Page 95 of Into the Abyss
But not all of the jinn were angry; somewere fine with what happened, and they would allow Pride to do ashe pleased. Olgon was one of them. The knowledge his brother woulddie hadn’t fazed him.
“Child—”
A sudden vibration rocking the ground causedPride’s words to break off. I stared at the rocks beneath my knees,half expecting the ouroboros to have returned to life and burstfrom the rocks.
Embracing my father, I pulled him closer,and Nalki released him. My heart thundered in my chest. I waitedfor a fissure to race across the ground as the earth split apart toswallow us whole. Maybe the Abyss finally had enough of beingabused and decided to destroy us all. I wouldn’t blame it if ithad.
My father shook in my arms, but his tearshad dried and his eyes burned with rage. Except this time, hewasn’t glaring at Pride. No, he focused his hatred on Olgon.
The rumbling became a crescendoreverberating throughout the valley and quaked the walls behind me.Debris broke free and bounced down the wall before pelting my back.My father grunted when a large stone caught him in the head, but hedidn’t attempt to protect himself from further injury.
I tried to pull my father away from therubble jarring loose behind us, but Pride remained in our way, andI didn’t want my paupi anywhere near that monster. Beside us, Nalkihunched over and threw his arms protectively over his head.
What is going on?
I folded myself over my broken father toprotect him from the more massive falling rocks and gritted myteeth when they pelted my back. And then, the rain of them eased,though the ground still quaked. I chanced a glance up to discoverNalki leaving himself less protected as he knocked some of thelarger rocks away from us.
Then, the ground heaved and thrust us allforward as a rending noise filled the air.
“Amalia!” my father cried. He wrenched freeof my arms, threw himself over me, and pinned me to the ground.This brief return to reality for him wouldn’t last, but thisglimpse of the man he’d been before these bastards destroyed himwas wonderful to see.
Then, the ground stopped shaking, and Ifound the ensuing quiet nearly as terrifying as thedisturbance.
Lifting my head, I looked up in time to seerocks and sand blow outward from the ruins. The thick cloud ofdebris exploding over the top of the crater sent some of the jinnscurrying away as boulders whistled through the air before crashingto the ground. Rocks hit the monolith and bounced away, but none ofthem left so much as a scratch on the metallic surface.
“Magnus!” I screamed, somehow knowinghe’d done this. “Magnus!”
Clawing at the ground, I started to dragmyself out from under my father when he released me. Probablybecause he wouldn’t have let anyone stand in his way of getting tomy mother.
I leapt to my feet as more boulders crashedinto the pit, shaking the earth and leaving craters in the ground.A few of them nearly took out a couple of jinn, and Sloth finallystirred on his mount. When he kicked his horse, it grudginglyplodded forward.
Without thinking, I ran toward the pathwhere they’d taken Magnus. I went to dodge around Pride, but hishands fell on my shoulders, and he released a bone-chilling snarl.His fingers digging into my collarbone pierced my flesh and drewblood. Before I could formulate a thought, my feet left theground.
Lifting me, he flung me away as if I weighedno more than a pebble. A scream lodged in my throat as the worldwhipped around me and the wind tore at me. The ground became adizzying blur until I had no idea where I was.
And then I hit the earth.
Breath burst out of my lungs when I crashedonto my side, and my back screamed in protest as I skidded acrossthe ground. The rubble still raining down from the ruins pelted me;I threw my arms over my head to shield it before I crashed into therocky base of the monolith.
Lying there, I panted through the pain in myribs as I tried to get my bearings. Overhead, the cloud of smokecleared to reveal more of the red sky, but from my angle, Icouldn’t see what happened to the ruins.
Turning myself over, I clawed my way up thepile of rocks until I arrived at the top and settled only a footaway from the monolith. My heart sank when I finally saw the ruinsagain.
Or at least I saw what remained of them.
A perfect single square piece of thethree-story section had collapsed. If anything was in that section,it was dead.
CHAPTER 40
Magnus
When I crashed into the bars of my cell, they heldfirm before bending outward with a low screech.
Come on! Come on! Come on!
Gritting my teeth, I pushed harder as rocksbattered my body. One of them crashed onto my heel, turning it tothe side until something popped and I nearly went down.
Amalia.
