Page 86 of The Kingdom of Eternal Ice
I keep following the scent, leading Shayan through the underground passages, until…
“What’s this?” he asks.
I turn around to see what made him stop. I was so focused on that rosy scent that I didn’t even realize what else we walked by. Shayan approaches a cage and kneels down in front of it. A beautiful white fox is locked in there, looking at us with sad eyes and barking slightly.
“Someone caught it,” I say.
Shayan frowns. “What for?”
“Foxes are said to have beautiful fur,” I explain. “It’s forbidden in our lands to hunt animals for their fur alone. We hunt to eat and can use other products for our clothes and alike, but this here…”
Shayan nods. “Then, I will free him.” He looks at the lock on the cage and tugs at it.
“I doubt we have time for this,” I point out.
“We have,” he says with conviction, making me give in with a sigh. I approach him, watching him tug at the lock before he turns to me. “Do you have a sharp object with you?”
“I have a needle for my hair,” I say. “Kilah used it.” I tug it out of my hair and hand it to him, watching him opening the lock with deft fingers. I raise my eyebrows. “I didn’t know you had these hidden talents. Tynan will be fascinated.”
Shayan doesn’t answer, but I could swear that the tips of his ears turn red. “Here,” he says, opening the cage. “You can leave now, little friend.”
The fox peeks its cute head out and looks at us.
Shayan smiles. “Go, and make sure to not get caught again.”
“We should do the same,” I point out.
“You’re right,” Shayan agrees. “Get us out of here.”
“We are close,” I say. “And, I don’t know what to expect.”
The fox doesn’t seem to want to leave us, and instead quietly trots after us. Neither Shayan nor I have the heart to chase it away. We walk the rest of the path in silence, both of us tensed for what will greet us once we reach the end of this underground passage. The scent gets stronger the closer to the exit we seem to come, filling me with relief that I indeed followed it. With the scent getting stronger, I also pick up more noises. There seems to be someone running around, and then a cry echoes through the area.
“Please tell me you heard that!?”
“I did,” Shayan says with a frown.
I don’t wait for him to say more, instead I can feel my legs automatically taking me out of the passage. I run, following the scent and hardly realizing how my heart beats frantically. The sun is finally rising and coloring everything in a burning orange. Right in front of me there is a lake, not frozen, which is rare for these lands, and there is a beautiful woman with long black hair running along it.
Mate!My wolf blurts out, his restlessness now making much more sense.
I can’t believe it! A smile lights up my face and I feel my heart racing. “Run!” the black-haired goddess yells towards me.
“Royan,” Shayan pops up next to me. “I… WHAT IS THAT!?”
My eyes follow his gaze, catching the frame of a huge worm raking out of the water.
“Run!” I yell, pushing him to get away from here, while I chase towards my mate and grab her hand. Tingles spread through me, but I have no time to linger. “What is this behind us?”
“A sea monster,” she pants, her eyes gazing at me. She is a witch. I can clearly sense it. My beautiful mate is a hot witch.
We catch up with Shayan, who is holding his sword now and tries to fend off one of the tentacles. “How do we get away from here!?”
“There,” my mate pants and gestures towards the direction of another rock face. “It’s a hidden portal.”
We stumble backwards as the sea worm snaps forward, its sharp teeth trying to grip my mate’s cape. She clings to me in horror and screams. “Goddess,” I hiss, keeping my arm around her to make sure the worm doesn’t tug her away, before grabbing one of my daggers and slicing the fabric. The worm retreats, giving us the chance to run.
Shayan lets us run past him before following us. My mate and I are almost at the portal when I can hear him yell.
