Page 69 of The Sunbound Princess
We ran toward it, and more of the temple came into view. Crumbling columns supported the remains of a domed roof. Broken steps led to a sagging portico. But traces of former glory peeked through the decay. Flakes of gold clung to the dome. Above the yawning entrance, the intricate carving of a sun bore traces of bright paint.
We stumbled to a stop. The Dokimasi was a dazzling force in the center of my chest.
“The sunstone,” Ezabell breathed, gazing at the temple with wide eyes. “It’s in there.”
Men’s shouts echoed behind us. We had minutes at most before they crashed through the trees.
Ezabell ran to the temple, her scarf falling to her shoulders and her hair flowing behind her in a dark ribbon. Nikolas and I ran with her.
Ivy climbed the portico’s columns. The temple’s entrance gaped like a toothless stone mouth. Shadows filled the interior.
But there was something else—awrongnessthat skittered over my skin.
“Ezabell!” I hissed, reaching for her as she gained the steps, but she darted up the stairs and slipped inside.
Nikolas and I lurched after her, nearly colliding as we both tried to cross the threshold. Stale air hit my nose. Thin shafts of sunlight pierced through cracks in the dome, revealing a circular chamber heaped with broken rock and piles of dead leaves. Dust eddied in the air.
A small stone altar stood in the temple’s center, its surface bare. Weeds sprouted from gaps in the floor around it.
Foreboding drew an icy finger down my spine. I gazed around, my hand on the hilt of my stolen sword. Shadows swirled against the temple’s walls. Something was wrong.
“We need to leave,” I said.
Ezabell stared at the altar. Her shoulders sagged. “I don’t understand…”
Beside me, Nikolas tensed. He stared around us with a worried expression. “Dain…”
“I know,” I muttered. “We need to?—”
Ezabell stepped toward the altar.
Light flooded the temple, the blaze blinding me. I staggered, hand flying up to shield my eyes. Heat rolled over me in thick waves.
“The sunstone!” Ezabell cried, joy thick in her voice.
Squinting, I lowered my hand. Nikolas did the same beside me, and we stared at the glowing orb that had appeared above the altar.
No, not an orb. The object was oblong, its center pulsing like a star. Amber yellow and faceted like a gemstone, it could have fit in the palm of my hand.
But it dazzled more brightly than any gem I’d seen. Magic warped the air around it. Heat flowed off it in great loops that expanded and collapsed only to reform again. The sunstonespoke, its whispers rustling leaves as they raced around the walls.
The Dokimasi clamped hard around my ribs. Pain snatched my breath. I braced for the magic to tug me forward.
Instead, it yanked mebackward. Nikolas cried out as he stumbled back with me.
“Something’s wrong!” I shouted.
Nikolas jerked a wild gaze to Ezabell. He started forward. “Bel, no!”
At the same moment, she rushed to the altar and snatched the stone from the air.
The light vanished, plunging us into shadow. Ezabell screamed.
The stone beneath my feet collapsed.
I plummeted into darkness.
Wind whistled in my ears and tugged at my clothes. A shout ripped from my throat. I reached out blindly as I fell, my fingers catching on something.
