Page 179 of Crown of Briars
An explosion of white light burst from the stones, powerful enough to send me flying into the stone wall behind me. I screamed, pain bursting behind my skull as the force of it nearly knocked me out. I heard Gerard’s grunt and Tislora’s screech and knew she was trying to keep him away from me. I didn’t have much time.
My teeth rattled from the quivering stones in my hands. Heat burned into my palms, singeing my skin. I hissed at the scorching pain.
Then, voices echoed around me, ethereal and ghost-like. I made out the words from Jessinda’s curse: “By the stone of shadow and blood, I make this vow: Until one of my kind gives up her life for yours, this curse will live on, even as my line lives on.”
The blinding light seared against my eyes, and even with my eyelids shut, it burned me until I thought my eyeballs might melt from it.
Slowly, the voices vanished and the lights faded. I opened my eyes, gasping, my body hunched over and trembling from pain. As my sight adjusted to the darkness of night, I made out two struggling figures before me. Gerard had his sword out, and it gleamed with Tislora’s black blood. Her hands were wrapped around his throat, her talons drawing his own blood as they hissed and spat at each other.
I glanced down at the stones in my hand, only to find they had merged into one stone. It was a gleaming white gem, shaped just like a rose. It warmed my palm as I held it.
“You will doom us all!” Gerard bellowed, his eyes wild withfury at the sight of me with the stone. He stormed toward me, but Tislora tackled him, pressing his face into the grass.
“Go, Sybelle!” Tislora shouted. “Now!”
I staggered to my feet and took off down the gravel path, circling around the palace. “Azure!” I cried as I ran. “I need you!”
The giant beating of wings drew nearer, and I yelped as something huge wrapped around me, lifting me in the air.
Azure gripped me between her talons, her icy claws wrapped around each of my arms. She didn’t even pause to land.
I cried out, my legs dangling below me. My stomach dropped with each movement she made, and I couldn’t shake the terrifying feeling of weightlessness, like at any moment I would free-fall and plummet to my death. My palms were covered in sweat, and I feared the stone would slip out of my grasp. “Do you know where the shadow storm is?” I asked.
“Of course I do. It isn’t far from here. Don’t lose your nerve.”
I rolled my eyes, knowing her teasing was keeping my fear at bay. It was likely why she kept it up.
My legs swung wildly as she arced left. I glanced to the right and made out the human soldiers, their swords clashing with the unseelie fae. My heart seized in my chest. Not only were the humans wearing armor that was much stronger, but there were more than twice as many humans as fae. The Earthen soldiers had pushed them all the way up to the portcullis. Several humans were climbing over the gate to reach the castle.
“Stones,” I whispered. “They’re losing. Badly.”
“It will be over soon, Sybelle.”
A knot formed in my throat, and I nodded. This would not be for nothing. I would make sure of it.
Azure carried me over the treetops of the Noxen Forest. Once we passed the woods, a fierce wind rippled over us, and she had to beat her wings harder to continue forward. The howl of the storm filled the air, and my stomach fluttered with anxiety.
In front of us was a raging tornado, twisting and roaring like an enraged monster. Dark gray thunderclouds surrounded it, but at the heart of the storm was a pitch black void.
The very same void I would have to drop into.
Trees were uprooted, tossed about like rag dolls as the storm consumed them. The massive funnel cloud drew closer, the wind and dirt particles stinging my eyes.
My blood seemed to freeze over with icy fear.Am I really going to do this?
The foul stench of the Necro Shadows surrounded us. It wouldn’t take long for the toxins to infect my body. My mouth went bone dry, and I had the sudden urge to retch. I was going to be sick.
“Are you still down there?”Azure asked.“That wind is so intense I thought it might blow away your feeble human body.”
I had no response. My tongue was glued to the roof of my mouth. If I tried to speak, I would likely vomit.
“You can just drop it in,” Azure reminded me.“Just drop the stone into the storm, and I can carry you away.”
“No,” I said, finding my voice at last. “No, it’s not that simple. I—I have to fall in myself.”
Her talons tightened around me. “What are you talking about?”Her voice was full of panic.
This was why I hadn’t told her. She never would have agreed to this if she’d known.
