58. Chapter 58
58
Nelle
M y father had no idea how strong this creature inside me was. No one did. Every dawn and every dusk, I ran through the woods alone. No prying eyes. No one to see what I did when I unleashed its powers. I didn’t know what it was. I could control it , wield it to a point, but it was almost its own thing, and I was merely a vessel.
Giving a furious hiss, the dark power thrashed with so much force it rocked my body.
“Fuck, Wychthorn,” Graysen hissed. His grip tightened around my waist, steadying my stance and turning me around, keeping me flush against him.
I barely heard him. I could barely think.
I imagined my hands grappling with whatever it was, crumpling it into a ball, like a piece of paper I wanted to toss into a litter bin. Mentally, I held it down and pinned it.
My dark power writhed and fought and howled— Let me see. Let me taste. Let me go!
My fingers ground against the adamere beads— I bow to no one —and that included the thing inside me.
But a sickly coppery smell tainted the air. Blood. Too much blood.
Too many dark and hungry souls surrounded me.
Too much wretched suffering infused the ancient tomb.
Like sang to like—and my blood fevered for the cruel power standing on the dais.
My lips moved, silently repeating my mantra over and over. “My roots are deep, my strength is stone, my breath the wind. I bow to none.”
It wanted out. It wanted to taste. It wanted to be set free .
LET ME OUT!
My skin itched. My blood fizzed. Fat beads of sweat burst along my hairline.
LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!
I sucked in great ragged gulps of air. My throat felt scorched raw, as if it were on fire.
The creature roared —LET ME OUT NOW!
I wouldn’t. I couldn’t.
It vibrated inside, shuddering my bones as it bunched its raw magic into a concentrated ball of fury.
My entire being went into holding it back.
“ MyrootsaredeepmystrengthisstonemybreaththewindIbowtonone.MyrootsaredeepmystrengthisstonemybreaththewindIbowtonone.MyrootsaredeepmystrengthisstonemybreaththewindIbowtonone— ”
It roared— NOW!
NO!
Too late. Too late—
Fire exploded.
A stream of flames blew outward, upward, licking at aged stone.
Screams—
Panicked sounds of people lurching back—
The way everyone fled was like pouring water into an anthill. I heard it all, the terrified shouting, the chaotic noise of horror. I saw the scrambling, the jostling, and unmindful bodily crashing—the stampede to escape the flames. But my mind… my mind was on fire , captivated by flames of gold and amber and rust engulfing the chamber like a wrathful bonfire. Sheets of golden fire bit at the ceiling, scorching the intricate stone carvings with black. The sweltering heat had sweat streaming down my face, my skirt buffeting in the hot swirling currents.
Urstlo appeared right in front of me.
Pure terror widened my eyes and crushed the air out of my lungs.
I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe…
The Horned God loomed above me, four crimson eyes fixed on the blazing inferno. The noise of chattering teeth and the clacking of claws rushed inside my ears, drowning out every other sound, even the creatures.
Black panic slammed into me. I was going to die. Urstlo was going to fling that cloak of darkness aside and reveal sawing teeth and flesh-tearing talons. My body, bone and sinew and flesh, churned into mince. I’d be consumed alive!
IT WILL DEVOUR US!
The creature inside yowled in delight —LET IT TRY!
Suddenly I was moving, pulled from Urstlo’s shadow. The sea of Crowthers drew away like a frothing wave dragged back from the shore, taking me with them.
Urstlo turned aside. Turned to face those flames. Flames of vibrant autumnal colors, rich reds and sunburst oranges and honeyed golds —
Flames of gold, not silver.
Not silver…
It wasn’t me—
It wasn’t me on fire!
Someone else was lit up like a beacon. The blond girl Mela was in love with—Elyse Estlore. Fire danced all around Elyse, and like my own fire, it didn’t consume her. It radiated from her.
She trembled with terror. It only made her flames roar higher, as if burning logs had gasoline poured onto them.
Had the same thing that happened to me happened to her? Had this ancient tomb, its overwhelming pain and suffering caused her to panic, to let loose what she was—fire and destruction?
Everyone had drawn back in horror, clustered as far away from Elyse as possible, and some had spilled out through the arched doors lining the temple’s walls.
Everyone but Elyse’s family. Elyse’s father circled, palms raised, trying to calm her, but he couldn’t get close. Her flames were too hot.
Someone was screaming— Elyse!
Mela’s sisters held her back as she struggled for her friend, the woman she loved. “Elyse! ELYSE!” Mela screamed Elyse’s name over and over again, the sound cracking against the stone walls, reverberating inside my mind.
Elyse’s mother, Head of Lower House Estlore, was on her knees, hands clasped before her, begging not for her daughter’s life, but for her own. Her father stepped back, panicked. I could see the fearful thoughts running through his mind. The moment he resigned his fate, his expression collapsed as if a hammer had taken to it.
Master Sirro and Mistress Lyressa joined Urstlo, a safe distance from Elyse and the otherworldly flames that blazed around her figure.
I knew, with sickening despair, that Elyse was going to die. Or she was going to be claimed by the Horned Gods. Either way, she was dead.
Elyse fell to her knees, quaking in terror .
It could have been so easily me—bowed before the Horned Gods, begging for my life, for the lives of my family. “ It’s not right… It’s not fair… ” I whispered hoarsely.
Elyse and Mela had found one another.
I couldn’t just stand here, like everyone else. I had to do something.
I could swift her out. But how far could I go? The monolith towers at the gates bound me here. I couldn’t swift past them.
Could I swift her to a car?
Could she outrun a Horned God?
Could any of us?
“You can’t save her,” Graysen’s voice growled low.
Could I bring down a Horned God?
Could my fire burn through them?
I was shaken violently. “Do you hear me?”
I could… I could try.
The creature roared— LET ME GO! LET ME BURN THEM!
I suddenly found myself spun around. Graysen’s hands framed my face and I met fierce black eyes. “Do not even attempt whatever is going on in your head.”
“I could—”
“You can’t. It’s too late. It’s done.”
An anguished sound tore from my mouth, and I sagged in his arms. It’s not right…it’s not right…
Behind me, Mistress Lyressa sniffed dismissively before her youthful voice, childlike, rang out, “She’s a fire-torch, nothing of consequence.”
I turned back to look. I couldn’t help myself.
Elyse kneeled with her hands on the floor and forehead pressed to stone. She was mumbling something over and over. None of the Houses could make out what streamed from her mouth, but the Horned Gods could, the Crowthers, and myself. “ I beg you, spare them, spare my family. No one knew my secret. Please, please, please.
Graysen’s arms tightened around my waist as if he were afraid to let me go. “You can’t save her.” He cupped the side of my face and pressed my cheek to his chest. I heard his frantic heartbeat echoing my own.
Master Sirro stared at Elyse while he raked his knuckles back and forth beneath his chin as he listened to Elyse plead. The titan flames writhed high and wide.
Gods, would he demand the Crowthers to end the Estlores’ entire House right this moment, right in front of us all? Varen was waiting for the order. He closely watched Master Sirro’s every movement and gesture, with one of his hands tucked inside his jacket—clearly gripping a blade.
“Every single other is of use,” Master Sirro replied to Mistress Lyressa, an edge to his tone. He nodded toward Urstlo and the Horned God set itself into motion.
Urstlo threw himself into a roiling mass of black-chattering wind. Churning over Elyse’s burning figure, his darkness blanketed the flames, snuffing them out with the ease of a candle damper.
The fire winked out and it was only the girl left behind.
“ Please, I beg you! ” Elyse shrieked—then disappeared.
Urstlo enveloped her in gloom, cutting short her terrified scream. Spinning into a tornado of flickering black wind, the elemental beast whirled them both out of the temple.
Mela’s legs had given out. Her head hung low as her younger sisters held her up. Her sobs were the only sound in the chamber.
The creature pulsated with exhilaration—
This was too much. It was too powerful—
It coiled about my bones— LET! ME! OUT!
I gasped for breath, trembling, barely able to stand, barely able to hold back the power threatening to burst free.
Graysen’s arm around my waist supported me. The other hand found its way under my sweat-damp hair to the nape of my neck. “Close your eyes, little bird.”
I couldn’t…I couldn’t.
Master Sirro turned toward the dais where my father remained. My mother stood beside him, pale and frozen to the spot. I wasn’t sure she was breathing.
“What do you say, Byron? What example should be set?” Sirro asked.
My father strode down the steps. He tugged at the cuff of a shirt sleeve as he considered the Estlore parents with a cruel, calculating expression. I’d never witnessed this side of him before, the figure that ruled over the Houses. “The consequences of harboring an other are absolute.”
“No one knew. No one—” Elyse’s father breathlessly uttered.
My father cut him off with a raised hand. “No one… No family, no House defies the canon of the Horned Gods.”
What was left of my raging heart cleaved at my father’s brutal judgment.
“The Estlores are excellent hunters, Byron… “ Master Sirro’s mouth twisted in thought. “And I’d hate for you to have to rebuild a new House to take their place. Especially now when we have need of them.”
“An example,” my father replied dispassionately .
Master Sirro gave a small smile that soured my blood.
Golden eyes flashed with violence—
His power lashed out. Unnatural threads of vibrating silver bound the two parents, as tightly confined as ship rope around a bollard.
Master Sirro slowly turned a full circle to speak to the rest of us. His usual nonchalant expression vanished from his face. Instead, his features were harsh. His nostrils flared as his voice sliced through the temple. “This is your warning. All of you.”
The threads binding the Estlore parents tightened—
And shredded right through their flesh.
Chunks of blood and gore sprayed outward, coating the surviving Estlores.
Master Sirro stalked up to Elyse’s elder sister—Sia. She stood beside her husband, Alesk, both of them almost covered from head to toe in her parents’ blood. Flecks of gunk dripped down her dress, stuck to her face, and even matted her hair. With her mother’s death, Sia was now Head of Lower House Estlore.
“Sia Estlore. You’re fortunate we didn’t decimate your entire House.” Sirro slowly pivoted around, facing the clustered Houses, and snarled. “Never hide an other amongst your rank. They belong to us at birth!”