Page 225 of Kingdom of the Two Moons

Blair just stares at her. So Caryan gave her some of his runes—purposely. Why in the damn hells? Because he wants those relics, of course. But… when in the Abyss’s name did he tattoo them into her? Because Blair sure as death didn’t spot that rune on her a little more than two hours ago. And how? And where did he get that magical ink from?

The girl holds out her hand. A truce. An offering.

Blair snarls at it, but Melody doesn’t pull it back.

“Please, Blair, I need you. I need your help,” she says, and for some inexplicable reason, Blair finds herself taking her hand.

“For now,” she warns.

Melody only nods, and both of them stare down into the darkness as the sound of very heavy steps ghost through the halls once more, followed by a scratching sound, as if something hard carves the stone. Something gigantic, with more than two legs. Maybe horns.

“What kind of cars did you see exactly down here?” Blair asks, eyeing the cave walls around them again and not liking the sheer dimension of itat all.

“Ronin said they were demons,” Melody admits, her eyes alert, her heartbeat even faster than before.

Blair twists to her. “Demons? Are you fucking kidding me? We should run the other way, right now!”

Melody only shakes her head, her face set and limned with icydetermination. “And go right back to the Fortress? No. I won’t. That’s not an option.”

“But being eaten by a monster is?”

Before Blair can grab her, the mad woman has sprinted off again, surprisingly fast and nimble, right towards the suspicious noise. Blair throws a last glance back, and then—to hells with it—follows her.

But just like that, another wave of darkness erupts right in front of them, swallowing them whole, so thick they can barely breathe. Unnatural. It makes every hair on Blair’s body rise in answer. Something pushes and probes against her in the shade, fading as it realizes she has no magic in her. Then a gush, like water but insubstantial, rushes around them. When Blair blinks again, she finds herself in a huge hall.

Or rather, whatoncewas a hall, ages ago. Marble columns still flank it, but the stone already has cracks and fissures, and the ceiling has started to sink and collapse in places. Melody lands next to her, looking equally scared.

As Blair glances down, she realizes the ground between her feet is strewn with bones. Bleached piles of more bones stretch up to their left and right, gracing the walls like some macabre fashion, and rising high, glimmering in the shade. Cows, fae, humans, and who-the-fuck knows what else. It’s a damn cemetery.

And something ate them all and spat them out here.

“Tunnels, over there!” Melody says, pointing a finger towards three holes on the other side of the bed of bones.

“Wait! Can we, for a second, wait and think?” Blair starts.

“And what? Wait for whatever prowls these halls to come and find us?” Melody shoots back over a shoulder. She’s already dashed right into the cemetery, sinking hip-deep in the macabre sea of death, pushing her way through with hands and feet.

Blair follows. Both of them work through it, wading through sharp bits and treacherous forms, clawing their way through it with mainly their hands and pure iron will towards the tunnels. Three of them, gaping like black mouths ready to devour them whole. Blairdoesn’t even want to imagine the creature whose claws ripped into the stone to build them. Maybe the same one who uses these halls as its lair. Maybe different ones. Everyone knows Caryan’s kingdom is haunted by demons from the nine hells.

When they finally reach them, panting, sweat streaming down their bodies in rivers, Melody casts a glance back at Blair. “Which one?”

Blair brushes her hair back out of her face and sniffs the air. “The bad news is—all of them reek of blood.”

“And the good news?”

“The right one reeks ofoldblood.”

The moment they dive into the right one, another rumble shakes the cave, so strong they both stumble, landing on all fours. Blair curses as the hard stones cut her palms but falls silent as she looks up.

Right into two huge golden eyes, embedded in a scaly head.

“The dragon,” Melody whispers from beside her.

“No. That’s not a dragon.”

“Well, it damn well looks like a dragon to me,” Melody shoots back.

Blair shakes her head. “No, the color of the scales is not right. Nor are the horns.” Its scales have the shiny quality of Blair’s wyvern. So do the horns. But there are four of them instead of two. Massive and curled, protruding left and right out of his head, scratching against the ceiling. “Dragons only have two horns,” she explains.

---