🏆 THE AMBYS 2024 - PARANORMAL FAVORITE 🏆
The Mayaware's reign must end.
In a world of demonic beings with a hunger for human flesh and thirst for blood, Hesi Renen knows it well. When her siblings are taken to the harvesting farms, she must do eve...
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No one questioned her about how in Tjarma she knew the way to the royal palace. She didn't realize the brides went with her until she crossed the trading courtyard and the stairs at the entrance. The royal palace loomed over them like a damning creature, the dim doorway in the facade's center threatening to devour her and never spit her out.
A crowd of servants, both with onyx scales and fleshy skin, milled by the entrance, muttering to each other in low tones—so low Hesi couldn't hear legible words, no matter how broken. When they came to the crowd's rim, she stood on her tiptoes and craned her neck up. A bald head blocked her view of the darkness beyond. Shapes and scuffles rustled inside, but they weren't enough to tell her what happened.
"Where did you learn about Mensa?" Hesi turned to Barteset, whose braids eroded at the edges because of sweat dotting her skin. "Who told you?"
The older woman's eyes misted. "I overheard it from the maids," she answered. "It's the talk in the palace. Something went wrong."
It did nothing to calm Hesi's heart. When she entered Berheqt, her assumption was proven wrong repeatedly. The Mayaware didn't touch the brides, not even to turn their heads in hunger when they passed by. Hesi let down her guard, let her shoulders relax. She thought she was safe inside the capital's walls. But the demons reminded her of the terrifying reality in the worst way possible.
Hesi didn't wait for the brides. She tore forward, pushing past the Mayaware, not caring if they were demons who could tear her apart with a snap of their jaws. She followed the stream of servants, hurrying towards a hall she hadn't visited before. The air reeked of iron, and sounds of metal slamming against stone echoed in the darkness. Everyone scrambled to where the sounds came from.
What in Qer's name? Hesi scampered past elaborate halls filled with stone statues depicting all kinds of Mayawarean myths. None registered in her mind with it focused on one thing—find Mensa. Find the High Prince.
She took the only corner at the corridor's end. The volume of the servants increased by the second, trickling towards the room at the edge of the hall. Mayaware soldiers, bearing golden breastplates over sienna skin and holding spear shafts with one hand, flanked both sides of the door.
Clangs of metal and screeches of stone strengthened the closer Hesi got. A wooden door muffled most of the chaos, providing the only barrier between her and the room's bowels. Was Mensa inside? Why were they hurting her?
Hesi blew a breath and trudged forward, shouldering past the ogling servants who planned on doing nothing. Her hand crept to the blade she always concealed in her clothes. When she got to the end of the line, an arm shot out. She whirled to find Kharta, shaking his head firmly, warning her to step back. Don't do anything, he seemed to say. Before she could open her mouth to ask a question, he dashed to the door. Two knocks resounded behind it. The soldiers snapped to attention, and one swung the wooden block in. Kharta ducked into the room, not a sliver of fear tinting his stance. Silhouettes writhed from the darkness, the sound of hurrying footsteps growing louder each second. Was this such a common occurrence that Kharta wasn't surprised anymore?
