Page 108 of Kingdom of Rot & Ruin
I tripped over something lying in the middle of the passageway—something soft and warm. And not breathing.
“Shava! Shava, you must get up!”
My voice got lost as the tunnel groaned and rocks shifted. My bloodmagick flashed against my skin as I called whatever strength it could give me as I hoisted Shava across my back. She was thin like all mud girls were, but long and lanky as I dragged her through the rubble.
Or tried to.
Was she even breathing? Debris fell faster and harder. I fought for every inch of ground, not entirely sure I was even fighting in the correct direction. It was so dark, and I couldn’t breathe.
I tripped over a boulder I couldn’t see and went down with Shava on top of me. Rocks and dirt went under my nails, in my hair, and coated my lungs.
This is where you finally die.
“Shava? Shava.”
My bloodmagick flared weakly and faded back into my skin, giving me only a brief glimpse of her slack, unmoving face. I put a finger to her neck, trying to feel for a heartbeat.
It was there, but weak and unsteady. I had to get out before it stopped completely.
Blood sluggishly poured from a wound at the back of her head, coating my thighs and knees. That same rush of power and purpose that I’d felt with the dying Fireguard filled me. Golden lines exploded across my skin, dissecting it like liquid lightning as my frustration and rage fueled my body’s fire.
“No, not going to do that. That’s for Nisar. Not Shava. Not …”
She’s dead anyway. So are you.
“No. NO.”
I could protest it as much as I wanted, but I couldn’tignore how shallow my breaths were, indicating just how quickly we were both running out of air.
Assuming she wasn’t dead.
I felt her neck again, but this time couldn’t find her pulse. Wait.There it was.Weak and barely there.
Panting, I tried to settle her into a comfortable position and make my way out.
Only to find it blocked. Hard, unyielding rocks met my fingertips no matter which direction I turned, my scrabbling getting more desperate as I tried not to step on Shava in my panic to get out.
No way out. No way out.
“Don’t panic. There’s always a way out. Always.”
Not this time.
The odd energy around Shava was building. Did it have something to do with her impending death?
You can’t save her. Either you both die or you try something new.
I only had a mild sense of what to do, but the magick called to me. Settling back down next to Shava, I withdrew my blade. My bloodmagick hummed happily in my veins, pushing at me.
Do it. Plunge it into her chest, and feel her life blood spurt between your fingers. Just like the Fireguard, but this one will mean more, because SHE means more.
Were they my thoughts or the magick consciously imposing its will on me? It would be easy to blame an extrinsic force, but I couldn’t deny my own need. Desperately, I wanted to know what would happen if I completed this new kind of ritual. Shava was dead anyway. There was no sense in both of us dying, right?
Do it.Hurry while she’s on the brink, and not yet dead. Then it won’t work. It has to be your hand.
Says who?
Still, the knife hovered over her chest, tantalizingly closeto grazing her skin. I had to keep my other hand on her just so I knew where I was. I couldn’t see my own nose in the total darkness.
