Chapter 7 Aethra
Aethra
Maiden’s grace, my head hurt. Phaedrus at least had the decency to slip narcotics in our drinks, rather than bash us over the heads. Now we had to face the Duat with concussions.
Flinching, I reached for the throbbing ache on my head, but shackles chafed my wrist, limiting my movement. Fingers dug into my arms as someone grabbed me from behind and hauled me to my feet.
Fire burst to life as a golden guard struck a torch and held it aloft.
Had we moved? Ancient pillars supported a natural rock ceiling far above, and cracked stone tiles stretched beneath my feet, stopping at the edge of an underground lake. A robed man dragged me to a tiny boat waiting at the shore and threw me in.
I landed hard on my knees and struggled to right myself with my hands bound behind my back. The hooded figure turned back and grabbed another prisoner. But it wasn’t someone I knew.
A young woman was forced into the boat behind me. Dirt encased her tattered toga and smudged her youthful face. Rounded eyes lit with fear darted around the boat before scanning the water.
The Oracle had said others would face the Duat with us. What could this girl’s crime possibly be?
Perhaps nothing. I had done nothing wrong, either.
Leaning back, I tried to comfort her, but the robed man stepped between us. Dipping an oar into the water, he propelled the boat away from the rocky shore.
A lone lantern hung from a hook on the boat’s prow, illuminating the cavern walls, but the dark waters remained impenetrable. Peering over the edge of the boat, I stared into its black depths, wondering what this trial would entail.
And how I would be ‘sacrificed.’
Carvings decorated the cave walls, rising from the water level to the ceiling. Heroes fought great beasts in some. Other displayed grotesque figures writhing as they were tortured by jagged instruments. A winged horse soared above the various battles.
A faint smile tugged at my lips. I knew that one. Ainwir had taken me to a play that I could remember nothing of save the Pegasus. As a child, I’d been enamored with the creature.
The final carving stood out to me: a man with a great scythe, cloaked in black with eyes of deepest red. Haimyx.
The girl behind me whimpered. Twisting to look past the robed man, I tilted my head. “Are you alright?”
Her eyes shot to me, and she shook her head. The oar rose from the water, and our chaperon brought it down on my back with a crack.
“Keep quiet,” he ordered.
Wincing, I turned around. The oar plunged back into the depths, propelling us deeper into the reservoir.
Sliding to the bottom of the boat, I worried about the others. They were talented mages, but what did that matter in a place meant to kill us?
The boat slowed to a stop as the robed man lifted his oar. Grabbing my collar, he hoisted me up. “Eldest first,” he said, before throwing me overboard.
I struck the surface and sank, frigid cold seeping through my skin into my bones. Flailing, I kicked my legs, trying to swim without the use of my arms. A dark shape plummeted through the depths beside me—the other girl.
My heart thumped, and my mind raced. I bit my lip, trying to focus.
One of Ainwir’s many lessons echoed in my thoughts: panicking would lead to death.
With one final kick, I managed to break the surface of the water. Gasping for breath, I saw the only light drifting away as the boat rowed back from whence it came.
Water filled my mouth as I dipped below the surface again, and I coughed as I twisted my wrists, trying to wrench them around my feet to my front.
A freezing wave lapped over me, dragging me back down. Forcing my eyes open, I strained to see in the pitch dark, but met only shadow.
I slipped my wrists around my legs and reached for my hair, breaking the surface again as my numb fingers felt around for a hairpin. The girl’s head appeared a few paces away, gasping and struggling.
“Hold on,” I called, yanking the pin loose and trying to fit it into the shackles. “I’ll come get you.”
She whirled around, splashing violently as she thrashed, trying to free herself and find me. A strange light illuminated the cavern, outlining her face and wet hair. Her brown eyes met mine before they slowly turned to look behind.
High walls rose into shadow, and the water widened into a reservoir before meeting a thin shore. But it wasn’t the promise of salvation that commanded my thoughts.
Something moved in the darkness. A shadow stirred, rising from the water level and stretching toward the ceiling.
Seas.
Slipping the pin into my shackles, I struggled to unlock them. Gasping for breath, I glanced at the shadow every time my grip slipped. I breathed in relief when I heard the lock click, and I shrugged the metal bands off. They sank into the depths.
Shivering violently, I swam to the girl’s side and reached for her wrists, pulling her toward me. Hand trembling, I found the lock and poked my pin in, but with every breath, my body grew numb, and my movements clumsy.
“It’s—” The girl stammered. “It’s a—!”
I looked up to see the shadow moving. Water rippled out from its bulk, rising in waves that swept toward us. Distinct shapes formed in the black mass: a long neck and an enormous head.
What in the Maiden’s name was that?
Gritting my teeth, I forced her shackles loose and pulled them off her. A scream erupted from her lips the moment she was free.
An unearthly blue light shone down on us, but it did not come from a lantern or fire.
It came from the creature’s eyes.
Dragons were supposed to be myths. Legends. Fairy tales. But one peered down on me, its great head lined with scales; its maw widened to reveal a row of teeth, each as long as a sword.
It lunged. With a reverberating snap, the jaw closed, and its head dove into the waters.
Darkness swallowed me as the force pushed me down. Searing blue light tore through the waves, searching for me. Swimming for my life, I drove myself in the opposite direction, but what point could there be in trying to outrun such a thing?
Shit! I needed hope to cast offensively! All I could muster with dread were damn flowers.
The dragon’s head reared from the waters, throwing waves through the lake.
I tumbled over myself, crashing into something hard and jagged.
Blood seeped through the water, and pain cracked through my elbow.
Swallowing another mouthful of frigid water, I grabbed the rock I’d struck, using it to propel me back to the surface.
Crimson stained the dragon’s white teeth. A body hung limply from its jaw. One of its arms was missing, and its midsection had nearly been ripped in half. Snapping back its head, the dragon swallowed what remained of the girl’s corpse.
Blue light focused on me. But it did not shine alone, this time. Shadows writhed behind it, like a cluster of snakes emerging from a tunnel. Seven more heads joined the first, each watching me with those terrible eyes.
This was no mere dragon. It was a hydra.
Gods, I’d thought them only myths.
The Oracle had claimed the sacrifice was not being sent out to die. She’d claimed to be our ally.
Ainwir had been right, as always. Nobles had nothing to offer but false promises and lies.
Even as the dragon bore down on me, all I could think of was that girl. I hadn’t known her name, her story. Why had she been brought to this place? Her horrifying end circled in my skull, pulling at my insides like hooks dragging my skin from my bones.
Sharp pain pierced my thoughts as a terrible headache took hold. Wincing, I grabbed my throbbing elbow and stared down my demise.
The dragon reared back to lunge. Scarlet whistled over my head and struck the creature’s neck. Blood rushed from its throat as a spear of blood lodged between its scales.
Seth. I whipped my head around violently, desperate to find him in the darkness.
Flailing in pain, the creature slammed its head into the wall, sending tremors through the cavern. A second and third head snapped forward, glowing eyes searching for their enemy. A fourth turned in my direction, widening its jaw before it struck.
A scarlet broadsword slammed into the side of its head just before it reached me. Whipping back, the hydra hissed in pain before snapping its jaws again.
Something collided with me, dragging me into the water. The cavern shook as the hydra clamped down on the space where I’d been a moment ago.
I flailed in the darkness, trying to see, trying to free myself from whatever had struck me.
A strong arm wrapped around my back, pulling me to a man’s chest. Realizing I was tangled with a body, not debris, I grabbed hold of his tunic as he swam, propelling us up.
Seth flipped his wet hair from his face as we surfaced. “And here,” he panted, scarlet eyes nearly glowing in the dark, “I was worried you couldn’t swim.”
I wanted to slap him for joking at a time like this.
But the need to throw my arms around him won. Grasping him tightly, I felt warmth radiate from his body into me, though he too was drenched.
A heavy shadow loomed over us. I shrieked when I saw the pair of dragon heads glaring at us from above.
Seth’s grip on my waist tightened. The blood streaming from my elbow surged toward his fingers and wrapped around us like a protective pair of wings.
One jaw cracked down on the blood wings while the other dug into the rock wall behind us. Stone splintered, raining boulders down on our heads. One struck the dragon as it ripped the wing away from Seth, forcing its massive head below the surface.
Oh, gods. Even with Seth here, I was still going to die.
He chose that moment to forsake me. Driving his hand into my back, he threw me onto the hydra’s lowered head.
My back hit slick, wet scales, and I slid backward when the creature raised its head. Fumbling for a handhold, I grabbed one of its horns. Pain lashed through my elbow where I’d slammed into the cavern wall.