Mask of Poison (Fall of Under Book 1) by Kathryn Kingsley (great novels to read txt) 📕

stay upright. His feet were bare. When he looked down at them, they were mostly bone. A few of his toes were missing.

Everything still hurt.

But maybe just a little bit less.

And maybe, just a bit of his mind had come back to clarity.

He looked up at the faces of those creatures he had dedicated his soul to, and he cackled. He fell back, leaning against the dais to keep himself standing. He left bloody smears wherever he touched. He didn’t care.

He laughed at them. Laughed at their malice and their cruelty and their stupid grins. He laughed at them.

Because he would destroy them all.

He pointed a finger at them, thin and empty and frail. And for the first time in a very long time, he spoke.

“I am Rxa…and I will destroy you.”

4

Stepping out of the cathedral, Ember gasped.

She had never seen anything like the city that stretched out before her.

Clutching the necklaces that hung around her neck, she could do nothing except gape. And stare. By all the old gods, living and dead, what is this place?

The stone steps of the cathedral were massive, like everything else about the building. Turning, she looked up—and up—and up—and nearly fell over. The cathedral loomed over them. And it was covered in carvings and statues. Some of humans, and some of creatures. Spires stretched up from the roof, jagged outlines barely visible against the night sky. A night sky filled with stars that weren’t hers.

“Usually, I would travel via a method that would bring us to the Great Hall immediately. But it can be disconcerting for those uninitiated, and…I would like to spare you any undue trauma. It is not a long walk. I suggest we take the time to continue to talk.”

“Uh-huh.” She wasn’t really paying attention. She was too busy marveling at the world around her. She turned to take in the other buildings nearby, but there was just too much to look at. Many of the windows were smashed, and she watched as a small group of people seemed to be quickly working to straighten benches and clear up debris.

“I would strictly warn you against any attempt to flee. Under is filled with creatures who would look upon a wayward mortal not as something to be investigated, but something to be killed for sport.”

That got her attention. She looked at Lyon in shock. “What?”

“You have seen the depictions of our gods. What manner of world do you think beings such as those would create?” Lyon smiled faintly. “And our monsters come in more shapes than men.”

“O—oh.” She gripped the leather strap of her spear. “No running. Got it.”

“Good.” He turned back down the stairs. “This is the city of Yej, our capitol. It does not always look so…ramshackle. I fear our buildings were not designed to survive a sudden drop.”

“I’ve seen worse.” Everywhere I’ve seen is worse.

“I fear you likely have.” He began to walk down the steps of the church. Ember followed him, having to look at her feet from time to time to keep from tripping. She was too fascinated by everything else she was seeing. Once they were back on solid ground, she resumed turning this way and that to take in everything around her.

Of all the stories of her world before the Dread God came, she had always wondered what it would have been like to see a real city—a city that wasn’t surrounded by corpses and walls. What it might have been like to live and sleep without the constant terror.

And here it was before her. A little mussed from the world suddenly dropping a foot or two—but it was more amazing than anything she had ever seen in her life. Not like that was particularly hard to do.

The fanciest buildings she had ever seen were all gutted, overgrown, collapsed, or burned out.

Here, the structures were packed close together and looked old, but well-cared-for. Windows were shattered and planters were overturned, but everyone seemed to be cleaning up the messes as best they could.

Shop keepers were fixing the wares displayed in their windows—soaps, breads, meats. Clocks and trinkets, jewelry and clothing. Several times, Lyon had to wait for her because she couldn’t help but stop and stare.

There are so many people here! They all seemed a little nervous as they worked at cleaning up broken glass or spilled dirt from planters.

But she was used to seeing scared masses. What she wasn’t used to was seeing so many all at once.

Under was alive.

It was thriving.

It was everything her world hadn’t been.

Maybe my coming here is a good thing.

She shoved the hope away from her thoughts as fast as it had come. It was always a lie. It was always a trap. Never get complacent. Never get comfortable. That’s when you die.

Overwrought, she stopped to watch someone at a stall making food for patrons. Some of the people had masks that covered parts of their faces. Their styles ranged as widely as their clothing. A man near her wore a half mask of wood, carved into the visage of a bird. He was chatting with a woman wearing a metal mask with red paint splashed across it.

Much of the crowd was smiling, laughing, walking arm-in-arm with each other.

“I wonder what the Ancients are up to now,” one man near her said to his companion. He was wearing an expensive set of clothes that resembled Lyon’s outfit, but inverted. Instead of all white, he wore all black. A black ink mark was visible close to his ear.

“Maybe one of them rolled over and fell out of bed,” his female companion responded, laughing. She was wearing all white and had a white porcelain mask across a quarter of her face. She bowed her head to Lyon as they passed. “My king.”

Lyon bowed his head in return.

Some other people wore clothing that resembled hers, made of leathers and furs. One man even bowed his head to her in greeting. Not knowing what else to do, she smiled and did