Page 61 of Wrath of the Fae

Tessa covers her ears and looks me in the eye.

‘What the fuck is that, Raven?’

We don’t stick around long enough to find out.

The inside of the rune circle turns black, and we start to fall.

ten

Ilandfacedown,coughing and retching.

Gone is the fire and smoke. Gone is the low roar of the incoming monster.

I look back from where I came from and see the same markings carved into an enormous boulder. The portal I created is still there. Black and oozing power after spitting me out. A blast of fire explodes from it. The same fire I just fled.

I fall back to avoid getting hit, the portal fades, and the black dust seeps back into me.

I have no idea what just happened or how I created that… was it a portal? The rune markings are still carved in the stone, forming a circle.

And I have more questions than ever before and an ever-growing swell of panic as I see where I am.

Sand whips my face and burns my eyes. I lift my head, squinting as the wind howls all around me.

What, in the name of the fates, am I doing in a desert?!

I get to my knees and look out at the vast landscape ahead. Below is a husk of a city. A carcass left to rot. I recognise it from the book Ezra showed me.

The Seventh Kingdom.

Ever-long, they called it. Castles of sand and stone to stand for an eternity. A city of prosperity beneath a sky of burnt orange with a heat that warms you deep inside.

The paintings I saw of this Kingdom back in the palace library are far from what this place is now.

The castles. The giant structures of carved stone.

Gone. Along with the souls living here.

In the distance, swirling masses like tornados of sand sweep across the city, claiming more and more of the lost Kingdom as it chips away at the buildings bit by bit. Deep in the largest vortex, a flash of black lightning breaks out and the impression of a monstrous face sweeps across its surface. Fangs protrude from its gaping mouth that opens wide and grins as it claims more and more of the city. Hollow eyes widen with gluttonous joy at the devastation.

Six of them encircle the remains, slowly claiming more and more of the fallen city. Each is a different size, but all are massive. The largest is the only one with a face and must be half a mile wide.

They reach high into the sky, lost in the thick clouds that try to blot out the sun. It’s from within these cyclones that a growl emanates.

They’re alive.

A hungry and malevolent grumble from the deepest pits of hell carries on the harsh wind that smashes against me. Along with that growl comes a sweet scent. One of liquorice and oranges. An odd combination but enticing and alluring all the same. A trick, I wonder? A trap to draw in the weary and hungry travellers in these desert lands. To call them closer. To snare and devour them.

They’re not simply tornadoes.

‘What the hell…’ I mutter.

‘Desert Demons…’ Tessa whispers, stopping at my side as she spits sand from her lips and attempts to shield her face. She whacks my arm. ‘What did you do? What was that black dust? Why did a monster call your name?’ She looks ahead. ‘How and why have you dragged me to this hell hole?’

‘I don’t know. No idea. Not a clue. And I didn’t mean to! Desert Demons?’

‘Yes,’ she tuts, gesturing to the creatures as if that’s obvious. ‘Desert Demons, Raven. Are you blind?’

‘I’ve never heard of Desert Demons.’

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