A Shade of Vampire 37: An Empire of Stones(47)

I slammed the door shut and locked it from the inside.

Curling up into a small ball, I crept into the furthest corner and wished with all my might that Tejus would return home soon.





Tejus





We set off on the vultures once more, this time heading for Ghouls’ Ridge. Lithan and Qentos didn’t bother speaking to me as we saddled the birds, and I was grateful for their silence. As anxious as I was about the trials ahead, I was also determined to speak to Ash before the task got underway. I had forgotten about Hazel’s friend, the one who had been with Varga. Hazel assumed she was still at the Seraq kingdom, and I hadn’t dissuaded her of the notion. But if Ruby had stayed with Varga that morning, then I dreaded to think where she might now be.

When we alighted at the Ridge, I saw that the Impartial Ministers were already gathered, as were the rest of the royal contenders. I scanned the crowd for Ash and saw him standing at the periphery of the group, studying the Impartial Ministers intently.

“Some say they are immortal,” I commented, following his gaze as I approached.

He glanced back at me.

“You don’t believe that?” he retorted.

“No, I do not. They are just old.”

He nodded, still looking speculative.

“Your human, Ruby—where is she?” I asked, getting to the point before I was ushered away for the trials.

“What do you mean?” he replied swiftly. “She is meant to be with you and Hazel in Hellswan…”

He trailed off as he saw my expression.

“Where is she?” he asked with gritted teeth.

“She is not at the castle,” I muttered. “Memenion said she was with Varga…I do not know where she is now.”

Ash’s face turned whiter than usual, and he stared up at me beseechingly.

“Don’t tell me you don’t know,” he gasped. “Don’t tell me that you don’t know where she is.”

I turned away from him. The Impartial Ministers were calling for the trials to start.

“We will find her,” I called back over my shoulder. I knew I probably appeared indifferent to the kitchen boy, but I was not. Hazel would be devastated if anything should happen to her friend…

I looked over to Queen Trina. She smiled at me, clearly having recovered her confidence after this morning. It did not matter. I would get to the bottom of my friend’s death, and if Queen Trina’s name was so much as whispered in connection with it, no matter how loose the link, her smile would be removed from her face.

I smiled back at her.

The Impartial Ministers began with their speeches, and I half listened as I observed the ferocious winds that whipped up from the caverns to run across the perilous ridge. I knew that tonight’s trial would not be easy—not for any of us.

“Kings and queen of Nevertide, the second trial commences. It has been designed to test your bravery, wisdom and strength against creatures long forgotten in our land. The creatures that you will encounter are mere shadows of what they once were, but remain deadly, and so we beseech you—do not underestimate them.” With the warning still echoing across the cold night, the Impartial Ministers turned and headed off across the ridge.

We followed behind them in single file.

A minister passed us each a torch as we embarked on the rocky path; it was insufficient light for such a place, and I once again wondered at the sanity of the ministers, and their dangerous, foolhardy methods of testing our worth.

The wind almost knocked me off my feet as I trudged on behind the ministers and the rest of the royals. Hazel had been right. My energy was not what it should have been. The entity had taken too much, leaving me exposed to the effects of the last few days. In truth, I was exhausted.

The gusts blew more forcefully, and the royals and ministers ahead began to lower themselves closer to the ground to better maintain their balance. We reached the other side crawling on our hands and knees like animals, clutching on to the rocks beneath our hands for dear life.

“Rise!” the Impartial Ministers called out to us as we reached the other side of the ridge. I grunted at them in disgust, swiftly growing tired of their imperious manner toward us all. I was about to curtly remind them to hold their tongues when I saw something moving in the thick mists.

I recognized it as one of the loathsome creatures that my father had made us battle in his labyrinth. Glancing to the left, I saw four more, each wailing and screeching inside mind-barriers, fixing us with dead stares that sent shivers running down my spine. They looked like dead things, long withered, leaving barely more than their skeletal form with thin tufts of hair dangling from their skulls and claws like razors. I had thought at the time of my father’s test that he had taken these creatures from another dimension…yet the ministers had just insinuated that they were indigenous to this land. Other than my father’s trial, I had never come across these creatures before.