Page 169 of The Cerulean Sister
When she looks to me, I know she regrets what she has said.
But it is done.
The temple responds to the spell as the crack in the ceiling travels down, meeting the floor and opening into a wide fault line.
Calliape turns her body toward mine as the floor opens up beneath us.
I feel Thea’s hand strip away from mine as Calliape seemingly jumps into me.
We land on the other side of the temple, and I realize she has folded the distance.
I stand as a brilliant blue light from the crack in the floor illuminates Thea before she even realizes she is standing alone.
A single yelp is all I hear over the wind in my ears as the stone opens up fully, engulfing her body into the depths.
“Thea!” I scream as the ebbing quakes of the tremor rolls to a stop, but the wind continues.
99 is next to me, his gun pointed at the bright blue light in the floor for a reason I do not know.
I turn to Calliape, her hand covering her gaping mouth in horror.
"What happened? Where is she?" I beg her to explain.
Thea is down there. Maybe we can reach her.
99 raises his gun higher, aimed at movement below, but with a blinding explosion, we are both knocked to the stone floor.
His gun falls out of his grip, his arm against my chest, shielding me anyway he can.
When my eyes adjust, I see a small hand at the edge of the hole in the floor, pulling itself out of the crater.
I scramble to get out of 99's grip, but he pins me, shouting that what I am seeing is not Thea.
And it is not her, at all.
As the figure rises, I see just how monstrous it is. It's thin and fragile looking, its hair matted and long. The orb of bright blue light spins above it, sending splinters of lightning in every direction.
Bile rises in my throat when I realize what I am seeing: the creature locked in the dungeon with me in the bowels of the Estate. The ward with electricity pulsating on its bars to keep it contained.
And now it is here. Free.
The orb engulfs the creature, transforming it while it crawls out of the stone from its depths where it was kept locked away.
Its few human features turning monstrous, four spindly arms moving in unison, basking in the glow of its own light as it floats above the crater, its great feathered wings unfurling and shimmering in a dazzling chill of luminescence.
Its skull a cracked bowl with water moving and sloshing as it turns to look at us, the starry water perfectly balanced and never spilling over the side. Where human eyes should be, two floating gold lights peer down at me, the shine of them cutting off as if blinking.
It speaks to me, a single word I have never heard, in a language I did not know existed.
The pounding on the door behind us grows louder, and I know they are about to break it down.
The creature's attention snaps to the sound of our attackers and then to First Mother’s altar where the stones rest.
My stomach sinks when it moves to them.
"No!" I cannot help but say aloud.
With a final push of air, the creature sends out a burst of wind from its body, breaking every window, blowing the stack of pews and every guard holding them onto the floor.
