Blackbird Crowned (The Witch King's Crown #3) - Keri Arthur Page 0,19
floater more than a swimmer.
But that wasn’t an option here. I sucked in another of those deep breaths that did little to ease the furious pounding of my pulse, and then dove under.
The water was black ink. I pushed out a hand, vaguely hoping the ring would again help me locate the sword. Red light pulsed briefly from the ruby and, in the dark depths far below, lightning responded, cutting through the darkness and briefly highlighting a vaguely cross-like shape. I kicked like crazy toward it, battling the turbulent water and my own instinctive need to rise back to the surface.
The closer I got, the fiercer the lightning became, until the water fairly glowed with its force. It wasn’t coming from the sword—which, like the one on King Island, had been sheathed deep in stone—but rather the crown that had been slung over the hilt.
That crown was Uhtric’s, which we’d given to Vivienne for safekeeping. Obviously, we had needed it to find the sword.
The water’s depth seemed to be far more than the few meters Mo had suggested. It wasn’t until my lungs began to burn and the need to breathe became more urgent that I was finally close enough to reach out for the sword. But as my fingers wrapped around the hilt, an otherworldly wave surged from the metal, rushing through every part of my being, a fierce and brutal power that seemed to be seeking.
Or assessing.
The exposed portion of the blade’s fuller—the beveled groove that ran down the center of the steel—began to glow with a strange, blue-white light, but the need to breathe was now all-consuming. I had to raise the sword—now—and get back to the surface. I did not want to make a second dive down.
I shifted the crown, gripped the hilt with both hands, then placed my feet on the stone and pulled back with all my might.
For an instant, the sword resisted.
Then that otherworldly power surged once more. This time, it spoke of earth and air, fire and water, life and death. It seemed to peel away flesh, muscle, and bone, leaving nothing behind except a being of pure energy.
It was that being the sword responded to.
The sword came free, and with such force it sent me flying backward. Out of the water and into the air.
Taking consciousness with it.
Chapter Four
Consciousness returned with the sharp awareness of both ice and fire. My body ached with cold, and yet flames burned underneath me. Flames that weren’t in fact real, and whose source lay deep underground, in the molten heart of the earth itself.
They were mine to use if I so wished.
Just as the turbulent water only feet away from where I lay and the thunderous might of the skies above was.
It wasn’t just the sword still gripped in my right hand providing the connection. Those elemental forces were now a part of me, an inner pulse as strong as my heart.
Fear surged, and my eyes sprang open. The storm still raged, but I could now see the ebb and flow of the currents that ran across the ominous sky, feel the force of electricity building behind the clouds, waiting to be unleashed.
I released the sword, and the sensations eased, though the pulse of ready power remained deep within. All I had to do was reach down and grasp …
“Easy,” Mo murmured. “Don’t move just yet. Take your time, catch your breath.”
My gaze flicked to her. She sat on the ground next to me, her knees drawn up close to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. Her grip was so fierce, her knuckles glowed in the gloom.
Because she was afraid. For me.
Which didn’t do one thing to calm my inner turmoil.
“What the fuck just happened?” My voice was hoarse, and my throat felt raw. “Why didn’t you warn me?”
“Because I didn’t know it would be like that for you. It wasn’t for either Cedric or Uhtric.”
“But it was for Aldred?”
She hesitated. “To an extent. He said it was as if he’d been stripped down and examined by every force that ever existed within the universe. But it was only for a few brief minutes and did not occur again.”
Being stripped down was definitely a no-frills description of what had just occurred. “So why would it happen to him and me and not to the other two witch kings?”
“Elysian was raw when Vivienne handed it to Aldred. Its power has been tempered and refined over the years.”