Iron Crowned Page 0,52

cavernous room. Much like the tunnel, everything here was simply rough rock with occasional glimpses of iron. A few torches lit the chamber, revealing its centerpiece: an elegant marble pedestal with an iron crown sitting on it.

"Seriously?" I said.

Kiyo and I hovered near the room's opening, wary of entering. Yet, as I stared at the crown, it wasn't any potential trap that sent a chill down my spine. Another test in my trip to the Underworld replayed in my mind: I'd been forced to wear my father's crown, despite my protests. That crown had been platinum, but it and the one before me both had a similar silvery sheen. Both were adorned with purple jewels. Both had a harsh, martial feel to them. The one in the vision had been a little more delicate, though, with a bit more artistic flair. Designer planning had also clearly gone into this one, with its circle of jeweled spikes alternating in size, but my feel was that it was meant to be impressive, not pretty.

"It's an illusion," I said to Kiyo. "We can't have reached it already. We've hardly done anything."

He didn't take his eyes off the crown as he spoke. "Snakes and walking through fire are nothing?"

"Well, no. But I expected more, considering all the hype."

"The iron," Kiyo reminded me. "You used magic to get through the fire. Most gentry would too - but imagine what it would be like for them in all this iron. If they even got this far. You're ... not cheating, exactly, but you're bypassing a lot of the challenges here."

"If it's meant to be for gentry, then maybe the crown is too. Maybe I'm too human and won't be able to claim it." Man, that would suck.

"One way to find out."

I stared at the crown, noticing how little light reflected off it. Was this it? Did I really just go up and claim it? Time to find out. I took a few steps forward ... and the room abruptly became cold. A dark feeling, a feeling of power and pure evil filled the small space. What does evil feel like? You just know. I hastily returned to Kiyo's side, but it was too late.

A male figure materialized before us, clad in beautiful purple velvet robes, embroidered and tailored in a way Dorian might have envied. This guy's hair was nearly as beautiful, a pale white blond that shone in the torchlight and grazed his shoulders. Yes, definitely an impressively attired figure. The only thing that really detracted from it all was that he was a skeleton.

"Oh, fuck," I said.

"What is it?" asked Kiyo, moving close to me.

"A lich. Like a ... I don't know. An undead necromancer or magic user." My mind was frantically spinning. Liches used magic before their deaths to purposely keep themselves from the Underworld. It made them very hard to banish, according to Roland. I'd only ever heard of them in stories.

"Like a zombie?"

"No. Smarter. And they can also do - duck!"

Kiyo, always a hair faster than me, had already dropped down and taken me with him as the lich hurled a ball of blue fire at us. It hit the wall above us, dispersing and blasting us with heat but otherwise doing no harm. More of that fire was already forming in its skeletal hand, and I knew it would aim low.

Kiyo transformed to his largest fox form and leapt at the lich, attacking the best way he knew how. His jaws started to close around the lich's robe-encased leg, but a small gesture from the lich sent Kiyo flying. He hit a wall, shook it off, and growled, pacing and planning what to do next in light of this new development.

During their split-second encounter, I had just enough time to send my senses out through the wand. I touched the Underworld and attempted to form a connection. The butterfly on my arm burned like the snake's venom, but I couldn't open the way. It was like beating on a heavy locked door. More effort might have helped me break through, but I had no chance to try before another fireball came toward me. I dodged and rolled away. Seeing the lich deflect Kiyo again made me think an athame attack wasn't going to be much help either.

The lich seemed to recognize my problems and laughed, a low, guttural sound that echoed unnaturally in the chamber. "You will not wear the Iron Crown. You do not possess the power to wear