Page 17 of The Prophecy
It was Grieffen, Sorien’s second-in-command. “There was a light.” He glanced around the cell, then back to her, eyes narrowing in confusion. His eyes searched her face then down over her body.
“You look well, witch. What evil have you been brewing in here?”
When she remained mute, he straightened and took a step back, raising his hand. Raven watched him warily, bracing herself for the blow, then couldn’t resist a quick peek at the wall where the lizard had been. It was gone. She looked back at the fire-demon. His gaze flicked about the room as though he could sense something amiss.
A soft, sibilant hiss came from beneath the cot. Grieffen turned to stare.
The serpent emerged gradually from the shadows, its coffin-shaped head mere inches from the ground as it glided slowly across the floor of the cell. Raven found she couldn’t look away, her gaze riveted to the sinuous, gray-brown body. It was thicker than a man’s arm and over ten feet in length. The demon appeared petrified, locked in place, staring in horror as the snake slithered to a halt a yard away from him. Slowly, it raised its head, flat hood spreading, jaws opening to reveal the inky blackness of its mouth and flashing, razor-sharp fangs. Raven watched transfixed as its head slowly undulated from side to side.
Then it struck.
She hardly caught the movement, it was so fast. Once, twice, then again, it sank its fangs deep into the face and throat of the fire-demon. Grieffen moved then, his hands rising to try to ward off the attack, scrabbling at the serpent. He had no chance, crashing to his knees under the force of the blows. A fierce wave of exultation washed over her as a whimper trickled from his swelling lips.
She turned from him to stare at the serpent. It watched her, yellow eyes unblinking. Then Kael was back. He stood before her, his expression blank as he stared at the demon. Grieffen was still on his knees and Kael kicked out, hitting him in the chest, and the demon fell backward to the floor.
Kael nudged the writhing fire-demon with his toe. “Isn’t it good to know you’re not the only thing with fangs?”
“What was that?” Raven asked.
“Black mamba,” he replied. “Deadliest snake on the planet. It normally takes around twenty minutes for the poison to kill. Fortunately, fire-demons run a bit hotter than your average human—he’ll be dead in five.”
“Pity.”
Kael turned to her and smiled. “You don’t think we should put him out of his misery then?”
“No.”
Grieffen was convulsing now, his back arched from the floor, white foam frothing at his mouth, his nostrils. Raven watched curiously. She felt no compassion, only regret that he wouldn’t suffer longer. Within a few minutes he was still, his face a mask of agony as the life faded from his bulging eyes. Kael knelt beside the body, knife in hand, grabbed the head by the hair, and severed the neck. The body collapsed in upon itself, a pall of ochre smoke rising from the corpse, and in a few moments, nothing remained but a pile of ashes.
Raven glanced up at Kael. He appeared lost in thought. Was he considering his options? Deciding whether it was safer to kill her after all? He had said he wanted her, and she believed him, but was that enough to risk their capture?
She was about to find out.
