Page 68 of A Spell of Bones and Madness
Ringing replaced the sobbing in his ears. It was as if he fell into the sea, an abyss of nothingness, all noise around him muffled to a gurgling sound.
Then, everything went dark.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Ander
Incessant growls flowed from Cerberus, its heads thrashing against each of the fog-bound chains Ander threw at it. Skill would not help them now, not against Hades’daimonpet, but time, sheer will, would allow them to win—or at least deter the creature enough that Ajax could get Ember to the cavern.
Crimson, onyx, and amber—that was how Leighton had described theSpéos, a ritual cavern from the time of the Olympi. The three-headed creature was once the protector of the underworld, it now resided in the mountain at Cyther guarding its master's tomb. What might meet them if they made it to that cavern? Would they be able to find where Hades’ soul was entombed? Would the bident be there as well, or would they need to wait until Cerberuswas defeated? Would Katrin have to use the crystal talisman of Poseidon that hung around her neck? He prayed to the gods, both olde and new, that it would not come to that. If Katrin used the pendent it would permanently take a part of her powers and Ander wasn’t sure which part would remain—the starlit fire she wielded right now, or the powers of darkness she had yet to wield.
The creature howled once more, snapping the chains Ander wove from fog. He drew his hand in a circular motion toward the right, crafting another concentric circle to trap thedaimon’s paws in, but Ander was not fast enough. It lunged toward Katrin, racing with a preternatural rage for revenge.
Katrin’s body lit so brightly, Ander had to shield his eyes for fear of it blinding him. She was teetering on a burn out if she kept this up. Bending the starlight to her will, she shot razor stars at the creature’s throats and fleshy part of its legs, where the thick scale-like hide did not protrude over. Small tears formed, leaking obsidian liquid as pungent and foul as the drool from its lips. It spattered to the floor below with an audiblehiss, singeing the bones it prowled over.
Toxic.
Sizzling.
Venom.
The creature was filled with venom.
“Don’t let it get on you!” Ander yelled to Katrin over the roaring yelps. It wouldn’t kill them, the venom, but it would injure them enough that the creature would easily shred them to pieces with its teeth.
“Trying my best!” she yelled back, this time sending a spear hurtling at the nearingdaimonbelow its front leg, conjuring ashield to take the impact of the equally toxic claw that headed straight for her chest.
Instinctually, Ander lunged, though he knew he would not reach the other side of the cave in time. So when fog whipped around him and he rolled over her heated body, slamming them both into the hard, jagged rock out of the way, his eyes flared.No.
“How—how did you do that?” Katrin panted, her body shaking beneath his embrace. “You shouldn’t be able to aervade here. Not with the wards.”
“No, Starling, I shouldn’t,” he heaved. The entire contents of his stomach bubbled, threatening to make their way back up.
This was not good. Because if he could aervade, that meant the wards were down. It would mean Ajax and Ember had not gotten there in time. It would mean thathewas reborn.
“Hold tight.” They needed to get to theSpéosand fast. He let Leighton’s description of the chamber flood his mind, allowing him to find a place he could not see and had never been. Fog circled around them once more, cocooning Katrin against him as they drifted through the air in a snap of a finger to the end of the tunnel.
Deep cobalt flames lit the room that lay before them. On his knees, in the center of the room knelt Ajax, arms bound behind him with black thorny vines, small white flowers speckled with crimson spread along them—the same type of flower Ember described seeing in Aidesian, ones that had bloomed from her blood. Ember knelt next to him, arms around his throat, shielding him from the man and woman who sat upon the golden dais before him. Hades and his queen.
“Please!” Ember’s weakened voice cried. “Not him! You cannot take him.”
“It must be done, you know that better than most,” Hades roared.
We will only have moments, Starling. His power will not have come back fully yet. The Thysía works in two parts.
What do you mean by two parts?Katrin replied.
He needs a second sacrifice. Blood to be repaid to the earth. Evening of the balance. Hold on as hard as you can, this will not feel great.
The world shattered around them as he whipped them to the center of the room where their companions knelt. Reaching out his hand, Ander grabbed Ajax’s arm, Katrin following suit with her sister.
The Olympi’s power flared around him, thick flames circling his hands. “You will regret taking what is mine, boy!” Hades seethed.
“Doubtful.” Ander grinned and in a cloud of gray mist they were gone.
Letting the memory ofThe Nostosfill his mind, Ander used what little power he had left to transport them to the deck of the ship. The four of them landed with a crashing thud, pieces of wood splintering beneath them. Standing, Ander raced over to Leighton who tended to the anchor they had set.
“How did you—” the nauarch started, but Ander cut him off.
