Page 140 of The Divine Lies We Weave

Leela frowned. Now that she thought about it, why had Rajesh thought the mountain pass would be the best place to go? Where did he hear the information that led him thousands of miles from home?

Rajesh was not the only one who wanted the curse gone, mortal.

Shut up. I wasn’t speaking to you, snake.

The Viperess hissed. Iravan also wanted the curse gone. Why and how do you think I knew where to find the Scorpion? Where to find Rajesh and you? He was the seed I sowed to set my plan in motion.

Leela couldn’t believe it. Although, granted all the Viperess’s other lies, it didn’t surprise Leela too much.

You bitch.

I did not need to do too much convincing, mortal. Iravan was quite happy to risk his father’s life. To also sacrifice Rajesh, to stop the curse from lingering. He made the ultimate sacrifice for the future generations.

No. You toyed with him!

I did not. He wanted it all. I merely helped. It was a win-win situation.

Leela screamed again, her voice echoing off the glass. She was sick of the Flame’s smugness. The way the Viperess spoke. As if she had been waiting to tell Leela all of it from the very beginning.

What else? Leela said through gritted teeth. What else aren’t you telling me?

I—

The Viperess stopped, feet locking in place. Sand blew around her as Ishaan almost knocked into her.

“What, my queen?” Ishaan asked.

A slow and distant chittering echoed around them. It curled each of Leela’s toes and felt like fingers sliding up her spine. She had never heard that sound before.

Leela opened her mouth to ask what it was but wound up shrieking instead. A white spindly creature landed before the Viperess, with giant pinchers at its mouth and claws for hands. It slashed at the Viperess, but she sidestepped, and Ishaan sliced its tiny, oval head off with his jawblade. Leela gawked at the monster, who laid with two giant black eyes peering up at her.

“Furybeasts!” Ishaan yelled.

Sure enough, more furybeasts fell from the mountains. Each one as tall as the last.

Rebels jumped. Gilded Thorns hacked the monsters with their weapons. Flames flew into the fray.

The Viperess ran toward the end of the tunnel between the two mountains, feeling her heart in her throat. But the skittering grew louder and louder until it was like a howling storm.

There are more.

Gulping, the Viperess glanced at the sides of the mountains where hundreds of white flecks moved with a swiftness she’d never seen before. Leela couldn’t tell any of them apart. At least the drakion were stealthy and thick, like hound dogs, and the lustisha was too gigantic to miss. But these? The furybeasts came in an assortment of sizes, some were either small enough to come up to Leela’s knees or were as tall as her. Each one was quick, their six legs carrying them toward the group.

The Viperess whirled around as a furybeast pounced on her. She unhitched her godsblade from her waist and sliced the skinny beast in one effortless swoop of crimson blood. Rebels and Gilded Thorns ran by, slicing the air and attacking the furybeasts as they began to overpower them.

Flashes of silver against white merged with red and yellow. Screams echoed, and the schinnng of blades sang a haunted melody. Leela watched on in terror as the furybeasts took the rebels down. One. Two. Jumping on their backs and ripping them apart. Cutting off limbs. The smaller ones dug their claws into flesh as if it were sand and dug in some more until they were inside the bodies. They pulsed under the skin and burst free with a scream.

Gilded Thorns fell, eyes turned to the skies.

Blood stung Leela’s nostrils. Do something!

What do you think I am doing?

Hiding.

The Viperess hissed. She turned and ran with the seed clenched to her chest. She kept her eyes steady on the clearing as the fog lifted. Pincers clipped the air in a fearsome symphony, propelling the Viperess forward with everything she had. Leela’s heart thundered, although she wasn’t sure if it was hers or the Viperess’s.

Leela begged the Viperess to turn so she could make sure the Gilded Thorns survived. But the Viperess ran like her life depended on it. Leela supposed even Flames were scared.