Page 49 of Wicked Prince of Shadows
“What if we get out of the Witheringlands and then we look at the possibilities?” I wiped some dirt off my cheek with the back of my hand.
The ground started to shake.
I froze. This wasn’t like the earthquakes. They were…footsteps.
The marble shuddered, and stone ground against stone somewhere to the left of us. My stomach dropped.
"Sabine." Osric stiffened, then darted up the staircase a few steps and shielded his eyes. “That sounds like the behemoth! How did it get here so fast? They're supposed to watch for it!”
The trembling intensified. I grabbed for the nearest planter to steady myself, but it was already sliding across the fracturedmarble. Osric stumbled, and I lunged forward to catch him, pulling him against me.
"It's all right," I lied, wrapping my arms around him as the earth heaved beneath us. "Just hold on." We were down in the center of the courtyard garden with high walls and towers on all sides. Where had Vetle said to go the last time? The northern courtyard? This was the western, wasn't it?
A voice rang out from one of the watchtowers, raw with terror:
"THE BEHEMOTH IS CHARGING!"
My blood turned to ice.
"Out of the garden!" Another guard's voice, closer this time, desperate. "Everyone out of the Queen's Garden! NOW!"
I grabbed Osric's hand and yanked him toward the stairs. "Run!"
We bolted up the fractured steps, leaping over gaps, our feet slipping on loose stone. Behind us, I heard something massive strike the outer wall—a sound like thunder and breaking bones combined.
The entire palace shook. Dust and debris rained down from above. I tightened my grip on Osric's hand, pulling him faster as we climbed.
We were halfway up when the world exploded.
Stone and mortar erupted behind us with a deafening roar, and a large chunk of carved archway crashed down directly onto the staircase ahead of us.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The massive stone block slammed into the marble steps with a bone-jarring crack, fractures racing outward. I skidded to a halt, nearly pulling Osric off his feet as I yanked him back from the crashing debris. The archway chunk was easily the size of a hut, blocking our path completely. Another arch crumbled, raining smaller stones that bounced down the steps toward us.
“KLAK-KLAK-KLAK-KLAK!” Two deathbeaks landed on the stairs about twenty feet beyond us, talons gouging marble.
Two more dropped up higher and toward the right. Seven more circled in the sky above. "KRAAAAK!"
"No, no, no!" I spun around, searching for another route. The dark bulk of the behemoth loomed over the outer wall. My stomach plunged, and bile coated my tongue. Even as the guards attacked it, they barely seemed to slow it.
The behemoth slammed against the outer wall. I could just make out the top of its rounded, horned head. Stone shrieked as it split, a section collapsing inward in an avalanche of blocks that shattered across the ground. The watchtower several dozen feet away trembled as if it were made of blocks.
Terror pulsed through me. It was as if the magical protection of the palace no longer held any strength at all.
Thunder cracked, wind lashing my hair into my eyes. The air stank of lightning and rot, sharp and dry, like the breath before a storm.
The behemoth slammed against the wall again. Stone shrieked as it split, a section collapsing inward in an avalanche of blocks that shattered the lower garden wall.
The ground beneath us tilted and shook. I staggered, pulling Osric against me as another tremor rolled through the garden. My mind raced, running through our options. None were good. The deathbeaks prowled closer, heads jerking, croaking low as their talons scraped across the marble. Their long necks swayed, hunting.
We were still half-hidden in the rubble’s shadow—but not for long. The entire palace shook again. I crouched down, pulling him with me as one of the deathbeaks strode toward us.
Osric clenched my arm, eyes wide. “We can run really, really fast. Head down. Just go fast. I know where we need to go.”
“Osric,” I started, but his gaze shot past me, widening.
I spun around.
