Assassin of Curses: (The Coren Hart Chronicles Book 3) by Jessie Eaker (best novels in english TXT) 📕

the pedestal. On the stand rested a perfectly shaped pyramid about as big as my fist and made of some type of metal that was a deep cerulean blue. If you held it up to a clear sky, the color would have matched perfectly. As I gazed at it, I thought I saw patterns flowing across its surface, like ripples over a pond. It hurt my eyes to look at it.

The guards pulled Zofie, Fumiko, and me away from the jewel, while a third reached in to take it.

As soon as the guard touched it, there was a thunderous crackle, and the guard instantly turned to dust.

Zofie gasped, and I flinched away. Fumiko just stared at it in stoic silence, a hand on her injured ribs.

Yonge himself cackled. “Ho, Ho! I wasn’t expecting that. The ancients certainly meant business.”

I looked down at the small pile of gray dust on the floor of the chamber. What power the ancients must have had to reduce someone instantly to ashes. How much had we forgotten? And then I had an odd thought. What if we hadn’t forgotten so much as been forced to forget.

Zofie looked over to Yonge. “We’ve done what you’ve wanted. The vault is open. Now let us go.”

The cricket, Cabrina, and the other guards all laughed. “I disagree Princess. While the vault is indeed open, I’m not able to touch what I need.” The cricket suddenly jumped—arching through the air to land on the Forever Nexus Shadow. It too was instantly turned to ash.

Cabrina spoke up. “So even a bug can’t get past the defense. What to do, what to do?”

Immediately, another guard stepped forward, drew his sword, and gently touched it with the tip. That guard was also instantly turned to ash.

I was struck by how closely this pedestal resembled the others we had encountered. And each one had followed a pattern. I couldn’t tell from this angle, but could that be a small square at the back?

One of the guards roughly shoved Zofie forward. “Let’s see if a Xernow heir can remove it.”

“Wait!” I shouted.

All the guards looked at me.

“Let me try.” I moved to enter the jewel.

“Coren, no!” Zofie yelled.

I looked back at her just before the chamber’s threshold and smiled. “I think this one is for me.”

I carefully stepped around the pedestal until I came to the side facing away from the others. As I thought, there was a small square of marble with the impression of a hand in it. I took a deep breath and gave a reassuring smile to Zofie. Then I pressed my own left one into it.

The marble felt warm and smooth. For a moment, nothing happened, and I wondered if perhaps I had been wrong. Then suddenly, I was sucked into the world of curses.

The world all around me was the gray on gray I had come to associate with the realm. It was like all color had been filtered out.

Before me stood a stick-figure person with the characteristic large round head. Only inside this one was the image of a pedestal. It seemed to be considering me. “What do you want?” it spat. “You’re never supposed to bother my slumber.”

I felt a presence at my back. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw that Abe stood with me, also in his stick figure form. He put a thin hand on my shoulder.

I turned back to the pedestal figure. “I am here to take the Forever Nexus Shadow.”

“You can’t have it!” it snapped.

“Why not? Have we not done everything we were supposed to in order to remove it.”

“It’s never supposed to be removed. Never!”

“Then why was a way built into it for the Thief of Curses to remove it?”

It shook its head in agitation. “I do not know.” It looked up at me in worry. “But I do know that if you take it, all the defenses against the dark enemy will collapse. The world will be at their mercy. And just because you have Abhulengulus behind you doesn’t mean it’s right.”

Abe surprised me by speaking. “Be it right or wrong, it is their decision. If you deny them, then aren’t you doing exactly like the dark ones and making the decision for them. Our role is to help them, advise them, but never, ever decide for them.”

The pedestal figure seemed to consider Abe. It then turned away and flicked a stick hand in dismissal. “Take it then. I am not responsible for what happens next. My watch is done.”

And with that, I found myself back in front of the pedestal. A moment later, the illumination coming from inside the crystal went out, leaving the jewel dull and dark. I reached forward and plucked the Forever Nexus Shadow from its cradle.

And outside the vault, I heard Zofie gasp in alarm. “It’s gone,” she looked at me in horror. “I can’t feel it anymore. The Grand Tapestry is just... gone.”

And Yonge started laughing. I stared at him in shock. He’d known the barrier would come down once the nexus was removed. Yet he did it anyway. He just didn’t care.

The guards took the nexus from me and indicated we should head down the ramp off the platform. Cabrina extracted the key from the now-dead crystal and followed just behind. Just as we were about to reach the bottom, several panicked officials ran into the room.

“Advisor!” their leader yelled. “The Grand Tapestry has disappeared! We’re completely unprotected. What should we do?” They tried to come closer, but the guards held them back.

“Fools!” he shouted. “Prepare the troops. We’ve plans to handle this. Now don’t bother me again.”

They cringed at his anger, bowed, and immediately left.

As we reached the floor, I glanced toward the room’s exit. We needed to get out of not just this room but