Chapter 10
Chapter
Ten
Zander’s voice cut through the tense air, deep and commanding. “We split into pairs. Cover as much ground as possible without drawing attention.”
He turned to me. “You and Ferrula take the tunnels to the pool. If she’s anywhere near there, we can’t risk her getting to it again.”
Ferrula smirked, already checking the edge on her blade. “We finally get to take that bitch down a peg or two.”
From the back of the group, Tae lifted a brow. “Guess that means I’m off the hook.”
Jax clapped him on the shoulder. “You lucked out. Enjoy it while it lasts.”
Zander didn’t break stride. “Tae, you’re with Cordelle.
Check the west wing and servant halls. Also, every alcove, and storage room.
Naia, you and Jax check the upper levels, especially the council chambers and guest suites.
Search for her quietly. Don’t alert anyone to our agenda. Not until we have her in hand.”
Everyone nodded, the reality leaving no room for debate.
Ferrula and I exchanged a glance before heading toward the tower, boots echoing on the cool stone. Once we descended to the tunnels below, the air grew colder and the torchlight along the walls dimmed with each turn. Down here, the stone smelled of damp earth and old magic.
The tunnel ceilings were low, forcing us to keep our heads slightly bowed. Moss crawled along the corners, and narrow drainage channels ran along the edges of the floor. The deeper sections twisted at extreme angles, each bend feeling like it could hide someone waiting in silence.
Ferrula moved ahead with the confidence of someone who had made peace with shadows a long time ago, her dagger spinning lightly in her hand. “If she’s down here, she’s either desperate or she knows something we don’t,” she muttered.
“Or both,” I replied, my voice hushed. My magic prickled against the stone, searching for any trace of a glamour, a ward, or her.
The sound of dripping water echoed ahead, the tunnel opening into a broader archway that would eventually lead to the pool chamber. Every step forward felt heavier, as if the darkness itself were watching.
And somewhere deep inside, Kaelith’s voice rumbled. Stay alert. She could be anywhere.
Our footsteps echoed across the damp stone as Ferrula and I moved through the last bend of the tunnel. The air here was heavier, laced with the metallic tang of magic from the pool chamber ahead.
As we stepped into the open space, the sight waiting for us made my magic coil tight.
Inderia.
She stood near the water’s edge, her reflection rippling in the blue glow. At the sound of our arrival, she whirled, her silk skirts flaring.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded, the icy edge in her tone poorly masking the flicker of surprise in her eyes.
I didn’t stop walking until I was a few paces away. “We’d ask you that question,” I said, voice steady, “but we already know you’re a traitor.”
Her hand rose to her chest, feigning outrage so quickly it was almost laughable. “How dare you! Theron will have your head once he returns.”
Ferrula snorted. “Spare us the theatrics.”
I stepped forward. “Theron survived your attack. He’s the one who told us you poisoned him.”
Inderia’s lips curved slowly, her eyes shifting into something dangerous. “Is that so?” Her tone dripped with false innocence for all of two heartbeats before she let it fall away entirely.
“Actually,” she said, her smile widening, “I’m glad the ruse is over. It’s exhausting having to pretend to be powerless and depend on the men who fawn over me.”
The torchlight danced over her face, and in that moment, I saw the mask she’d been wearing for years, the one built of charm and feigned devotion, fall away completely.
And what was left… was nothing but ambition honed into a blade.
I kept my eyes locked on Inderia, my voice steady despite the heat building in my chest.
“Why did you betray your own people?”
Her smile vanished, replaced by a wicked snarl. “My own family practically sold me to the crown,” she spat. “A diplomatic marriage to secure our standing… and for money.”
“Welcome to the club,” I muttered.
She let out a cold, humorless laugh. “You are nothing more than a filthy commoner. I never wanted Zander, but him choosing you over me? Pathetic. And proof of his poor breeding.”
Ferrula’s hand twitched toward her dagger, but I stepped forward. “You wanted power. It was as simple as that.”
“I want immortality,” Inderia hissed, her eyes glittering with madness. “Power isn’t enough. I deserve everything.”
“You deserve the end of a blade,” Ferrula growled, her voice low and dangerous.
I put my hand firmly on Ferrula’s shoulder, keeping her back. “Tell us how you poisoned the pool.”
Inderia lifted one elegant shoulder in a careless shrug. “I simply added a compound my fae contact gave me. I used the pool to boost my own powers and conducted the spell my mentor provided. Then, I used that essence to create the poison that weakened the king… and then Dorian.”
My blood ran cold. “You cast a dark spell to keep him weak?”
Her smile returned, cruel and certain. “I cast a spell so Severeth could feed off them. She is my benefactor, after all.”
“You idiot!” I snapped, my voice echoing in the chamber. The sound of my own fury seemed to hang in the air.
Ferrula stepped forward, her boots scraping across the stone floor, eyes locked on Inderia like a predator sizing up her kill.
“I appreciate you being so candid,” she said, her voice low and edged with steel. “It’ll make your execution move along much faster.”
Inderia chuckled, the sound soft but dripping with mockery. “Did you think I told you all that because I fear you, Ferrula?” She tilted her head, her smile twisting into something venomous. “No. I told you because neither of you will leave this cavern alive.”
Her hands rose slowly, almost lazily, and the air shifted. A low hum filled the space as a roiling dark cloud formed above her palms, shadows pulsing like a living thing.
I felt the pressure in the room change, the magic thick and suffocating. “How is she doing that?” I murmured.
Inderia’s eyes flickered bright, the unnatural red flashing like embers in a dying fire. “It’s simple, really. An apprentice can feed off her master… if they allow it. I made a blood oath with Severeth.”
Ferrula glanced at me, her grip tightening on her weapon. “Does that mean she has Severeth’s powers?”
My jaw tightened. “I have no idea.”
A crackling hiss filled the cavern. Lightning sparked between Inderia’s fingertips, jagged and erratic, dancing like hungry serpents ready to strike. The blue glow of the pool reflected off her face, making her look half-goddess, half-nightmare.
Then, with a flick of her wrists, she sent a searing bolt of lightning screaming across the chamber, straight at Ferrula.
The air burned with ozone; the flash blinding. It slammed into the stone where Ferrula had stood a heartbeat before, shattering rock, and sending a spray of molten sparks into the air.
Ferrula rolled across the stone floor as another bolt scorched past, the impact cracking the flagstones and filling the cavern with the stench of burned rock. She came up on one knee, blade in hand, eyes narrowed, but Inderia’s next strike was faster.
The lightning caught Ferrula in the shoulder with a severe snap.
I braced for her cry of pain… but it never came.
Instead, Ferrula straightened slowly, her sword lowering to her side. Her face was utterly blank, no rage, no focus, no recognition.
“Ferr?” My voice wavered. “You, okay?”
Inderia’s smile curved like a dagger. “It’s just a little trick Severeth shared with me. She’s my puppet now… but she’ll know she killed you before I have her slit her own throat.”
A cold knot twisted in my gut. “You—”
But Ferrula was already moving toward me.
Her steps were stiff, her head tilting slightly as though her body didn’t quite belong to her anymore. The way she moved was wrong, calculated, slow, but radiating lethal intent.
I couldn’t fight her. Not without risking real damage.
Her blade came down in a heavy arc, and I caught it on the edge of my own, the impact sending a shock up my arms. I countered, sidestepped, and parried again. Each clash drained me, the weight of her blows jarring my bones.
She lacked her usual speed and precision, but her strength… her strength was untouched.
Another strike. Another. My defenses slowed with each one.
The edge of the chamber pressed against my back. My shoulders hit cold stone.
Ferrula stepped in, shadow falling over me, sword rising again.
And there was nowhere left to go.
My arms were shaking from the weight of the last blow, my back still pressed to the cold stone. I reached for Zander through our mental tether, my breath hitching.
I’m sorry.
But before his reply could reach me, Kaelith’s presence stormed in like a hurricane, fierce and absolute. Her magic slammed through the bond, and I felt it ripple outward, rattling the very air. Somewhere far above, I could feel the other dragons react, their roars reverberating in my chest.
Ferrula faltered. Her sword trembled in her hands, her blank stare flickering like a candle in the wind.
Inderia stepped toward her, voice commanding. “You must listen to me!”
Ferrula’s body jerked, and then she screamed. It was raw, guttural, tearing from her throat as her blade swept in a wide, uncontrolled arc.
Duck! Kaelith’s roar tore through my mind, and I dropped low without thinking.
The blade missed me by inches, the air hissing above my head. But the force of Ferrula’s swing carried it too far and Inderia had stepped in too close.
The steel kissed across her chest in a vicious, diagonal slice.
She gasped, stumbling back, her hands clutching the wound. Her knees hit the stone with a dull thud.
“No,” she breathed, eyes wide and frantic. “Severeth—help me!”
For a heartbeat, the blood held, the wound puckered and trembled under some unseen force. And then it gave way.
A hot rush of crimson poured through her fingers, spilling down the front of her gown, pooling dark against the pale stone.
The surrounding magic fractured, then died altogether. The oppressive air in the cavern lifted, leaving only the sound of her ragged breathing.
I stepped closer, my grip tightening on my blade. “Your master abandoned you.”
Her lips curled weakly, her voice a ragged croak. “This… isn’t over. Not for you.”
Her eyes glazed even as the words left her mouth. Then she pitched forward, her face hitting the stone with a hollow crack.
Inderia was dead.
I dropped to a knee beside Ferrula, my hand resting on her uninjured shoulder. “Are you alright?”
She was pale beneath the sweat and grime, but her eyes were clear now, hers again. “Narvea swamped my mind,” she said, her voice low, still rough. “She gave me enough of my own will to swing the blade, but… I almost killed you.”
“That wasn’t you,” I said firmly. “That was dark magic. And you fought it.”
Ferrula gave a slow nod, though her jaw tightened. “We needed her alive,” she muttered, glancing at Inderia’s lifeless body. “She was our only link to Severeth.”
I let out a slow breath, my gaze hardening. “I’m sure that’s exactly why Severeth let her die. She feared what Inderia would tell us if she lived.”
Ferrula pushed herself to her feet with a grunt, sheathing her blade. “Let’s go tell Zander what happened.”
A pulse along the bond with Kaelith made me glance toward the tunnel. “He already knows,” I said. “But we should get back and regroup.”
Ferrula gave one last look at the pool chamber, then turned toward the darkened tunnel. Together, we started the long walk back, our footsteps echoing off the stone—two survivors with more questions than answers.