like the hive’s primordial, it’s best avoided.”

Her advice got his back up. Avoid certain thinking? Yet hadn’t he done that through his habit?

While he processed this new and startling information, Kosmina’s focus was in full force. “Can we get back to the topic of the hive? Chiefly, an incursion into it?”

Xodin’s wings fluttered against his chair. “My demonkind and I will pass on any incursion. We’ll be here, enjoying the perks”—he raised his mug of demon brew—“until the Gaolers return for us with a parole in hand. You should stay here as long as you can, princess.”

Enti tilted her head at Kosmina’s undeterred expression. “The prospect of facing the mother of all ghouls—who can spawn even more and varied monsters—doesn’t give you pause?”

The princess lifted her chin. “My uncle Trehan killed the primordial demon in a bloodsport contest, without creating a single child terror. Part of my sword training was under his tutelage.” Her uncanny eyes glittered with determination. “I like my odds.”

Pride swelled Silt’s chest.Fascinating female.Still, that didn’t mean he was going to head out with her and share those odds. For argument’s sake, he asked, “Enti, how many are we talking about in that mountain? Do you have an estimate?”

“We do. If I could convince everyone here to fight, the ghouls would outnumber us a thousand to one.”

Even Kosmina’s confidence appeared to take a hit. Then she rallied: “The seismic activity here is unmistakable, and the quakes are intensifying. Our choices are simple—fight or perish.”

Enti adjusted her mask. “It’s just a cycle. Nightside is a world still in the throes of birth.”

“Or death.”

“I’ve been here for a century. The realm always quiets. I understand why you would want to leave—and I’m sympathetic—but others don’t feel such pressure.”

Silt didn’t. A parole offered him hope he hadn’t felt in memory. No more exile in Poly. No more hunters breathing down his neck. Hell, he could behold his Sorselan oasis once more.

Kosmina glanced at him, then back to Enti. “I will take my shot.”

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