Page 130 of Forsaken Secrets

This was my chance. If I could take her out, I might be able to get away. I had to try, at least …

Sharp pain tore through my body like a knife and I let out a soul churning scream as I fell to the floor, writhing in a fetal position.

"Oh, no! I'm so sorry. I saw that little mind of yours trying to find a way free, but I figured I'd warn you now. See, one relic that Lord Ellingsworth blessed me with allows me to send this little teensy zap through people." She held up a small bracelet wrapped in some kind of porous black stone. "Something about messing with their body essence? I'm honestly not sure, but it is effective …"

I groaned and wiped my wet cheeks. Gods be damned. If they had more of those, I was completely fucked.

She smiled and held her arm out again, as though she were escorting me to some Ball. "Are you ready, my dear?"

I bit my cheek and nodded. It didn't seem I had a choice.

We walked through the room and I gagged at the stench as we passed cell after cell full of monsters …

The creature to my direct left seemed to be made of … wood? How was that even possible? A shiver went down my spine at the memory of that groaning sound. Was that this creature's scream? A dark cloak hung ragged around their form, and I gasped.

A Seeker? What were they doing down here?

The next cell held a person covered from head to toe in oozing, bloody boils, and I recoiled at the rotten scent emanating from them.

"Don't trust him …" the creature said, words barely audible. I grimaced, but nodded. I'd never planned to trust Lord Ellingsworth.

The creature looked up, and I hissed. Their face was ravaged, but it clearly belonged to the Seeker who'd taken our coats at the Institute.

Was this where the missing Seekers had disappeared to?

"You see?" Lady Ellingsworth whispered. "Our relics are tainted, and no matter what we do, we haven't been able to remove the corruption from the relics or ourselves. The eggs hide it, but that's it. These poor Seekers can attest to how hard we've been trying to find a way. But you, my sneaky little bond mage, may allow us to finally get what we want. And to think you've been hiding here in our midst this whole time."

My heart ached.

"Why the Seekers, though?"

She shrugged. "They're the closest thing to a bond mage that we've been able to find. Then that idiot husband of mine had them all killed! Honestly, without you, we'd have been doomed."

The way she discussed ending people’s lives made my stomach twist, and I ached to hit her, to make her feel some of the pain she'd inflicted on those poor souls.

But at the moment, I was as powerless as they.

Finally, we crossed out of the cell block and through a pair of double wooden doors into a large atrium area.

Orange glowing lamps dotted the walls and were held up by tall stands throughout the room. The ceiling had to be at least fifteen feet high and the room twice as big as the lab with the vrytra.

It was bordered by stone columns that stretched from floor to ceiling.

Had Ellingsworth made this? Or was it from before like the rest of the ruins?

At the center of it all stood a tall stone statue — a dragon?

Wings protruded from each side, as though it were about to break into flight. And its neck curved down, making a sinuous S-shape before it ended in an open maw lined in sharp teeth. A sharp gash split the side of its face and extended down to its belly, splitting the skin there and showing the creature's innards spilling to the ground.

I swallowed my bile as we drew closer and the details got more clear.

Burns marred the entire left side of its body, resulting in thousands of little blisters.

Who in the seven hells had carved such a grotesquely detailed piece of art — if it could even be called that?

Oh gods. Those burns reminded me too much of the melted stone in the storage room.

Could this be the object the queen had tried to burn? What was so special about it that she'd tried to destroy it?

---