Page 100 of Shadow & Stars
Is this what it was like to drink the Ambrosia of the Greek gods?
Xavier touched the side of my face. “Are you okay?”
“I’m amazing.” High on power.
Pixels blinked to life in this sky, quickly spreading.
Talk about a mood killer.
And with that, we made our way into the sewers.
32
XAVIER
Entering the manhole turned out to be surprisingly easy considering the proximity of the flames. Their bitter sting did reach the tunnels, the walls partially painted with ice.
Andri. My mind struggled to comprehend him being here. Tanith really had saved thebestsurprise for last. He and Ismael had never met, but when Ismael was prince, he studied the various texts on him in the royal library regularly
The demon of ice was considered an enemy of the crown for shaping the frozen lake—the bane of our monarchs. Studying his history was banned for the general masses of the demon realm. However, Ismael’s royal standing allowed him access to everything, and he developed an obsession with Andri. One I’d often tried to quell.
“Made it,” Roman said at the bottom of the ladder.
My witch exuded energy, his skin a riot of light and glitter. He transformed the grim, smelly sewer tunnel into a disco—prettied up the pipes, the slimy walls, his radiance like no other.
Yet I worried for him. He might have been blessed with renewed strength, but what happened when the energy was spent?
His fingers curled into mine. “Ready?”
I gave his hand a squeeze in response.
His nostrils flared. “Wait.” He tapped the side of his head. “Lizard Guy’s known for his tracking. Got a really good nose for it.” He sniffed deeply, pulling a disgusted face. “Man, I can pick up every single stink. Yuck.”
“You’re using their senses?” I wondered.
“Yeah. And they’re heightening mine. Cool, right? I’m so ready for a fight.”
I nodded hesitantly.
He didn’t seem to notice, a little drunk on his new power. “This way.”
I can’t lose him to a corrupting power…I boxed the thought for the time being, concentrating on the matter in hand. This would all be fixed soon.
I hoped.
Roman led us through the tunnels with purposeful strides, as if he knew these tunnels like the back of his lovely hands.
“I can smell the heart of the ice,” he said a few times.
Dread coursed through me with each step. Even in a diminished state without his magic, Andri posed a deadly threat.
What did Ismael want to achieve with him by his side? A new love, to be king of a world of ice and violence?
Memories carried me away from the sewer to the throne room of the royal palace. Twenty torture devices, their design based on Earth’s iron maidens, carved from the crystals of Level 311. Poisoned crystals. Because a demon didn’t truly die unless slain by Arcana, there wasn’t any respite from the agony of the deadly toxin. And the demon’s body wouldn’t vanish toconvalesce in some quiet corner as it normally would, trapped within an endless loop of torment.
Ismael often used the crystal maidens on his subjects on a whim to alleviate his restlessness, or because a demon simply asked him the wrong question. The screams of those victims haunted the palace every week.
And he didn’t stop there. He burned towns and villages across the levels to demonstrate his dominion over all demonic life. He starved the residents, had them beaten or cut into pieces for public display. Anything to bring pain and fear. All because he was having a bad day, his grief dragging him deeper into a rage.
