Page 77 of Celestial Bodies

Guardians wielded clubs at slow-moving prisoners who shuffled in andout of the mine’s entrance, their arms stained with mineral residue.

A larger opening in the crag served as a repository for wooden carts that carried prisoners’ motionless bodies. At first, Dacias mistook them for corpses, but he soon realized they were unconscious as the dead were dragged to the base of the enclosing wall, lifted onto a platform, and then dumped over the massive barrier. A pile of bodies lay at the base of the wall on the opposite side.

Chained at the ankle, prisoners marched out of the crag, passing the bodies of their brethren piled high on splintering carts.

Dacias heard Souzie mumbling something that sounded like a prayer. Klorin approached her, placing his hand on the small of her back, and she shuddered at the touch, turning to him with eyes blazing.

“Fuck me,” Dacias whispered.

“It’s so awful. I can’t—I think—” Souzie ran from them and became sick. Klorin followed and rubbed her back.

Dacias swallowed the lump in his throat.Julen is in there.He closed his eyes and willed his mind to turn his terror into determination. He said he would die trying to get Julen out, and he meant it. He had to make peace with that very real possibility. Klorin was right. This is a person’s last stop in life. This vile monstrosity. A monument to the cruelty of man. This would most likely be Dacias’s end, but he embraced it.

I’d rather die trying than live without you.

35

Chapter 34

Julen

Julen lay cradled in the Multarmirus’s lap, several hands stroking his head, shoulders, and arms. His sense of dread subsided, leaving him with severe exhaustion.

The intensity of the stone’s energy had overwhelmed his senses and weakened Julen so much that he couldn’t even react to the fact that one of the monsters who had haunted his nightmares as a youth now stroked his sweat-damp hair. Looking up at the Multarmirus, Julen could see its kind eyes. He could feel the empathy radiating from its many hands as they caressed Julen’s temples.

“Thank you.”

The Multarmirus rumbled, and Julen couldn’t help but pet one of its hands in appreciation.

Anjular knelt beside Julen. She sat with her hands folded in her lap, staring at him intently as he recovered from the force of the stone. Julen turned from the monster taking care of him to the little fae.

He blushed with embarrassment as he spoke. “You must think me a damned fool for walking right up to that monstrosity of a crystal right after you warned me not to.”

Iacuorareleased a huff from across the dungeon.

Anjular looked back to give her a scolding glance, then turned to Julen. “It is only natural to try.”

Julen sat up abruptly. “This can’t be our fate. I won’t accept that this will be the rest of our lives. We have to do something.”

The stone called to him again. Like an energy force tugging at his consciousness, luring him to approach. Julen didn’t know how, but he had to figure out a way to make contact with the stone and fight whatever power it had.Power.He focused and lifted a hand to beckon the wind, but nothing manifested. He looked up and saw Anjular’s somber stare. “Why can you read my mind, but I can’t manifest wind?” Julen asked.

The fae was cautious as she spoke, “I truly don’t know—none of the powers that manifest themselves with any physicality function here. I cannot move objects with my mind, another one of my powers.

It’s odd. We can feel our body reacting to the command but cannot manifest to completion. It must be the magic that surrounds us. That’s my only guess. Even my ability to read thoughts has diminished. I’ve pushed my psychic skills to the brink, and I’ve never been able to see outside of this oozy prison. I can only see what is inside and faintly at that.”

Julen pulled his knees against his chest, wrapping his arms around them as he rocked slowly. What if trying to breach the crystal led to something worse?

The vileness of the stone plagued his thoughts: the screaming, the feeling of suffering, his image morphing into that revolting thing. He had barely touched the stone and had felt all of that. What would have happened if he had held on longer?

Then he thought of Dacias and Souzie. They had been planning to sneak into the castle the night he nearly killed his father. Could Dacias and Souzie have been captured, too?

Rage began building inside of him again. Julen wanted to smash the window that hung before them, batter the glass with his fists. He hated himself for what he had done. Why not just defend his mother and be done with it? Rescue her from that monster and take her with him, or use his powers to lock his father in the chamber and flee.

He didn’t do that. Julen released a lifetime of wrath in one moment, reveling in his power over his father. He enjoyed watching Haligran cower to him.I’m just like him.All it took was one opportunity to be as vicious and severe as his father, and he sank his teeth in and savored every moment.

Julen fell to his side, still cradling his knees close to his chest, and released a low moan. The only thing worse than being in this place was knowing that behaving like the man he had so deeply feared for so long was what brought him here. He wanted to break into a thousand bits and reassemble himself differently. His greatest fear with Dacias was the possibility of showing even the slightest bit of cruelty that his father inflicted on him.

The sand creature began moaning in time with Julen. For a moment, he thought his grief was contagious, and soon, all the creatures trapped with him would lament for the freedom they’d never have. But the moaning intensified, and the creature grabbed its head, shaking it from side to side.

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