Page 75 of Witch Queen

Mae’s heart thundered against her ribs as whiteness flared in Nikolai and Alastair’s eyes. The sorcerer furrowed his brow, his gaze on the dark waters below.

“There’s something down there.”

Heat filled Mae’s belly and veins. The spell left her lips at the same time Azazel invoked it.

“Contain!”

The barrier of magic and demonic energy that bloomed around them and the dragon pulsed with so much power it cast ripples across the surface of the lake and bathed it in a crimson glow.

“Whoa,” Vozgan mumbled. “That is so cool.”

He extended his neck and sniffed curiously at the shield, only to wrinkle his snout when scarlet static danced across his scales.

Azazel gave Mae a look of admiration. “Your spell is very powerful, daughters.”

She smiled faintly. “Na Ri and I learned from the best.”

Azazel chuckled before patting Vozgan’s neck. “Let’s go.”

The dragon climbed until he was some two hundred feet above the lake, closed his wings, and dove. Mae hung on to his back grimly as he entered the water insideContain, violent waves exploding around them and surging across the surface.

What little ambient light had illuminated the valley faded rapidly as they sank into the inky depths. Brightness flared around them as Nikolai manifested a sphere of Moon Magic above their heads.

Brimstone shifted in Mae’s arms a moment later. Her head swiveled, her gaze finding the giant, sinewy shapes he was staring at.

Tarang made a worried noise and shuffled closer to Vlad. Popo hugged Cortes’s face with his wings, causing the sorcerer to curse. Even Alastair let out an anxious squawk.

“Do not worry,” Azazel reassured them. “They cannot get to us.”

The water monsters of Hell Deep swam close toContain, the eddies they cast bouncing harmlessly off the barrier. The radiance of Nikolai’s magic glinted off dark scales, curious crimson pupils, and rows of jagged teeth that Mae suspected would haunt her dreams for a long time.

“Those are sea serpents,” Alicia muttered.

Vozgan licked his chops. “They taste nice salted and grilled.”

The dragon’s eyes glazed over with longing. Hellreaver drooled a little.

“How about we focus on the mission?” the Reaper queen said hastily.

Nikolai’s hands clenched on Mae’s waist. “There.”

The sorcerer pointed at a spot a hundred feet below them and to the right. White magic erupted on his fingertips. The pale trails danced out ofContainand weaved languorously through the water toward an underwater cliff.

Mae’s pulse quickened when his magic traced the contour of an opening. Azazel guided Vozgan into the mouth of the giant tunnel.

The dragon flew for what felt like an hour, his wings beating occasionally as he surfed the currents inside the passage. The shaft twisted, dropped, and rose time and time again, until even Mae started feeling sick.

Redness brightened the darkness below them when they emerged above a precipitous drop.

A chill danced through her at the sight of a river of lava coursing through the bottom of a mile-deep canyon, the eruptions causing hot bubbles to rise toward them. More underwater volcanoes appeared as they navigated cavern after cavern.

Mae suspected they were well beyond the boundaries of the lake and had passed several valleys. She tensed when Nikolai spoke.

“We’re close.”

An intersection appeared up ahead.

“Which way?!” Azazel shouted.

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