Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
LYRA
Dread coiled in my stomach as the old dinghy bumped against the slimy black rock. We’d navigated the eerie ship graveyard through an unabating drizzle to reach the miserable spit of land where the Watchman’s stronghold stood.
Carved from the same black stone as the island itself, the fortress loomed over the raging sea like a specter in the night.
Bile rose in my throat as I stared up at the crumbling tower along the side of the structure — the Watchman’s seaside prison where Kaden and I had nearly died.
Small caves pitted the tower’s exterior, illuminated by angry bolts of lightning that lashed down from the rippling sky. Each cave was an individual cell, which filled with water when the tide came in.
Climbing out onto the lichen-encrusted rock, I wondered how Adriel planned to infiltrate the prison. Kaden and I had entered the fortress through what I’d assumed were the sewers, but that had been on the other side of the island.
Then the royal guard shucked off his borrowed shirt and tied it around his waist, and my dread mounted.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“There’s only one way in if we want to avoid the Watchman,” he said. “We have to swim under the tower and come in through the bottom.”
“You can’t be serious,” Sorsha choked, staring down at the churning black water that hungered for our demise.
Adriel arched an eyebrow. “We’ll have to be quick. If we don’t get back out before the tide comes in . . .”
I swallowed. If we didn’t make it out before the caves filled with water, we would drown — our souls trapped here forever.
Without another word, the royal guard pitched off the rock and dove beneath the frothing black waves.
My stomach clenched. Every fiber of my being raged against the idea of going into that water again — of being at the mercy of the sinister magic that permeated the in-between.
What sane person would attempt to break into the Watchman’s prison? I could only imagine the sort of monsters the Watchman kept here. People forced to die again and again while their souls remained locked between realms.
But it was either this or return to the mortal world the way we’d come and face certain death at the hands of Mirabella’s clan. Given the choice, I’d take my chances in the tower rather than be a meal for a vampire.
Steeling myself for whatever awaited us inside, I shifted to the edge of the slippery rock and dove back into the sea. The weight of my waterlogged clothes and borrowed weapons made swimming difficult, though the Watchman’s insatiable greed dragged me down with unnatural force.
This time, I didn’t fight the pull of the sea but allowed its magic to carry me deep beneath the thrashing black waves.
A torrent of bubbles in my periphery told me Sorsha had followed. I kicked my feet, fighting the numbing effect of the cold on my muscles as I swam deeper.
A dark tunnel loomed through the fragmented glimmers of light beneath the water’s surface, and I moved toward it, fighting the instincts that told me to swim in the opposite direction.
My lungs ached. I needed air.
Adriel had to be right about the prison. Otherwise, I might end up trapped beneath this infernal rock, unable to find my way to the surface.
How dull to die in the in-between before the Watchman’s monsters had even gotten the chance to sink their claws into me, I thought.
My shoulders burned as I propelled myself through the water, fighting the desperate urge to breathe. The clothes Adriel had brought me were thick and baggy, slowing my progress through the darkness.
A slice of pain cut through my chest as my lungs demanded air. I could feel my muscles growing weak and sluggish, desperate for precious oxygen.
I would not die here. Kaden needed me. I would not —
Suddenly, my head broke the water’s surface, and I gasped as cold air licked my skin. I heaved in a breath, wiping my sodden hair out of my face as Sorsha shot up beside me.
I looked around, blinking furiously as my eyes struggled to adjust to the dim light.
We were treading water in a small pool surrounded by porous black rock. Adriel was already heaving himself onto dry land, his sharp, angular features made more severe by his slicked-back hair.
Planting my elbows on the rock, I pulled myself out of the pool as water poured from my clothes. I frantically checked for my witchwood blade and the crude bundle containing Morta’s hands. All my possessions were accounted for, including the borrowed short swords.
“We need to get to the top,” said Adriel, who was already climbing a set of narrow stone steps carved into the tower’s interior. “That’s where we’ll find the portal.”
Sorsha and I followed without a word, the sounds of our breathing unnaturally loud in the cavernous space.
As we ascended, a low moan reached my ears — proof that the Watchman’s prisoners could die a thousand deaths, and yet their souls would remain trapped.
I shuddered but continued to climb, trying to block out the rattle of chains from somewhere above and the scrape of what might have been fingernails against rock.
A frenzied shriek echoed off the walls, and I cast an uneasy glance at Adriel. The royal guard had stopped a few steps above, and I realized the staircase ended at a narrow opening.
Stepping over the threshold, I felt a surge of gratitude for my enhanced hunter vision, which was just strong enough for me to make out the rough walls on either side of me.
Another low moan echoed in the passageway, but I couldn’t tell if it had come from our tunnel or one of the innumerable caves above.
But then a high-pitched shriek made my heart turn over, and Adriel came to a halt.
Dragging in a shallow breath, I drew both swords from my bandolier as Sorsha stopped behind me.
For a long moment, none of us moved. Then an eerie clicking noise broke the silence, followed by the scrabble of claws on stone.
A pair of glowing blue eyes appeared in the dark, and my stomach bottomed out.
I’d seen eyes like that once before, and I’d hoped never to see them again.
A ball of faelight winked into existence, and I tightened my grip on my sword.
Sure enough, an amphibious creature that haunted my nightmares clung to the porous rock. Rounded head. Short, stubby legs. Webbed feet that ended in vicious claws, and a jaw that jutted out to reveal hundreds of needle-like teeth.
A vikkarni.
More scrabbling drew my attention, and my heart lodged in my throat.
Two more sets of eyes winked in the gloom, reflecting the glow from the faelight.
“Shit,” Adriel grumbled, drawing both of his blades.
I opened my mouth to tell the others to run, but then the first beast lunged.
An ear-splitting screech echoed through the tunnel as the vikkarni launched itself at Adriel. The royal guard drove his blade through the creature’s abdomen, but the monster gnashed those horrible teeth and continued to swipe with its claws.
Adriel cursed and swiped with his other sword, but another vikkarni was on him.
Darting forward, I brought my blade down in a wild arc, severing its spine with a sickening crunch.
Two more sets of eyes appeared up ahead, and dread coiled low in my stomach.
“What are they?” Sorsha whispered.
“Vikkarni,” I huffed as more rounded the corner, their short, muscular legs propelling them forward with terrifying speed.
“They share a hive mind. We have” — I stabbed at the beast still skewered on Adriel’s sword — “to kill” — I slashed at another monster dashing up the wall — “the one — controlling them.”
“That’s annoying,” Adriel huffed, delivering a sharp kick to the beast speared on the end of his sword before driving the tip of his blade into the skull of the vikkarni that was snapping at me from the wall.
“Oh, and their venom is poisonous,” I added, thrusting my weapon up just as another leapt forward, my blade slicing clean through the roof of its mouth.
Still, the wretched thing fought.
“Dammit,” Sorsha bit out, using both hands to wield the heavy antique longsword Adriel had given her. She’d tried to behead the monster nearest her but had only succeeded in opening a bloody gash along its side. She hissed. “Is this the dullest fucking blade you could find?”
She directed the question at Adriel, who was struggling to fend off two beasts at once.
“Apologies, princess,” he ground out, moving his swords in a lethal dance as he paralyzed one of the creatures. “There weren’t a lot of options.”
I huffed out a breath as a vikkarni skittered along the ceiling of the tunnel, perching just above my head. Gripping the hilt of my sword in both hands, I drove it up with all my strength, crunching through its skull and pinning it to the rock.
But they just kept coming.
Cursing, I withdrew my blade and impaled another vikkarni through the back as it scuttled toward Sorsha.
The thing emitted a deafening shriek but didn’t stop moving. The princess’s blade sliced through the air, severing the creature’s head.
“Don’t tell Siran about these things,” she panted, turning to fend off a vikkarni that had managed to slither along the tunnel wall and get within a few feet of her. “He’ll have them imported to use for training.”
“Fucking sadist,” Adriel grumbled, gripping his sword like a hatchet and bringing it down to decapitate the nearest beast. The tip struck solid rock, and he cursed. He’d broken the blade.
Just then, another vikkarni leapt from around the bend. I opened my mouth to warn Adriel, but he couldn’t bring his undamaged sword down in time.
He kicked out just as the beast’s maw stretched wide, and Adriel’s guttural yell echoed off the tunnel walls.
I rushed forward to end the thing in a violent slash, and the tunnel went quiet.
“You got it,” the royal guard panted, using his broken sword to pry the vikkarni’s mouth open and slide it off his boot. His chest rose and fell in an uneven rhythm, and dread seeped into my gut.
“Did it —” I broke off, too terrified to voice my worry.