Ashes of Dearen: Book 1
Page 55
By the time Fayr reached the smoldering bodies in the dungeon, little remained of them but their stink, smoke, and ashes. Golden embers still glowed in the midst of the crumbling bones.
“Princess, you must get out of here!” coughed Sir Gornum.
The heat and soot drew tears from her eyes. She didn’t care who saw them anymore. She fell to her knees in the piles of safra and reached out to the platform. In the debris, she recognized Kyne’s ring glittering through the smoke.
She had heard rumors of the Wolven running through the city. She didn’t believe them at first. She couldn’t bear to. Then she saw the black smoke rising over the palace, and she knew she had to see for herself. Now she was here, and the truth lay bare in front of her.
“There were several bodies burned here,” gasped Fayr. “Kyne must have come down here with Darius, and the khan’s body … that means there are three bodies, at least. And one of them must be ...”
She choked, not just on the smoke, but on her own rising sobs.
“DARIUS!”
She flung herself towards the embers, screaming with agony. Someone grabbed her and pulled her back. The chubby Gornum, who had never done anything worthy of his post as Master of the Royal Guard until now, saved her from self-destruction.
“Princess,” he wheezed. “Let’s go.”
Together, they dragged themselves from the dungeon depths, not knowing to what they returned.