A Baron of Bonds (Conduit of Light #2)

68. Karus

Chapter 68

Karus

THE IUMENTA TRIAL

She looked exactly like her kittens, if her kittens had grown ten feet and sprouted razor-sharp spikes where whiskers should be and long pointy fangs where tiny baby teeth should be.

She crouched low, each careful step of her paw—the size of a lumen’s head—jostled the ground, shaking more slats loose from the ceiling.

“She looks quite unhappy with you, Karus.” The Blightress stood unafraid, with nothing to lose or gain if I tapped out of this trial.

“I don’t need commentary from you,” I snapped, my mind flying through every possible outcome.

I glimpsed a shining light of green behind the massive beast. The portal to the next trial had appeared. I just had to get through this creature without dying. I knew I couldn’t really die here, but based on the throbbing in my knee, I knew one snap of her jaws around me would definitely hurt.

I just needed to get past her. I was agile and fast, two things I knew about myself and two things that could possibly save me.

I couldn’t move her kittens. She’d most likely pounce if I even attempted to touch them at all. All three of them stilled, hunched close to the ground, watching their mother stalk her prey.

I kept my eyes on her coppery ones and thought of everything Figuerah had ever taught me about wild creatures. I knew hunters like this were more likely to sprout wings and fly than back down from protecting their young, and for all I knew, she had wings anyway.

I needed a distraction, something to take her focus off me just long enough that I could sprint past her and make it to the portal.

What did I know? What creature knowledge did I have that could get me out of here?

I knew lumens. And I knew quiphits. Both creatures were abundant in Felgren, and I had seen enough of Parvus chase a quiphit to know what their long ears and sleek, furry bodies looked like as they ran.

My decision made, I formed my green tendrils into the shape of a quiphit born in the summer, as green as my magic was. I formed tall ears, a narrow face and long green fur, its ears twitching in a patch of grass nearby.

I watched as one of the kittens perked up, raising its head to focus on my pretend quiphit that jumped from one patch of grass on the stairs to another.

The kitten bent low to the ground, stalking forward, just as I had hoped. My quiphit caught the eye of the mother cat but only for a split second as she returned her focus to me, taking another step.

A second kitten, then the third, caught sight of the seemingly unaware quiphit, all three of them stalking it as it jumped further away from me and closer to the other end of the room.

By the time the beast took one more step toward me, her kittens were out of her line of sight, chasing the green quiphit down the stairs and into the dark.

I stood very still, making sure not to lock eyes with the black beast as she bared her teeth and turned her head to see where her babies had gone.

I saw the opportunity and took it, racing off to her other side, headed to the portal just behind her gigantic spiked tail.

The long black plates lashed out my way as she returned her attention back to me, and I ducked, feeling the whoosh of air over my head, inches away from slamming me back and breaking bones.

Her roar was great in the disintegrating room, but I did not hear the end of it as I avoided her swinging tail once more and dove through Revich’s second portal.