Page 144 of Crown of Darkness
“That’s it, you big, ugly bastard. Focus on me!”
A gush of hot flame spews toward me and I scream, scrambling for cover and warding desperately.
Light spills through a crevice in the ceiling ahead of me. Another pair of columns have crumbled, leaving the straining roof supports collapsed against each other.
There’s more than one way to kill a dragon wight.
I skid to a halt in the middle of the hallway and turn.
The enormous creature seems to sense me, its head swiveling toward me and its nostrils flaring with blue fire as if it prepares to attack again.
“Run, Vi!” Andraste calls from where she’s scampering across the roof supports.
An enormous ball of blue flame shoots toward me. I’ll never make it in time—
A scream dies in my throat as I slam my crossed wrists up in front of me, willing a shield of pure air to form around me. The heat dies. Sound fades. There’s nothing but silence, and as I blink in shock, I see a gush of blue flames ripple over me.
And then the flames die down and the dragon lumbers toward me.
Blessed Maia. I lower my arms, smelling the stink of scorched leather from where my boot soles didn’t quite fare as well. I mustn’t have shielded completely.
But my sister strikes her hand against the supporting columns that shield the roof, and cracks run through the stone as she unleashes her own magic.
The dragon freezes, looking up.
And the entire ceiling collapses upon it.
Eris appears out of the rubble, sprinting up its spine and grasping her massive sword in both hands. She leaps over falling stones, warding a vicious rock away from her as she lands on the dragon’s skull.
“Die!” She drives her sword through its skull.
The wight screams, and the blue lights in its eyes flare hot for a second before its body starts collapsing.
“This way!” I gesture for her to follow me, even as the soles of my boots still steam.
Vines crawl through the nearest doorway, thick with bristling thorns. There are too many of them to cut through.
Grimm streaks beneath them, leaving me to follow. “It’s in here!”
I slice through the closest briars, finding myself in a circular chamber. Eris staggers into me, but she’s spitting curses because her sword lodged in the dragon’s skull. I toss her mine.
Thirteen enormous stones line the walls. The dusty floor is cut with bronze glyphs that wink in the faelight I summon.
The Hallow.
“Vi?” Andraste pants at my side, blood dripping from a cut on her temples. “What are you doing?” She stills as she sees the state of the glyphs. Some of them have been defaced, and there’s a skeleton resting with its back against the nearest wall.
At least one of the adventurers who came exploring has been accounted for.
“I can use the Hallow,” I tell her.
She backs away, shaking her head. “No. This is forbidden. If the glyphs are shattered—"
“She can use it,” Eris says with a snort. “Are you coming, bitchspawn?”
Andraste stares at me for a long moment. “No.”
“You’re not safe here!” I argue.
