The Timeless Trials by Guess A.C

Author:Guess, A.C.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-02-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter twenty-seven

The Sundial Waltz

Rae

The haunting melody commenced with a few lively strokes of strings, and so did the dancing. Moved by an invisible force, we began a slow waltz around the edges of the dial. A rotation with no end and no beginning, just circles in time through the haunting music. One, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three. My eyes did not part from Rydar’s, and I wondered if he felt the racing of my heart, the way it vehemently warred against every step of my feet. Steps that were not mine, steps out of my control.

We danced over each etching on the dial—dragon, candle, wolf, sun—fleeting glimpses of the symbols flashing at the edges of my vision. My body grew numb with each step, gripped by fear. What lurked beneath each note? What horrors lingered unseen? As we circled the dial, I caught a glimpse of Elowynne’s smile, full of danger and guile.

The music halted abruptly, and the room plunged into darkness. The floor grew frigid, and I realized with horror that tendrils of icy light wrapped around my ankles, trapping me in place. A single chime, loud and true, rang so fiercely that I felt it deep in my bones. My heart seized with panic, but it jolted back to life as a beam of light illuminated the first hour. When the music ends, pray you do not. So help me Fates.

Like lightning, the serpentine etching at the first hour came to life, bursting from the ground in a flash of light. A collective cry rang out from the crowd, and Alia screeched, stumbling away from her partner and the snake in haste. It wound itself in tight coils around her partner, and his eyes bulged as his ribcage compressed, tighter and tighter until bone snapped and a horrid gurgle escaped from his purpled mouth. The victim’s crushing pain washed over me, and I screwed my eyes shut, gripping Rydar’s hands tighter and tighter until the agony of the man’s last moments finally relented. His pain left my senses the moment his soul embarked on its journey to the Next Realm.

The serpent burst into a shower of sparks when I opened my eyes. It sparked and crackled in the air, then vanished, along with the man, into nothing.

I scrambled through my memory, trying to remember his name, but it would not come. My mind was irretrievably stuck on a continuous loop of horror, replaying the horrible sounds he had made at his end and the excruciating pain he had endured.

Applause surged. Alia’s eyes met mine, her face blanched with terror save for the patch of gold across her cheek. The bars opened behind her, and she hesitated, her brows knitted together in concern. “Please do better than Pell,” she whispered. A Watchman helped her down, and the bars slid back into place.

Pell. That was his name.

“Oh, a wonderful start! The first hour has struck! Pell has ended, poor dear. Did you see that serpent? So artistic—I have chills!” Orman chuckled, making a show of shivers running down his spine.

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