Princess Of The Skulls - Chapter 41: Chapter 41
You are reading Princess Of The Skulls, Chapter 41: Chapter 41. Read more chapters of Princess Of The Skulls.
Kael moved like a liquid shadow, his twin daggers gleaming as he leaped onto the Bone Dragon's neck. I'd seen him fight before, but never like this—with the desperate fury of a man protecting what he loved most.
The dragon roared in surprise and rage as Kael's blessed blades found the joints between its vertebrae.
Ancient bone cracked under his assault, and the creature's death-fire went wild, scorching the cathedral ceiling instead of consuming Aldric and me.
"The runes!" Kael shouted over the dragon's fury. "The skull runes are the source of its power!"
Of course. I should have seen it immediately. The glowing symbols carved into the dragon's skull weren't just decoration—they were binding sigils, the same type of magic that had sealed it away originally. If we could disrupt them.
"I need to get closer," I called to Aldric, already moving toward the thrashing beast.
"Are you insane?" he replied, but I felt his magic flowing through our bond, ready to support whatever mad plan I was forming.
The dragon bucked and twisted, trying to dislodge Kael from its neck. Its massive claws scraped gouges on the stone floor as it writhed, and its tail lashed out wildly, smashing ancient pillars and sending debris raining down on the few surviving observers.
I dodged a falling chunk of masonry and rolled under the creature's belly, coming up directly beneath its skull. The runes were blazing so brightly now that looking at them directly was painful, but I could see the pattern—seven symbols arranged in a perfect circle around the dragon's cranium.
Kael caught my eye and nodded grimly. He understood what needed to happen. With a battle cry that seemed to shake the foundations of the cathedral, he drove both daggers into the dragon's neck joint and twisted.
The creature's head snapped down toward me, jaws gaping wide. I could see down its throat into an abyss of swirling shadows and tormented souls. Death incarnate, reaching out to claim me.
But instead of fleeing, I reached up and pressed my palms against the blazing runes.
The pain was indescribable. It felt like grasping molten iron with bare hands, like having my soul flayed by cosmic winds. But through the agony, I could feel the magic that bound the dragon—ancient, powerful, but flawed. The original sorcerers who'd created these seals had never imagined someone with my unique combination of abilities.
Princess of Skulls, the dragon had called me. And skulls, after all, were just another form of bone.
I poured my necromantic power into the runes, not trying to destroy them but to claim them. To make them mine. The dragon's struggles grew more frantic as it realized what I was attempting.
Impossible, it roared directly into my mind. You cannot command what commanded kings!
"Watch me," I snarled back, feeling Aldric's life magic flowing through our bond to sustain me against the dragon's overwhelming presence.
The runes flickered, their red light shifting toward the cold blue of my power. The dragon's roars of rage became screams of genuine fear as it felt its binding magic turning against it.
But the effort was destroying me. Blood ran from my eyes and nose, and I could feel my life force burning away like candle wax. Through our bond, Aldric was trying to sustain me, but the drain was too much for both of us.
That's when I heard my mother's voice again, whisper-soft in the chaos.
Not alone, my daughter. Never alone.
And suddenly I wasn't. I felt the presence of every skull I'd ever communed with, every spirit I'd spoken to in the long years since my mother's death. They were lending me their strength, their memories, their very essence.
The dragon's runes blazed one final time, then went dark.
The ancient creature collapsed like a marionette with severed strings, its bones clattering to the cathedral floor in a heap of powerless ivory. Kael leaped clear at the last second, landing in a crouch beside me as I swayed on my feet.
The sudden silence was deafening.
The dragon roared in surprise and rage as Kael's blessed blades found the joints between its vertebrae.
Ancient bone cracked under his assault, and the creature's death-fire went wild, scorching the cathedral ceiling instead of consuming Aldric and me.
"The runes!" Kael shouted over the dragon's fury. "The skull runes are the source of its power!"
Of course. I should have seen it immediately. The glowing symbols carved into the dragon's skull weren't just decoration—they were binding sigils, the same type of magic that had sealed it away originally. If we could disrupt them.
"I need to get closer," I called to Aldric, already moving toward the thrashing beast.
"Are you insane?" he replied, but I felt his magic flowing through our bond, ready to support whatever mad plan I was forming.
The dragon bucked and twisted, trying to dislodge Kael from its neck. Its massive claws scraped gouges on the stone floor as it writhed, and its tail lashed out wildly, smashing ancient pillars and sending debris raining down on the few surviving observers.
I dodged a falling chunk of masonry and rolled under the creature's belly, coming up directly beneath its skull. The runes were blazing so brightly now that looking at them directly was painful, but I could see the pattern—seven symbols arranged in a perfect circle around the dragon's cranium.
Kael caught my eye and nodded grimly. He understood what needed to happen. With a battle cry that seemed to shake the foundations of the cathedral, he drove both daggers into the dragon's neck joint and twisted.
The creature's head snapped down toward me, jaws gaping wide. I could see down its throat into an abyss of swirling shadows and tormented souls. Death incarnate, reaching out to claim me.
But instead of fleeing, I reached up and pressed my palms against the blazing runes.
The pain was indescribable. It felt like grasping molten iron with bare hands, like having my soul flayed by cosmic winds. But through the agony, I could feel the magic that bound the dragon—ancient, powerful, but flawed. The original sorcerers who'd created these seals had never imagined someone with my unique combination of abilities.
Princess of Skulls, the dragon had called me. And skulls, after all, were just another form of bone.
I poured my necromantic power into the runes, not trying to destroy them but to claim them. To make them mine. The dragon's struggles grew more frantic as it realized what I was attempting.
Impossible, it roared directly into my mind. You cannot command what commanded kings!
"Watch me," I snarled back, feeling Aldric's life magic flowing through our bond to sustain me against the dragon's overwhelming presence.
The runes flickered, their red light shifting toward the cold blue of my power. The dragon's roars of rage became screams of genuine fear as it felt its binding magic turning against it.
But the effort was destroying me. Blood ran from my eyes and nose, and I could feel my life force burning away like candle wax. Through our bond, Aldric was trying to sustain me, but the drain was too much for both of us.
That's when I heard my mother's voice again, whisper-soft in the chaos.
Not alone, my daughter. Never alone.
And suddenly I wasn't. I felt the presence of every skull I'd ever communed with, every spirit I'd spoken to in the long years since my mother's death. They were lending me their strength, their memories, their very essence.
The dragon's runes blazed one final time, then went dark.
The ancient creature collapsed like a marionette with severed strings, its bones clattering to the cathedral floor in a heap of powerless ivory. Kael leaped clear at the last second, landing in a crouch beside me as I swayed on my feet.
The sudden silence was deafening.
End of Princess Of The Skulls Chapter 41. Continue reading Chapter 42 or return to Princess Of The Skulls book page.