I glanced at him. “I assume the name isn’t a coincidence?”
A wry grin appeared as he looked up at them. “No. Aios grew them with her touch.”
My mouth fell open. “She can do that?”
“She can create many beautiful things when she wants to,” he said, and I wondered if Aios had grown these trees after she’d fled Dalos. “We’re at the very gates of Dalos. Once we leave these trees, we must be very careful.”
I nodded.
“Do not allow anyone to lure you away,” he continued. “And trust no one.”
“Wasn’t planning on it.”
“Good,” he said. “They will already know we’ve arrived. It would’ve been felt.”
My heart kicked against my ribs. “I’m ready,” I told him, and I wasn’t sure if that was a lie or not. Regardless, we began walking through the shining trees, our steps strangely making no sound.
I took the time to focus on making sure my emotions were locked away and that my heart and mind were calm. I breathed in the balmy breeze that reminded me of home, held my breath to the count of four, then exhaled. I did this as we reached the edge of the trees, and the Rise around the city of Dalos came into view. The wall was as tall as the one circling the House of Haides and Lethe but constructed of polished marble that glittered with chunks of glittering stone. Diamonds.
Fancy.
But what caught my attention was the thick mist above the Rise, a shroud much as I’d seen in the Vale that obscured all that lay beyond.
Warm sunlight bore down on us, and when I looked at the sky, I saw no sun, just like in the Vale. Nyktos was quiet as my gaze fell upon the gate of the Rise, which lay open to us. A dozen guards stood at the sides of the gate, and they immediately reminded me of the statue of Kolis in the Great Hall of Wayfair.
Golden chestplates engraved with the same symbol that had been carved into Nyktos’s palm were worn over white, knee-length tunics. Greaves covered their calves. Swords with golden blades were sheathed at their waists. Their heads were bare, but some sort of thick golden paint adorned their faces like a mask—one shaped like wings.
Something about it struck a chord of familiarity in me, but I couldn’t place it as a shadow fell upon us. I sent a quick look over my shoulder, and air lodged in my throat. Massive statues of men carved from marble rose beyond above the trees of Aios, standing with their arms at their sides, in a line that traveled east and west as far as I could see. They were taller than any building in Lasania, even the Temples, and cast an imposing shadow on us as the guards by the gate knelt.
We passed them in silence, crossing into the City of the Gods, and I saw what the Rise and mist hid. I knew my mouth was hanging open as I took in Dalos, awed by the size of the city. It was far greater than Carsodonia, the capital of Lasania.
Trees similar to those in the Vale lined a road shimmering with crushed diamonds, their low, sweeping branches falling in a canopy of white blossoms that stirred gently in the breeze. My gaze followed the road to an immense structure behind a glittering wall shorter than that of the Rise, not too far from the entrance. Its four staggered towers rose from the middle of the dome, seeming to drink in the beams of sunlight. I could see the tips of ivory and gold canopies rolling just beyond the inner Rise. Despite the warmth, my skin chilled. Instinct told me that was wherehe, the true Primal of Death, waited in the sprawling diamond and crystal fortress.
I dragged my gaze from the fortress and looked out over the sparkling city. Buildings large and small dotted the many hills and valleys as far as the eye could track, some flat and square and others round with sweeping colonnades, their sides diamond-bright. Throughout the city, crystalline towers roseupward in graceful, spinning arcs that disappeared into wispy, white clouds. Vines appeared to grow over many of the buildings, crawling their way up the spires.
“It’s beautiful.”
“From a distance, it is.”
A bolt of unease skittered through me. I glanced at Nyktos as he led me down the center of the narrow road, the only sound that of the breeze playing with the trees’ graceful, arching branches and the whisper of wind. A frown pulled at my lips as I glanced around, seeing no one and…and hearing no one. Not even the birds calling to one another in the trees of Aios could be heard here. Tiny goosebumps spread across my flesh with each step that brought us closer to the fortress.
“Where is everyone?” I asked, my voice low.
“Do you know what many have taken to calling Dalos?” Nyktos said, gaze alert as he continuously scanned the trees. “The City of the Dead.”
That didn’t bode well.
“Those who still live are likely at Court.” He gestured with his chin at the fortress. “Held within the grounds of Cor Palace.”
My mouth dried as we neared the pillars of the inner Rise. There were no guards at this gate, but there was a strange scent in the air—a sweetness mixed with something metallic. The trepidation amplified, and the embers in my chest hummed unsteadily as we walked between the pillars and entered the courtyard of Cor. Nyktos cursed under his breath as our steps slowed and my gaze swept over—
I jerked to a stop as horror gripped me. It hadn’t been the wind I’d heard. Good gods, it wasmoans. The sound came from the trees inside the courtyard, from the gleaming coves of the fortress, and from the billowing white cloths that weren’t canopies but veils, torn gowns, and tunics rippling in the wind.
Nothing—absolutely nothing—could’ve prepared me for this. My gaze darted from the nude body strung above the golden doors of Cor, stained with dried rivulets of crimson, to the swaying, limp forms beyond the white blossoms of the willows. Bile choked me. My heart pounded as my throat tightened and seized at the sound—themoaning—echoing from the branches and from the spaces between the pillars lining thecolonnade, where hands and feet had been spiked to the stone.
I thought I heard Nyktos whisper my name, but I couldn’t be sure because the moaning was a chorus far more brutal than that of the sirens’. I couldn’t even count how many bodies there were—there were that many. My mouth moved without sound, and the embers…
A new horror dawned as the embers vibrated frantically in my chest, responding to not just the death but also to the dying. I tried to look away, desperately hoping that would stop the embers, but there was nowhere to look. Bodies hung like wind chimes from trees and balconies. My skin heated and hummed, and I could feel my weak control over the embers slipping away. The corners of my eyes started to turn white as my legs moved without will, drawing me to the colonnade, where a male’s blue eyes screamed what his stitched mouth could not beg for.