Page 139 of Tales of a Monstrous Heart
Septus morwasn’t just to summon. It was a command to hide the true potential of the dark. To hide what was real. To hide the evil beneath this place.
My skin was irritated by Fairfax’s mere presence. A faint ringing in my ears and my magic rose, surging to my palms until the tips of my fingers glowed. The wishing stone burned against my skin.
I threw out my hand, commanding that spell in the orb to erupt, but the thing in Fairfax crushed it. Scattering the purple aura across the ruined floor.
A cracking of bone, Lord Fairfax’s head tilted awkwardly, a hollowness to his eyes. A chalky nature to his flesh, like that of a corpse.
Greed wasn’t the only thing that summoned the dark, that could claim a mortal soul and turn it into something else.
Grief could too.
‘Norac,’ I whispered, more to myself than to the creature that dwelled here. Fairfax tried to frown, to seem concerned, but the being inside was too enraged, his face becoming a mangled mix of expressions before it grinned. Skin at the side of his mouth splitting with how wide it stretched, strings of flesh snapping as blood poured from his lips.
A horrid pressure filled the air. My lungs were suddenly too tight, the walls too close. Darkness seeped into my vision. A cracking and popping of limbs, shadows rushing beneath his pale skin. Fanged teeth too big for its mouth appeared as dark liquid ran free from his eyes. Skin hung loosely, revealing muscle and the red of flesh beneath.
‘Clever little troll,’ it mocked before it lunged across the room with a feral scream. I tried to turn on the rubble-filledground, tried to run – but the creature was faster, tackling me from behind. The force of it cracked my head against sharp rubble, only for the horrid crashing creak as we tumbled across the ruins, towards that cavernous hole in the centre and the darkness beneath.
‘No !’ I screamed, clawing at the loose wood and rubble, but there was nothing as we were consumed by that darkness.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
This world isn’t finished with you yet, Tauria.
Live.
Live, the ghost of my mother’s voice commanded, just as agony clawed at my body, wrenching me from unconsciousness. A cry left my lips as ashy dry earth coated my tongue. My head pounded but reaching for it hurt worse. Every inch of me resisted with agony.
I shivered, a bitter horrid cold brushing over my limbs. My skin was damp and heavy with it as I opened my eyes. The soft light stung but I forced myself to focus on it, only to discover it was coming from the stone of my necklace, flickering softly in the dirt before me.
I panted against the bitter earth, trying to cough it from my lungs, but with each breath all I could taste was centuries of pain, excruciating and sour in my mouth, pressing down on my weakening limbs.
Deeper and older than should be possible.
I could feel the phantom sting of a blade across my throat. The memory one that didn’t belong to me. The agony as it cut to the bone, seeking blood for their worship. The burning scrape of that darkness against my skin. All the feythat had died here before. Every single one. I felt it all in a moment.
The horrid grief of it.
Get up,I hissed to myself, spitting ash from my bloody mouth.
Small, sharp and unforgiving things dug into my palm, making me look down to see tiny folk bones pressed into the cursed soil and now my palms. Small bird skulls cracked, little more than dust and ashy shards. I tried to wrench back my hand, as if even now I could be hurting them, only to see the larger fragments mixed with stone and ash across the damp earth.
Jaw bones with teeth, the glisten of magic still trapped in the marrow. Fey bones.
Rage seared through my limbs. Something ancient in my blood responded wildly, giving me enough strength to get my knees beneath me.
‘Not so fast,’ a voice mocked from the darkness that surrounded me. A jangle of chain made my head jerk up, too late. A gleam as something shot towards me from the dark earth. I raised my arms to protect my head, only for the brutal impact of rusted, forsaken iron chains to wrap around my wrists.
The agony stole every thought from my head, the tormenting burn as the iron seared my skin. I screamed, trying to wrench myself backwards, to pull against the restraints, but they went taut from the other end lost in the dark. With brutal force those chains dragged me across rough broken terrain, fragments of sharp bone and stones ripping at my flesh.
I cried out, kicking and clawing at the wet earth, but there was nothing to stop it. Just the echo of dark laugher and the warmth of something metal beneath me as it finally stopped.My arms were pulled taut above my head, my back pressed against something smooth.
I squinted into the dark, only aided by weak streaks of light as I tried to work out the origin of the laughter. Trying to pull at the chains around my wrists, despite the agonising weight of them, the tremors that made every muscle contract. I panted and twisted like a wild thing.
The vaulted ceiling was low, made of stone but half collapsed at the centre, letting light stream down. Clumps of dust and ash fell like snow from above.
The ballroom.
The creature that had been Fairfax stepped slowly into view. His eyes were jet black as dark veins bled from them, taking over his face. Head tilted to one side with a crack, operated by something other than himself. Smile too wide, teeth too sharp and cruel. Sharp bumps moved beneath his skin, like a thousand insects trapped beneath the fleshy confines.
