13. Nyx #2
I’m about to step inside when I notice a bright light seeping beneath the covering of Cin’s workshop door. There’s a wall of exposed welwig root in that room, and it normally glows blue—but for the first time ever, it’s red.
Interesting…
Deciding Cin can wait for a moment longer, I make my way toward the workshop. As soon as I step inside, I’m assaulted with a wave of ancient, dangerous magic. It tickles my skin and makes the hair at the back of my neck stand on end, activating some primal fear deep in my soul.
Determined not to give in to my fear, I walk up to the wall and place my palm flat against the thick twining roots, but nothing happens. I feel the magic of this world calling to me, ordering me to feast and give in to my monstrous desires—but that is nothing new.
Sighing, I drop my hand to my side, staring hard at the crimson roots. What does this mean…?
Just then, the ground shudders as an ice wyrm roars deep underground. A second responds to the call, their eerie wails seeping through the cracks in the ice and sending a shiver down the length of my spine.
They’re closer than they were before. Much closer.
Thousands of years ago, the ice wyrms carved these caverns that we call home. Over time, they moved deeper into the earth in search of more magic to feast on, leaving these upper tunnels abandoned.
With all the activity we’ve been hearing lately, it’s safe to assume that they’re migrating back toward the surface. But why?
The closer you move to the core of The Far Place, the stronger the magic becomes. If anything, the ice wyrms should be going even deeper if they are hungry.
This isn’t right. Something is terribly wrong.
I don’t have anything to prove it, but there’s a horrible gnawing pit in my stomach, warning me of something horrible to come. And my gut is rarely wrong.
With a shiver, I turn from the wall and hurry out of the room, desperate to be far away from that evil energy.
I stop at the threshold of Cin’s bedroom, panting hard, my heart beating erratically.
I’m about to move inside when his familiar, Noox, slithers out from the bottom of the covering, her eyes holding a vicious promise.
“I’m not going to hurt him. I just want to talk.”
In response, the snake strikes angrily at my feet, and I only narrowly manage to dodge his attack. “You’re a moody little asshole, you know that?”
Noox hisses angrily, his tongue flicking out to taste the air around my ankles. “Don’t you even think about it. I’ll get Circe to swat your ugly ass.”
Cin’s familiar is always so volatile and pissy—possibly more so than his master, and that’s saying something.
With a heavy sigh, I jump nimbly over the python, sending a gust of wind in his direction to push him a little ways out of the room.
Now that there’s a good amount of distance between me and the snake, I move deeper into the room, my gaze locking on a pair of silver eyes glaring at me through the shadows.
A predator patiently awaiting its prey.
“Is that you, Cin?”
A low growl fills the space, the sound sending a shiver down my spine, but I push forward. “I know you’re in there, Cin. I need to speak with you.”
Those serpentine eyes blink, and then flash with clarity. “Nyx… ”
“There he is.” My mouth tips in a grin as I step closer, hoping I’m not about to be mauled to death. “How are you feeling?”
He reaches up, rubbing his temples. “Scattered…” His head snaps up, his pupils flaring wide as he whispers, “The girl. I didn’t…? Did I…?”
“She’s unharmed. You didn’t do anything more than spook her—and turn her on a bit,” I add with a wink. “Her scent change is the reason Rhune went to investigate. He came in to find you holding her, and that’s when things took a turn for the worse.”
Cin nods, his shoulders dipping inward slightly. “I can’t remember. I saw her eyes, and I just… I lost myself.”
“I see. So then, you wouldn’t remember anything about calling her serafyn?”
His eyes flare. “Is she…?”
“She’s a female from earth. An indescribably beautiful, ball-busting human, but human nonetheless.”
“Strange,” he whispers. “I could have sworn… it doesn’t matter.” He shoves a hand through his thick white hair, his eyes glossing over with a faraway look.
Out of the four of us, Cin is the most strongly connected to the wild magic of this world.
Like all demons, he gains his strength and magical abilities by feasting on souls—essentially absorbing their life essence to create their own.
But unlike other demons, it’s like the magic speaks to Cin, like he has some kind of direct link to the source.
He can’t access it or wield it, but he can touch it—or rather, it touches him.
Half the time—like now—Cin is trapped in a trance-like state, and no sound or touch can bring him out of it.
Sometimes it takes minutes, other times it takes hours, but when he does snap out of it, he seems…
tortured. He never tells us what he experienced, and I don’t know if he even remembers.
But whatever he sees when he connects with the source, it cannot be good.
“Cin? Are you still there?”
After a couple of seconds, Cin slowly turns his head to face me, though his eyes don’t focus on my face. “I… something is wrong.”
“What is?” I lean in, resisting the urge to shake him. “Is it Willow? The human?”
He shakes his head, his voice lowering to an eerie monotone as he says, “The welwig. They’re hungry.”
“Hungry?”
“Yes,” he whispers, the word a tortured rasp. “Very hungry.”
“What does that mean? Why does it matter?”
Cin’s eyes flare bright silver, and he lunges for me, grabbing my shoulders in his massive clawed hands. He leans in, his expression twisting with fear as he whispers, “They will consume everything, Nyx. Everything.”
“What the gods are you talking about? The welwig are trees, Nyx.”
Cin takes a shuddering gasp, stumbling backward and clutching his shaking head. “You don’t understand!”
“You’re right. I don’t,” I whisper, taking a careful step in his direction. “Why don’t you explain it so I can?”
Cin lets out a tortured whine, closing his eyes tight and snuffing out what little light was in the room. “Hungry. So hungry for her… You can’t… you mustn’t let them eat.”
“Her? Are you talking about Willow?”
He shakes his head, curling into a ball on the floor as shudders rack his body. “I… can’t… Please… leave me be.”
“Okay…” My heart clenches as I watch my brother in the throes of unspeakable agony—but what can I do? “I will be back to check on you later.”
Cin’s head snaps upward, a snarling growl rumbling in his throat. “Out! Now!”
Not wanting to cause him any more pain, I back out of Cin’s room, grateful to be in the safety of the tunnels once more. But then, another ice wyrm screech rumbles the ground beneath my feet, and I’m reminded just how unsafe this world is becoming.
With a sigh, I turn and head back in the direction of Rhune’s bedroom, trying to ignore the warnings of the ancient creatures below.