Page 79 of A Blightress of Wrath
Chapter38
Karus
Myfeet fell steady,my heart in sync with the one we’d come to bleed.Thiswas the path theBlightresshad chosen for us.Thiswas the outcome she had risked by not backing down.
Thescent of my first homeland wafted through the cave.Icaught the familiar smells of the marketplace, the crisp green of fresh grass thatIhad rolled down on the hills surroundingHyrithia.
Iran a hand under my nose, leading our party closer to the heart, trekking across the damp stone floor.Thedeadly swordRevichandIhad made together hovered in front of us, waiting for our command to cut down the abscess growing from above.
Awind shifted through the cave, drifting over my skin in a frigid touch, smelling of the farmland we had come upon as we had traveled toRadyx.Thensalt.Thesalt of the sea wafted under my nose as well.Ipaused, hesitating in the spellIseemed to be under.
“Whatis it?”Revwhispered at my side.
“Doyou…”Iwiped under my nose again. “Doyou smell that?”
Hisfrown deepened and he lifted his head, drawing a deep breath through his nose. “Idon’t smell anything unusual.”
Icontinued forward, my skin prickling in the chill of a frozen heart.WhereIimaginedI’dfeel warmth in the glowing beat,Iwas instead left with an empty cold.
There.Again.Theslight breeze with no real origin swept more urgently across my face, pulling at the long white strands of my unbound hair, shifting across my skin and bringing with it the scent of home.
Felgren’strees, moss, fresh blooms of spring and the dew that settled in a meadow of golden flowers…Iclosed my eyes for just a moment, imaginingIwas back in the forestIloved.
“Something’swrong,”Iwhispered low, only loud enough forRevto hear.
“Canyou feel her?Isshe coming?” he said hurriedly, his eyes darting to the hole in the top of the cave.
“No,Idon’t feel her.It’sjust…”Ishook my head, shaking the sense ofFelgrenaway. “Whatdoes theSpiresmell like?”
Revichopened his mouth slightly, his eyes narrowing. “Itsmells like the sea.Saltybrine.”Hesqueezed my hand. “Tellme why you ask.”
“I—”
“Ifwe need to leave, you need to tell me right now.”
Ishook my head. “Youdon’tsmellthat?Thesnowy drifts of theAttatokMountains?”
Hegave me a short shake of his head.
“Thesalty air of theSpire?”
Again, a short no.
Itried to swallow, my throat suddenly dry, deprived of moisture from the rapid bouts of airIwas inhaling.Ishivered again as we reached the point where our magic could slice down the heart in one fatal swoop.
“The…”Ibegan, watchingLia’ssilver slivers of magic rise to the arteries hanging from the cavern roof whileTalonandIlyenna’spower poised at the side of the cold organ above us.FlamesencircledPhilius’swrists, the most powerI’dever seen him wield at once. “Theearth ofFelgren,Revich.”Ishook my head, too late in my understanding of what had been true in my own heart for so long.
Lialet loose her power over the heart with the slash of flayed flesh resounding in a sickening clean slice throughout the cave.Myhand shot to my own heart, andIgrabbed at my vest, pulling at the fabric. “Wait,”Igasped, too late and too quiet.TalonandIlyennatookLia’sopening as the cue to plunge their glowing knives into the pulsing tissue, piercing the side.Aspray of blood, thick and cold, splattered onto the rock of the cave walls.
Iscreamed, my cry echoing off the stone asIfell, and in the moment my body hit the floor,IcaughtLiastumbling with her hand at her own chest.
Myheart had been cut just as deep as the one above us, same as all the other magic wielders in that cave who cried out in unison.Ihad been too late to recognize what the cavern wind had tried to convey.TheBlightresswas a part of every crevice of this isle, and we had just flayed what fueled us all.
Revichpulled at the back of my vest, heaving me up off the ground.Bloodtrickled from the sides of his mouth, and he winced as he wrapped an arm around my back, hauling us toward the portal. “Getup!” he yelled in a bloody cough that left him wheezing. “Backto the portal!Now!”
Imoved my feet towardIlyenna, despite the push fromRevin the other direction.Iheld my hand out to pull her up from the ground,Talonunconscious beside her.
Iyanked on her cold fingers. “Wehave to go!”
