Free The Obsidian Temple by Kelley Grant

still holding out the cloaks.
    â€œFine. But don’t expect me to be happy about any of this,” she snapped.
    â€œNo, we wouldn’t want you to be happy,” the woman responded, her voice exasperated.
    Sulis bit back her own sarcastic reply at Ava’s imploring look. The man disappeared after handing them the cloaks. They changed in silence.
    â€œHe also brought a tisane to help you relax,” the woman said. “But I’m guessing you won’t want to relax?”
    Ava smiled. “It won’t be necessary,” she said confidently. “I’ve been assured that everything will go smoothly. They are waiting for us.”
    As Ava walked confidently out the door, Sulis glanced over at the temple woman, catching a surprised expression on the woman’s face, which turned thoughtful as she watched Ava’s back. She gestured Sulis toward the door.
    Djinn followed at her heels. They paused at a door, which opened into a large space, the main temple area, and was lighted by tall oil lamps. A crowd of white cloaks on either side of the door made a pathway for them to go through to an altar. The altar contained a giant crystal sphere representing the One, as large as a boulder, which seemed to glow as it reflected its surroundings, as well as four strangely shaped pillars on each side of the globe.
    Sulis felt a pressure build in her mind as she walked after Ava, who confidently strode toward the pillars. It felt as though she were back in the Temple at Illian again, feeling the deities’ presence as a constant pressure, one she hadn’t noticed until it was gone. The temple master, a tall, spare woman wearing a white cloak sewn with spiraling designs and colors, waited for them in the center of the pillars beside the crystal sphere. She held a staff in one hand and raised her other hand in blessing as the girls approached.
    Sulis shook her head, trying to clear it, as the pressure grew. As she approached, the shape of the pillars became clear. With horror, she realized that they were actually human in shape, but taller than normal humans. They were so detailed, they looked like ­people turned to obsidian. Their stone faces were twisted in expressions of horror, and Sulis gasped as she realized the pressure was coming from those obsidian statues. As she drew close, she recognized the faces though she’d never seen them represented in terror and pain before. To the east was the deity Aryn, one hand flung up as though warding off a blow. Parasu, to the north, was a thin, long figure with a painfully resigned expression. Ivanha, still beautiful with flowing black locks and her mouth open in a silent scream, took the western post.
    Sulis collapsed to her knees as she gazed to the south on the last figure, all strength gone out of her legs. It was Voras. Sulis could feel his presence beating on her, just as she had felt it that terrible night of the initiation when he used his Templar to force a bonding on Luella and Dani.
    Sulis curled in a ball on the floor of the Temple, oblivious to the crowds around her as her mind relived that terrible day when she and her friends had tried to pledge. She saw Luella’s blank, dead eyes staring back at her, Dani collapsed on the floor. She sobbed as she saw Djinn leap to protect her, only to be skewered on the sword of the Templar of Voras. Then the Templar came at her with the sword, Voras’s vicious, indomitable will pushing hers aside, making her feel defenseless. The sword flashed down again, and phantom pain descended.
    Sulis was vaguely aware of the present, of Ava’s trying to get to her and being restrained. But she was so locked into the painful flashback that Ava seemed like the dream, her memories the reality.
    Then a large furry head pushed through her clenched arms and bumped her under her chin. A purr vibrated her entire jaw as she threw her arms around Djinn’s body. The pressure receded as Djinn licked her chin