Tree Of Souls (Transfusion Saga #6) - Stephanie Hudson Page 0,115

I got to my feet and ran towards him, only to be met with the same invisible barrier that separated us both, slamming me back once more on my ass.

“No!” I shouted as I pounded a fist to the ground in my anger. And when I lifted my head, it was to find Lucius still on the ground, unmoving and,

For the first time…

Unconscious.

Chapter 29

Tree of Souls

I ran towards the image of Lucius on the floor asking myself why he hadn’t got up yet and panic set in that something was majorly wrong! I wanted to bang my fist on what I now could see was a shimmering layer of air between us. As if it was nothing but dust particles innocently getting caught in the sunrays. It looked as light and airy as if I should have just been able to wave my hand through it all, but I knew this not to be true…No, I had learned my lesson finally after being put on my ass five times and well, that shit gets old quickly!

“Come on, Lucius, honey, wake up for me!” I pleaded again but nothing. I could at the very least see that he was still breathing which was currently the only positive I was seeing here.

“WAKE UP!” I shouted stopping my fist just in time from banging on what seemed like nothing more than glittery air.

“He cannot hear you…”

“Not like we can.”

“Mmmawahamm”

I spun around quickly at the sounds of three different voices, the last being nothing more than an indistinguishable mumble of sounds. My hand flew to my pounding heart as fear started to creep its way in, because really, I had no clue what I faced down here. I may not have had anything to fear in my father’s world but down here…well, I wasn’t in fucking Kansas anymore!

“Wwwho’s there?!” I said trying to get the first word of that question not to sound so shaky. I turned around in the dark space, one that was barely illuminated enough from the opening we had just passed through, one Lucius was currently lying unconscious in.

“We are the Keeper of three…”

“We see, hear and speak of all that the blood of Kings commands.”

“Mmnsebm” Again the mumbled voice followed, making me wonder of the point of it. I also found myself frowning at the creepy words that sounded hissed and scratchy.

“Yeah, well lucky for you then, as I can see shit!” I snapped and suddenly at my complaint, the huge room sparked into life.

“Gods,” I muttered in sight of all the huge torches that were being lit by unnatural means. Large disks of gold, the size of cars, sat in curved iron twists of metal and started to fill with a flaming liquid that poured from above. I followed the flow up and saw that the flaming waterfalls each came from holes in the rock face and there were seven in total. Then, once the disks had been filled with enough fuel, the waterfalls stopped, leaving flames to lick and snap at the air. But it offered enough light for me to see now where I was, and it could only be one place…

“I am in the Temple of the Tree of Souls.” The place was real! It wasn’t a fabled tale after all or a memory that had deceived Lucius.

“She knows…”

“She is clever.”

“Sss mmise.”

The three voices said again, making me awkwardly say,

“Uh…thanks…I guess.” Well, at least they seemed to like me, so big plus on that one, especially if that meant I wasn’t going to get eaten anytime soon. My voice echoed around what I could now see was a carved temple that looked to be as old as time itself!

The markings along its walls belonged to every known civilization since the time of man and there were many even I didn’t recognise. But giant pillars the size of redwood trees were all carved in every type of symbol, hieroglyphics and script known and unknown. They framed the open space and there were far too many of them to count, which spoke for how big the Temple was.

As for the floor, it was a series of broken slabs that had been uprooted and split from the dark black roots that looked charred as if they had been set alight. I followed them all the way to the centre of the room which was the whole reason the Temple had been built. For it hadn’t been for the tree above, where Lucius had died as Judas, it had