Page 134 of A Queen This Fierce and Deadly

“They took it out through a hidden tunnel,” I said.“We thought we were creating a distraction. But we were our own distraction.” My breathing had turned shallow, and I forced myself to unfist my hands.

“Where are they?” Demos demanded, holding up a hand as we waited for the reply.

“They’re moving southeast. Toward Mistrun.”

“We’ll never cut them off,” Gwynara said, her face bloodless. “This was all for nothing…”

“Wewillcut them off,” Demos declared. His words, the strength in his voice, the steady look in his eyes… they had an instant effect. Gwynara’s lips firmed, and she nodded, reaching for her pack. Brinlor straightened his shoulders, tearing his wandering gaze from the water. The others seemed to unfurl from where they’d been frozen in pained disbelief.

Gathering our packs, we moved as fast as we could. No one was worried about hiding our tracks or staying quiet on our way back to the entrance. Every second we delayed was also another second that the real amulet was traveling closer to Regner.

How had it come down to this?

We might have Tor to help with Regner’s wards, but without the amulet, we had no hope of killing Regner himself. Somehow, the fate of the four kingdoms depended on whether we could make up the lost distance and steal the amulet from the carriage without dying in the process.

And so, we ran.

I was lucky that I was shorter than most of the others, although even I nearly slammed my head into a particularly low part of the rock above us.

Somewhere in front of me, someone was using thetrowth stone to communicate with Yan.

The stench from the monsters assaulted my nose as we were suddenly just footspans from where they were being kept. My eyes watered, but I kept moving, until finally,finally, we stumbled out of the mine.

Beautiful, life-giving, fresh air caressed my face, and I took a single moment to suck in a steadying breath.

But the others were still running until they’d scrambled up the bank and were looking down at the mine below them. I raced after them, and Demos leaned down, offering his hand as I slid a few steps. I slapped my hand into his, allowing him to pull me up next to him.

Gods, my lungs ached.

“Now you’ll see why Yan’s orders were to conserve his power,” Demos said, nodding toward the mine. He didn’t even sound out of breath.

Placing my hands on my thighs and leaning over slightly to catch my breath, I watched.

At first, nothing happened. But then, slowly, my skin prickled. Several birds suddenly took off from the trees behind us with a wild flap of wings.

It started as a low rumble, quickly escalating as the ground began to tremble beneath us. The trembling turned to a sway, which became the awful sensation of the world moving beneath my feet. As one, we all backed away from the bank.

Ancient rocks groaned beneath the strain.

I glanced around, but everyone was focused on the mine.

The trembling turned to a sharp motion back and forth. I reached for Demos’s hand instinctively, and hegripped mine tightly. A deafening crack echoed, followed by several more. Rock crumbled, the mine collapsing into itself, until all I could see was a cloud of dust.

The moment the ground ceased shaking, Demos was pulling me after him.

Our group fell into place around us, sprinting into the forest.

“How did you know that would work?” I panted.

“The way the queen described the mine. It sounded as if too much of the rock had been hollowed out—and something told me Regner wasn’t too concerned with support structures. Yan is able to make the earth move— not for long, and he will be drained for days now—but it seemed the easiest way to kill what needed to be killed.”

So many creatures that had been living and breathing just moments ago were now gone. But so were the claws that would have torn into us. The wings that would have carried us high before dropping us to our deaths.

Someone was yelling something, and Demos held up a hand.

“Iron guards!” Yan was screaming through the trowth stone. “They had a group of them waiting nearby. They’re coming after you.”

My entire body was instantly coated in a greasy sweat. But Demos just held out his hand. “Map.”

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