Page 31 of Legacy of the Heirs
“I could have sworn in Nerida you said I was the most handsome man in the room.” He pushed again, and Elisara ground her teeth.
“I lied. Does your ego so desperately need stroking at my hand?
“Angel, lies sound so pretty on your lips.” Kazaar spun Elisara again, and she saw a flash of Soren’s blond braids return into the hall.
“I am not lying.”
“Then, how do you explain our behaviour when you awoke in my chamber?” he asked. Elisara blushed, remembering the restraint she put in place to resist his pull.
“It is the tie. Nothing more.”
“More pretty lies,” Kazaar murmured, spinning her to the next dance partner. Elisara immediately went rigid in the next dancer’s hold as her eye tugged on the single silver ring on his hand. Reluctantly, she glanced up at the eyes matching a similar shade of brown to her own. She glanced at the scar on his cheek from when they were children.
“Elisara,” Caellum said.
“Caellum,” she greeted just as awkwardly. It felt wrong in his grip, and her back felt cold beneath his hand.
“You look different.”
Her eyes finally met his. “Different? After everything, is that all you have to say to me? You lookdifferent.” Caellum openedand closed his mouth, but she ignored him and stared at her surroundings, waiting for the beat in which he would spin her back to Kazaar. Caellum tensed and sighed, focusing on someone behind her. When they spun, Elisara found Kazaar, his eyes on hers rather than his new partner’s. The flames flashed white, and for a second, shadows seeped into her vision, but when she blinked, they were gone. Caellum spun Elisara again, and she collided with Kazaar’s chest, an image flashing in her mind. A blur of black. She could not make it out. Her head shot up to look at Kazaar, who frowned.
“Did you see that?” he asked. Elisara nodded as they continued dancing, with Kazaar pulling her closer. The same image of black shadows flashed in her mind.
“What is happening?” she asked. Kazaar’s hold tightened, offering comfort from the unknown. Another image appeared, but this one was of the night skies: an expanse of darkness littered with clouds blocking the stars. The music’s pace increased, and Elisara struggled to keep up as images invaded their minds—transparent glass, a glow, blurred movements—it was so quick, she could not make out its significance. As the song drew to an end, Elisara panted, standing in the hall’s centre with Kazaar. Couples separated, laughing between themselves, with some more intoxicated than others. Elisara looked around the room. Vlad stood by the entryway and frowned at her expression before attempting to navigate towards them. Larelle sat with Alvan and Zarya, eating dessert. Nyzaia appeared to be in a heated discussion with Tajana on the stairs; Caellum swayed with Sadira in the candlelight, and Soren sat with her wolves at a table. Alone.
“Something is wrong; something feels off,” she murmured to Kazaar.
“I feel it,” he said, reaching for the pommel of his sword. The shadows appeared again, yet they did not disappear this time; they crawled across the floor from under Kazaar and Elisara’s feet. Under the flurry of feet, no one seemed to notice, except for Larelle, who caught Elisara’s eye as she stood and glanced at the Historian.Black appeared in Elisara’s mind again. The night sky. Glass. Black. The night sky. Glass. Trees. A glass room. Flowers. People.
Elisara and Kazaar looked up as he pulled a sword from his back.
“Everyone take cover!” he shouted, yanking Elisara with him as the glass ceiling shattered and rained down on them all.
Chapter Eighteen
Nyzaia
Blood oozed from Nyzaia’s hand as she tried to rise from the floor. She clenched her fist and winced at the shards of glass slicing her skin and shredding them further. Ringing sounded in her ears as she rose onto all fours. Yet, through the sensation, she heard growls and wondered if Soren’s wolves were nearby. Carefully, Nyzaia crawled to the wall at the base of the steps. She did not remember walking down them. The last thing she remembered was a disagreement with Tajana after questioning where she was headed as she tried to leave the hall.
“Why are you suddenly concerned about my movements?” Tajana had asked. Nyzaia was about to snap about Farid following Tajana in Khami before the glass ceiling shattered.
Nyzaia’s ribs roared in pain. The force of whatever crashed through the rooftop must have sent her flying.
She turned and used the wall to prop herself up. That’s when she saw them. The ringing eased, replaced with screams as creatures she had never seen descended on the citizens. If Elisara and Kazaar had not described these creatures before, she would have convinced herself this was a dream, but no description would have prepared Nyzaia for the horrid reality. The creatures bore torn black wings threaded with thick veins that knocked people to the floor with ease. Growling, they roamed the hall, alternating between murderous methods: wrapping their wings around their prey before snapping their bones or using their dagger-like teeth to tear heads from shoulders, splattering blood across their faces and into the empty pits where their eyes should be.
Double the height of a normal person, the creatures appeared like disfigured humans coated in black leather skin, except they switched between walking on hind legs to using their front claws to crouch and tear at the faces of those in the room. A flip inside Nyzaia switched. Her role as queen of Keres dropped like a mask, and adrenaline rushed through her blood. The queen of the Red Stones narrowed her eyes to survey the room.
Chaos filled the hall. No one appeared to know what was happening, and no one fought back. But who was left to fight? Garridon soldiers lay scattered along the walls where they were stationed, most of them ripped to shreds; many were unrecognisable as the creatures feasted on their remains before prowling again. Nyzaia paused on some bodies who did not fit that pattern, victims who lay with their eyes open and limbs still intact, except for a simple slash across their necks. A pale blue uniform passed Nyzaia and ascended the steps. She grabbed his ankle.
“You cannot abandon!” she shouted over the noise.
“I am not!” It was Vlad, the captain of Elisara’s Queen’s Guard. He reached for Nyzaia and pulled her up, steadying her against the wall. A dull throbbing ached in her side from where she had fallen, but besides that, and the glass pinching her skin, she was stable, her mind focused. She snatched a knife from Vlad’s thigh and cut at the skirts of her lehenga, freeing her feet and legs. “Elisara and Kazaar need a sword. It is in her chambers,” he explained.The Sword of Sonos.
“Go! Quickly!” she said. The only method of defeating these creatures was not even in the room. Foolish. They should have been prepared. They were naïve to not expect the creature to return for the sword, and it appeared it brought friends.
Nyzaia counted five creatures: four hunched over bodies, intent on feasting before moving to the next victim, but one prowled the room, disinterested in the bloodshed. It crawled on all fours, sniffing the air and scanning its surroundings. Nyzaia followed its eyeline to where it landed on the crowd that had gathered bythe music. She glimpsed a dark braid and raised hands clutching knives.Tajana. Nyzaia’s heart raced until she realised it was not her. Elisara’s friend, Talia, battled her way through falling people, intent on reaching her queen. Nyzaia could not see Elisara as the imposing size of the creatures blocked her view, jumping between victims.
One raised its head and gave a high-pitched shriek, forcing everyone still standing to cover their ears. The screech could pierce eardrums and reverberated across the floor, flinging people back. Nyzaia summoned fire and aimed it at the creature’s wings, though it did little but singe them before dissipating. The creature was at the edge of the dancefloor, clambering over broken tables when it turned its head to search for its attacker. Nyzaia stared at the dark sockets where its eyes once were, and it turned towards her while the other creatures spread throughout the room. It screamed as someone slid beneath its legs, slicing at its feet with two long blades. The signature red uniform came into view as Farid rose and ran towards her.
