Page 87 of Scourged
Mariah dropped her gaze from the sky, levying it on thelunestairpillars flanking the great golden throne. Despite the darkness of the palace and the city, those pillars still glowed with ethereal light, the milky white stone illuminated from within.
But as Mariah watched, she saw it.
A twisting mass of darkness snaked across the glow of the stone, carving a piece of the light away. It crawled like a serpent, too-alike the Uroborus that had once tried to claim her life.
She remembered what she’d felt when she’d rested her palm on those pillars the day after the Solstice. The way the magic had pulsed and burned, so full of power and life … but hidden beneath it, buried deep, was a knotted mass of cruel darkness. A blackness born of pain and suffering and deceit, not the joy and life she’d tried to instill throughout the kingdom that night.
Mariah gritted her teeth and stalked toward the pillars, magic uncoiling around her fingers.
The pillars pulsed, even as the lights stayed dark. The darkness seemed to seep from them, spilling across the marble, a poison in the air.
“Mariah, what are you?—”
“It’s okay, Feran,” she murmured, not turning as she climbed the dais, before repeating, “I can fix this.”
He didn’t answer as she halted before the nearest pillar. Her entire being had focused on the glowing moonstone, on the snaking shadows within it.
With her magic pulsing in her chest, she pressed her hand against the cool stone.
Theallumesnapped and sang through her, recognizing her from that fateful Solstice. It danced and twirled and sparked, so much light it was blinding.
That was when Mariah felt the darkness.
Just as before, it crawled out of the depths of the light, a wickedness whispering the terrible things that usually lived only in her nightmares.
She’d felt this darkness before. Not just when she’d last touched this pillar after the Solstice. No, this was the same darkness she’d felt inside Andrian, the same one she chased away as she wove her soul with his.
As if reminded, that bond roared to life, wrapping around her and pulling with a vicious ferocity. Mariah gasped, twisting her lips into a snarl.
She knew she’d neglected that bond. But she wasn’t yet ready to face it, no matter how much it might grab at her, demanding her attention.
“Mariah, I’m not sure if this is a good idea?—”
Ignoring Feran, she closed her eyes and speared her mind into the pillar.
At first, all was quiet. It was only Mariah, her magic, and the wild energy of theallume, familiar yet untamed. She relaxed for a moment, the power wrapping around her.
The darkness slammed into her with an animal’s ferocity.
It wrapped around her like serpents, biting and squeezing. It was suffocating, this darkness. Burning and consuming and devouring, and it would leave nothing but pain and ashes in itswake. It ate at her light like a starved beast, hungry for more power to fuel its wicked, senseless rage.
Mariah shuddered. Somewhere, she might have released a scream. So much pain drove the darkness. So much empty suffering, terrible and vile and wrought with the wrong kind of desperation.
Deep in her chest, beneath where even her magic lived, something ancient rustled awake. It rumbled through her, growling in annoyance as the darkness around her balked.
Mariah didn’t hesitate. She gasped her breath as the serpents released her before unspooling her magic through her mind. She hissed into the void within the pillar, vengeful and tired and broken.
“This place is mine. And it’s time you got thefuckout.”
Her threads of light grew claws as she unleashed them on the darkness.
It was over in an instant. As quickly as the darkness had emerged, it burned away, shredded and consumed by silver-gold light. The moment it was gone, theallumesettled, returning to its gentle state of wild, thrumming power.
Mariah slammed back into her body, drenched in sweat, chest heaving. Feran caught her as she stumbled away from the pillar, her weak and sore body shaking.
“Fucking Enfara, Mariah. What was that? What did you do?”
Mariah didn’t answer him. Instead, she stared at the lights lining the throne room walls, at the pillars blazing beside the throne.