Page 76 of Of Blooming Embers
My second-in-command chuckled as Marek found us as well. “If you’ve finished congratulating yourself, we need to keep moving.”
Breena’s mouth pinched, her nostrils flaring before her features settled into a confident grin. “Lord Prickton of Twatsville is right. Let’s do this.” She cocked one brow at him before she tugged Seryn and Rhaegar forward, and, in turn, me. Seryn shook her head and held onto my hand tightly. Marek pushed his shoulders back, his embered halo snapping.
I stretched my neck to each side, and a sharp burn bit into the space between it and my shoulder. I pushed into the muscle and winced; my hand was coated in blood.
“Gavrel, you’re injured,” Seryn said, her brows furrowing.
“It’s nothing. Let’s keep going.”
She narrowed her eyes, but swallowed her words.
As a unit, we pushed through the dense fog. At times, my muscles strained as if we barely moved. Other times, our limbs ripped through, our bodies slicing through the mist with ease.
Finally, my vision cleared as if a veil was torn away. Our feet met the blanched, dusty terrain once more. All of our embered light blazed bright for a moment before sinking within our skin. Seryn let go of me, stepping forward. I followed her gaze and drew in a sharp breath at what loomed before us.
It was a gleaming, mammoth structure. Glossy, jet-black panels, rather than glass, formed the concave walls, reminding me of our ten-sided conservatories. Instead of a domed roof, it curved inward, sharp spikes jutting upward from the intersections between the panels like a melded onyx crown.
An unnatural sense of dread prickled along my skin, scratching at my flesh. The others shifted on their feet uneasily beside me, faces scrunching and bodies tense.
“Steady now,” Rhaegar said, pushing his axe forward as a slinking ebony mist began spilling from the base of the edifice.
Marek and I squared up, our weapons also at the ready. Seryn leaned forward with the blade of her obsidian dagger in front of her.
“Do you hear that? What the ever-fecking feck is that?” Breena asked, her words clipped. She squinted, pulling her daggers from the sheaths at her hips.
All at once, the screaming started.
30
LIVING NIGHTMARES
SERYN
My hand tightened around my dagger as terror and nightmare-like mist leaked from the building. It crept toward us, shrieking with every undulation and slow-motion caress against the broken clay. Or rather—it projected a symphony of horrified wailing.
My ember slammed against my scar in erratic bursts.
I lifted my chin.
“Likely from whatever’s inside,” Rhaegar mused.
Gavrel nodded and moved forward. “That’s what I’m thinking. Stay together.”
As we neared the slinking darkness, my power buzzed under my skin. The atmosphere chilled the closer we came, the screams filling my head, and apprehension sinking its fangs into my guts. Overwhelming despair carved into my ribs; the urge to curl into a frozen ball was unrelenting.
Marek sneered, and Gavrel rubbed his chest hard. I paused, swaying, yearning for the black fog to cradle me within its heady embrace.Breena glanced back at me, her eyes squinting, before whipping back to the mist that was almost upon us.
“Gather ’round me,” Breena barked, her words caught in a cloud of icy breath as she came to me. She sheathed her daggers and concentrated on her cupped hands. Cherry-red aura spilled from her, and her energy enveloped us in a hazy film of sparking crimson.
A collective sigh filled our sanctuary as a balmy warmth soothed my body. I shook my head, helping my mind to clear the wicked miasma that had been tampering with my senses.
“Well done,” Rhaegar said, allowing his rune to ignite. Setting his jaw, Gavrel did the same, and their weapons pulled the radiance along their blades. His injury was bothering him, but he wouldn’t admit it.
Begrudgingly, Marek grunted in something akin to agreement.
Breena smirked as we moved again, and as the mist clawed at her protective shield, its whirling eddies skimmed over the edges and agitatedly folded back into themselves before slinking away.
Rhaegar and Gavrel prodded at the bolder tendrils of vapor creeping up our bubble. They, too, shrank away with each stab, rearing back and screeching before slithering off to join their brethren.
