Born of Flames

Chapter 27 ~ Shadows of Hidden Knowledge

    Tarion jolted awake and promptly smacked his head against the slab of stone he had been leaning on. "Gods," he groaned, massaging the spot with a wince. "How long have I been asleep?"

    Gaelen looked over from where he was inspecting a set of shelves. "A while. Four hours at least, if my estimations are right."

    Tarion closed his eyes again, attempting to ease the remaining ache in his head. "That would explain why I'm starving."

    "We probably should've thought to bring some supplies down with us."

    "I don't think any of us believed we'd be down here this long." Tarion heaved a sigh and shoved himself to his feet. "Has there been any sign of Morana and Neeri?"

    Gaelen shook his head, a hint of worry flashing through his gaze. "It may be wise to start looking for them if they're gone much longer."

    Tarion didn't answer. Not that he didn't agree with the male. He did for once, shockingly. But they still had plenty of things to look through unless Gaelen had made more progress while Tarion was sleeping than he had while he was awake.

    Tarion turned back to the shelf he'd been looking through before and resumed scanning over the titles. He'd already looked through most of them, but there were still a few towards the end of it. Tarion pried the books loose and thumbed through them, but nothing of importance caught his eye.

    He returned them to their places and grabbed the last book on the shelf. He tugged it towards himself and his eyes widened as a much shorter book sprang out than what he'd anticipated. It looked as though someone had chopped several inches off the edge of the book.

    Peering back into the shelf, he saw why. A small stone jar had been wedged into the shelf behind the book. Tarion set the book aside and reached for the jar.

    "What is that?" Gaelen asked, pausing next to him.

    Tarion only shook his head and pulled the jar into the light. He could already feel the stone leaching away his magic, but there was no cold burn like with the altar. He unscrewed the lid of the jar and hesitantly tilted it up. Torchlight flickered across the opening, and the jar began to quake.

    Tarion dropped it at once. It hit the ground with a heavy thud, not shattering as he had expected. Ignoring his surprise, he threw a shield over the jar to contain whatever came out of it, and not a moment too soon.

    A small creature flung itself against the shield and scratched at it with obsidian talons, gouging deep lines in Tarion's magic. He stared at it in horrified recognition. "Hadeon's fucking Hel," he gasped.

    "It's one of the Little Gods," Gaelen hissed in disgust.

    "What the Hel is wrong with it?" Tarion crouched, taking care to reinforce his shield. The Little God seethed up at him through glowing black eyes. Its entire body was made of shadow tendrils, like Astaroth's own body had been. "I've never heard of Shadow Wisps."

    "Maybe Astaroth created it?"

    Tarion shook his head. "No, he can't create life. He never could. That's why he Corrupted already living things."

    "Did he Corrupt a Wisp then?" Gaelen asked, voicing Tarion's own thoughts.

    "I don't know how he could've managed it."

    "He managed many things we never thought possible."

    Tarion's jaw tightened as he stared at the small creature trapped before him. The Little Gods were sacred. Astaroth had to have known that, but of course, why would that matter to him? Nothing had ever been sacred to Astaroth, except maybe Morana. But what purpose could he have had in Corrupting a Wisp?