by Lucas Thorn
Drumming.
She could hear the slow drumming from deep inside the ziggurat. Like the pulse of an old god.
Just like it.
A chill swept down the back of her neck and spine.
She didn’t want to climb the stairs. Didn’t want to go inside.
She heard him slither out of the ground behind her. Tall, he had to lean down to press his cheek against hers. When he spoke, his spiced breath was blown into her face by the breeze.
“We hunger…”
The ziggurat was monstrous. Shadows coiled around its base like nests of snakes. There were guards at the top. Light glinted off spears.
Swallowing hard, she shook her head. “I’m afraid.”
“You don’t need to be afraid.”
“Please…”
“We hunger. We must fight. We must fight again.”
“Your voices. They hurt my head.”
“It’s because you don’t listen. You need to try. Try to listen.”
“I try.”
“Harder.”
He slithered back into the ground with a rasp and sigh of breath. Left her standing alone.
Alone?
With voices twittering inside her head like crickets, she was never alone.
The stairs were like nothing she’d ever seen. Smooth and clean. Crisp lines so straight and sharp that the only thing she could think about was falling and splitting her head on them.
It made her dizzy and she climbed with a half-drunk reel toward the guards.
Guards who eyed her approach with quizzical look.
And, when she was close, aimed spears. Threatening, but not concerned.
After all, she was just a girl.
Just a little girl.
Nysta will return in:
Nysta 8: Scion of Dragonclaw
She thought killing one alchemist had been tough.
But there’s nine names on Hideg’s list and the Nysta’s got just two days to kill them all…
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