Page 79 of A Forgery of Fate

Her winglike fins extended at either side as she dove into the Fold, spiraling through the walls of waters. It didn’t take us long to reach Mailoh. The turtle lay supine, inside a cave carved within the cliff. Frost rimed her eyelids, and icicles laced her shell. I almost didn’t see the long crack on her back.

She was unconscious.

“Can you lift her?” I asked Shani urgently.

She didn’t get a chance to respond. The currents, raging only moments ago, went still.

It was a shock, how placid it had become. Howdarkit had become. The water turned black, and sulfurous fumes curled out from an unseen hollow, illuminated by the glow of Shani’s red eyes.

The demon clamped her fin over my mouth and pushed me deep into the cave.

Nine Hells of Tamra,she seethed into my mind.It’s not a cave. It’s a lair.

Fear iced my blood. A lair—for what?

I soon had my answer.

Amid the interminable silence, I heard a clicking sound from deeper within the chasm, like crab legs skittering across rock. The sound echoed. It was getting louder.

Shani,I thought, gripping my umbrella and wishing it were a weapon.What is that?

Thadu.The demon’s voice dropped an octave, turning gruff.One of Nazayun’s monsters.

Nazayun’s monsters. I’d read of three-headed giant crabs, tentacled snakes, but I’d thought they were all tales. It seemed I was wrong.

A pincer shot out of the dark, slicing through rock. I screamed.

He’s here,Shani shouted.

Next came an eye, a fleshy sage-green orb. It pressed upon the opening in the cave, gaping at me.

So you’re a rude monster,I thought through my fear. I hated when people stared. Through my irritation came an inkling of courage. I propped up my umbrella as if it were a spear—and gouged Thadu in the eye.

With a roar, he fell back. I caught flashes of metallic skin and a pink tongue clicking against pointed teeth. Then his pincer came clawing into the cave, finding Mailoh’s shell.

“NO!” I shouted, shielding the turtle with my umbrella.

Shani shoved me aside. “Are youtryingto get killed?”

She threw herself at Thadu, lashing out her tail and wrapping it around his pincer.

Thadu thrashed. As the spiked end of Shani’s tail bit into his flesh, silvery strands peeled off his skin, like glass noodles. And then Shani’s eyes glowed red. Ravenously red.

I’d never seen a demon devour a soul before. The edges of her form began to shimmer, and as she drank, the sound was a wet sizzle that brought bile to my throat.

His head rearing, Thadu retreated, snapping his claws as he dug out of the cave.

“Now you flee?” Shani shouted. She smacked her lips. “Coward. He wasn’t even tasty—”

Click, click, click.

I clamped Shani’s mouth shut. Thadu was just outside the cave, skittering across the rock. Was he retreating? My heart fluttering in my ears, I crawled forward to get a better look, and gasped.

He was a thing of nightmares—what I imagined the child of a centipede and crab might look like. Hairy white legs sprang along the length of his spine, and teethlike spikes covered his head, which was studded with ten unblinking eyes peering out from every direction.

Those eyes tracked me, holding me in their bulbous gaze. Thadu let out a hiss.

“Get back!” Shani yelled, blocking the mouth of the cave with her body. Hot, sulfurous spit sprayed out of Thadu’s mouth, and Shani arched back, shuddering in pain.

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