Page 141 of Atop the Faerie Throne
The direction we came from is hidden behind more wyrms, with others still erupting into the increasingly confined space. Every time one of them crashes into the walls of the cave, or slams their tail into the floor, a tremor ratchets through the rock. The floor vibrates with movement until it seems like we’re suffering one prolonged quake.
Soon we’ll be crushed to death.
“No. We really,reallyneed to go.”
I funnel my own urgency down the bond, and immediately a flame wall springs up between me and the snakes.
“She’s right,” Bree calls. “They just keep coming.”
My wolf howls in agreement, a sound that cuts off abruptly as he shields Caed from having his head bitten off and takes a claw to his leg for his troubles. The attack staggers him, leaving him open. A second wyrm takes advantage, sinking those deadlyfangs into his side before Lore tackles it, backed up by three ghostly swords.
Jaro’s sandy fur, glowing in the light of Drystan’s flames, starts to darken. He takes a stumbling step forward before his back leg gives out. His paws scrabble, bloodshot eyes darting frantically. Then he hits the ground, going still.
No!
I dive, narrowly escaping the snap of the beasts’ jaws as I make for him. A scaled tail rises, and I flit underneath before landing on my knees in the blood. Shouts and hisses fill the air as I desperately search out my mark on his paw, not wanting to distract Titania from shooting the creatures.
Pressing one palm flush against the skull and rose design, I keep a firm hold on my bond to Danu, then sigh in relief as the magic passes between us, sealing the foaming cut on his leg. With the other hand, I fish for one of Kitarni’s potions, unstoppering the bottle with my teeth. It’s difficult to angle his head so I can tip the sparkling red liquid between his lupine lips, but most of it makes it into his mouth.
For a heartbeat, nothing happens. I scramble for a second vial, wondering if it will even work on him while he’s shifted.
Then his paw twitches.
One ear moves, his head finally swivelling. It takes moments, at most, for him to regain use of his limbs. Once he does, he gives a massive shake, the fur of his ruff puffing up as he presses a wet lick to my face, then a golden bubble surrounds us just in time to rebuff another pair of fangs.
“We need to find Elatha and get out of here,” I repeat, scrambling to my feet.
“Back the way we came,” Bree yells, though I can’t see him past the coiling scaled bodies taking up every single inch of space. “Someone try to get Drystan to understand we need a wall of fire behind us to keep them from following.”
“I hate to break it to you.” Caed grunts as if he’s taken a blow, and I flinch. “But they dig through rock, they have our scent, and they’re fucking pissed.”
The floor quakes violently, and this time it throws me off my feet and onto my ass.
“More of them?” Mab groans just as a second serpent finally falls.
“I don’t think that was the tunnel wyrms.” Caed dives through a gap in the golden bubble just in time to avoid the snapping jaws behind him. “Under the shield, now! Redcap, grab Drystan.”
Another rumble shakes the room, a chunk of rock falling from the ceiling above and striking one of the wyrms.
The hisses turn to shrieks, and then… they retreat. My chest tightens in terror. The floor shakes so hard that my arms fly out for balance.
“A little busy here, blue!” Lore blinks atop one of their heads, stabbing into the flat top of its skull rather than following Caed’s order. “Come back, beastie. I’m not done with you!”
Jaro’s wolf lets out an angry bark, but fortunately, Bree tackles Drystan into the safety of the shield in the next breath, the two of them landing in a pile of feathers and flame beside me.
Before any of us can convince Lore to abandon his quest, the world collapses in a deafening tumble of rock. My redcap’s excited whoops are drowned out as stone strikes stone, and the floor falls away.
Forty-Six
Rhoswyn
Jaro’s shield bubble bounces and spins as it smashes against rock, tossing us all together without mercy as we tumble into darkness. An elbow catches my side, a foot slams into my skull, and at one point I’m sure my face ends up in someone’s crotch.
A wolf’s whine cuts off as my stomach lurches, and finally, blessedly, we thud to a stop. It’s a bone-jarring impact, made worse for the fact that I’ve definitely landed on someone else’s knee.
My headache is worse—so much worse—and deep in my gut, something rebels.
Iron. Lots of it.
