Page 33 of Ensii
Talitha stomped her foot through the nearest glass window and it shattered into thousands of tiny pieces, raining down in a hail of shards.
On her cue, the fifty or so fighters, Ashek, and Kasrei did the same, breaking through the thin layer of colored glass.
Talitha gripped her rope, heart pounding. As soon as the last soldier had kicked out the window in front of him, Kurzik jumped, then Ashek jumped, and she dove after him.
Just like that, they were swinging down to the bottom of the throne room, speeding into something so familiar and yet so alien.
A darkness bled up from the ground, seeping through the cracks and swelling up like a mist. Even where the sunlight pierced through to the windows, the shadows seemed to congeal and thicken.
Every fiber in Talitha’s body screamed at her not to go closer, but she scrambled down the rope as fast as she dared. It was time to end this.
She hit the ground and glass crunched under her sandals. Peering into the dark, the throne room seemed very much the same as it had been when they’d searched it hours ago. The idols and statues to honor Anakti were gone. Dust and crumbled stone lay in every direction. The stone had been scarred and scratched where reliefs and friezes had once splayed. Scorch marks stained where there had been fires to burn everything that would burn of the goddess’s worship.
There were no signs of the twenty or so people who had come into this place. There was no escape, they’d boarded themselves in. So where were they?
At the far end, the shadows moved, thickening and swirling behind the gilded throne. Talitha squinted, not sure if she was imagining it or not. For a moment, the shadows stilled, then a great black shape leapt from the darkness—like shadows taking on flesh.
Talitha’s heart leapt to her throat and she had her sword out in an instant. “Ambush!” She leapt back, nearer to her people as the darkness flared and solidified. Hudspethites and Ilians drew up into ranks faster than she had thought possible. Their disdain for one another was nothing compared to this thing bearing down on them.
Kasrei was on her left and Ashek was on her right in the time it took to blink.
The shadow slowed, perhaps halfway to them. It lingered at the edge of the throne room, weaving languidly between the pillars. It was hard to describe as it couldn’t seem to hold its shape. The ribs, bones, and sinew underneath the blackened skin shifted and flexed, never in one place for long. The creature would swell to being bloated, then deflate until it appeared as nothing but a bag of bones. This thing must be less powerful than the others.
White eyes with elliptical slits watched them, no irises, just massive pupils in massive eyeballs.
“What is it?” Kurzik demanded. “It’s not like the others.”
“No,” Talitha agreed. “It’s not.” But she didn’t know what else it could possibly be. “Ashek?”
“Debrei would probably have an idea, but I don’t.”
Their group huddled together, braced for the worst. Talitha clenched her sword, shield out in front. How could corporeal weapons hurt something that seemed to be only half flesh?
Just like that, the creature was gone. Talitha’s palms slicked with sweat and it was a good thing she had dusted the hilt of her sword as a precaution.
“Where did it go?” Several voices clamored. “How did it…?”
“Don’t be afraid,” Ashek ordered, calm yet stern. “Its kind feed on fear.”
Then it should be having a feast about now,Talitha thought pessimistically.
“Brace yourselves,” Ashek muttered. “Be ready.”
The doors to the throne room were just a hundred paces off.
“Kasrei, do you think you can—” Talitha’s words were cut off by a scream.
She spun around to find the shadow had transformed into biggest monster she had ever seen. It’s shape pulsed and rippled same as before, but it had become huge, massive even when it rippled thin. The only thing about it that never changed were its snout and claws.
Those were more than solid enough to tear into the nearest soldier like butter. Around them, soldiers hacked and stabbed in vain, attempting to wound it, but the creature didn’t seem to notice. How could they wound something that couldn’t feel pain? That had no corporeal shape?
Like a basket against an anvil, their ranks broke. The Hudspethites and Ilians—some of the fiercest and most loyal fighters in the known world—ran for their lives.
Some fled to the far side of the throne room and began pounding on the doors. A handful ran to the pillars and sought shelter in the shadow of the massive columns that lined the far wall.
Talitha grabbed Ashek and Kasrei to catch their attention and ran, shouting for everyone to reform ranks.
She wasn’t sure what she did or how. The next thing she knew, she was kneeling behind one of the massive columns with Ashek and Kasrei in front of her. Several Hudspethite and Ilian soldiers huddled with them.
