Rise of the Demon by Diana Rowland

Author:Diana Rowland [Rowland, Diana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC000000 Fiction / General
Publisher: Astra Publishing House
Published: 2022-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

The ambience of the destination grove blanketed me in bittersweet nostalgia as Szerain and I strode down the tree tunnel, and I couldn’t help but smile at Rho’s choice of pavilion. I’d been here twice before. The most recent was almost nine months ago, when Mzatal and I had been trying desperately to rescue Idris from the Mraztur. But the first was when Mzatal—who I thought at the time to be the villain—sought to remove Rhyzkahl’s mark from me. I’d used this grove to escape to Rhyzkahl’s realm, straight into his clutches and horrific plots. In response, Mzatal vented his rage and frustration by unleashing a devastating flare of potency here that reduced the rainforest in a fifty-yard radius to ash and char, the same kind of arcane-flare that nearly killed Paul during the battle at the Farouche plantation.

Beyond the tunnel, the scent of char had washed away, and the soil showed it had never been fully dead. Glorious purple and green knee-high grass rippled where the charred ground had been, like carpet unrolled from the grove. Long-stemmed crimson flowers bobbed their heads and filled the air with a spicy scent, while sparkling fairy-like creatures darted to and fro in an aerial dance I could almost understand. Across the field, where the grass met rainforest, an Ekiri pavilion stood, its milky columns and iridescent roof glistening in the sun, with a waterfall shimmering just beyond.

“Thank you, Rho,” I murmured, grateful for their choice of location—and for the reminder that life was a stubborn bitch, even in the face of destruction.

Face set in determination, Szerain started toward the pavilion at a brisk jog, grass and flowers swishing in his wake.

I dogged his heels, amused when one of the fairy creatures landed in his hair, content to cling there despite the jostling. It flitted away when he stopped near the pavilion, and I had an absurd image of it returning to its buddies and getting high-fived for hitching a ride so audaciously.

“Will the enemy demahnk try to stop us?” I asked. As far as we knew, they were still unaware that Zakaar hid within Szerain, but we were about to enter one of their power centers, and that could change everything.

“Probably,” he said, grim.

In other words, assume they would and prepare for the worst. A whisper of grove sense passed through me. Rho, agreeing. Rho would shield our whereabouts as much as possible, but once the demahnk sensed Zakaar and what we were doing, it wouldn’t take them long to find us.

Steps of translucent white stone led up to an open-air heptagonal dais about twenty feet across flanked by seven lofty columns, all giving off a barely perceptible bluish glow. The only Ekiri pavilion I’d ever been close enough to enter had been the one in Rhyzkahl’s realm. Even in its state of ruin, half-crushed by boulders during the cataclysm, it had captivated me with its grace and mysterious atmosphere. But it was nothing compared to the allure of this pristine structure that whispered at the edge of my awareness, urging me to dash, laughing, to its heart.

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