Sadie
THE INSTRUMENTS WERE LONG ABANDONED FOR FISTS AS SONGkeeper battled Songkeeper.
Blood sprayed, the magicians’ training truly showing now as they grappled with one another.
Even the ever-gentle Ora was walloping someone over the head with a massive tome from the shelf behind them.
But there was one person I wanted to see go down above all else and Navin already had him cornered.
I leapt from the table, fighting my way through the chaos around me to get to him. Navin clocked Rasil with a punch to his chin, snapping Rasil’s head back as he collided into the far wall. The Head Guardian grabbed the slender metal tube around his neck as he fell.
“No!” I shouted but it was too late; he’d already blown into it, releasing an earsplitting trill.
Navin fell backward as if punched, dropping to one knee and holding his bleeding nose. Rasil flashed a bloody smile at Navin as he started to sing. Scarlet dribbled from his lips as Rasil sang.
I pushed through the crowd faster, shoving one Songkeeper into a bookshelf and kicking in the knee of another, trying to get to Rasil.
No, no, no.
I knew this song. It still haunted my dreams. I’d heard this deep, guttural chanting once before, right before the world cleaved in two and a red dragon appeared.
Rasil was trying to summon another monster.
The air around the Head Guardian seemed to warp as I hacked my way through the last stretch.
Navin’s expression was outraged as he scrambled to his feet.
As one, we launched at Rasil, Navin choking him and silencing his song as I drove my knife into his side.
I twisted the knife, but Rasil’s cry of pain was cut off as the bookcase behind us exploded.
Wood splintered, pages flew through the air as my eyes tried to find the source of the explosion through the fluttering debris.
I heard it before I saw it. Screams erupted as that sickening chittering sound started. The cloud of pages cleared to reveal Rasil’s beast. The beetle-like creature must’ve been summoned by his whistle, coming to defend its injured master.
It barreled toward us to get to Rasil, easily tossing Navin and I to the side with its armored body.
I lost the grip on my knife, dropping it in the ankle-deep stacks of books that littered the ground.
I quickly unsheathed another, though, driving my blade down toward the creature’s wing.
But my blade glanced off the hardened obsidian shell as if it was made of stone.
“Fuck!” I aimed for the creature’s legs, but they were just as impenetrable.
Its body was so large, it filled the entire room. At least it couldn’t maneuver quickly in the tight space, but even if we avoided its mandibles, we might be crushed against a wall if the creature turned swiftly. And the behemoth stood between us and the library exit.
I spotted one flash of white beneath its jaws, the narrow joint where its head attached to its abdomen.
Ostekke fucking gut me! Of course the only part of the beast that was vulnerable had to be right next to its claw-covered mouth.
I’d have to dodge the serrated knives that this creature called a face to kill it.
Navin began singing and chanting beside me, and I looked at him as he sang the familiar song, one to control beasts.
Ora joined in a shaky harmony. But the creature seemed impervious to the song, not even stalling as it twisted and grabbed Timon in its mandibles.
Timon’s eyes bugged in horror for a split second before the beast began shredding him apart.
Svenja screamed, running forward as Ora doubled over and vomited onto the carpet at the sight of their mutilated friend.
The creature spun toward us, its pinchers snapping the air, searching for its next victim.
It lumbered through the tight space, knocking down shelves and crumpling chairs under its weight as it moved.
It wasn’t swift or nimble, a battering ram if ever there was one.
When it finally squared itself toward us, it advanced.
Rasil sat crumpled in the corner, a bloody hand to his side, his face draining of color as his chest rose and fell in belabored breaths. It wouldn’t be a killing blow to a Wolf, but I hoped it would be enough for him.
If not, I’ll finish him after I deal with this . . . thing.
Navin ran down the stacks of books behind us, herding the other Songkeepers to the far wall and shielding them with his body, but I knew the truth: we were trapped. Either we’d be shredded apart or trampled if we didn’t do something—if I didn’t do something.
I stayed put, facing down the creature and blocking the path to the others with my body.
“Sadie!” Navin shouted but I didn’t move. I’d only have one shot at this . . .
The creature hissed and clicked, prowling toward me with an ever-quickening pace. I unsheathed another knife from the bandolier around my thigh. I waited, grabbing a blade in each hand, tighter and tighter until my knuckles were white.
“Goddess, help me,” I whispered and then I started to run.
I faintly heard Navin scream my name—and my heart screamed his name back, even as I charged toward the creature.
Just as I’d hoped, the beast lifted its massive jaws, ready to grab me head-on.
And when it did, I dropped, sliding beneath that giant head and to the creature’s unprotected underbelly.
With my blades crossed, I swiped, cutting the creature’s neck joint.
A nauseating snap sounded, the weight of its head too heavy without that joint holding it together.
The midnight black head tumbled, breaking clean from the body, and crashing into the floor, almost crushing me.
The wood beneath me splintered as I moved.
I only had mere seconds to scramble out from under the beast’s belly before its legs gave way and its torso came crashing down.
When I rose, I quickly took in the carnage—Svenja crumpled over Timon’s shredded body, the other Songkeepers cowering behind Navin, so many bodies slick with blood upon the floor . . .
And Rasil still propped up in the corner, his face drawn.
I took a step toward him when Navin’s hand landed on my shoulder. I looked up at him as he grabbed a knife from my hand, his own dagger having disappeared in the fighting.
“You can’t allow him to live,” I said, horrified.
“That’s for certain, love,” Navin said, but shook his head. “I have need of your knife.” He lifted my hand and brought my bloodied ring to his lips for a kiss before turning and marching toward Rasil.
The word “please” died on Rasil’s bloodless lips as Navin drove my knife into his neck.
All was silent for a moment before Svenja’s cries cut the air again. I looked around the room, back at the beheaded beast, and then to the thin strip of open doorway between the top of the creature’s shell and the doorframe.
“What is it?” Ora asked, walking over to my side. They dropped their hands back to their knees, trying to catch their breath.
“Well, the good news is we’re safe for now,” I said to them, trying and failing to sound reassuring. “The bad news is we’re trapped.”