Chapter 34 #3
We dashed out of the alcove, and started running for the corridor and the tunnel that led to the top of the cliff.
It spilled out at the edge, my stomach twisting as I was confronted again with the sudden drop below and the bridge in the distance which had even less integrity than before.
More floorboards were missing, and some of the rope was fraying where it had been tied.
The knots in my stomach tightened painfully.
“We have to go across that?” Auriel asked when he caught up to me.
I nodded, my back sliding against the wall. I pushed Auriel back next to me. All it would take for us to plunge to our deaths would be another shudder of the cave as the akadim continued to dig below.
But they weren’t all down there. Across the cavern, three akadim appeared, marching in line, heading for the bridge. Toward us.
“Shit.”
“Keep your head down,” Auriel whispered, shoving his body protectively in front of mine.
I slowed my breathing.
Auriel squeezed my hand.
The first akadim had blond hair, cropped short. The kind of blond that was unmistakably Ka Kormac. He stepped onto the first floorboard, his red eyes narrowed as he looked across, just missing where we stood. He took a step, and the next akadim moved behind him.
“All soturi to excavation,” came a command. It was from below. Not Rhyan, but another akadim, perhaps his Second. “All soturi to the excavation level now.”
“Final push,” Auriel said. His mouth tightened, and there was another flash of green light from his eyes. “I need to get down there.”
The akadim turned back from the bridge, marching back down the cliff, to the mine. We’d get across easily now. But once we descended to the lowest level—we’d be surrounded. At least a hundred akadim stood between us and the green shard. Between me and Rhyan.
“No turning back now,” Auriel said.
I leaned my head back against the wall, and took a deep breath. Finally, I straightened and nodded. “Let’s go then. This way.” I led Auriel around the bend. The end of the bridge was in sight. The rope’s edges had been tied around two hefty stakes embedded in the stone.
I stepped forward and grabbed hold of the handrails, but made the mistake of looking down. The hundred akadim were moving below, pushing carts back and forth. Dumping rocks and dirt and debris, and then running their emptied carts back toward to the excavation site, to the pit they’d created.
“Don’t look down,” Auriel said. “Just go.”
I had done this already, twice. I’d even run onto the damn bridge willingly to save Rhyan’s life. But now, I felt paralyzed.
“You won’t fall,” Auriel said. “I won’t let you.”
“You still have some of that magic to slow us down if I do?” I asked.
“For you,” he winked, “always.”
I sucked in a breath, and I took a step, then another. The bridge swayed, rocking back and forth. I gripped the banister, the rope rough against my skin, and found the next floorboard.
“Good,” Auriel said. “Keep going.”
I did, barely daring to breathe. It felt like an eternity, but we made it across. Now all we had to do was reach the lower level, and walk into the mine of a hundred akadim. My stomach turned.
We took careful, measured steps in our descent, moving cautiously in case we encountered any akadim shirking orders. But the way was entirely clear, and it wasn’t long before we stepped down to the next level. We crossed over the stone bridge, and began our final descent.
When I reached the bottom level, I pushed back against the wall, my chest heaving.
Auriel came before me and pressed his forehead to mine in the dark.
“Remember, your name is power with him. He’s down here and even now—especially now—he’ll protect you. Get the shard, stab him in the heart—do whatever you must. Whatever happens, it ends now. He can’t go on like this. And we can’t allow two shards to go to the enemy.” I nodded shakily.
“I’m going after the green shard,” Auriel said. “I remember where I buried it. I know what to do. I’m going to get it back for you. Draw their attention away, and I’ll make my move.”
Then he kissed me, his lips soft against mine.
There was no lust behind it. Not like before.
It wasn’t meant to lead to anything or say anything more than it was.
A kiss. A show of love. And in that moment, I could feel the love he had for me, feel it rippling through my veins, filling my aura.
It wasn’t just me he was expressing his love for, but it was also his love for Asherah. For my soul.
I squeezed my eyes shut, and touched the hilt of my sword.
If he was strong enough to travel across the realms of time and space to find me, to risk his immortality, and defy the Council of Forty-Four then I could be strong enough to face these akadim.
To walk out and call Rhyan’s soul back to mine.
And so I did. I stepped out from behind the wall, planted my feet down, and pushed back my hood with a shaking hand.
A pair of red eyes fell on me, and then another, and another, until dozens had stopped rolling their carts, until dozens more had stopped moving completely.
All to watch me—baring their teeth, their nostrils flared, attuned to my scent.
My heart pounded so loud I was sure they could hear it even above the sounds of digging and excavation that continued.
I held up my arms. “I am Lady Lyriana Batavia.”
The akadim growled in response, subtly shifting forward, gnashing their teeth and baring their fangs.
“I demand you bring me to Arkturion Rhyan,” I shouted.
Several started toward me, their claws extended either ready to attack or grab me—I couldn’t tell which.
But then a voice rose above the noise, growling with a low and powerful vibration. Its command exploded above the commotion. “Make a path.” Rhyan.
The akadim began to clear, scrambling to get out of their Arkturion’s way, dropping their heads, and looking away from me.
My heart thundered as I realized how right Auriel had been.
Even just the day before, they would have looked at me, tried to get closer.
Now it was clear that they’d all received their new orders. I was untouchable.
Except when it came to him.
He stalked forward, wearing the same boots and riding pants, the same leather vest as the day before. His red eyes glowed against the silver of his collar, matching the subtle glow of the sword at his back—the red shard.
I stepped out to meet him, my eyes unflinchingly on his.
“Hello, lover,” I said.
He widened his arms as he continued toward me and grinned, baring his teeth, his fangs shining. His tongue poked out and slid against their sharpened edges.
“Lyriana,” he singsonged. “I knew you’d come back.
” His eyes dipped down the length of my body before rising to my face.
“I see you’ve been busy. Couldn’t resist returning to my bedroom, could you?
” He shook his head. “Put on all of your old clothes. All of your old things.” He gestured at my armor and weapons. “I liked you better with them off.”
“Why? Easier to fight me?” I asked. “When I’m weaponless? Or how about when I’m tied up?”
He sneered. “I like it when there are less things between me and what I want.”
“We don’t always get what we want, do we?” I said.
Rhyan laughed. “Maybe you don’t.” His eyes narrowed. “But I plan to.”
“Well, that’s nice for you. But I didn’t come here to talk,” I said.
“No? Good. How about you and I go right back to where we left off? Finish what we started.”
I brandished my sword. “We are.”
“Lover,” his eyes narrowed, “that’s not what I was thinking.”
I took a step forward. “How about you stop thinking, and fight. And fight me for real this time.”
He bared his teeth. “As you wish.”
The entire cave shook, a deep rumble that ran through the ground. A seam split right under Rhyan’s legs.
All the akadim stilled, their eyes wide.
“Get to the pit,” Rhyan shouted. “Something’s happening.”
Auriel. I hadn’t seen him move, but I knew with absolute certainty that he was there. That he’d found his way into the mines.
“NOW!” Rhyan yelled. “Go. All of you.”
At that moment, a giant boulder fell between us. A few akadim scrambled out of the way, barely missing being crushed to death.
“I think something’s wrong with your fortress,” I said, my voice shaking. Above us, the rope bridge fell, the floorboards coming loose, crashing to the ground. A crack broke through the stone bridge, severing it down the center.
“That means we’re close to getting what we came here for.” Rhyan jerked his chin at the akadim still frozen in place, now visibly shaking with fear. He growled low in his throat, and they quickly shuffled off.
“Now it’s just you and me,” Rhyan said, withdrawing the red shard from his back. He held the hilt between his clawed hands. Its blade pointed at me.
My chest heated, and golden flames burst around my heart. It felt like the light inside me was calling out to its other half, wanting to possess it—to claim it, but most of all, to reunite and be whole.
I eyed the blade carefully. “I thought akadim were the weapon,” I said, pointing my own sword at him, our bodies perfect mirrors.
Tilting his head to the side, Rhyan stretched, his nostrils flaring. “And I thought you didn’t come here to talk. Are you sure you want this fight?”
“I’m sure.”
He let out a low roar, deep in his throat and then he took off, running for me.
I raced out to meet him, dodging rocks and pebbles that had skittered across the ground, our swords meeting with a clang.
The force of his hit against my blade, made it reverberate to the hilt, tiny tremors rushing through my arm.
I spun and again our swords met. I angled my hips, my knees bent as I thrust, just missing him. His sword stabbed, and I blocked a hit, shifting my body back.