Chapter 14 #2
Finn turned to his animal companions and made a subtle downward motion with his palm indicating to stand down. Ash trilled in acknowledgment. Boris stilled.
“By the goddess,” Felicity breathed, gasping at Ash as her hand shot to her sword.
“He’s a friend,” I said. “This is Finn. Ash, Boris, and a bunch of rats.” I pointed to each in turn. Finn waved.
A slow smile spread across Felicity’s face. “I thought you didn’t have a Devotion. You're breaking the rules. I love it!”
A jolt of terror shrilled through me. “Finn is not just a friend. He’ll be my Devotion once the required moon phase arrives.”
Emmeline waved dismissively. “I don’t care what he is. He’s another body to help us.”
Razira nodded, her eyes sharp. “Yes, every advantage counts down here.”
We had already agreed to work together to improve our chances of survival, but the air between us held an edge. One wrong word could fracture this temporary alliance.
We shared some brief explanations.. They’d faced other Beloveds and their Devotions, avoided traps, and gathered dwindling supplies. Emmaline looked particularly shaken, her eyes wide and haunted from witnessing a lost vampire’s slaughter by a pack of wolves.
“Do you have any blood, Ilyana? We’re all out,” Razira raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, we have some.” I pulled out the containers and handed them around. “Sorry, there isn’t much left in most of them.”
“But you’re willing to share!” Felicity’s eyes widened with genuine gratitude. She moved toward me, pulling me into a quick embrace and pressing a container back into my hand. “Please drink first. You need your strength, too.”
“No, that’s fine. You can have it.” I tried to pass it back to her.
“It’s only fair,” she insisted, refusing to take it.
I opened the bottle. The coppery scent wafted up, rich and metallic. My body reacted before my mind could process it—saliva pooled in my mouth, hunger and need gnawing at the edges of my stomach.
Repulsion rose in my throat, hot and acidic, warring with lingering temptation.
I closed my eyes, picturing Zane’s face, my promise, the ring against my chest. For Zane. You can do this for him.
I lifted the bottle to my lips and let the blood coat my throat. The taste hit me: metallic and wrong, yet intoxicating. The dark, forbidden essence I had sworn to avoid. I had never consumed it, not once. The world sharpened around me, every sound and movement alive, heightened, vivid.
The moment was terrifying in its perfection. Warmth spread through me, tingling along nerves that’d been screaming. The ache in my head eased. Strength flooded back into overexerted muscles.
Another gulp followed before I could stop myself.
When I finally lowered the bottle, my hands were steadier, but my insides churned. The guilt was immediate and scalding. Even now, the phantom taste lingered on my tongue, teasing, whispering, Just a little more next time…
Yet a hairline crack spread through my resolve, a small voice growing louder: That wasn’t so bad.
I handed the bottle to Finn, unable to meet his gaze. He drank without hesitation and passed it to Felicity.
Zane’s face flashed in my mind again as my guilt spiked. I pressed my fingertips to my hidden engagement ring.
The remaining devotees exchanged glances as the blood containers were distributed.
“That’s barely enough to wet my throat,” muttered a dark-haired vampire.
“Better than nothing,” another whispered back.
A third devotee, who sported a large gash down his arm, shook his head. “We need to find more. Hunger leads to mistakes, and mistakes down here are fatal.”
When they’d consumed the last drop and the complaints faded into resigned silence, we pressed on.
I remained tense, trapped between the labyrinth’s unpredictable threats and the vampires now surrounding me. Betrayal lurked in every shadow around us. The air grew thick, the walls seeming to contract with each step.
Emmeline stayed close to Razira, silent and watchful. The devotees kept their weapons ready. Finn walked beside me.
After several minutes, we entered a wide corridor, the walls smoother than the passages we’d been navigating. The hairs on the back of my neck rose.
This does not feel right, I signed to Finn.
He nodded, his hand already raised in a cautionary gesture to the group behind us. His lips parted to speak.
The walls shook all around us. Exits slammed shut, slabs of rock descending with brutal finality.
The floor lurched, rising as the ceiling split open.
“What’s happening?” Emmeline cried. “We didn’t trigger any traps!”
When the grinding stopped, we were no longer in the corridor.
Three dozen pale, mutant creatures turned to notice us. Their skin was stretched hairless and taut over their skeletal frames. Cold and washed-out eyes fixed on us. Their arms dangled low, each hand tipped with curved claws.
We’d been elevated into a wide, circular chamber. No doors. No escape.
“The whole room is a trap!” I exclaimed. Only one group was getting out of this alive: us, or the monsters.
The first of them pointed our way, then several more brandished their talons.
“No!” Emmeline yelled. “They’re everywhere!”
“Eliminate them.” Razira stepped forward, sword raised, and struck.
Finn pointed, and his animals attacked. Ash's massive wings buffeted creatures back as his claws ripped through them. Boris darted between legs, his teeth finding vulnerable flesh. I parried a claw swipe and countered, driving my dagger into sickly white skin.
Felicity weaved through the battle, graceful, unstoppable.
She lifted her hand, and fire answered. Two monsters melted inches from her, their bony fingers stopping just before her throat.
She pivoted, her blade flashing. One head flew off another, the body collapsing before it hit the ground.
Her other hand thrust out; the air cracked and crystallized.
Ice erupted, spears of frost exploding outward.
Her ice devotee joined her. The creatures slowed, staggered, then froze.
Another vampire struck. A heavy mace shattered the frozen monsters like glass.
“Emmeline! Left flank. Now!” Razira barked.
The truth-seeking vampiress’s golden eyes flashed silver.
Raw power burst from her hand. The force hurled monsters backward, smashing them into stone.
The cavern wall split with a crack like thunder.
She surged forward, her sword darting, yet her hand trembled as she raised it again.
The next spell came slower, diminished. By the third, it was even weaker.
She abandoned magic entirely, steel meeting flesh in a desperate rhythm, narrowly avoiding deadly claws.
No power sparked from Razira’s fingers. Her sword danced, each strike surgical and precise.
A lean devotee drove his spear clean through two creatures. Then he lifted one hand; silver light burst from his palm, blasting apart a cluster of foes. He was already moving, weapon in hand, seamlessly shifting from magic to metal.
Damian called the cadence of battle: “Right flank! Hold!” Fire bloomed from his fingertips, blackening monsters where they stood. He didn’t pause; his sword cleaved into what his magic hadn’t finished.
All around us, the devotees surged forward, their palms aglow with power. Illusions flickered—phantoms that distracted. A small swarm of ants engulfed a mutant. Stones hurled by unseen hands crushed skulls. The tide of magic and steel pushed on, relentless.
One of the creatures lunged at Felicity. Boris intercepted it, jaws snapping shut on its ankle and pulling, putting it off balance. Felicity drove her blade through its heart.
A monster skittered toward Razira’s exposed back. I stepped into its path and forced my dagger upward. It sank into its chest, easier than impaling a vampire.
Razira flowed past without breaking stride, her weapon already seeking the next target. “Thank you,” she called.
Another monster charged at me. I twisted, and it overcommitted, stumbling. I slid my blade into its eye. Finn was there as well, low and fast, sweeping its feet. It collapsed.
Ash cut down more foes than anyone else.
He became the axis around which the battle rotated.
The tytoursus erupted into the melee as a blur of feathers and fury.
One creature leapt at its face, but Ash snapped it out of the air.
Another clawed up his back. Ash’s head turned completely around.
His mouth clamped down on its head and crushed it.
Black ichor sprayed the room. His paw descended like a hammer to throw another monster from his flank.
Emmeline cast again. Weak silver light bloomed, and bodies flew backward. No second spell followed. She advanced with her blade instead, each strike precise and deliberate.
Felicity's fire cut through the darkness once more. The creatures recoiled. She gasped for air and bent, bracing her hands on her thighs. The pause stretched dangerously long. When she finally straightened and raised her hand again, ice crawled across the stone more slowly than before.
The pale monsters kept coming. They seemed endless, yet their ranks thinned with each onslaught.
We pressed forward, still outmatching them with every clash, but we were slowing. A devotee's anguished cry rose above the chaos as he fell. Another dropped with a guttural scream.
Razira’s strikes never faltered. Emmeline fought close beside her, her weapon flashing in tight, practiced arcs. Felicity’s flames still scorched the air but less often now.
Boris hurled himself into the fight with savage resolve, face bloodied. When Ash brought down his final stomp, silence crashed over us like a wave.
My arms screamed from exertion. My dagger dripped red. Emmeline’s chest heaved. Felicity leaned against one of her devotees, sweat streaming down her face, her hands trembling. Devotees moved beside their Beloveds. Several male bodies lay decimated on the ground.
A grinding sound drew my attention. Light spilled into the room as a hidden door opened.
Sanguine guards marched into the cavern. Their ranks parted to reveal Mathias approaching with unhurried strides.
My stomach gave an involuntary flutter at the sight of him, and I clenched my jaw in disgust at my emotions. His gaze swept across the scene: the dead bodies, the massive tytoursus, and finally, me. A slow, knowing smile curled his lips.
“The Trial of the Labyrinth is complete,” he announced.
“You are among those who have emerged…fortunate.” His gaze drifted past me to Finn, who was petting Ash.
“Though I must admit, the outcome has taken some unexpected turns. An intruder in the Labyrinth forced us to intervene. Under normal circumstances, you would have simply followed the lit path to safety.”
Sweat slickened my palms as Mathias leveled an accusing finger at Finn. “This one is not claimed in a Devotion. He is a trespasser. Seize him.”
The guards advanced in a flawless machine of synchronized motion.
My heart raced, and sweat beaded my brow as they moved toward Finn, who didn’t flinch. Ash growled low, feathers bristling. Finn glanced at the beast, calming him with a wordless look.
“No!” I stepped into the soldiers’ path. “He’s with me. He’s my devotee.”
Mathias smiled. “Is he now? How…fascinating.” He turned to the guards. “Take them both to be tried by the Flask of Dominion.”
I shuddered, picturing the agonized faces of the unworthy vampiresses the Flask had turned to ash.
As the soldiers approached me, darkness slithered in. Not the simple absence of light, but something thicker. Alive. It flooded the chamber like ink in water, devouring glow and swallowing sound.
Gasps echoed, then silence, smothered by the miasma.
The darkness receded, but only in a ring around me.
A single figure stood in front of me, arms spread. My knees wobbled as I clutched the ring at my chest. Tears warmed my eyes.
Zane!