Page 99 of The Wild Moon
But something is, I realized. That was the direction I was being pulled in. The one with its purple power. In my imagination at least.
Whatever it was, it was close by now.
“We’re in Shuldar,” Vir said. “The true Shuldar.”
“What? What do you mean? I found Shuldar,” I said. “I ran down a street, I know it. You’re telling me that wasn’t it?”
“It was,” Vir said. “In a way. But the true Shuldar residedbelowthe surface. Only a few places were aboveground.”
“Oh.” I felt slightly cheated. “So, where I came through the barrier?”
“That was in my temple.”
I worked my jaw a few times. “Right. Of course you have a temple. You’re a god and all that.”
I groaned in pain as my Soulbond kicked it up a notch.
“He’s close,” I said. “I can feel it. I can feel both of them. Whatever that other thing is, Vir, it’s close. I can barely concentrate. Oh, god, it hurts so much.”
Tears were falling down my face now, and I couldn’t wipe them. They ran down my temples and into my hair as I stared up at the ceiling.
“You must hold on, Dani,” Vir urged.
“I’m trying,” I whispered. “I don’t know how much longer I can hang on.”
Vir was silent while I fought my mental battle. The thundering in my temples went on and on, a ceaseless assault on senses. My stomach was upset, threatening to be sick, though I hadn’t eaten in who knew how long at that point. My limbs were practically shaking. I wanted to claw my eyes out.
Anything that would stop the hurt. Anything. I even considered giving in. Accepting Johnathan. I could do it. I could. It would be sad, but anything was better than the pain. By now, I swore I could feel each individual step as he grew closer, the drums hammering in time with his footsteps, or so it felt.
“He’s close,” I heard myself say. “Close to…wherever we are.”
“We’re in the temple of Terrano,” Vir supplied helpfully. “One of many scattered throughout the city.”
I went still, a cold fear sweeping over me.
“Terrano? You’re sure?” I asked.
There was no reply.
“Of course, you’re sure. God. He was your brother, I guess. Of course you’d know. Right. Good. Okay. Um, correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t Terrano the god of rituals? I didn’t know much about him, but I’m pretty sure I’m right about that.”
“Yes,” Vir said.
We weren’t on pedestals then. Rather, we were on altars.
Sacrificial alters.
They stood in the center of the rectangular room. A trough ran between them, up past my head, where it dropped into a deep depression in the ground. A bowl, I realized, to collect the blood.
Above the bowl was a raised altar with two doorways set into the wall behind it. Wrenching my head around, I spied stone slabs set in rows leading back to a large, double-wide doorway that must be the entrance for the audience. The doors above my head would have been where the priests entered.
The walls were adorned with carvings, but my eyes hurt too badly from the pounding of the Soulbond to focus on them in any detail. But I could see enough. Vir was right. We were in the ritual room. Probably.
“Okay, that could just be a coincidence, right?”
“Could be,” Vir agreed, but he didn’t sound positive.
“Shit. What can you tell me about his rituals?” I asked, not sure I wanted to know.
