Her Dawning Empire: The Prophecy

Chapter 60

"We're ready." He instructed Ayla, keeping his gaze on me and I looked back, not finding it in me to be able to look away.

I could feel the sudden lull of noise as our surroundings changed around us, making me flinch slightly and Emut smiled at this, his eyes gleaming and I smiled back in response.

Mentally preparing myself for what lay ahead.

"Here we are!" Ayla said cheerily, dropping her hand from mine as she clapped her hands together.

"Good work, Ayla." Emut praised making her smile proudly as he looked to our surroundings.

I tensed slightly when his hand was still in mine- an action that he noticed as he glanced to me. I let out a small noise when his hold tightened but he let go before I could question it, making me shiver slightly at the cold from the absence of his warmth. He smiled reassuringly at this before turning to look at the Sphinx ahead of us.

He spared a glance to Demir then before moving towards the large guardian. The night was dark, save for the light of the moon and a small warm breeze swayed against us.

The surroundings were silent as Emut gazed up to the Sphinx and, when it didn't speak, Emut began, making me clench my hands anxiously.

"The answer to the riddle is a drop of blood and a tear of sorrow." He spoke confidently, not showing any clues of uncertainty and we waited with baited breath for the outcome.

Suddenly, the staircase between its paws opened up again and Emut moved back with quick steps.

"Choose wisely." The words of the Sphinx rang out into the darkness and I looked to Maya nervously at its' words. Even more so when I knew it would be me going down into the darkness.

She merely squeezed my hand in comfort before jutting her other hand out to me.

"Take this." She muttered and I looked down at the dagger she was offering me. Unlike Ayla and I, Maya kept her weapons with her even when she went to bed and- for that- I was thankful. I took the dagger from her hands thankfully before moving apprehensively towards the staircase that descended into darkness. The boys were stood there and they looked up as I approached.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine; Demir is there." Abrax comforted me with a smile and Emut nodded.

"Abrax is right. He won't let anything happen to you." He added and Demir scoffed from his position on the first step.

"Depends on how much she decides to irritate me." He drawled playfully, his back to us and I looked to Abrax and Emut sheepishly.

"I'm as good as dead then." I joked to which they laughed and I spared a last look to Emut before moving to the staircase.

We began making our way down and I took in a deep breath as the light of the moon diminished as we moved in, making me walk unsurely down the steep staircase.

All that could be seen, when I looked around, was pitch black darkness and I blinked harshly to try make myself adjust yet to no avail.

It was at that point we reached a step that was more steep that the previous- something I found out rather late. I yelped slightly when my foot fell lower than before, gripping onto Demir who I knew subconsciously was on my side. I felt the warmth of his touch and his muscles tense slightly as he held me in place with his arm.

"Careful." He said bluntly to which I nodded in thanks.

I let out a sigh of relief when my footing landed safely against the floor and, with that, we were at the end of the staircase and moving further into the darkness.