Into the Hells

by Christopher Johns

  “What’s that?” I asked as we came closer to the camp. The others looked up in various states of indulgence.

  “My now-famous speared fish jambalaya.” Yohsuke pulled his ladle from the thick, soupy food and dealt Maebe and I both a bowl. “Has diced fish and chunks of sausage in there for protein, a heap of rice cooked in a stock I made using some red beef that I let simmer in it before cooking. That’s gonna be real tender tomorrow morning. Steak and eggs for breakfast. But back to the jambalaya. I used veggies and peppers I got from the village, seasoned it to taste with some thyme, garlic, and a little bit of my secret seasonings for a little o’ that Cajun kick. There’s no okra here in this region, but it’ll have to do.”

  I took the spoon in the bowl, brought a bite to my lips, and had at it. The flavor was complex. There was a slight fishy musk that wasn’t unpleasant thanks to the spice of the sausage and the peppers. The garlic also added a good deal to the balance of flavor. Normally, a chicken stock would be used as the base to cook the rice, but the meaty flavor of the grain fought back the seafood taste. Honestly? It was great.

  “Famous indeed.” I grinned at my brother, and he took a spoonful of his own food proudly.

  We enjoyed our meals slowly as we planned for the following day.

  Bokaj had made a good deal of headway on the raft with Muu’s help, and Muu had been able to make a makeshift sail using leathers that he had tanned and sewn together. It wasn’t very large, but he had tried his best—and that meant something. We would leave early in the morning when the sun was rising to get the most out of the daylight hours.

  After I finished my bowl, Maebe stopped me from using my water skin to clean it out with a hand on my shoulder.

  “Your next lesson—order the shadows to clean it for you.” She smiled at my obvious discomfort at having to will the shadows to do anything after such a long day.

  But I obeyed. She was kind enough to teach me, the least I could do was what she asked.

  I motioned to the darkened, elongated shadows beneath me, and they came to my hand tentatively. I focused my attention on the bowl with little left in it other than liquid and some small bits of rice and envisioned it clean after the shadows passed over it.

  The shadows moved slowly over the bowl, then consumed it entirely before I ordered them to relinquish the clean item to my hand. Begrudgingly, the inky black substance slowly spat out the remaining portion of the bowl. There were chunks missing here and there where food had been. What was left was clean, though, so there was that.

  “Fuck, man,” I growled at the shadows, and it seemed undisturbed by my anger.

  You know what? Fuck you, shadows. Maybe we can reach an agreement. I sighed inwardly and focused on the shadows.

  “Are there other kinds of elements out there other than the four primes?” I asked Maebe after a moment in thought.

  She looked taken by surprise for a moment, then shrugged before responding, “I do not know of them. Shadows are an element of their own, certainly, but I do not know of creatures who are responsible for them. Why?”

  “We don’t have years for me to master this, and we need every kind of advantage we can get.” I stood and began to walk away from the others. “You all chill here. I need to see a man about a hammer.”

  “I assume this is a ‘pie’ moment?” Maebe stood with a look that dared me to tell her to stay behind.

  “That’s probably the case, but I don’t know for sure.” I smiled. “I’m kind of just winging it, and if you would be able to help me—I would appreciate it.”

  Her fingers wove through mine, and she kissed my cheek before nodding.

  “Ah, fuck,” Yohsuke groaned. “Get the fuck out of here and do something, you stupid, mushy bastard.”

  I flipped him the bird and prepared to duck the spoon he threw at me, but a small wall of shadows snatched it from in front of me and returned it to his lap as if it had never moved. I looked to Maebe, and she simply mouthed, slowly, control, and practice.

  She and I walked a hundred yards from our camp to be sure that the others were safely out of the way so I could focus.

  I closed my eyes while keeping my newly acquired ability, Shadow Control, in mind and cast Summon Celestial.

  This time, rather than a rent in the air opening before us in the sky, a large, black cloud burst from the ground. It raised to about chest height before it swirled into a tornado of darkness and stopped.

  The being looked like a child floating on a bed of deep shadows. The eyes glowed eerily white, like crystals, and the features seemed slightly blurred. I couldn’t tell what sex they were, so I’d just have to wing it.

  “Greetings, creature born of the depths, of the place between the stars and consumer of the cosmos. Being of the void.” I bowed my head for a moment—waiting for some kind of response—but silence greeted me. “I called you forth seeking power over the shadows. By blood, by strength, and for the good of all creatures of the realm attached to this one.”

  A cold response that simultaneously sounded like it was coming from hundreds of locations and people, creatures greeted me inside my mind, sending a wild thrill of true fear into me.

  Your silver tongue means little, Kitsune. What will you exchange for this power? What have you of interest to those who care little if the stars fade or fall?

  “I offer you presence.” When they didn’t respond again, I continued to explain, “The other elements have realms of their own. They have Mages who use their powers. They have blessed me with their strength and their favor so that my friends and I may combat War.”

  We know of this creature. He has taken many stars.

  I nodded sadly. “He has. And for that, you have suffered.”

  How?

  “Without the light of life, how can darkness be anything but nothingness. Life—that spark of light—gives you depth. Purpose. Without life, what use will you serve?” Rather than waiting for the possible response, I made an offer, “Help us stop War and route him from this world and there will remain trillions of souls to ponder at what lurks and waits within you. Let me celebrate and borrow your strength so that the shadows may deepen still.”

  They seemed to ponder for a time before looking to Maebe.

  Hello, beloved.

  Mae bowed her head. “Darkest Night.”

  What do you think of all this? Do you support this one’s claim?

  “I gave him the rite.” She stepped in front of me and bowed her head. “I support his claim. I support his mission. I have aided him myself through you.”

  The figure seemed to contemplate a moment before turning its baby-shaped head toward our camp.

  And the others? What of them?

  “I see them as friends, and they lack the affinity as far as I am aware,” Mae replied.

  Seeker, a drop of your vitality.

  I held out my hand and with the nail portion of my right hand, cut the skin of my left index finger. A small drop of crimson fled from the part and dropped into the waiting shadows beneath me.

  A line of black snaked from the ground around the figure and speared the droplet before diving into the small slit in my flesh. A chill so deep ran from the extremity toward my heart, Coal’s burning rage keeping the darkness from reaching it before it fled toward my mind.

  It moved faster than thought. By the time I had even begun to register it, the sensation had fled from me. My HP bar flashed wildly. I had 3 HP left after that. I fell to my knees and would’ve lost consciousness if it hadn’t been for a golden nimbus of light that surrounded me and lifted my health back up to half instantly.

  We see. Call the Grey One to us and stand close.

  “Yoh!” I called, and he stepped closer, making me flinch. I hadn’t known he was so close.

  “What’s up? Time to fight?” He had his astral blade out at the ready.

  “No man, I think it wants to talk to us.” I looked back to the being before us, and it floated almost inches away from us.

  Yes
, you will both do nicely. There is one more among you from your memories. Who walks through our being. Where is he? I see, the Hells. We will visit him in secret then.

  “If you would, tell him that we’re coming?” Yohsuke asked.

  The creature nodded before it reached forward and touched us both on our heads. I saw Yohsuke crumple into a heap just before I passed out.

  Chapter Ten

  ABILITIES UNLOCKED!

  Blessed by the Void – The Void has recognized you as an ally and has given you a measure of control over their newly formed element of Shadow.

  Elemental Tinkering (Shadow) – The unavoidable darkness heeds your command unlike ever before, and new spells can be created and discovered within the proper elemental realm. Be warned that mana is consumed at a higher rate while tinkering with or discovering a new spell.

  Shadow Friend – The void recognizes those who you ally yourself with as beloved (Maebe). So long as your relationship with that person is in good standing, the shadows will treat you as a close friend as they do for others.

  “Anyone catch the plate of that fuckin’ truck that hit me, then backed up?” I groaned as I sat up.

  The sky was beginning to lighten behind me, and I stared at the ocean before me as I bobbed on a hard surface. Birds called in the sky high above, and clouds dotted the horizon line. They were gray and bleak, but the sky closer to us was open and clear.

  The elemental turtle swam through the water in front of us, oblivious to our activities.

  “Yeah, we were out that long, man.” Yoh handed me a plate of steak and eggs. “Luckily, the steaks were mostly cooked, and I could do ‘em fast. Hope you like them medium.”

  “I like food.” I wolfed down my breakfast as I looked back over the notifications, then looked around at the raft. It was a larger affair than I thought it would be. Twenty square feet with the half logs beneath us to provide buoyancy and height to keep the lapping waves away from us until we decided to go in. The makeshift sail fluttered in the wind. There were slight gaps between the pelts—likely due to Muu’s low level in his craft—but it fluttered in the wind and seemed to be assisting our travel.

  I thought about whether I should mention the shadows visiting Balmur in the Hells to Bokaj, but with the state he was in, he may react poorly to it. I hated to keep it from him, but it was what would be best for now.

  Once I was finished eating, I called to the shadows around me as I sat on the raft. They seemed excited to come at my command, and that made me smile. I asked that they clean my plate off—without destroying it—and they did so swiftly.

  “Excellently done.” Maebe’s hand brushed over my arm. “Did you feel any difference outright?”

  “They seemed eager to please, rather than resisting me like last time.” I frowned. “What did they mean when they called you ‘beloved?’”

  “The shadows love me.” She shrugged. When I looked at her to continue, there was nothing else for her to say, so she remained silent.

  I heard the turtle call back. “If you are done lazing about, Druid—we can move more swiftly if you will pull the raft.”

  “This fucking turtle motherfucker…” I grumbled as I stood and moved toward the water. “Anyone have some rope they can tie to me?”

  “I will use a shadow tether. Rope will only harm you and inhibit your movement.” Maebe coiled her hand into a fist and began to pull it from her hand like a mime. A rope of shadow coiled at her feet easily. “Go and shift.”

  I nodded once, then dove into the water before shifting. I assumed the fish shape, and the world and water around me took on a largely saturated view. The colors were so difficult to take in this light that I had to spend some time adjusting to it. Even then, it was annoying because my vision was split to the sides and only slightly forward.

  I felt a cold sensation wrap around me just behind my fins and then disappear.

  “You’re all set!” I heard Yohsuke call. “Give us a second to stow the sail.”

  I waited until one of them called again, then took off after the blip that was the turtle in front of me. It was slow going at first, but eventually, I got used to the weight behind me and swimming using all the fins I had. I kept the turtle slightly in front and to the left of me so that I could keep him in my sights.

  We followed the surly elemental for hours, taking breaks sparingly. The horizon line had little on it, barely a growing outline of an island or whatever it was that was in the distance.

  That night, we slept on the raft as best as we could, taking turns on watch. Nothing really seemed to care that we were there in the waters. The elemental stilled the waters around us to keep us from floating too far off course but nothing else. Though, at one point, Muu swore he saw something orange and glowing down beneath the raft that made him wake us.

  After seeing nothing down below us and casting Sense Life to ensure it was all clear, we ended up going back to sleep. I had a nightmare of a giant eye, bathed in orange, glowing light that kept me from really resting, but it was to be expected after that.

  The next day went without incident—three square meals of hardtack and a lot of swimming. By that night, the island was further in sight. I could see the outline of it growing in the haziness of the horizon line, looming in against the clouds with others in the distance beside it.

  By the dawn of day three, the others were feeling restless.

  “I wonder what we’ll be facing,” James wondered out loud after closing his book. “You have any guesses?”

  “Who knows, but fighting underwater is going to be highly asinine.” Yohsuke sighed. He glanced out over the water as he scrubbed the same pan he had been working on all morning. “I can’t imagine underwater fighting is gonna be easy.”

  “It will not be,” the turtle interrupted me as I began to open my mouth. “You will all have difficulty moving, even being able to breathe underwater. You must prepare yourselves. Those of you who will be fighting using ranged weapons will need to be much closer than normal for them to take any sort of effect, and if you use fire spells underwater, well—you’re as dumb as you look.”

  “I wonder what turtle tastes like,” I growled at the creature.

  Have I mentioned yet how almost hilariously stupid I am when it comes to picking fights? No? Well, ta-duh!

  “The water Prime wants you to make it to this island today. You will follow me now and swim for your life.” It blinked at me once, then seemed to raise its mouth on the sides in a weird version of a smile, maybe a grin? “Because your life depends on it.”

  I grunted as I leaped over the side and shifted into my hulking fish form. It took us the majority of the day to get there, and I had to admit—the water here felt wrong. The tides seemed warmer and were scented of iron and something that smelled of raw pesticides. The murky water held more—somehow—intimidating darkness and mystery than the unfathomable depths we moved through easily before.

  The umber tides, those that seemed to flow beneath the water top itself like the air flows that allowed me flight in the skies, flowed faster here. They seemed to be leading us into the waters around this grouping of islands. As we closed the distance, the water began reaching levels of taint and cloudiness so bad that I could no longer see the elemental leading us.

  I clambered back on to the raft after switching forms into my fox-man form; seeing down there in that murk was going to be a huge issue.

  “And this is where I leave you,” the elemental advised. Before it left, it turned back. “The Dragon’s lair is not a traditional one. There is a trick to getting to it.”

  It looked down into the depths beneath it and smiled. “Good luck.”

  It was gone in a small splash of water, and we were alone.

  “It’s down there in that bullshit, isn’t it,” Muu stated.

  The rest of us nodded.

  “Fucked up enemies?”

  “Most likely,” I grunted at the green-scaled Fighter.

  “Big ass Dragon at the end.�
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  “You bet.” Jaken smiled.

  Muu closed his eyes and tried his best to smile. “Bring it on.” He jumped into the water and fought to stay afloat, losing slowly.

  “Let me cast the underwater breathing spell first, you pleb!” I growled and cast the required spell. 75 MP drained from my reserves, and we all nodded to each other before plopping into the water.

  Those of the group wearing armor sank quicker than the rest of us, and rather than risk losing each other, we had Maebe tether our shadows together.

  We sank for what seemed like a long time, the shapes that blurred through the darkened murk leaving us on edge. We communicated through our earrings, but other than pointing out the lurking creatures—there was nothing of great import to say.

  After another ten minutes of solid sinking, we found something. Rather—James did.

  The circle is tighter now. It’s in front of us somewhere, north. He began to swim forward a little.

  As we began to move forward, a large darkened portion of the murk began to close on us. All of us were on edge already. High alert—if you will.

  Most likely the entran– Out loud James finished the sentence in a shout, “WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!”

  A gigantic shark with razor-sharp teeth and beady, black, dead-looking fish eyes lurched toward us, the mouth opening wider in an attempt to scoop us all in.

  “Oh fuck that,” I growled. I shifted into my giant octopus form and hauled ass toward the asshole.

  But it was still huge. Don’t. Fucking. Tell me. I chanced a glance down and saw that I was the same size as the tiny octopus that had grasped me days before.

  I squirted ink in my rage and darted off—still nimble in my small size, and the inking had propelled me away.

  Alright, look. The ink thing wasn’t me shitting myself—it was a defense mechanism. Nature, son.

  The small amount of ink did nothing to stop the gigantic fish, but it gave me room to work.

  I shifted back and began to charge Lightning Storm. “Mae! Pull the others into a shield! I’m going to fry us a fish stick!”