Page 191 of Wolf Caged
“Kael,” she whispered.
“You are safe. Nothing will happen to you. I will not allow it, Saphira.” I felt as if those words were to reassure me as much as they were to reassure her as I strode onwards, heading for the final set of bone steps, and the beating waves of power that pulsed through the tower grew stronger, beckoning me.
A crimson glow lit the top of the staircase, pulsing in time with the power coursing over my skin and sinking into my bones.
I slowed as I neared the top, gaze shifting to the plinth of white bones and the ruby crystal lovingly held aloft within two bony hands. In the middle of the crystal, a heart of fire beat in time with the waves of power.
“An’sidwain,” Saphira murmured.
And reached for it before I could stop her.
The moment her fingers made contact with the crystal, darkness poured into the room.
Saphira began choking and my heart seized as she snatched the crystal and covered her mouth, her eyes watering as she turned back towards me. Not just darkness. It was poisonous.
“Run,” I barked and pulled her with me, pushing her in front of me as she coughed and spluttered, still clutching the crystal tight against her chest.
She ran down the stairs ahead of me and I kept pushing her, forcing her to keep moving as black mist rolled after us. We were barely keeping ahead of it. When we hit the next floor down, I grabbed hold of her and lifted her into my arms and summoned all of my strength.
And bellowed as I forced a teleport that felt as if it was ripping my flesh from my bones.
We hit the dark grey sand outside the tower in an uncontrolled landing that ended with Saphira pinned beneath me. I rolled off her and grabbed my pack, ripping it open and snatching up the vial as she coughed and wheezed, her back arching as she struggled to push herself off the ground. Popping the lid off the vial with one hand, I grabbed her with the other, twisting her onto her back on my lap. Red streaks marred her skin, branching outwards from her lips and her eyes.
“Saphira,” I whispered and her blue eyes opened, bloodshot and filled with pain. “Drink.”
I tipped the vial towards her mouth and she opened for me, greedily drinking down the violet liquid I tipped onto her tongue. Her body seized, stiffening, and she jerked in my arms. I held her more tightly, pinning her arms and her legs, holding her down so she would not hurt herself. Her head launched backwards and she screamed at the top of her lungs, a scream that ended in a howl that tore at me as she shuddered.
And then her shaking subsided, the crimson veins receding to leave healthy pink skin behind.
And I could breathe again.
I pulled her to me, burying my face in her throat, breathing her in as her own breaths slowed and settled, and growled, “Fool. You should have let me take it.”
Her left arm came up, wrapping around my back, and she held me gently, no doubt with all the strength she had as her body recovered from the poison and the trauma of healing so rapidly.
I pulled down another breath of her scent, pressing my nose to her hair, clinging to her as she clung to me, my heart labouring as fear trickled through my veins, whispering dark things at me. I had almost lost her.
I had almost lost her.
Power rolled over me and I eased back to look down at the crystal she still held to her chest, and frowned. This wave of power did not match the one emanating from An’sidwain.
I slowly lifted my head, my fear turning to shadows and darkness that poured through my veins as I stared at the figure standing a short distance from us.
Cloaked in tattered night.
Bound by thorny vines.
Blue fire ignited in the hollow pits of the lich’s deer-skull-like head, the shimmering ghostly crown that sat between his horns distorting the jagged collar of sharp bones behind it.
“Saphira,” I whispered and she looked at me, her eyes dull and tired. “Hold on tight.”
I teleported with her, shrouded in black smoke and glittering stars, and grunted as I hit something solid. We fell together, and I took the brunt of the impact this time as I landed in the sand with Saphira on top of me.
Barely feet from where we had been.
The lich slowly turned to face us.
Saphira scrambled off me and I sat up, pressing my hand to the invisible barrier to my left as I kept my focus fixed on the lich to my right, between us and the tower of bones that leaked black mist.
