“Right.” The soldier smirked and threw his fist at Hatan’s nose.
Hatan dodged to the side.
“Hey!” The light-voiced soldier swung again, stepping into it with full force, but Hatan dodged it just as easily and the soldier’s hand collided with the cave wall.
Hatan swung upward, stabbing the soldier in the armpit. The man dropped his weapon. Hatan slid his left foot forward and shoved the injured soldier toward the other one, keeping his knife embedded until the last second as the other soldier clattered into the cell’s metal bars. He pulled the knife out and slammed it into the other soldier’s thigh.
The soldier with the light voice clocked Hatan on the side of the head with his uninjured arm, but the blow was weak and Hatan barely even flinched, and he stepped back onto his left leg again. With an upward slash, he tried to cut the light-voiced soldier’s good arm, but the blade slid across a padded vambrace without damage.
But the soldier had dropped his glaive.
Hatan bounced backward, scooping the glaive off the dungeon floor just in time to deflect a stab from the soldier with an injured leg. He twirled the familiar weapon, striking the light-voiced soldier before he could draw his short sword. He and the second soldier clashed weapons twice before Hatan’s glaive cut into the other soldier’s neck.
That left the one guard at the cell door.
He held an aggressive pose, glaive held high with both hands.
But the third guard was already dead, laying on his face with two stab wounds in his back.
Penym stood like a dark shadow at the edge of the torchlight. Her expression was hardened as she met Hatan’s eyes. “I know the palace is ridden with secret passages. I’m hoping you know one that gets you out of here.”
“Maybe,” Hatan said, grabbing a fallen torch from the ground before stepping out of the cell, holding both the torch and the glaive in with the same hand. He certainly hadn’t expected freedom so soon. He thought he’d have to wait for Migo to return and burn down the homes of half the nobles. “Thank you, Penym.”
She shook her head. “It’s my fault anyway. I should have been braver from the start.”
Hatan grasped her by the elbow. “Every moment brings with it the chance to become something better. What matters is that you are brave now.”
Penym’s eyes sparkled as she looked up at him. “How can you forgive so easily?”
“People who are willing to change deserve forgiveness.” He gestured down the cavernous hall. “Are you expected back up there without them?”
Penym blinked away with her watering eyes and nodded. “I have my own way, but you can’t come up with me. You wouldn’t make it out of the palace if you went out the door.”
“No matter, as long as you’re safe,” Hatan said. “Go along now so as not to draw suspicion.”
“Just… win it back, Hatan,” Penym said.
“I will.” He hurried off through the hall and turned the opposite direction of the door. These caverns wound for miles, and if he couldn’t go back up through the palace, that left him with one final option, and sands, he was going to hate it.
Chapter five
Ashjagar
The pain had ended, at least the physical pain, but the groan of relief Migo released thundered through the shaman’s cavernous hideout. A fire still burned in his chest. Katsi was in danger. Alyssad was going to turn her into a vessel for his own power.
Screams of terror followed as the shamans around him stumbled away. Regarding them gave him the revelation that something dramatic had happened. Colors were somehow more vibrant, and everything was intricately detailed. The contours of their skin—every wrinkle, every blemish, every follicle—they were outlined in perfect detail. Every thread of their clothes, every strand of hair. Their smell was so poignant. The grime, the sweat, the fear, the breath, even their blood. It was strong enough that he could taste it. And oddly enough, he wanted to. Not to consume them, but simply to destroy them. Why? He had no idea.
And he was tall. Taller than before, his head nearly grazing the top of the cavern. He dared to look down at himself, and his heart nearly stopped. Long, sharp limbs, covered in black, glimmering scales, jagged talons. He flexed his hands—no—paws, a growl rumbling from his chest. The strength he felt was beyond anything he’d experienced. Two new limbs trembled on his back. He stretched them out, but they weren’t able to extend within the cavern.
Wings. Spiked like Scales’. The membranes were gray.
What was in that potion?
The shamans retreated, all except one.
Hadiv. He had the strangest urge to tear her apart. How dare she defy him? Migo tried to speak, but all that came out was a vicious snarl. What did you do to me?
“You have become Ashjagar,” Hadiv said, her voice even. “This is how you will defeat the emperor. His magic will not work, and he will be unable to use his seership abilities to outmaneuver you during combat. Remain cautious. You are not invincible, and he will know how to kill you.”
Energy rippled across Migo’s body. The burning in his chest flared. Hadiv was a threat. He could sense it. The calm resolve in her expression was a facade. Her hands and legs were still, not because she was confident, but because she knew she needed to calm her emotions or risk revealing herself. There was much she held back, but it felt as though there was a hook, gripping him by the navel, urging him to hunt down Emperor Malrabia and tear him to shreds. The very thought that Katsi was still in danger tormented him.
You’ve made me a monster, he tried to speak, but again his mouth was unable to shape the words.
Hadiv responded as though she understood perfectly. “You understood the risks. You wanted the power to save Katsi, and Nagesh gave it to you, forfeiting his own life to do so. Remember what Nagesh said. To control yourself, you must remember who you are. Remember what your purpose is. A beast form subjects you to losing reason. Without your identity, you’d become like the waheshi, only wild.”
Her words rang true. Even now, Migo was resisting the urge to gnash at her, something he would never otherwise be inclined to do.
But she was right. His time was up. He’d made his choice. This was the price of saving Katsi.
So be it.
He was finished here.
He bellowed and turned toward the cavern’s exit, crawling on all fours, claws tearing into the stone around him.
A shaman fled through the corridor in front of him, but Migo paid no mind as he charged through the cave, jagged spikes glancing off the walls. The shaman threw up a wall of stone that shattered to dust as Migo lowered his head and battered it down. It was impeding Migo’s goal. He felt no remorse as the shaman was trampled beneath his spiked claws. He emerged from the cave, flexing his wings through the air. He knew exactly what to do, pumping them down as he took a bounding leap, leaving the ground behind.
Emperor Malrabia would be torn to shreds, even if he was the most powerful shaman. Nothing would stop Migo from keeping Katsi alive.
