Page 33 of A Tempest of Shadows

I was turning to head back when something whispered behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I spotted black eyes blinking at me from the foliage.

Thick black lashes framed the eyes as a snout and sharp teeth emerged. When the creature’s lips skimmed back and it hissed, I braced myself as the thing leapt from the branches.

It was far longer than I’d anticipated and weighed at least fifty pounds as it pounced on my chest. After my time in Doomed Valley and dealing with all the monsters there, this creature didn’t frighten me.

Small, prickly hairs dug into my palms as I gripped its wiry body. Its teeth snapped at my face as I pulled it away from me and threw it over my head.

It hit the ground with a thud and bounced across the path before it popped back up. Its back arched, and it hopped back and forth as it hissed and spit at me.

Sleek and black, the slender rodent was at least four feet long and stood two feet off the ground at the shoulders. The giant rodent bared its flesh-rending teeth as it snarled while continuing to hop around, searching for a weakness.

So, this was the tone Ivan had decided to set for his rule of Tempest… turn rats loose on all those he saw as far inferior to him.

If this is what he intends for his class of merchants, successful farmers, and manor owners, then what does he plan for those in the towns?

The class of farmers, merchants, and manor owners didn’t have the money or power the king, duke, marquess, earls, and barons possessed, but they were the backbone of the realm. They kept things moving and the realm fed. Without them, Tempest would fall apart.

What is that asshole thinking?

But I already knew the answer—he had a lot of power and a bunch of amsirah to abuse with it. If this kept up, then the rebellion I suspected my father of secretly plotting would be a lot easier to pull off, as the occupants of this realm would turn on the idiot.

And a civil war was the last thing Tempest needed after what it endured with the ghouls. Shit!

I was sick of war and greedy, incompetent dickheads who wielded their power as abuse over others. Because of my father, I’d grown up with it, and I’d endured it again with the ophidians’ torture. Now, I lived in a realm with a king who considered everyone pawns.

My teeth grated together as I glared at the creature who had stopped its hopping to charge at me. Ivan had turned these things loose on this maze and on a group of amsirah with no weapons. Some had been a part of the Ghoul War and knew how to fight, but many hadn’t.

They could manipulate the weather, but most weren’t trained and would panic if attacked. And how much good would their ability to create rain or snow do against these things?

Although ice would probably come in handy, as would fog to fight them, and of course, my lightning against these things. There was only one other lightning bearer in this realm, and if, by some off chance, they happened to be in this maze, then they had a lot more to worry about than these rodents… they had me.

I’d hunt them down and wring their necks, but until then, I had to deal with this shit. As the creature bounded toward me, bouncing on its short legs with its back arched, I didn’t know whether to laugh or torch its ass.

When it reared onto its back legs and launched at me again, I caught it in midair and dodged its snapping jaws as it lunged for my face.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Ellery

I had no idea where I was in this maze anymore, and as the sun crept lower, my chances of finding the bowl at the center dwindled. And that was exactly what Ivan had planned.

The damn rodents weren’t helping, but so far, the knife I’d stolen had saved me from two of the overgrown rats. King Ivan would probably have a fit and maybe imprison me for swiping the weapon, but since I couldn’t use my lightning here, it was a chance I was willing to take.

More screams came from somewhere deeper in the maze. I was sure more than rodents waited ahead of me and that only a few of the bravest or craziest amsirah had traveled deeper into the labyrinth.

I was a good mix of both, but Scarlet would tell me I leaned more toward crazy… or maybe it was stupid. My father had always called me stubborn, but I wasn’t walking out of here with my tail between my legs. I would find that bowl.

Rounding another corner, I sighed when I walked into a wall. Is there a center to this thing, or is that another part of King Ivan’s game?

I was nothing more than a puppet at this point. We all were, but I’d let Ivan pull the strings that led me here, and I wouldn’t quit.

Clenching the knife with blood dripping from its blade, I turned around and took the pathway to the right at the next fork in the road. I inspected my surroundings as I wound through the high bushes.

I had no idea who maintained these things, but they were perfect. Not one leaf or stick was out of place amid the rows of endless green. And they were all identical; there was no way to differentiate one path from another as the endlessness of this place made my chest constrict.

More screams sounded from behind me as the sun sank lower. The minutes were creeping into hours, and those hours were running out.

I felt the seconds slipping through my fingers, as well as the fifty thousand carisle, which I was beginning to doubt existed. Why are you doing this? Turn back. You already have enough going on in your life. Tuck your tail between your legs and leave!