Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 153795 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 769(@200wpm)___ 615(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 153795 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 769(@200wpm)___ 615(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Thane goes for his swords and resumes the fight while I run for the tunnel with the tome tucked under my armpit. I pant wildly, stumbling through the ruined hall and jumping over thick piles of vines to reach the room full of treasure.
I hate to leave him alone, but I need to keep the tome out of The Shadow Guild’s clutches.
A wave of relief rolls through me as I near the treasure room. Rynthea and Algar have their rucksacks fully stuffed with treasure and are now trying to tuck more into their pockets.
“Hey, you two,” I call.
They turn to look at me at the same time as I step through the doorway.
“We need to get out of here,” I demand. “Right now.”
“What’s going on?” Algar asks.
“Maliek,” I say, and that name is enough for both of them to frown. “He and his assassins just attacked us.”
“Wait—what? Maliek?” Rynthea says in shock. “I thought Thane killed him!”
“He did kill him…and I just killed him again…”
Algar scratches the back of his head, completely puzzled.
“I’m not understanding. If he was dead when Thane killed him, how did he manage to come here and attack again?” Rynthea snaps.
“An evil sorcerer brought him back to life somehow— Look, It’s a long story, but to sum it up, they’re after Thane because of this.” I hold Azidel’s tome in the air.
Rynthea and Algar stare at it, their faces warped with confusion.
“What is that?” Rynthea asks.
“I’ll explain more later, but right now we really need to get out of here.”
“What about the stones?” she asks.
“Thane lied.” My chest tightens just thinking about it again. “The stones were taken a long time ago…and he knew.”
“Motherfucker,” Rynthea spits.
“Where is Thane?” Algar asks, peering past my shoulder in search of his friend.
“Who cares about that liar?” Rynthea growls, snatching up her scythesword. “He’ll catch up with us if he makes it out alive. Let’s go. Now.”
Rynthea tosses me my loaded rucksack while Algar tries to pick up a few more coins on our way out. As we retrace our steps and sprint through the dark tunnels, Thane’s words repeat in my head.
That tome is powerful. I’m sure there is a spell in it that I can use to break your sister’s curse…
I can only hope that’s true.
Chapter 57
To my revelation, the creatures were much more intent on keeping us away from the temple than they are on preventing our escape from the island. Their efforts aren’t nearly as intense as we make our way to shore, which suits me just fine.
There are no shadowhounds waiting to attack, though we do notice the corpses of the ones we battled twitching. Rynthea says they’re likely coming to life again—that abominations like that don’t simply die. We don’t stick around long enough to find out, but we do hear their howls when we finally make it to the rim of the bowl.
Oddly, they aren’t my biggest concern.
What we really have to worry about are that there are no shadow assassins following us.
Fortunately, we’re able to avoid the reptilian creatures while wading through the forest. We do stumble past a few massive wasps near their nests, but Rynthea angrily cuts through them, leaving yellowish-green goop all over the place.
No one seems to be tailing us as we reach the platform path over the lava. Algar teleports me to the safer side, then returns and teleports Rynthea. She’s too weak to make the jumps safely.
Teleporting two of us clearly takes a toll on Algar, because once he releases Rynthea, he leans over with his hands on his knees and sucks in gulps of air. It takes him a few minutes to collect himself, and once he’s stable enough, we take off again.
The closer we get to the beach where we left our rowboat, the more hopeful I become that we’re really going to make it off this dreaded island. Relief buzzes through me, making me a little light-headed—or maybe it’s just the physical and emotional exhaustion finally catching up.
We’ve done the impossible and survived against all odds, and believe me, the odds have been substantial. We battled terrible creatures and defied death.
I step over a log across the path, shaking my head in disbelief. No, we haven’t just defied death. We told it to fuck right off. Algar actually died, and Rynthea came close to it, but here we are, still alive and breathing.
We wouldn’t be if it weren’t for Thane, though, and that notion pains me.
A heavy feeling settles in my stomach at the thought that we left Thane behind to fend for himself. I look over my shoulder while reminding myself that he knows what to do. He’s handled and protected himself for years. Still, that doesn’t make me any less worried about him.
It seems ridiculous to worry this much. He’s broken my heart. I shouldn’t care…but I do. And I don’t want him to die.