CHAPTER FIVE
We trudged upwards, the stairs twisting and turning and seemingly endless.
“I don’t believe I’ve seen a structure like this attached to the castle,” I remarked. “Either it’s been freshly conjured, or we are very far belowground.”
Cracked and splintered with age, every surface emitted dust that stuck to our boots with each step we took. Specks of it floated in the air like gnats, impossible to swat away.
“If it’s the second option, we might have to move a little faster,” Kodhan replied tightly.
“No taste for enclosed spaces?” I avoided the left portion of the next few steps that were entirely decimated to rubble.
Even then, I worried what remained would crumble beneath our feet.
Holes as large as my skull decorated the surrounding walls.
“Or does the prince not wish to dirty his clothes with dust?”
“I am a man of the skies.”
I paused, and peered back at him from over my shoulder. “It is far more dangerous up there than it is down here.”
His harsh stare bore into mine. “If that is what you believe, then you do not know the true meaning of danger.”
With a shake of my head, I continued my ascent. “You make it sound as though there is anything worthy of interest other than flesh-eating dragons and indolent gods.”
“There are many things worthy of interest.”
“Is that so? Name one, then.”
“Freedom.”
I hummed absently. “I do suppose there is a certain freedom in death.”
His scoff echoed down the tower. “Not that kind of freedom.” Two taps with the back of his hand against my hip was the only warning I got before he nudged me out of the way.
He took the lead up the steps, only to stop after three of them.
He then turned to face me and braced a hand against the wall to block my passage.
“They say the skies were endless before Maverick’s rule. Before the Veil.”
My eyes rolled of their own accord. “Naturally.”
“Do you not find it unfair that we get to see so little of it? Do you never give thought to how different things were before Maverick put the Veil in place?”
“Little value can be found in such ideologies, especially those tied to a past we cannot change. I much prefer spending my energy on things I can change. Now move.”
He did no such thing.
I sighed. “If you are so curious, there are many history books on the topic that could stoke your fantasies.”
The hardness in his features melted a fraction. Almost as if giving way to sorrow. “I’m not taking about books, little viper. I’m asking you what you think.”
My hand shot out, gripping his ankle tightly enough that I could feel the curve of his bones through his boots.
“I don’t have any thoughts on what went on before Maverick, and neither should the son of his Second,” I growled.
“And you would do well to take whatever you think you just called me out of your mouth before I pull. I will not stop you from the tumble you take.”
Kodhan blinked once. Twice. The corner of his lips twitched upwards, but shot down just as quickly. “I hope you’re aware of the fact that you are one real piece of work.”
“You’re the one that forced us into this,” I reminded him, letting go of his ankle.
Only when I raised my palms in the air did he continue.
“Violent. All sharp edges, unafraid to bite,” he said as he neared the last step. “Anyone would agree you practically brought that name upon yourself.”
“No one in their right mind would agree with you,” I snapped.
“You wound me.”
We counted ten different levels separating the tower. Their doors were accompanied by a circular clock poised atop them, pointing to the same hour, the same minute. Only one hand moved, ticking away seconds that did nothing to push the others forward.
“At least now we know where the ticking noise comes from.” He pointed to the clock above our heads. “Twelve past three. That could be when we need to get to the Dome.”
“There might be clues in one of the other wings,” I guessed, frowning. “One that could’ve already been found.”
He reached up and tried to pry the clock from the wall. It didn’t move an inch, no matter how hard he pulled.
Sighing, he wiped his hands across his thighs, dirtying them with smudges of dust. “We should be fine to find the others first. Maybe they’ve figured out something we haven’t.”
“Yes, maybe…” My eyes drifted back up to the clock, still frozen in time.
There were ten separate wings and twenty of us. It would make sense for the others to be split into pairs like Kodhan and I had been. But what didn’t make sense was the hour. Or rather, the minutes that refused to move forward.
There had to be a trigger of some sort.
But there was nothing else in this tower worthy of mention other than us competitors.
A horrible thought occurred to me then. Perhaps not all of us were meant to escape this tower alive.
I instinctively ran my fingers over the hilt of Kodhan’s dagger. It didn’t have the same smooth feel as the ones I usually carried, but it was reassuring, nonetheless.
“You have an idea. Spit it out.” A sure demand, unwavering and without any room for negotiation. The kind made from someone who almost never heard the word no. Kodhan never needed to ask for things. All he needed to do was take.
“Ask nicely, and I’ll consider it.”
“Allies,” he repeated. “Secrets will kill us all.”
The only allies I’d ever kept were the pockets of shadows that accompanied me while I danced with death.
They never questioned me. Never passed judgement, nor made any demands.
They simply watched. Helped me hide each one of my sins from the stars above.
For it was the stars I had to look out for—the stars who controlled the balance of everything that made our world whole.
Whose wrath could outmatch every god combined.
The shadows kept me safe. Alive.
I refused to apologize for instinctively keeping my mouth shut. Especially around him.
“Fine,” was all I said before repeating my train of thought out loud.
Kodhan listened while trying the door’s handle. Though it opened with ease, the loud squeal of its hinges incited a grimace from us both.
“Like prying teeth from a wild beast,” Kodhan muttered, shooting me one final pointed glare before crossing the threshold.
My hands curled into tight fists as I stared at the back of his head. But the thought of other competitors standing behind any one of those doors, readying to attack us, took precedence over my desire to wallop him.
Death hurts more than fear.
Except any fear I felt was wasted. We quickly circled the wing only to find that the corridors were deserted, with all their doors locked tightly shut.
We descended to the next wing, its clock still frozen at twelve past three. Torches flickered around us, laughing at our cluelessness. Like they knew the answers we sought, but refused to tell.
I made it halfway through the threshold before Kodhan roughly shoved me back over it, hard enough that I would’ve went flying down the stairs had I not caught myself in time.
Insults brimmed on the tip of my tongue. But I bit down on them as Kodhan slammed the door shut, pressing the entirety of his weight onto the wood to keep it what way while it vibrated with continuous attacks from the other side.
“Definitely not Brannon or Theia,” he grunted, bouncing off its surface as whoever was on the other side relentlessly continued their assault.
Then the wood itself began to warp, reaching for Kodhan’s limbs with growing, crooked fingers.
“Forget it. We’ll head back to our own wing and let others come to us, just like these two. ”
I rushed towards him, ready to pull him away.
But he held up a single hand in warning. “Don’t!”
Heat blasted my face in a hot, ferocious wave. The entire length of the door went up in flames.
I couldn’t help but marvel at the way the flames seemed to embrace him, devoid of the savagery that fire usually demonstrated as it ravaged whatever it touched.
Almost gently, the fire flickered around his body. Like they were welcoming him home.
The bitter tang of jealousy sent my teeth grinding before I could swallow it. If I won, I would have that kind of power, too. More than that, even.
“You could have killed me just then. One fall is all it would’ve taken.” Agitation sliced through my words as he stepped away from the flames.
“Then we have the stars to thank for your ability to stand upright.”
Bastard. My fingers itched to wrap themselves around his throat and squeeze. The fire blazing behind him was the only thing stopping me.
He brushed a whisp of ash off his sleeve. “They were anticipating us. Their magic was already soaring when I stepped into their wing—we’re lucky I managed to close it before they hit us directly.”
“And you think that fire will keep them from coming out here?” The flames burned high, but the door wasn’t locked.
“The flames will swallow them if they get too close to the threshold.” He sounded convinced, but the tightness of his jaw did nothing to soothe my nerves.
“Well, I highly doubt you can keep every door in this tower burning at once. If those two are awake, it means others must be, too. We should hurry.”
Without waiting for him, I made for the next wing and reached for the bronze handle. But Kodhan’s fingers wrapped around it first.
Heat ran soothing hands up my back as he stepped closer, trapping me in place. “Do not insult me and then run away.”
“I did not insult you. Nor did I run away.”
“You underestimated me. I take that as an insult. Also…”
Impatience had me turning around to face him.
It was a terrible mistake.
I tilted my head back to look at him fully. And suddenly found myself out of breath. “Also, what?”
The question stretched taught across the almost inexistent space between us.
Too late did I notice he was searching for something in my eyes—his own darting from my left iris to my right, lingering on the latter far too long for my liking.
Forcing my eyes closed, I turned my head away, shame burning through my middle like a gaping wound. Tearing further the more I tried to sew it shut.
His fingers gripped my chin, firmly but gently. “Look at me.”
When I slowly pried my eyes open again, his expression had gone soft. Almost wistful.
I wrenched my chin from his touch. Shoved him away with as much strength as I could muster, and crossed enough steps that even if he reached out, he’d grab nothing but air.
For a moment, both of us watched each other, saying nothing. Any words I thought to conjure hid behind the pounding of my heart.
Then his features hardened back into a casual mask.
It wiped away any trace of that softness like it had never been there at all.
With a jerk of his chin, he gestured to where I stood. “Watch your feet.”
In the short span of a blink, the tower lit up with the flames of a thousand forges.
And there was nothing I could do to escape.