Page 73 of Midnight Reign
I can feel Crimson’s savage glee as she directs the battle through my body. The raw power coursing through me is intoxicating but frightening as fuck. Part of me wants to give into it completely, to let Crimson take full control and unleash her full power.
But I can’t. I can’t let her have me.
With a final, crushing blow, Crimson’s manifestation of darkness shreds the timeless creature into fragments. It dissolves into thin wisps of shadow, emitting a piercing cry from beyond this world.
As soon as the threat is neutralised, I stumble as I try to regain control of my body, nearly collapsing. Corvus catches me, steadying me.
“Addy?” he asks cautiously. “You with us?”
How was that?
“You back in the box?”
Unfortunately.
I nod weakly at Corvus. “Yeah. It’s me.”
The guys exchange wary glances, clearly unsure if they can trust that it’s really me.
“It’s okay,” I assure them. “I’m in control. Crimson kept her word. But we just pissed off something very old and very powerful.”
Corvus wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me close. “But we got what we came for. We have the knowledge we need.”
I nod, leaning into him. “Yeah, but at what cost?”
As if in answer, a piercing shriek cuts through the air. We look up to see a flock of shadow creatures circling above us.
“I think,” Zephyr says grimly, “that this is just the beginning.”
We exchange worried looks. “Come on. Let’s get out of here and back to the tower room. We have work to do. How the fuck do we get out of here?”
“Quickly,” Ignatius says.
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ZEPHYR
“Quickly”is an understatement. As soon as Ignatius speaks, the shadow creatures above us dive, their forms stretching and distorting as they plummet towards us.
“Move!” I shout, grabbing Addy’s hand and pulling her along as we sprint towards the exit.
The underground chamber shakes violently, pieces of the ceiling crashing down around us. I reach for my shadows, intending to create a protective canopy above our heads, but nothing happens. My magick isn’t working.
“Fuck!” I curse, dodging a falling chunk of stone. “My shadows aren’t responding!”
“Neither are my flames!” Ignatius yells, his hands sparking uselessly.
We exchange panicked glances. Without our magick, we’re vulnerable, and the shadow creatures are gaining on us.
“The exit’s blocked!” Corvus yells again.
“There has to be another way out,” Addy says, her eyes darting around frantically. “This place is ancient. There’s got to be secret passages or something.”
Zaiah’s white eyes glow faintly as he scans the chamber. “There’s something there!” He points to a barely visible seam on the near wall that I can’t see for looking.
“How the fuck?” I grumble as we turn towards it.
“There’s something glowing on the other side. Can’t you see it?”
