Bright Keys (Adelman Academy Book 2) by Shan Marin

Author:Shan Marin [Marin, Shan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-03-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

The wind roared.

I could not breathe.

I sat up in a panic, my throat closed up. To my relief, air, cold and rank with the stench of mildew, rushed into my lungs. I gasped as I took in the hard marble floor and the grit of sand under my palms.

The howling wind clued me in. I was back in the Otherworld, inside the crystal, but I did not recognize the location. I rose to my feet and shivered, taking a look around.

A wide hallway, fallen into ruin, stretched out ahead and behind me. The walls were hewn from gray stone, and a section to my rear had collapsed, leaving a view of the room beyond. Across the hall sat a heavy door, three times my height at least, engraved with ornate flowers.

A faint blue-green glow filled the space, making it brighter than expected. I lifted my eyes and spied bioluminescent plants growing along the walls and ceilings. They resembled ruffled mushrooms. I sneezed, and the plants closest to me folded away their frills and faded into darkness.

I froze for a second, but slowly, they opened and lit back up. If I disturbed the plants, I would be forced into the darkness. On silent feet, I glided to the door, seized the heavy brass handles, and heaved. It opened with a tortured groan that sent the mushrooms in the hallway into hiding.

Fortunately, as the door swung open, light flooded in from the room beyond. I blinked as I slipped through the gap. The circular room was lined with windows open to the elements beyond. I gasped at the swirling sandstorm stretching as far as my eye could see.

Debris littered the room, but dust from outside did not fly in. Mesmerized, I stepped closer and peered out the nearest window. The dust bounced off an unseen force, repelled from the window opening. Through the haze outside, I could make out the ground, far, far below. Rocky crags lined the path down and the stunted trees were merely the size of my fingernail from this height.

“I’m on the mountain,” I whispered. On our first trip to the Otherworld, Neyla and I had used the mountain as a landmark to navigate this world.

I reached out a trembling hand, trying to touch the unseen magic that held back the storm. My fingers were almost to the barrier, when a voice spoke from the other side of the room.

“I wouldn’t do that.”

I spun around and spotted Valyr. Against the wall sat a heavy throne, lined with bones carved into fantastical trees that reached up to the ceiling. On either side of the magnificent throne sat three compact chairs. Six in total, like Katrienne’s husbands. Valyr lounged in the middle chair on the right of the throne, his leg dangling over the arm of the chair.

He kicked his foot lazily, and stared at me. “I mean,” he drawled, “you could if you wanted to, but the spell is designed to keep out the dust, not keep you in.

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