Ashes of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #2) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,80

turned, pulling magic to me, sending it slamming into them at the same moment that Esme cried out. Spinning, I stared at the horrified look on her face before swinging my stare back to the creatures that had paused, growing before my eyes.

“Well, shit,” I muttered.

“Come,” Esme groaned, grabbing my arm as she yanked me through a portal she’d just opened.

We fell through it, barely escaping the poisonous claws that reached inside, grasping for us. I stood, resting my hand on my knees as I caught my breath. Lifting, I peered at the large stronghold that sat on the horizon.

Guards surrounded it, their power echoing outward, and a large wall wrapped around the complex, moving through the winding countryside beyond what my eyesight could see.

“What is this place?” I asked carefully, shivering at the power coming from the castle, humming through me.

“That’s the head of the snake, per se. That is the palace. Do you see that tallest tower in the middle?” I nodded silently. “That’s the heart of the palace, and no one gets inside. Therefore, no one knows what it holds. Dark magic protects it, which I’m sure you can feel. People go into the keep, but they’re not the same when they come out of that place. Something inside that stronghold changes them, and it isn’t for the better.”

“Is the high queen inside of it?” I asked, watching the guards move as someone approached.

A man appeared, screaming and shaking his hands in anger toward the palace. The guards moved into action, lifting their hands without a care for the man as mist billowed from the ground. Their hands shifted, tossing him toward the fog, and my stomach clenched with unease as he was pulled into the mist by the creatures we’d just escaped. I stared in shock as his bones were tossed out by a gray husk of a hand.

“And that is what happens when you get close to the gate without an invitation,” Esme whispered so softly that I wasn’t certain she’d even spoken.

“Someone controls that mist,” I muttered, my tone lower than hers as she nodded.

Esme tugged on my arm and started through the forest. I trailed after her, stopping to watch her climb a sheer rock-faced cliff. Once she was up far enough, I unsheathed my claws and followed until we stood on a hill that overlooked a winding valley.

The same mist filled the valley below, shielding something from view. I silently moved closer, crouching to peer through where the fog was the thickest, but it was no use.

Scanning the area, I noted people moving around inside the outskirts of the mist without harm. Beyond, where the fog had cleared, sat a quiet town that sent a chill rushing down my spine.

“What is that place?” I asked.

“That used to be my home. It used to be Dark Hills, but then the palace was built beside it, and everyone fled when the mist came. Only a few of us made it out before revenants pulled them into the mist. A couple of my sisters died when the fog first appeared. The others were spared, but some of the dark witches eventually took them. Two went into the palace, but the one that came out wasn’t my sister anymore. My mother went to find help, but she never returned for us. We sent word to the high queen, but to no avail.”

“She didn’t care they were murdering witches beneath her rule?” I couldn’t believe that the high queen wouldn’t want to stop whoever was murdering her witches.

“Ilsa isn’t a queen, Aria. She’s a horrid being who hasn’t lifted a finger in hundreds of years for anyone unless it was for her benefit. We’ve had to fend for ourselves. In fact, my entire life I have lived with your boyfriend hunting us down, and the one thing that kept him from reaching us was my mother, and whoever helped watch over our town. Then the mist came, and the palace went up seemingly overnight. All hell broke loose, and thousands died within the first few hours of the mists’ arrival. I watched my family, neighbors, and friends sucked into that stench, only to have their bones spat out.”

“I’m sorry,” I frowned, unable to stop the sadness that I knew showed on my face.

“You weren’t even here. Come, I want to show you something,” Esme stated, holding out her hand.

“No offense, but I won’t hold your hand through any portal,” I snorted as her lips curled into a