67 #2
“But—but Caryan’s twin gave it to me,” I stammer, dark suspicion trying to take shape in my mind. “Noxus.”
“The Dark Lord and my lord have borne many names throughout history, girl. Some call him the Master of Death. Some call him Rhyxun. Others, Noxus. So call him. The time has come. I can feel it. The thread of fate is about to be cut, only to be spun anew. Finally. A new dawn is coming, and he shall return.”
“No!”
The acolyte runs at me again, her otherworldly voice echoing against my shield and threatening to shatter it.
I force more of my magic into the barrier to keep it standing. My blood runs cold as I glance at Faye.
She still hasn’t stirred.
She must be under some kind of spell.
I have to get her out of here.
But how?
I crack open the bond to Aris. “Aris. I need your help,” I whisper, mentally filling him in.
“Don’t die! I’m coming!” His ferocious growl echoes down the bond, and I know he’s running fast as hells.
Abyss. I should have called him sooner.
To my right, the acolyte cracks her neck, rearranging her bones as if, beneath that cloak, there’s nothing but a skeleton. I shudder as I watch her grab her own head and twist it around a full circle, bones cracking, tendrils snapping, until she’s facing me again.
What the actual fuck?
“This is what I tried to tell you, stupid brat. But you are too blind to see. Call this abomination—Noxus—back into this world and doom it forever. Reunite the twins and eternal darkness will reign. I have seen it over and over. The visions are clear. The prophecy has been made. If you will not give that stone to me, run and destroy it. But never let it fall into the Dark Lord’s hands.
Not even I can twist the thread of fate to ward off what would follow.
But give it to me, and I shall grant you many gifts. Any wish you have, my dear.”
Her voice has become a seductive purr, and I don’t know what’s more terrifying—her as a hissing beast or as this luring siren.
“I could make that elven prince yours, you know. Do you know that he was your mate originally? That he was the one meant for you?”
I stare at her in disbelief.
Riven—my mate?
What?
“But then Caryan almost died, and the prince, as his most loyal servant, came crawling to the oracle, saying he would give up anything if she saved him. So she took this from him—his mating bond—snapped it in two, and made you Caryan’s mate instead.
The echo of that bond is what you two still feel.
But I can make it whole again. I can cut the one that binds you to the Dark Lord, and you could finally have your joyful ever after with the elven prince. ”
“Don’t listen to her. Her words are full of lies,” the monster hisses, ready to jump, his back arching, claws flexing, eyes hungry as he watches the acolyte.
And I realize the only reason he hasn’t pounced yet is that my shield is in the way.
“Lies—they spin their stories like webs to catch creatures in.”
His shadows slam into my shield again, and I feel a fissure forming.
And I can’t repair it, because I barely slept all night, and the well of my magic is almost empty.
Shit.
If they break through, Faye and I are going to die.
“Aris, where are you?”
“Close.”
The monster pounces again, this time with his full body. His claws shred my shield, crashing straight through it. He growls hungrily and comes for me—only to be slammed back by another monster in the same shape.
Blue skin. Golden claws.
Aris.
They roll across the ground, and fear pierces my heart when Aris disappears in a well of black magic.
I grab the stone.
The acolyte said it could control the monster.
“Stop.”
I hold it up as I speak, and the creature freezes, falling motionless mid-lunge.
I’m shoved to the ground hard as the acolyte tackles me. Her bony fingers claw at my fist, trying to pry it open, going for the stone. Her eyes shimmer with greed and hunger.
“Give it to me, girl!”
“No!”
Aris pounces and wrenches her backward by the neck, sharp teeth digging deep into her shoulder—but there is no blood when he throws her aside like a puppet.
“Command the monster to kill her, Melody. That will buy us time,” Aris orders.
I swallow, but do what he says.
The monster stirs and goes for her.
When she screams, I wish I could cover my ears to block out the sound. Instead, I grab Faye and somehow manage to prop her onto Aris’s back before climbing on behind her, holding her in place with my body while we bolt out.
“Tell me the way,” Aris commands. “I found you through the bond, but this place is a labyrinth.”
I throw out my talent, letting it guide us.
“Run, girl. You should run from the Dark Lord while you still can,” the acolyte’s voice calls after us before dissolving into a last, bone-shaking scream.
“Leave this place and run from him, girl! As fast and far as you can. As long as you still can. Because he will chain and break you. I’ve seen it in my visions! Your future is dark. You—aghhhhhh!”
Her last words cut off abruptly, and bile rises in my throat at the sound of teeth crunching bone.
“Left, then right!” I shout, my heart hammering wildly as darkness spreads behind us.
When I glance back over my shoulder, I see only a cloud of shadows—so close they’re almost touching us. And I can’t reach the damn stone in my pocket—my arms are locked around Faye, clinging to Aris for dear life.
Aris nearly flies through the corridors of books, but Noxus’s monster is faster.
The darkness bites into the skin on my arm and back like a thousand tiny teeth.
I scream.
With my last strength, I throw up a shield of silver to keep it off us. But it recovers too quickly, rushing for us even faster than before.
“Faster, Aris!” I beg.
Just as we reach the opening and the balcony, he grows wings, and we shoot upward to the top floor, racing through the main room before bursting through the doors.
When I look back down, the darkness is gone.
As if it had never been there at all.