by Alice Wilde
“Perhaps we should continue on in our leopard forms?”
I think for a moment before answering. “I don’t think so. If at all possible, let’s try not to let the sorcerer know what we are. It might give us some advantage later.”
Roan nods and we walk on in silence.
The forest almost seems to be closing in on us the higher we climb, and I can’t help but notice the stillness of our surroundings. Just as I am starting to think we can go no further, we push through a particularly thick set of undergrowth. I stop short and barely manage to grab Roan as he joins me to keep him from walking over a cliff.
“What the—”
Roan and I look wide-eyed at each other and then down over the ledge.
“I think we’ve made it to the top,” I say.
“No kidding.”
Glancing around, I notice the ledge skirts the edge of the forest off to our right and opens up onto a small grassy area. I point to it.
“That must be where the emperor found him,” I whisper.
Roan nods and we carefully make our way over to the meadow, keeping an eye out for any visible signs of danger, apart from the ledge.
We manage to traverse the ledge without a problem and stand in the small lea looking out over the world below us. There’s a rocky rise to one side, but other than that, the mountaintop is empty.
“I don’t think he’s interested in meeting us,” Roan says with a slight grin.
“That, or he’s already started playing games,” I say.
“Good thing I like games.”
“We should search the area to see if there are any clues to his whereabouts. It’s possible he may not even know we’re here.”
Roan and I carefully make our way around the space but find nothing that seems to be out of the ordinary. I lean slightly over the edge of the cliff, but all I see is an ocean of trees as far as the eye can see.
“Li!” Roan calls from behind me, my heart jumping into my throat. Thankfully the rest of me stays calm and I don’t go toppling over the ledge.
“What?” I say, stepping away from the cliff.
Roan has climbed the small rocky formation and is pointing down at the far side. I climb up to join him and look down. There, almost impossibly hidden among the rocks, is the entrance to a cave.
“You don’t think that’s the house Luo was talking about, do you?”
“It’s possible,” I say. “You never know what a sorcerer will trick you into seeing. Let’s check it out.”
Roan leaps down to the cave’s entrance and I follow, although a bit more cautiously.
“Holy hell, what’s that awful smell?” Roan asks, burying his face in the crook of his arm.
“Death.”
We peer into the dark cavern for a long moment, listening intently, but neither of us can hear anything.
“We’re going to have to explore it further.”
“After you,” Roan says, gesturing as if to welcome me into his home.
I turn my head to take in a deep breath of clean air, slowly exhaling to steady my nerves, and then step carefully into the stinking black hole.
Once my eyes finally adjust to the lack of light in the room, I look around at our surroundings. The floor is littered with carcasses, just as Luo had mentioned in his story, but that’s where his description of the sorcerer’s living quarters more or less matches. There’s no fireplace or furniture, no herbs or mortars. Although there are plenty of things hanging from the ceiling, they appear to be the rotting organs of various creatures as if hung out to cure.
Spiderwebs crisscross throughout the room, and I can’t help but wonder how Luo was able to see anything other than this disgusting mess…and the overpowering stench of it all.
“Over there,” Roan says, his voice muffled as he still has his face wedged into his arm.
He’s pointing toward the back wall where two massive stone entrances lead further down into the mountain, as Luo had described. As we near them, I realize that they appear to be leading down but in opposite directions. I glance over at Roan with a questioning look.
“Oh no, don’t even think about it,” Roan says hastily.
“If we split up, we’ll cover more ground, and hopefully be able to get out of here faster.”
“You know nothing good ever comes of splitting up.”
“We just have to be careful,” I say. “And quiet. As long as he doesn’t know we’re here, we have a good chance of taking him by surprise.”
“And what if one of us happens to surprise him alone?” Roan asks with obvious distaste for my suggestion.
“Just don’t let that happen,” I say, knowing full well my words don’t sound particularly encouraging. “We should probably mask our scent as much as possible, though. Snakes have a particularly keen sense of smell.”
“This just gets better by the second,” Roan says, watching me as I grab some of the rotting things from around the room and begin rubbing them all over my skin.
“Come on,” I say, trying not to heave.
Roan groans but does the same, and we soon smell just as disgusting as the rest of our surroundings.
“Fine, since it was my idea to split up, I’ll give you first choice. Which way do you want to go?”
“Oh thanks,” Roan says with a roll of his eyes before proceeding to check out each of the entrances as best he can. “This one.”
“Good luck,” I say with a nod, and then I step down into the dark, winding depths of the other.
Thirteen
Annalise
I can’t help but worry about Roan and Li. All I can do is hope that they’re faring better than I currently am.
Emperor Luo came to find me soon after they set out to deal with the snake shifter, asking me to accompany him to the women’s quarters. I agreed, but I can’t help but feel uncomfortable in his presence after all that’s happened between us. I still don’t entirely trust him.
“I asked you to come with me,” Luo says, breaking a long silence between us, “because I don’t want to be alone when I check on my wife and child.”
“Oh,” I gasp quietly.
“I hope you don’t mind, but you’re the only one who knows exactly what’s been going on over the past year. If they’re still alive…” Hope brightens his eyes for a brief moment. “Well, if they’re not, then I’d prefer not to be alone.”
We walk the rest of the way through the lavish garden quietly, Luo’s guards on either side of us. As we step out, I realize we’re not standing in front of the quarters I’d stayed in earlier, but another different, more lavish building.
“The empress’s quarters,” Luo says when he notices my confused expression. “I had them specially built for her. Not that I don’t care for my other concubines, but she was…is the love of my life.”
I can’t help but feel a pang of heartache for him, but something tells me that he’s not going to like what he finds behind these doors.
Luo turns to the guards standing on either side of the entrance and speaks to them in a commanding voice. They quickly move to pull the doors open for him. He raises his hand to keep his own guard outside, but motions for me to follow him as he steps through the doorway.
The building is set up similarly to the other quarters, although smaller. We’re greeted with a lovely courtyard garden, though this one isn’t full of women. There’s a small waterfall and pool of water at the back of the garden, and some of the loveliest flowers I’ve ever seen cover nearly every surface. Long white curtains hang around the edges of the open garden, blowing lazily in the wind.
If it weren’t so deathly quiet, I’d think it was the most beautiful garden I’d ever seen. I follow Luo as he strolls through the flowers and toward a set of doors hidden behind a set of hanging vines. He presses his hand gently against the handles but doesn’t move to open them. Instead, standing quietly, his eyes are closed as he prepares himself for whatever may lie beyond.
Part of me wants to reach out and touc
h him, to reassure him, but I can’t bring myself to act on the feeling.
Luo lets out a deep yet soft sigh and then pushes the doors open.
There’s a heaviness to the air, as if the room has been closed off from light and wind for some time, and everything appears to be coated in a layer of dust. Aside from the bedroom’s furnishings, the chambers appear to be empty, and then I notice Luo is standing motionless by the bed.
I make my way over to join him and look down at the bed. There, lying on the bedding, are two sets of clothing. The larger dress almost appears to be holding the smaller outfit in an embrace, but there aren’t any bodies filling either of them out.
I step away slowly as I realize why that is…and why the room appears to be full of thick dust.
“Dead,” Luo says, his voice catching in his throat. “They’re dead and gone as if they never existed.”
A small breeze flows in through a crack in the window, and I watch as a small amount of dust lifts from the bed and spreads across the floor. Luo doesn’t move.
“I don’t think they’ve been alive for a long time,” I say softly.
Luo shakes his head as he sits down heavily on the bed beside the dusty clothing of his wife and child. Covering his face in his hands, he weeps.
I don’t hesitate and rush to him, throwing my arms around the emperor in an effort to comfort him. Luo continues to cry for a while longer before turning his face away from me to dry his eyes.
“You shall not speak of this to anyone,” Luo says, his jaw tight.
I pull away from him at this and rest my hands on my lap.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I say, my voice colder than I had meant for it to be.
We continue to sit in silence for a while longer, and then Luo turns to look at me. “You remind me of my wife.”
The remark startles me and sends my thoughts whirling as I try to think of an appropriate response and fail.
Luo raises one hand to my cheek, brushing a thumb gently across my skin. I rise from the bed instantly and step away.
“I don’t think, given the circumstances…” I trail off nervously.
“You’re right,” Luo says, frowning, much to my own relief. “We’ll speak again later. You’ll dine with me. But for now, you may go explore the gardens.”
Luo follows me out of his wife’s quarters and speaks with one of his guards, whom I soon realize is meant to keep an eye on me as he steps into place behind me.
I walk casually through the gardens, but I’m unable to enjoy it, my thoughts with Li and Roan, as well as wondering what Luo’s plans are for us now that he’s the emperor again.
Even if my men are successful in their quest, will Luo help us? What if my men don’t return? What if the emperor doesn’t let us leave? Where’s Ero, and what is Damien up to now?
There are so many questions, and so few answers. The longer we journey, the more confusing everything seems to get.
Li and Roan still haven’t returned, and I feel sick to my stomach with worry. The sun has nearly set, and Luo’s guards are waiting outside my chamber to escort me to dinner. All I want to do is sit alone and wait for my men to return. My stomach growls loudly with hunger, and I’m reminded that I’m no longer eating just for myself.
“Fine, I’ll eat,” I say, gently rubbing my belly even though there’s nothing much to rub.
Leaving my room, I follow the guards to where Luo is waiting, grateful to find it’s not the same place as we’d dined with Gao.
“Good evening,” I say, taking a place at the table opposite the emperor.
Luo looks up and nods before returning to sipping the drink he’s holding. The table is quickly filled with food, and I eat more than usual despite my poor control of the chopsticks. It isn’t until I’ve satisfied my hunger that I realize Luo is watching me quietly.
“Have you heard anything from Li?” I ask.
“Not yet, no.”
I look down at my hands and then around the room nervously. “Why don’t you dine with the other women?”
“I have no interest in them, for the time being.”
“May I go back to my room?”
“No, I want to discuss something with you,” Luo says. “I realize we didn’t get off on the right foot, but perhaps moving forward, we can do better. As it stands, I am without an empress.”
“But all those women—”
“They’re fine where they are. If what your companion says about you being a queen is true, then you are far more suited for the position. Not only would the alliance be a strong one, but it may be the first time in history that an emperor chose such a, for lack of a better term, foreign bride.”
I wish Li were here. He’d know what to say to appease the emperor while also refusing his request.
“I—”
“Don’t answer me right now. Sleep on it. We’ll discuss things further tomorrow.”
My mind is reeling as I take my leave of the emperor and make my way back to my own room. I have no intention of accepting his offer, but if Li and Roan don’t return, would I have a choice? Luo was right in that it would make him a powerful ally, but this isn’t the way I wanted to get his help.
All I can do now is pray Roan and Li return…and soon.
Fourteen
Li
I descend further into the dark depths of the mountain, the air growing warmer with each step. It feels as though it’s been hours since Roan and I split up, and I’m starting to think he was right in not wanting to do so. If either of us ends up finding this monster, we’re not going to have time to find one another.
My heart jumps up in my throat, and I have to pause to steady myself as I step forward and find there isn’t another stair in front of me, but a wide flat expanse of floor. I peer into the darkness and realize I must have made it to the bottom of the winding stone stairs. I walk forward and peer stealthily around the edge of a large, round doorway. There’s nothing beyond but a long, curving hallway, and I can’t say that I’m not somewhat relieved.
I make my way down the corridor, pressed flat against one of the walls. The stench is even worse down here, and the heat is growing almost unbearable with each step. I can usually withstand quite a lot when it comes to extreme temperatures, but I can feel the sweat starting to trickle down my back and forehead. Using my forearm to wipe away some of the perspiration from my face, I notice there appears to be another hallway up ahead branching off perpendicularly where the current one starts to curve off in the opposite direction.
I flatten myself further against the wall, my arms outstretched to either side of me as I creep slowly toward it, and then my hand brushes against something. Jumping away from the wall, I drop into a crouching position and growl low as I try to make out what’s here in the dark with me.
“Li? You nearly gave me a heart attack,” Roan whispers with relief.
“Roan?”
“Yeah, who else would it be? I mean…aside from the demon sorcerer thing we’re looking for.”
I let out a sigh and stand straight. “Well, at least we know he hasn’t left via either of the staircases,” I say.
“I guess splitting up actually worked in our favor for once,” Roan says with a small laugh.
“Let’s go.”
I start down the new hallway and Roan follows, the tunnel winding on for a while until I see a warm glow in the distance. Signaling to Roan, we crouch low and move with even greater care until we reach the bend in the tunnel. I hold my hand out to Roan and steel myself to peer around the corner.
Just beyond the bend, the tunnel opens up onto a large cavern, and it’s clear why it’s so hot down here. Lava bubbles and steams, trickling in slow-moving waterfalls over the walls of the cave and into deadly pools on either side of the room. The heat and sulfuric odors are stifling, but I continue to stare in awe until my eyes catch on a pile lying in the center of the large stone floor.
Roan leans over in an effort to see what’s going on, but I push him back
as I flatten myself out of view of the room.
“Holy hell, Li,” Roan says. “What is that?”
“I think that’s what we’re here to kill,” I say in shock.
Roan and I slowly peer around the corner once again. There, lying in the middle of the room, is a giant snake, gleaming red and gold in the glow of the lava.
“I think he’s sleeping,” Roan whispers. “I didn’t think we’d be lucky enough to find him in his snake form.”
“Neither did I,” I murmur, although I’m not so sure lucky is the right word. Not when the snake you’ve been hunting is the width of an elephant and the length of a small street.
“How do you want to go about doing this?” Roan asks.
I wish I knew how to answer. On the one hand, we have brought daggers with us, but it doesn’t seem like those are going to be of much use now. On the other, we could shift and attack in our leopard forms, but I have no way of knowing how effective our claws will be against him either. I must have been quiet longer than I thought because the next thing I know, Roan jumps to his feet.
“I’m not leaving Annalise alone longer than necessary. This ends now!”
I reach out to stop him, but I’m too late, and Roan shifts as he bounds into the snake pit, launching himself at the sleeping viper.
“Wo cao,” I mutter to myself as I pull out my dagger and leap to my feet to join him, but I stop short.
The massive snake suddenly uncoils and strikes out at Roan mid-leap, tossing him to the ground.
“What do we have here?” the snake hisses, pinning Roan to the floor and peering down at him. “Ahh, a shifter. So, it appears the emperor has done his research after all.”
I step back behind the corner to hide myself from the view of the creature, desperately trying to decide what to do next. I can feel Roan trying to connect with me, but the link is unstable.
“Li…help…I…can’t…breathe,” Roan manages to get through to me.
“Did you come alone, or is the emperor out there waiting?” the serpent asks. “I wouldn’t expect him to visit again, not now that his wife and child are gone for good. I must say, I wasn’t expecting to be bested by a girl. Shame to lose a perfectly good human body like that.”
