Page 98 of The Scars Within
He took a few steps back, his eyes never leaving mine. “You and I both know the Eternal Tomb isn’t what people are led to believe.”
“So what is it, then?” I asked, my voice barely above a breath.
He smirked but didn’t answer.
One of the men in the corner moved, grabbing a stoker from the fireplace. Once it glowed red-hot, he slowly approached me.
“You’re aware that you’re only invincible to dragon flames, right?” the leader taunted.
I swallowed hard, fighting the panic creeping into my chest as the man lowered the glowing stoker toward my knee.
“Where is the Eternal Tomb?” the leader asked again, his voice sharper this time.
“I don’t know!” I screamed, my voice trembling with fear and frustration.
The stoker seared through my leathers, burning into my skin. The smell of scorched flesh hit me as I clenched my teeth so hard my gums began to bleed. But I didn’t scream. I won’t give them that satisfaction.
My body trembled from the pain, but I held myself together. Lakota was losing his mind, but I shut him out, throwing up my mental gates to keep him from acting on instinct.
“Again,” the leader commanded.
But his henchman didn’t get the chance. I channeled air, yanking the stoker from his grasp with a force I hadn’t realized I could control. It was the first time I had ever mentally wielded my element without using my hands.
The leader growled, “Fine. We’ll do this the hard way.” He flicked his fingers at one of the other men.
The man stepped forward, pulling a small vial from his pocket. Inside was a black powder, and the sight of it sent a chill down my spine. It reminded me of a lesson Aunt Cora had drilled into me when I was young.
“Never, ever go near black powder. It’s illegal magic, only used in the most extreme circumstances by the military. And even then, only on Tyrian captives.” Her voice echoed in my mind.
I tried to turn my head as far as possible from the vial and held my breath, but the leader’s fist slammed into my stomach. I gasped, and in that split second, his henchman emptied the black powder into my face.
My nostrils burned, the sensation spreading like wildfire through my head and then down to my fingertips and toes. My body convulsed uncontrollably, the restraints the only thing keeping me in the chair. Desperately, I tried to reach out to Lakota, but my connection to him felt numb and distant.
As the powder dissipated from the air, the leader stepped forward again, looming over me.
“Now, where were we?” he sneered. “Oh, yes—where is the Eternal Tomb?”
Images of the hidden chamber flashed through my mind. I saw the prophecy etched on the plaque, the shadowy corridor, and the eeriecircular room. The runes glowed on the obsidian pedestal, each one inscribed with markings underneath them.
It all clicked into place.
They’d used a truth powder.
And the hidden chamber was actually the Eternal Tomb.
My jaw strained, aching to open and spill the truth, but I fought with everything I had to keep it clamped shut. My lips twitched, pulling away as if forced by invisible hands, but I clenched my teeth hard enough to make my gums bleed. The muscles in my neck tensed, and my chest burned from resisting the magical pull to speak.
Physically, I’m not strong enough to hold out much longer.
But mentally, I am built for war.
You are meant for more.
I summoned every bit of training Rhodes has drilled into us about fortifying our mental gates and threw them up, tall and strong.
If my body can’t win this fight… my mind will.
I shut off every light in my mind, plunging the truth into a darkness as deep as my lowest moments in Rock Bottom. I don’t know why or how I can enter the Eternal Tomb while my friends cannot, but I do know one thing—it is my truth to protect.
