The magick that slithered along her skin was familiar. It contained the signature of her people and the joy such a simple feeling evoked inside of her was unparalleled. It told her that the eagle knights prevailed. That even though many had fallen to their dark enemies, their spirit and will lived on.
The clouds began to give way, receding to where they came from, and she saw the dark opening that she’d just exited. There was nothing extraordinary about it. It looked plain. Simple, as if it had never felt the touch of magick.
She turned once more, her eyes following the mist as it pulled back from the earthen floor, like a carpet being rolled back. The sun, though low in the sky, continued to heat her face and she fed from its power.
In the distance an eagle called, its cry slicing through the silence like a sharp knife. Skye shuddered at the lonely sound and searched for it to no avail. She heard one more call and then there was nothing.
Sweat began to slip from her pores and even though Skye tried to still her fast-beating heart, she couldn’t calm her body. She knew the end was near and the heavy weight of it sat hard inside her soul.
Her T-shirt stuck to her skin. She pinched it away, hoping some air would alleviate her discomfort, but then she let it fall back in disgust. What the hell was she doing? She was gonna spend fucking eternity in the darkness, deep within the hell realm.
It’s not like anyone down there was going to care that she had bad body odor.
A wave of cool wind slid across her cheek, blowing a tendril of hair along her nose. It was time.
Slowly she took a step forward. And then another, watching as the fog continued to dissipate, like the tide receding at the end of the day.
When the shrine was finally exposed, she couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. It held none of the grandeur of either one of the inner chambers and consisted of rocks, both large and small, that had been thrown together to create a small hut.
She closed the remaining feet in a rush and stood outside the entrance, her eyes scouring the facade. Above the opening there was a simple etching in the rock that depicted an eagle in flight.
Other than that, there was nothing.
She was left with nothing more to do than slip through. With a wary look around, Skye did just that, her blond head quickly disappearing inside the dark interior of the shrine.
Inside it was dark and the floor uneven. She swayed and nearly lost her balance. The satchel she’d clutched, forever it seemed, fell to the ground at her feet. Everything was weird, as if the alignment of the sun and moon, of the very axis of the earth was off kilter.
Something was wrong. She could feel it.
She waited for her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting and when her vision fell upon the dais several feet from where she stood, her breath caught in her throat.
It was surrounded at each corner with tall urns, ones that should be burning forever with the light of the sun. This she knew.
Skye swallowed thickly as the fist inklings of dread began to roll over in her belly. Something was drastically wrong.
She stood dead center to the dais.
Skye could do nothing but shake her head in dismay, anger and fear.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding,” she whispered hoarsely into the room, but there was no denying what her eyes were seeing.
The dais was empty.
A million thoughts rushed through Skye’s mind and she frantically began a search of the entire area. Panic joined in the fun and her breaths heaved from her mouth in sporadic bursts as she struggled to hold on to what little thread of sanity she still had going.
The portal was missing!
How in the hell was that even possible? Where the hell was it?
Cold sharp pains clawed their way through her belly and she doubled over in the corner, her stomach heaving as she retched.
She fell to the floor and passed a trembling hand over her face, feeling the cold fingers sharply against her heated skin.
Dully, her eyes wandered the room, but it was no use. It wasn’t like there were secret compartments with the portal hidden safely inside.
It was well and truly gone.
And Skye had no freaking clue as to its location. A thought struck her then, and she grabbed her satchel, her fingers barely able to get it open because they were trembling so badly.