A Kingdom of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales Book 3) Read online

  “I think it’s probably fine,” Luru said in a weak voice, stalling at the edge of the door. “The officers may not be regulated, but they are always punctual. They’re always eager for fresh prisoners, especially dragons. They’ll know the king was planning on bringing prisoners in at about this time.”

  “How would they know that?” Ressfu said. “These shifters weren’t planned for.”

  “Not these shifters, no, but his highness almost always brings back some shifters from that kingdom, doesn’t he? And he always sends them around this way to get cleaned up. Right?”

  It didn’t sound like he was entirely sure of what he was saying. Still, the words pinged around inside my head. Were some of the people from my kingdom—maybe even my village!—down in that dungeon?

  Heart pounding, I waited as Luru argued for a moment longer before two demons stepped out of the crowd and roughly grabbed him.

  “I’ll go around!” Luru hollered as they marshaled him down a step, into the doorway. “I’m fast! I run fast! The officers like me. I’ll just go— No!”

  They lowered him. He pulled up his thin tail and bent his legs, suspended above the blackness.

  “No. Please,” Luru pleaded.

  “Drop him,” Ressfu said.

  Luru started screaming and writhing as his captors released him over what was surely a staircase. He dropped down squirming, hit at an awkward angle, and screams turned into painful grunts and then screams again as he rolled down the stairs.

  “Coward,” someone spat.

  Sonassa laughed. “You think you would’ve approached the situation with more decorum, do you? I didn’t see you volunteering.”

  A few others snickered.

  “We’re good,” Ressfu said, motioning everyone on.

  The two demons already at the opening descended the stairs one at a time, darkness swallowing them as they went.

  The demons holding me started forward, jostling me to keep up even though I wasn’t resisting. They got to the mouth of the doorway.

  “Wait,” Ressfu said, eyeing my face. His mouth curled into a sinister grin. “You got lucky, dragon. You must know it. What will make you squeal, eh? I like to watch your kind quiver.”

  The two beside me chuckled darkly.

  Ressfu reached for me, taking my arm in a clawed grip and jerking me toward the mouth of the stairs. Darkness covered what lay beneath—the kind of thick, impenetrable darkness that suggested magic was at work.

  The demon’s breath smelled like dead things. “Are your kind bred to feel no fear? Let’s see.”

  He shoved me out over the lip of the doorway and into nothingness. Gravity snagged at me immediately, yanking me down.

  Protect your head, my dragon thought-hollered, blasting me with power. The sweet fire filled me up and rushed through my blood. My senses heightened and my thought process sped up as blackness washed over me, cutting out my sight. It was clearly magically induced.

  I closed my eyes so it wouldn’t distract me, focusing instead on my other senses and the need to survive. Pungent aromas assaulted me, vomit and piss and decay wrapped in a musty scent like mold. I twisted and bent, making sure my first point of contact would be my side. A moment later, my hip hit a hard corner, half on and half off my sword scabbard. My upper body slammed down on stone steps.

  I grunted and tucked, wrapping my hands around my head, forming a shape as close to a ball as I could manage.

  Hang on, folks, we’re about to do a little acrobatics, I thought desperately, speaking to my imaginary audience the way I always did under dire circumstances. My dragon must have felt the pressure, because she didn’t call me an idiot.

  I slid a little before the momentum lifted my feet and threatened to send me the rest of the way down on my head. My dragon continued to beat power into me, pulling it from Nyfain’s dragon. Even all this distance away, we could still feel each other through the bond. It would play hell on Nyfain’s nerves, knowing I was in trouble and he couldn’t come to my aid, but for now I’d take what I could get.

  The added power dulled the ache of the first landing, lessening the feel of stone scraping off skin. I tucked in harder, angling, and my bottom half flipped over the top. My ankle struck a step, and agony shot up my leg as my other foot caught. It was now my upper body’s turn to fly over the lower. I was out of control. Careening.

  Metal tinkled beside me and then below. My sword had somehow gotten loose and was now racing me to the bottom. Fantastic. As if I needed one more thing to worry about.

  My other ankle smashed into a step. Crack. Incredible pain filled my world, forcing out a cry. Broken ankle, probably. Fractured, at least.

  The fall seemed to go on forever, the pain threatening to overwhelm me with each agonizing bounce, each jostling of my newly busted ankle.

  A breathless few moments later, my upper body crashed onto something somewhat soft. My legs didn’t fare so well, though, smashing into the stone landing with enough force to send hot sparks of pure anguish racing up my body.

  With my eyes still squinted shut, I sucked in a shuddering breath. I allowed one small tear to track across my pounding cheek. At least it didn’t feel like anything was sticking into me. I must’ve missed the sword.

  The world stopped spinning, and wet warmth seeped into my hair. I blinked my eyes open, afraid to move lest I jar my ankle, and looked at rough-hewn walls around me, not illuminated but not magically coated in darkness. My dragon’s ability to see in the dark was strong enough for me to make out my miserable surroundings.

  “What the fuck was he thinking?” I recognized that deep voice from above. Govam, they’d called him.

  He grabbed my arms, unceremoniously hoisting me up. My foot caught on something and dragged over it, my busted ankle screaming at me. My sides ached, my back pounded, and my body was covered in stings from where I’d scraped stone. But I was alive. I’d made it down. “He was worried about her losing a leg, but then he threw her down the fucking steps? He could’ve killed her.”

  A tug on my hip registered before I heard the slide of my sword against the scabbard. Govam pushed it down to make sure it was secure. He must’ve grabbed it when it landed, possibly saving me from impalement.

  “Not our problem.”

  A strong smell drifted from Govam. He had a decent amount of power. More than the other.

  I grunted as I spied what I’d landed on. Luru, who hadn’t fared as well as I had. He lay with a cracked skull and a chest glistening with blood. Something must’ve broken internally and punctured his skin.

  Govam pulled me back to the wall at the other side of the landing, forcing me to step on my injured leg and nearly dragging a strangled cry from my throat.

  “There, see?” Govam said as the second demon, a broad-faced creature with a wide nose, stepped in front of me and looked me over.

  Broad Face zeroed in on my ankle, held off the ground and throbbing. “She’s fucked up,” he confirmed.

  “Ah, well. She’ll heal. When their magic isn’t suppressed, dragons heal quick.”

  “What’s to stop her from shifting? I never had the guts to ask the higher-ups on the way here. Seems stupid to let a dragon shift. They’re enormous and mean.”

  “This particular one hasn’t ever shifted before, I guess. She’ll need to be guided through it or she could die, from what I understand.”

  “What about the dragons in the dungeon? How are we going to stop them now that the magic has been released?”

  Govam, more human looking than the other but with slightly gray skin, scratched his chin. “Only some of them are from her kingdom. From what I’ve gathered, the suppression magic is gone, but they still need their alpha to draw out their animals. They won’t get any shifter benefits until that happens. She may smell like the alpha, but she’s not him. And even if she could free their dragons, they’d still be trapped in the dungeon, and we’d have them killed before they made it far. They aren’t indestructible.”

  I stayed very still and ensured I had an entirely blank face. They’d just confirmed there were dragons in the dungeon. The ones from our kingdom must have been taken without Nyfain’s knowledge. That or he hadn’t been able to tell me because of the magical gag woven into the curse. Regardless, this meant I had help. It meant I’d have allies.

  Broad Face shook his head, eyeing my body and then my face. “It’s going to take an awful lot to clean this thing up. She’s a mess.”

  “Not our problem, like you said.”

  Legs appeared in the blackness crowding the stairwell, the magic hovering like a blanket. Jedrek came into view with a fresh welt on his cheek. He’d probably tried to resist, and they’d slapped him around. The magic above must’ve deadened sound, though, because we hadn’t heard any of it.

  The leader, Ressfu, emerged on the stairs, his hand on Jedrek’s shoulder. His gaze darted around the landing, pausing on Luru’s broken body. Panic crept into his expression before easing into plain anxiety. He must’ve realized who it was. The next moment, his gaze hit me and a look of relief followed. He’d clearly regretted giving in to his stupid impulse. That was good. I hoped a lot of them gave in to moments of stupidity. Dumb creatures, even if they only acted foolish sometimes, were easier to fool.

  The rest of the demons followed Ressfu, a good few of them looking me over for damage as they descended. When Ressfu reached the bottom, he reached for me.

  “Her ankle is messed up,” Govam said, still holding me up. “Like her face and a handful of other issues from her fall.”

  His voice didn’t hold accusation, but Ressfu bristled all the same.

  “She’ll heal,” Ressfu said, grabbing me and jerking me toward the tunnel. I tried to step-hop, but to keep from falling, I had to put weight on the bad ankl
e. Agony blasted through me, and I couldn’t stifle a cry as I hopped on the other foot, trying to keep from going down. But I could already tell it was too late.

  As I pitched forward, I threw out my hands to catch myself—just as a strong arm wrapped around my middle and pulled me up and against a chest.

  “Fucking idiot,” Govam mumbled softly, holding me so I could put my good foot on the ground. “Denski, get her other side. Let’s get this done. I’m sick of this journey.”

  A thin demon emerged from the gathering, his smell suggesting his power was about the same as Govam’s, which was higher than that of Broad Face and probably Ressfu, though it was hard to tell with so many of them gathered around.

  They each took hold of one of my arms, and I hop/hobbled with them down the corridor, the sound of shuffling feet behind me indicating the others were coming along.

  We followed the curve of the hallway, everyone obviously able to see in the darkness except for Jedrek, who stumbled within his captors’ hold. The curse’s suppression had been lifted from him, just like the rest of us from Wyvern, but I hadn’t used my power to help yank his animal out of the darkness. I was worried he’d freak out and try to shift.

  Up ahead, the low-hanging domed ceiling had an opening at the top that let in a slice of dusty, crimson-tinged white light. I looked up as we passed, but couldn’t see anything through the hole. Onward we walked, darkness crowding in once again.

  A bit farther in, the tunnel narrowed slightly, seemingly ending at a set of bars, the gaps between them slightly illuminated in that same reddish light. Through them were more rough-hewn walls, no difference from the hallway we’d walked down.

  Govam stopped before it, saying nothing. In a moment, Ressfu walked around us, a key in hand. He glanced down at my feet before unlocking the door. He gave Govam a hard look, then headed through the opening and turned right.

  Govam and Denski started forward in unison without so much as glancing at each other. I hobbled between them, my ankle pounding and sweat coating my skin despite the chill.

  Torches lined these walls, few and far between, but they cast enough light for me to see without my dragon’s intervention. I had no idea why torches had taken the place of the electrical or magical light in the previous area. At a crossroads we turned right, only to reach another one, where we turned left. I noticed subtle variations in the walls that would help me find my way back, and my dragon cataloged the various smells. After one more turn, the hall ended at a giant skull, the top of its head dusting the ceiling and its chin resting on the ground. Its cheekbones spanned the width of the hallway, and its eyes glowed a sparkling red. Each tooth was pointed in its slightly ajar mouth, giving it a more sinister look and feel.

  Ressfu walked right toward it. Once there, he reached to the side and opened it like a door. I belatedly realized it was flat, only giving the illusion of protruding into the hallway.

  “Cool,” I said softly as we passed through.

  The demons beside me acted like they hadn’t heard.

  On the other side, the smell intensified until it felt like I was swimming through it. The pungent aroma was equal parts musty and acidic, perfumed with sweat and death and decay. Its thickness coated my tongue and made my eyes water. My dragon recoiled within me, our senses blasted.

  An orange glow filled the hall up ahead before it opened up into a large room. A suspension bridge spanned a chasm full of what looked like molten lava, glowing oranges and yellows and reds oozing and shifting. No heat rose, but the air shimmered with it.

  “She’ll need to be carried,” Denski said as we stopped before the bridge.

  Ressfu continued across, holding the chains on either side and making the bridge swing slightly with his movements. His clothing rippled with the air currents.

  “I’ll do it,” Govam said. When Denski stepped away, Govam addressed me in a low voice. “Now, dragon, I know that you are hurting, but you have been on your best behavior. Now is not the time to act up. There is nowhere you can go. If you try, you won’t get far. Killing us both on that bridge will serve no purpose. You’d best stick with good behavior. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  What does he think we’re going to do, pitch us both into the demon lava, or whatever that stuff is? my dragon asked.

  Seems like it. Are the other dragons here so desperate that they try to end their suffering in any way possible?

  The thought filled me with sadness, but I pushed the emotion away. If they were desperate, I’d use that to help get us all out of here.

  I nodded at Govam, then waited as he studied me for a moment. When he was apparently satisfied I was telling the truth, he matched my nod.

  “How would you like to be carried?” he asked me.

  I quirked an eyebrow. “Comfortably?”

  His brow furrowed.

  “Govam, what is the hold-up?” a female demon said at his back.

  Ressfu stepped off the bridge on the other side of the chasm and looked back.

  Still Govam waited, looking at me.

  “Piggyback, then,” I said.

  Without a word, he turned and bent, flaring his arms behind him so that I could climb on. Denski stepped up to help me, and Govam curled his arms around my knees and straightened.

  “I’m right behind you,” Denski said, and I felt his hands grip my shirt at the center of my back.

  “How many people have tried to pitch over the edge to their death—”

  I barely finished getting those words out before a wave of vicious anxiety swept over me. Raw terror gripped my heart as he stepped out onto the bridge. A cold sweat ran over me, and suddenly I was desperate to escape. To run. To fling myself off the bridge and end it all.

  THREE

  FINLEY

  Shit has gone sideways, folks, I said to the invisible audience, clutching Govam with all my strength. Something is amiss with this chasm.

  It’s magic, my dragon thought.

  No shit, huh? You don’t think I just suddenly went batshit crazy?

  Suddenly? No. You’ve always been batshit crazy, or you wouldn’t speak to an imaginary audience…

  I squeezed my eyes shut, battered with more terror. Horrible thoughts swelled and tried to take over my motor skills. Then I peeled my eyes open and forced myself to loosen the fists clutching his shirt. I had to get used to this. I had to push on in spite of the feelings battering me. To escape, I might have to cross this bridge again, which meant I had to withstand its magic.

  “What’s happening?” Govam asked, slowing. I thought I heard a tinge of panic in his tone. “She’s loosening her hold.”

  “I don’t see any change from back here,” Denski replied.

  “Does this not affect you guys?” I asked, forcing myself to look over his shoulder. A wave of vertigo made my head spin. The urge to fling myself toward that glowing, shifting orange nearly undid me.

  “No. Demons are not affected, or how would we make the trip?” Denski answered.

  “With iron will, perseverance, and practice?” I gritted my teeth. The world spun around me, Govam’s body the only thing that felt solid. The good news was that I no longer registered any of my pain. That was a blessing, such as it was.

  Denski huffed. “What do you take us for?”

  “She’s a dragon,” Govam said. “They aren’t right in the head. They think danger is a challenge. They like facing it.”

  Not entirely accurate, but it made me sound like a badass, so sure, why not.

  Screaming sounded behind us, loud and high. I turned to look, my vision wavering. Fear liquifying my courage and making it drain away little by little.

  Jedrek shoved and thrashed between the demons preventing him from climbing over the chain railing at the side. Another demon tried to crowd in, grabbing him and yanking him back.

  “Just knock the idiot out and carry him,” Denski grumbled, facing front again.

  “They should,” Govam agreed softly, nearly at the end now.

  A moment later, the screaming cut off. They’d done exactly what Denski said.

  I blinked my watery eyes and looked away, hating all of this. Hating my fear and the stink and the magically induced desperation to fall to my death and end it all. I breathed deeply, filling my lungs with oxygen.

  The second Govam crossed the threshold onto solid ground, the clenching fear dried up. The swimming, wobbling vision straightened out. Courage surged within me, and I had a mad desire to fight. To cradle Govam’s head like a lover and crack his neck. It would be so easy. Effortless, really. They hadn’t cared about killing Luru; would they care about losing another demon? Ressfu might even thank me. He’d been waiting for us with what was clearly annoyance.