Chapter 19
Lagina
We were in a tiny,hidden room with recessed shelves full of ancient books. Spiderwebs filled the corners and our feet shuffled across a thick layer of dust.
“I wonder how long this has been here,” Laera said, brushing her fingertips over the spine of one of the books.
I reached for one and it crumbled in my grip, the worn leather falling apart in my fingers. I gasped, then set it down, trying not to disturb the other tombs. “They aren’t much use to anyone anymore.”
“I don’t think that matters,” Laera said. “Look at this.”
I turned and noticed that Laera’s torch was on the ground, smoke rising from the extinguished flames. Several balls of glowing light hung around her, illuminating a wall covered in paintings. “No wonder they kept everyone out.”
I joined her at the wall, my lips parting in surprise as I took in the images. While the books were decaying, the paintings were as clear as if they had been applied this morning.
The entire wall was covered. Showing the topography of Athos, the temple we were currently standing under, and the palace. There were lines that I guessed were the future streets, long before anything else in the city was built.
There were people with glowing hands around the buildings and walking around the empty city. Then, there was a very clear burst of something bright that came from this temple, forming a gold bubble around it. There were two similar symbols near the palace. One in the area, I think, was now housing the stables, and the other in the space where the orchard now grew. An arch of gold spanned from each of them, covering the entire palace in a warm light.
“The shields,” I said in awe. I had to admit, I didn’t believe it was actually possible. There was a part of me that still wondered, but I’d seen magic. I’d felt it when they freed the magic under the city. There was so much I didn’t know. Why not a shield that could protect us?
“This whole time, you’ve been sitting on so much magic.” Laera shook her head. She traced her fingers over the lines and I noticed several of them converged at each bright point. They weren’t roads. “What are they? The lines?”
“Ley lines. Natural veins of magic that flow in the earth. There’s a lot of them in Athos.” Laera turned to face me. “I don’t know how they got those shields to work, but I can take a look. Do you think you can find these locations?”
I returned my attention to the map and guessed that the source at the temple was in the back, behind the temple itself. It was a good place to put it. Nobody went around to the back. The way the temple was designed made it so the front faced lush vegetation and the back was near a cliffside of craggy rock. Very little grew back there.
“We should go,” Laera said. “Just in case there’s anything else down here.”
I didn’t need to be asked twice. With a nod, I turned and left the chamber. As soon as we stepped past the sliding door, it rattled and began to move, sealing the room from prying eyes.
Chills ran down my spine when I realized the door could have closed at any moment while we were in there. Suddenly feeling very claustrophobic, I stepped toward the ladder, ready to leave the darkness behind.
“Are you alright? No monsters?” Sophia asked as soon as she saw me climb through the trapdoor.
“No monsters,” I assured her.
“Thank the gods.” Her shoulders slumped in relief.
“Did you find anything?” Cora asked.
“We did,” I said.
Suddenly, Laera was in front of me, then she had the priestess in her grasp, a weapon drawn, the blade pointing at the woman’s throat.
Daphne gasped, her eyes wide with terror.
“What are you doing?” I cried.
“Let her go,” Sophia pleaded.
Cora approached slowly, taking in the weapon and the terrified priestess. “What’d she do?”
“Cora,” Sophia hissed.
“What did you write in the message?” Laera demanded.
“Message?” I stared at the priestess, my brows furrowing in confusion.
Daphne smirked. “So you really couldn’t see what was on that scroll? How very interesting.”
“You’ll tell me or I’ll send you to the Underworld,” Laera promised.
“You’ll send me to the Underworld anyway,” Daphne said.
“No, she won’t. She can go to the dungeons. Await a trial,” I said.
“I don’t answer to you,” the priestess hissed. Her body contorted, slithering and undulating, growing larger. She shoved Laera away, knocking the Fae Princess to the ground. The knife landed with a rattle before sliding across the marble.
The priestess’s peplos was torn, shredded fabric falling to the floor as wings emerged. Her beautiful face remained, despite its increase in size, but her body was now that of a bird.
“It’s a harpy,” Sophia whispered.
The creature screeched, then flapped her wings, rising higher inside the temple before swooping down toward Sophia. I shoved my sister aside, landing on top of her.
When I rolled off of her, I saw Laera chasing down the monster. Cora raced over to where I was sitting with Sophia. “Are you two alright?”
I looked at Sophia, who was pushing herself up to standing. She smoothed out her peplos, and I turned to Cora. “We’re fine.”
I retrieved the dagger that was still in my waistband, grateful that it hadn’t stabbed me when I landed. As soon as I took my first step, Sophia moved in front of me. “You two stay back. I’ve got this.”
“You can’t be serious,” Cora retorted.
I took Cora’s hand in mine, then dragged her out of the way. Sophia was stronger than she used to be and she’d seen things when she went to free the magic. I’d had minimal training to fight and I certainly wouldn’t pretend I could hold my own against a harpy.
“She’s going to get killed.” Cora looked at me, her expression pleading. “You have to stop her.”
I held onto her hand tighter, hoping she wouldn’t run after our youngest sister. “You have to trust her.”
Cora’s fingernails bit into my hand as she tightened her grip. Her gaze was fixed on the battle in front of us, her face pale. Her concern for Sophia made her tense, but I wasn’t going to let her charge out there. She’d never shown any interest in combat, and I wasn’t sure if she’d even held a dagger before.
A high-pitched cry drew my attention back to the fight, and I gasped as Sophia dodged a swipe of the harpy’s talons. Laera attacked from the other side, slicing her knife through the beast’s side. The creature twisted, using one of her enormous wings to knock the Fae Princess down.
Sophia rallied, charging at the monster. To my horror, she leaped onto the harpy’s back, clinging to the feathers as the creature thrashed. It twisted, trying to dig its pointed claws into my sister. I could see Laera standing behind the monster, her gaze unfocused, her posture stiff. She was doing something with her magic and, whatever it was, she wasn’t in a position to fight.
“They need help,” I whispered as I released Cora’s hand. I tightened the grip on the blade I was still holding in my other hand. “Wait here.”
“Oh, no you don’t,” Cora said with a huff. “I’m coming with you.”
I didn’t argue as I ran toward the monster, waving my hands and yelling to get its attention. The creature locked its eyes on me. They were so strangely human, but not. I ignored the hair standing at the back of my neck and the chill running down my spine.
Gripping the hilt the way Ryvin had taught me, I raced toward the monster. She spread her wings wide, as if she was going to take off with Sophia still on her back. I couldn’t let that happen. I jumped, then drove my knife into one of the wings, dragging it along. The harpy let out a howl of pain, then swung her other wing around, knocking me down. I hit the marble floor face first and tasted blood immediately, but didn’t let myself wonder what I’d injured.
Scrambling to my feet, I caught sight of my weapon still lodged in the harpy’s wings. Blood poured from the wound, leaving a thick trail of crimson on the white floor. The bird-woman was screeching so loudly I winced.
“Here.” Cora was standing next to me, a knife in her grip. “Finish her.”
I accepted the weapon, but just as I was considering where to attack, I saw Sophia reach the harpy’s neck. She impaled the monster in the fleshy area above where her feathers began.
Blood sprayed and then began to run from the monster’s mouth. Her eyes went glassy and she spun in a strange, wobbly circle. Sophia jumped from her back, then ran to Laera. She guided the still unfocused princess away just as the harpy hit the ground.
A ruby pool spread from the place the beast lay until it started to drip down the still open trap door.
I wrinkled my nose. “That’s going to be awful to clean.”
“That’s what you’re thinking about right now?” Cora asked. “How terrible it will be to clean?”
“No, that’s what I’m letting myself think about,” I informed her. “I’m not quite ready to think about what just happened.”
Sophia’s peplos was stained red, her arms, hands, face, and hair were splashed with crimson. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes wild. She looked more alive than I’d ever seen her.
“Thank you, Sophia,” I said.
“You did good, too,” she replied.
“I’m not sure I know either of you,” Cora said, a touch of awe in her tone.
“Just wait, it’ll be your turn soon enough,” Laera said.
She looked like herself again as she scowled at the fallen monster. “I’m sorry I didn’t help. But I must say, I’m impressed.”
“I had to break into the harpy’s mind. Thankfully, I got the information before you all sent her to the Underworld.”
“What information?” I asked.
“The letter she sent. It explained it all to my father.” She glared at the harpy and I got the sense that if she could kill her again, she would.
“This monster already destroyed the shield here, but she didn’t get to the ones at the palace yet. She let my father know she was going to destroy them all so he could send his new dragons to take us down. He’ll be here soon. He’s eager to finish his war.”
“But we can use the others, then?” I asked.
Laera was staring at the harpy with such disdain, I was growing concerned. “Was there something else?”
She looked up at me. “She planned to eat us. I saw it in her mind. Her fantasies of how she was going to do it. In my opinion, we didn’t make her suffer enough.”
“I think I want to learn how to fight now,” Cora cut in. “I will not be dinner for some crazy priestess.”
“Laera said she’ll keep teaching me if we all survive this,” Sophia said. “You should join us.”
Cora mumbled a noncommittal response. I caught the words, duty and marriage. She was already preparing for her life to change as soon as Bahar returned.
“We need to get back,” Laera said. “I don’t know if anyone else working for my father knows about this.”
“That picture didn’t show the shield covering the whole town,” I said.
“It doesn’t,” Laera confirmed.
I looked at my sisters. “We have to evacuate the city. Get everyone up to the palace grounds.”
“That’s impossible,” Cora said. “We don’t have space for everyone.”
“We’ll have to find a way to make it work,” I replied.