Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Polemus threw the sword at me. Literally chucked it without even a heads-up.
Cursing, I lurched to the side just in the nick of time. The weapon flew past me. “What in the actual—?” I gaped when the sword froze inches from striking the wall and remained there, hovering as if suspended by invisible strings.
“You must prove yourself,” Polemus stated.
I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. Immediately, I regretted doing the latter. The smell gagged me. Forcing my breathing to slow, I quickly thought over my options. I wasn’t idiotic enough to challenge the riders, not when I knew they were something created by the Ancients, and I couldn’t feel even a single bit of essence in me. And that earlier feeling? The intuition that warned me I would fail if I ran? It was still there, pressing down on me. I didn’t really understand it, but apparently, I needed to do something.
I quickly came to the reluctant understanding that if I didn’t do what they wanted, I would likely spend eternity here with the riders saying the same thing repeatedly.
Growling, I stalked toward the sword. The minute my flesh came into contact with the hilt, it warmed. I looked down, feeling the weight. It was almost as heavy as a broadsword. The weapon was some sort of crimson stone that reminded me of the sheer, vertical cliffs in the mountains of the Shadowlands.
My gaze shifted to the hilt. It didn’t seem to be made of any type of common material. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve sworn it was made of bone. My lip curled in disgust. Yeah, it was best I not think about that.
“Fine,” I barked, facing the riders. “Let’s get this over with.”
Polemus held up his right hand. I tensed, expecting them to charge me, but that didn’t happen.
Flames roared, billowing toward the ceiling. Crimson light filled the markings etched into the stone. I took a step back, and the carvings all along the cavern suddenly appeared as if they were soaked in glowing blood.
“What…what’s going on?” I asked.
There was no answer. Dust fell from the ceiling in a fine shower, drawing my gaze upward. A dark red glow filled the fissures there, the light becoming so radiant that it stung my eyes. My vision blurred as the light seeped from the cracks, spilling into the space between the riders and me.
With wide eyes, I watched the light pulse and grow, expanding until it took shape before me, becoming solid. Terrifying.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I spat, and the golden flames calmed, casting dancing shadows across the cavern walls as I stared at the menacing green-and-blue-scaled creature looming over me.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
The beast was massive, at least twice as tall as I was, and had the body of a draken. Powerful legs and sharp claws that could not only clearly slice through flesh as if it were nothing but tissue paper but were also part of paws large enough to encircle the entirety of my waist. Its chest and torso were broad and muscular. The tail was thick and spiked, but that was where the similarities between it and the draken ended.
The thing had multiple heads.
Three, to be exact.
And its eyes, all three sets of them, were a brilliant shade of glowing silver, glinting with eather.
Possibly as bad as the three heads was its smell. It was rank. A stench somewhere between that of a rotting corpse and brimstone.
“Prove yourself,” one of the riders ordered. “And slay the monster.”
They expected me to fight this thing with nothing more than a sword? No armor? Not even a pair of boots or pants? And on an empty stomach?
“I feel like I’m extremely underprepared for this,” I muttered, tensing.
Forked tongues hissing, the creature’s left and right heads swayed in unison while the center remained still. It extended its long limbs, dragging wickedly sharp claws across the stone floor.
Breathe in. Reality or not, years of training with Holland had taught me that the first thing to do was to silence the mind. Hold. I couldn’t think about Ash. What was happening outside the cavern, or what I faced after this—if I didn’t get eaten by this thing. Breathe out. I couldn’t even think about why this was happening. Hold. I had to shut it all down and focus only on the nightmare standing before me.
It wasn’t like donning the veil of nothingness and becoming an empty vessel or a blank canvas. This was far more natural. There was no struggle or resistance when I silenced my thoughts and tensed my muscles. I became something I was far better suited for than being a Queen.
A fighter.
A warrior.
But that wasn’t the only thing Holland had taught me. I firmed my grip on the sword. Sometimes, it wasn’t best to strike first, especially when you weren’t at a safe distance and were facing a new adversary. I had no idea what this beast was capable of, so I braced and waited.