Page 5 of A Game of Queens
He carefully tugged on the strand of hair, pulling it out of the snake. It grew thicker and he pulled more quickly. A braid.
I popped the nearby scale, making more room for them to work.
“She’s here,” Svar whispered, his voice shaking. Dropping to his knees, he coiled the braid as Myrk pulled it through.
I wanted to seize her braid and pull her out in one mighty heave. But too much pressure or sensation might awaken the snake, or injure her more than she’d already been hurt.
A thick coating of gunk and slime spread on Myrk’s hands as he worked, carefully extracting an inch of her hair at a time. He dared to reach inside, feeling up the long braid to see how closeshe was. “Her head. Svar, be ready to catch her. Another scale to the right, Dörr. Loosen it but don’t pop it completely.”
I slipped the chisel blade beneath the large scale, but as soon as I applied pressure, Jörmungandr started to roll that coil upward.
Lifting her away from us.
Cursing beneath his breath, Myrk shoved his hand inside up to his shoulder. The coil rose faster, lifting him off his feet. “I’ve got her. Pull us out!”
Svar grabbed his other arm and I gripped both of his legs, leaning back hard to apply as much of my weight for leverage as possible. I started to lose my footing, so I dug my talons into the ground and heaved back with all my strength.
Svar and Myrk both fell on top of me.
Along with an unmoving, slight form coated in snake slime.
I pushed upright and cradled her lifeless body in my arms while Myrk and Svar worked to get the gunk off her face and out of her mouth so she could breathe. Chunks of primordial snake essence coated her. Goddess only knew what kind of filth she’d traversed through. Her braided hair hung wet and limp, her small body chilled.
“Please,” I whispered, shifting my palm up to cup her head. “Helayna. My queen. Can you hear us? You’re safe, now. You can wake up.”
“She needs blood,” Svar said grimly.
As the strongest, I’d managed to shift mostly back to my molten obsidian form, but blood I did not have. Svar and Myrk were still mostly the dull gray-black stone of our gargoyle forms, except for the liquid blackness of their eyes. A vampire queen’s fangs wouldn’t be able to pierce their stone hides, even if they had blood to share.
The closest thing to blood I could give her was the black oil I secreted. Though it might do as much harm as good. Alfaressence wasn’t something to be trifled with. It’d taint a human and drive her to madness. What would it do to an Aima queen?
At the dawn of time, we’d all descended from the Great Mother, but Her roots were lodged in our domain of endless night, while Her queens were things of beauty and light.
If it saved her…even if it corrupted her…would she ever forgive me?
What choice did I have?
I rubbed my index finger against her lips, smudging her mouth with inky oil. I didn’t give her much, in case it didn’t work, or worse, hurt her. I couldn’t feel any heat in her body. Were her bones broken? Her spine crushed? She’d passed through a fucking snake with coils the size of mountains and rivers. If she survived unscathed it would be an even greater miracle than her simple presence in this forbidden realm.
Great Mother, please, I beg you. Save her. Don’t let her die in vain.
3
HELAYNA
For a moment, I was sure that I’d died. I couldn’t comprehend how I could have possibly survived.
I remembered being inside a giant snake. Literally inside his flesh, passing through his stomach. Being digested. Absorbed. Drained.
So cold. So dark. If I was awake, I couldn’t tell. If this was to be my permanent existence…
I’d rather die.
Something heated my bottom lip. Warm and thick like melted wax. It was so warm that I couldn’t help but lick my lip, drawing that tiny bit of heat inside me.
Honey, thick and warm and sweet. I didn’t know how it could possibly exist in this hellacious place. Maybe I had died.
But why didn’t I awake in paradise, instead of this forlorn place of endless night?
