by Eric Asher
“Damian would never do that,” Luna said. “What’s happening? How did they get control over him?” She turned to Vicky. “I thought you said he was still fighting back?”
“He was,” Vicky said, the words hollow in her own head. She stared at the television. The reporter’s words flowed around her as if they hadn’t been spoken. Damian was losing himself. If they didn’t get to them, could he survive this? Could any of them?
“That certainly cocks things up,” the innkeeper snapped. She froze, her eyes flashing to Vicky and then Luna. “You don’t tell any of the adults I said that in front of you.”
Vicky narrowed her eyes. “Sometimes I feel like you people have never even met Damian.”
The innkeeper’s lips twitched. It was then that the front doorbell rang. It wasn’t a slow chime of a patient person, but the rapid pulse of someone twisting the knob as fast as they could. The innkeeper stared at the door for a time before a slow smile spread across her face.
The ringing of the bell was joined by the crash of something against the front door. Three quick strikes, one long, and three more quick strikes.
“Get the door,” the innkeeper said, looking at Vicky. “I’ll put the tea on.”
Vicky watched the innkeeper stand up and walk back toward the kitchen. She exchanged a glance with Luna and then headed for the front door. The loud bangs crashed against the door again and Vicky could just make out grumbled muttering on the other side.
She opened the door and almost caught the head of a knobby cane with her face before Zola pulled up short.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you to announce yourself, girl?” The old Cajun pushed in past Vicky, gently nudging her out of the way while somehow providing a little assurance with a quick squeeze of her arm.
“She’s in the kitchen,” Vicky said.
Zola pulled her hood down, letting the silver gray charms and her braids tinkle as she walked.
Terrence trailed Zola. The closer he got to the necromancer and Vicky, the more corporeal he seemed.
“I can see Terrence better here,” Vicky said. “He was faded upstairs.”
Terrence exchanged a nod with Zola when she glanced back at him.
“Is your wardstone acting up?” Zola shouted as she rounded the corner.
“Has been for a while. I’d say the last two weeks at least.”
Zola growled and took the steaming mug from the innkeeper. “Makes me wonder what the hell Mike is up to. Or is it Ward we should be more worried about?”
“Or Damian’s connection to Gaia?” The innkeeper asked.
Zola nodded and took a sip of her tea. “It’s an interesting thought. If you’ve seen anomalies before yesterday, Ah suspect something else. You’re still well-guarded?”
The innkeeper inclined her head. “We still have many green men on the grounds. Stump’s people. Good people who will do what they can to protect Gaia.”
Vicky couldn’t stay silent anymore. She heard the armored boots coming down the stairs behind her and the pale brown ball of fur that was Drake’s dragon squeaking at her heels. She frowned, wondering where Jasper had gotten off to, before the other dragon appeared beside Drake’s at her feet. Vicky stared at Zola and the words tumbled out in a torrent.
“We have to take the hand of Gaia back to Falias. Get Gaia to take Damian into the Abyss and lock him away there until we can figure out something else.”
Zola stared at Vicky for a short time before shaking her head. “That’s mad, girl.”
“You have a better idea?” The innkeeper asked.
“Perhaps one that won’t kill all three of them?” Zola said, biting off the words. “Let me see what Ah can think of.”
“I’m afraid the timeline has been shortened for any plans,” the innkeeper said.
“What do you mean?”
The innkeeper told Zola about the coverage, and how Damian had become Nudd’s executioner. They had until morning, or Damian would have far more blood on his hands.
Zola cursed. “Then no. Ah don’t have a better idea.”
The innkeeper steepled her fingers.
“Shit,” Zola snapped. “If Samantha has heard about this, there’s no telling what she might do.” Zola slid her phone out of her pocket. She flipped through her contacts and then put the phone on speaker. A few rings, and a world of tension, and all that answered was a generic repeat of the phone number Zola had dialed.
“God damn it, girl.” Zola’s fingers tapped the screen, and she sent a text faster than Vicky’s own parents could.
Nothing came back.
“Let me try,” Vicky said. “She might respond to me. She won’t want to hurt me.”
Zola eyed Vicky, and gave her a nod.
Drake stood silently behind Vicky. If he had a protest, he kept it to himself, his arms crossed and his mouth shut.
The dragons nuzzled Vicky’s ankles as she tapped out a text of her own. It was only three words.
“Don’t kill me.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Zola’s gaze rose from the short message Vicky had typed into her phone and met her eyes. “Jesus girl.”
“I know …” Vicky started to explain, but her phone rang, and the image of a ferret with long vampire teeth on the screen showed her it was Sam.
Vicky took a deep breath and put the phone on speaker. “Hey, Sam.”
“Kid,” Sam said. But her voice fractured, and the shaky breath on the other end of the line was plain to hear. “Kid, we’re not going to make it through. I’ve got this. I’m sorry.”
“What are you talking about?” Vicky asked.
Something thumped, a hollow knock, and the crash of heavy wood boomed over the speaker. Vicky frowned at the screen, wondering what in the hell Sam was doing.
“Samantha, where are you?” Zola asked.
Sam’s voice was still shaky when she responded. “I’m at the shop. Going to end this, Zola. I love you. Tell my parents.” Her voice cracked, and the slight rise in tone almost made it a question.
Zola looked angry for a moment, but it passed as she spoke. “The least you can do is give them a phone call. They deserve that, Samantha.”
Ever so faint, the sound of a knife being ripped from its sheath echoed over the speaker.
“What is that?” Vicky asked, looking up at Zola.
Zola growled.
“Goodbye,” Sam said. “I’m putting an end to this.”
The line went dead. The home screen on Vicky’s phone flashed up, and she felt lost.
“What’s she doing?” Luna asked.
“She was in the chest.” Zola glanced at Vicky and then Luna. “She has the splendorum mortem. She is going to kill her brother.”
“Well,” the innkeeper said. “It seems Damian’s rather insane plan of having Gaia drag him into the Abyss might be the better of two options at this point. Shit.”
“We should be finding a way to spare Vicky from that fool. You risk us all to save one man,” Drake said. “To save Nudd’s tool.”
Zola grimaced at Drake. “The only tool in this situation is you. Servant of the Mad King for millennia. Ah won’t kill you, unless you get in the way, but hold your tongue.”
As fast as Vicky usually was to defend Drake, the idea of letting Damian die without even trying to save him turned her stomach. Could Drake really do that if it was one of his allies? Damian was technically an ally, but to say they had a rocky partnership was a gross understatement.
“Do you have any way to intercept Samantha?” the innkeeper asked.
“We can track her phone,” Vicky said.
Zola shook her head. “She’s too smart for that. She’ll either leave the phone at the shop or the Pit, or destroy it altogether. Did you not hear her voice? She’s already made up her mind. And Ah understand why she has.”
Objectively, Vicky understood too. But if they lost Damian, Sam died too. Vicky died. The thought of dying again wasn’t the worst part. The thought of letting her friends down, t
he people who had walked into the Burning Lands to free her from the Destroyer, the friends who had died to save her. That was what she couldn’t let come to pass.
“So we have no way of finding her,” Drake said. “But we know where she will be. If she truly has that demon blade as you say, there’s only one place she will go.”
“Falias,” Zola said.
But something clicked in the back of Vicky’s mind. “If Sam was truly set on just killing him, she would’ve killed herself with that dagger. That would take all three of us down in one strike. What the hell is she doing?”
Vicky dialed Sam’s number again but no one answered.
“Then we find her and get the dagger,” Drake said. “You two walk with Gaia and I’ll meet you at the Obsidian Inn. If there’s anything left.”
“I’m coming with you,” Terrence said, tossing Damian’s backpack over his shoulder where he managed to tie the two separate straps together. “We don’t leave our friends behind.”
Zola frowned at the ghost. “Ah think you’ve been around these people too long, Terrence. Just a bit too long.”
Drake blew out an exasperated breath. “If you want to risk yourself, I won’t stop you. But we’re going up against a level of necromancy few people have witnessed and survived. It’s more dangerous for a ghost than most.”
“I’ll keep an eye on him,” Luna said, puffing up her chest. Her fur bristled until she looked almost as fluffy as Jasper. Vicky suspected that wasn’t the intended effect, but she also wanted Luna to come with her. As much power as she’d gained, as much as she’d learned, it was still easier to face your enemy with friends, and she already felt a kinship with the puffball.
“There is another way,” Stump said, his voice echoing from the open window.
The innkeeper turned slowly toward the green man. “Stump, I know what you’re going to—”
“You could awaken the goddess. Re-unite the hand and let her bless the necromancer with the gift of the woods.” Stump focused on the innkeeper. “Many believe her resurrection is nigh, and Damian has twisted Fae magicks more than once to bring death where there should be life. There is no reason not to use death to bring life where it has gone dormant.”
The innkeeper shook her head. “No. Gaia has offered her gifts before. The risk is too great, and I believe Damian understood that.” She grimaced and looked to Zola.
The old Cajun eyed the innkeeper. “If we stop Samantha, it may be worth the risk.”
“It is not so simple,” the innkeeper said. “Gaia would need powers that have been lost for millennia. Regardless, we don’t have the time now. Go, save Damian from his sister if you can, and try not to let him kill you.”
“Come,” Drake said. The tan ball of fur rolled away from Vicky’s ankle and vanished out the front door with the Demon Sword.
“Go with them,” the innkeeper said to Luna. “But if Camazotz asks, I had nothing to do with this.”
Luna threw her arms around the old woman, the flesh of her wings stretching out a bit before she released the innkeeper.
“Then we get back to the fight,” Zola said.
Vicky pulled the hand of glory out of the backpack. “Don’t let go.”
Zola wrapped her hand around Vicky’s arm, and Luna took the other.
Terrence hooked his arm in Zola’s and took a deep breath. “All I know is I don’t like roller coasters.”
The innkeeper gave him a perplexed look as Vicky laced her fingers into Gaia’s, and they stepped into the Abyss. But for a moment, just before the world went black, she could have sworn she saw a golden glow in the innkeeper’s eyes.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The light of Rivercene was slowly replaced by the stars of the Abyss. And along with them, the golden motes of Gaia’s light drifted down to the hand laced between Vicky’s fingers. Before Gaia had fully formed, her golden fingers flexed and warmed with the spirit of the goddess.
“Welcome back, little one. I thought it might be longer before I saw you once more.” Gaia looked around the group. She eyed Terrence, but her gaze lingered on Zola. “You try to save him?”
“Ah’m willing to pay a price,” Zola said. “But Ah do not want others to pay it for me.”
Gaia inclined her head. “I am afraid you do not have a choice in the matter. It is not your sacrifice to make, nor should it be.”
“Ask her,” Zola said, looking to Vicky.
“Do you think you can do it?” Vicky didn’t elaborate on the question. It was more of a test for Gaia, to see if the goddess could read her thoughts. Or if perhaps she had some other way of knowing what Vicky was going to ask. Luna’s grip tightened on Vicky’s shoulder.
“You are wise little one. But you must ask it of me here.”
“Does that mean you already know what I’m going to ask you? You’ve heard the question before haven’t you? You heard us at Rivercene.”
A small smile traced the edges of Gaia’s mouth, and a breeze that no one else could feel lifted her hair. “It is not what you think. I am not awake in that place.”
Vicky tried not to look irritated. She had her theories, but Gaia obviously wasn’t going to tell her what she wanted to hear at this point, and Vicky knew they had more pressing matters. “We need you to get us to the Obsidian Inn. We’ll meet Drake there, and then … and then we face Damian.”
“We only face Damian if we stop his sister,” Zola said.
Vicky nodded. “And then we need you to bring Damian here.” The words spilled from her mouth. She felt as if she didn’t say them fast enough, Gaia would be more likely to say no. To say she couldn’t go against her master like that. “It’s to protect him.”
For a time, Gaia didn’t respond. Vicky had expected a protest, or even anger from the Titan. Not silence. She started to open her mouth, but Zola shook her head.
Vicky’s heart pounded in her ears, and her patience wore thinner with every step.
Gaia looked away from Vicky, and studied something in the distance. “It is … possible. But I do not know if the compulsion laid upon me by the Mad King will keep me from doing as you ask.”
“But you’ll try?” Vicky asked. “We just need you to try.”
“I shall. But I cannot act alone. It must be you, one who has dwelled in the Burning Lands. A being who lives on that channel of energy Damian Vesik carved through the Seal to pour into his own realm. You understand, you may not survive.”
“What?” Zola asked.
“But he would?” Vicky asked. “Damian and Sam would survive?”
“It would not break the seal between brother and sister; only yours would be lost.”
“No,” Zola said. “Damian would never ask you to risk that. Ah don’t care what the odds are, you can’t do it. Even if you lived, the knowledge would kill them both.”
“Then if something happens, you can’t ever tell him.” Vicky clenched her teeth together. “Tell him it was Nudd. Tell him it was a monster in the Abyss. I don’t care. If I can save them, I’m going to do it.”
Gaia frowned and turned her attention to Terrence. “You have a mighty bond with the forest gods. Are you willing to make the sacrifice?”
“Sacrifice?” Terrence asked.
“You are bound to this child as much as you are to the necromancer. The powers are intertwined, and I do not know if one can be separated without destroying the other’s creations.”
“I’ve been willing since the day I became a soldier.”
“We need Terrence intact,” Zola said, interrupting them. “The ghosts attached to a necromancer are like an anchor. They can pull him back from the edge, or at the very least give him something to hold onto.”
Gaia inclined her head. “Let us hope that is enough for now. We are here.” She swept her hand forward and Vicky shuddered when she saw the shadows out of the corner of her eye. Beside them on the golden path was the writhing mass of one of the lamprey creatures.
“What the hell are those things?” Vicky asked.
“The worms?” Gaia asked. “I cannot say with certainty. But I have long held the belief that they are spawned of the eldritch things and sometimes pulled through the Seals. I wonder if the Old Gods give them a channel, a way to break into realities to which they should not have access. But I am afraid if one was to learn the answer to that question, the very existence of this realm might end.”
“Not much of a pep talk before a battle,” Zola muttered.
Gaia smiled. “You have much the same humor as your pupil. You have taught him well, and he has done much good for it. Do not despair until all hope has left.”
Zola tilted her head and exchanged a long gaze with the goddess before finally turning away.
“Are you ready?” Gaia asked, turning back to Vicky.
Vicky nodded, and Terrence cursed. Jasper trilled on Vicky’s shoulder.
“I will await your call,” Gaia said. “And this will end, no matter the cost.”
Before Vicky could reply, Gaia released her hand, and they fell through shadow.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Vicky had heard Damian complain about some of his exits from the Abyss on more than one occasion. She’d experienced trips through the Warded Ways of the fairies enough to understand how violent a trip those could be, but her experiences had never been quite so … nauseating.
Their fall turned into a spiral, as if a massive whirlpool had caught them in its current and whipped them around without mercy. That sensation suddenly reversed, and the world burst back into the light. Vicky barely had time to shout before her shoulder crashed into a stone wall and she stumbled backward.
Her head was still spinning when she looked up and took stock of her party. Zola leaned casually on her cane as if she were just on an ordinary trip and had simply stepped through a doorway onto a street.
Jasper’s eyes spun in circles before he blinked and the black orbs stabilized. It looked like something out of a cartoon, and Vicky couldn’t stop a small smile.
Terrence, on the other hand, leaned over in the corner, and Vicky swore the ghost looked green.
