Page 93 of Tales of a Monstrous Heart
Only there was no relief in his amusement.
‘It should be more difficult than that.’ I moved closer to the dark where the thing had hidden. Beings of such power didn’t need to hide, not when they should be ravenous with a will to live.
‘Ancient things don’t tend to do well in modern times, dormancy weakens them tremendously.’ Emrys’ voice echoed across the space.
It was something more than that. I pulled the blade from the wall, letting it turn dormant once again as I pushed the hilt back in my bag.
I crouched to run my fingers through the dark ash the creature had left behind, confirming by the gritty texture it was as ancient as I believed it to be. ‘I don’t understand how it survived. There isn’t anything here to feed on.’
‘It must have come from somewhere else.’
If the house was connected to the Verr pit, whatever was causing this must have been hiding between. We needed to find out where this had begun, and the only thing effective in hunting the dark was the magic it craved. I kept some of the dark ash in my palm, causing my magic to flare with irritation, I rolled a small spark against my skin and manipulated it into a shape.
‘Zeltu,’ I ordered, watching the spell flare in recognition before forming a hard glass-like orb with a faint glow. I opened my hand, letting it roll off the tips of my fingers. It bounced and spun of its own accord across the rotting floor, vanishing through a hole in the wall.
A hunting orb.
‘What did you tell it?’ Emrys asked, watching the path the strange spell had taken.
‘To go to the beginning.’ I smiled at him, watching how the rainbowed light from the scattered chandelier gems reflected off his darkness. ‘All we have to do is follow.’
‘Croinn.’ He smiled, but there was something lingering in his features, a slight unease that surprised me. As if the distance between us was something he couldn’t quite bear.
My confusion lasted a mere moment as a sharp crack made us both go still.
‘Kat,’ he said, lips parted to give me an order, but the floor gave in beneath me before I could hear it.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Darkness and dust consumed me as I tumbled through nothingness, striking numerous things on the way down. My cries echoed back to me, damp rotting roots slipping through my fingers, slowing my descent, but when I met the ground, I hit with winding impact. The force sent me rolling until I bounced off a brick wall, dirt coating my lips.
Wood rained down, forcing me to duck into a ball, hands over my head as I was showered with debris. I choked on dust, retching as the creak of the ruins settling once more echoed around me. I pushed most of the wreckage off me, shattered pieces of rot-eaten wood and dry roots. Spitting the grittiness from my mouth, as I started to right myself. Damp leaves clung to my walking suit, thankfully carpeting the ground enough to break my fall.
The wishing stone hung free from my dress, thrumming like a heartbeat. Bathing the confined space in a soft silvery light.
I pressed my palms against damp earth, weeds sliding between my fingers as I dragged myself unsteadily to my feet.
‘Emrys?’ I coughed, squinting in the darkness, weak light streaming from the hole I’d come through a few floors above. Trying to blink the dirt from my eyes, shaking my head only to shower myself in more.
Circular brick walls surrounded me, as if I stood in the base of a tower. A lone door opposite me was obstructed by debris that had come down with me.
The only sound was the distant drip of water that echoed ominously back to me and the groaning of the wooden supports above.
I needed to find Emrys. He didn’t have the fallback of possessing Kysillian blood and being annoyingly difficult to maim after all.
Seeing no other way out, I dragged myself over the larger chunks of wood, moving towards the warped door. Finally making it to the wall, my fingers tangled with thick ivy, pulling it away from the frame in search of the handle.
My hand closed around it. Ignoring the ache in my shoulders, I gave it a sharp turn, pushing against the wood, only for the rusted lump to come apart in my hand. I’d only managed to push the door a mere inch from the frame. Annoyed, I tossed the remains of the handle aside, forcing the door the rest of the way open with my shoulder, only to be assaulted by stale air and cobwebs. The darkness beyond containing nothing but a bitter cold.
I summoned an illumination orb, allowing it to leave my hand and hover in the dark, barely lighting a few feet before me as the darkness devoured the light. Rats scurried from one shadow to another, the density of the damp making me cough as I pulled thick cobwebs from my path.
I’d spent most of my time at the Institute in the ruins beneath it, unbothered by the decay of lost places, and yet, something about this place felt wrong.
The orb moved further into the gloom, but there was only collapsed rooms and roots. A maze of decay and dark tunnels with arched doorways made from thick stone.
Old. This place was too old. A creaking sound echoed through the darkness, making my heart climb further up my throat.
‘Bats,’ I reasoned quietly to myself, taking another step, eyes desperately searching the darkness beyond for any sliver of light.
