Page 59 of The Spark that Ignites
From how Vesper squinted at the armour, eyebrows furrowed, Emmery had to ask, “Did you know them?”
Her hand rested over her dagger hilt. Did their family know they fell here? Maybe they had a burial without a body.
“I didn’t know him, but he was one of King Thellonius’s men. This is Asaella’s crest.” He ran a finger along the symbol, dirt collecting on his glove. “And it wasn’t a willing sacrifice.”
He cocked his head to the side, mumbled something and his eyelids fell shut. It took Emmery a moment to realize he was listening to the spirit of the fallen soldier.
She moved closer, crouching beside him. “What’s he saying?”
Vesper held up a finger, his lips parting and brows creased. When his eyes flew open, icy panic flooded her veins.
Plucking a flower from the vine, he stuffed it in his bag and Emmery too snatched one the moment his back turned. The delicate bell shape fit the length of her hand, its petals similar to the texture of flesh.
Her stomach churned as she tucked it in her pack.
Vesper turned to her, his voice hoarse. “He told us to run.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
The calamitous force of gurgled hisses twined with the impenetrable fog the moment they left the sun-soaked patch. They searched for the source but only the mist answered. Gut wrenching fear strangled Emmery and Vesper’s hand found hers as the fog threatened to tear them apart.
Sprinting the direction they came, her lungs burned, the hair escaping her braid clinging to her sweaty face. Panic climbed her throat as she clutched Aera to her shoulder.
The slithering intensified with each step, but the threat remained hidden as Vesper’s curses cleaved the air. They just needed to make it out. To get some bearing on their surroundings.
She wouldn’t die today. Not after all this.
A hiss snaked the shell of her ear as something leapt from the mist and struck Emmery’s side, knocking her to the mossy ground. Her grip tore from Vesper’s. Aera fell from her shoulder, swallowed by the fog and Emmery feebly cried out. A serpent coiled her thigh with such vicious strength, her hip threatened to dislocate. Her name on Vesper’s lips whisked into the mist as the creature dragged her away.
Emmery kicked and connected, but its crushing grip shot agony up her leg, the pressure bursting her at the seams. Screaming as pain seized the air from her lungs, she flipped onto her back, flailing and fighting with every shred of fury and fear in her heart.
The serpent loomed, its black shadowy body larger than her arms span, face splayed open like a grotesque twisted star. Blood and black inky goo dripped from needle sharp fangs, hunger and vengeance tainting its unearthly screech.
“Mine,” it hissed, its voice lancing chills up her spine. “Mine.”
The creature lunged, narrowly missing her shoulder. Helplessly suspended in its hold, Emmery could only react.
Strike. Dodge. Strike. Dodge.
It reared back and struck again. This time its ravenous teeth punctured her leather trousers, sinking into her thigh with a sickening squelch. Inky acid scorched her skin—the burn like none she’d ever known. Her fist collided with its head and its teeth retracted, but Emmery writhed as pain sang through her veins. The serpent slithered into the mist, dragging her with it, and as she clawed for safety the damp moss clumped in her fingers.
Her thoughts muddled from the searing agony. Alone in the mist with this beast, her ears strained for Vesper’s voice, his breathing, anything to indicate he was still with her.
She hollered his name but only hissing answered. Oh gods, where was he? For all she knew, he too had been whisked away. She was on her own now. And where was Aera? What if they had already stolen the fox’s life.
No. She wouldn’t let that happen.
Raw, unfettered rage forced her breathing to slow, pinpointed each heartbeat, and coaxed the thrum of magic clawing her skin. She wouldn’t let herself be overcome. Her magicwouldsave her, and even if thekhaosflame took her, she would welcome it.
They would become one.
Emmery chucked the moss at the creature's head to distract while she readied her flame. Reaching for her beastly magic, she pounced, grasping the serpent’s tail, its spikes puncturingher skin. It floundered, its hot, moist breath on her face reeking of carrion as Emmery bared her teeth, grip unfaltering. Spittle laced with her blood flew into her eyes and clouded her vision.
Emmery’s magic trailed her veins, down her arms and hands until golden flame hungrily blazed like never before. Fire scorched the creature, its screeching and thrashing useless against thekhaosflame, licking and consuming until it ceased twitching, its charred body a lifeless husk. A baleful smile claimed Emmery’s lips.
She tossed the body into the mist, limping to her feet. Her leg burned like hot metal searing her flesh, but she kept going, thekhaosflame flickering at her fingertips, ready to claim its next victim.
Aera appeared and, despite her size, latched her jaw around a serpent. Pride surged through Emmery as bones crunched, and it tumbled lifelessly to the ground.
