by HP Mallory
“Where has it been all this time?” I asked.
Bill shook his head. “I don’t know. It was lost after The Forsaken’s fall. I thought I’d never see it again,” he continued, shaking his head as emotion overcame his expression and he started to ugly cry. “And look! I’m seein’ it again, Nips!”
I still hadn’t quite gotten past the part about Bill having been a warrior.
Bill stroked one of the thin wings of the golden creation, and the thing started to stir—yes, it appeared to come to life at his touch. Bill didn’t seem surprised at all, but I took a few steps back because I had no idea what this thing was capable of. It looked like a praying mantis that was the size of a lapdog with the wings of a dragonfly. The Sentinel shivered before shifting into a longbow with a diamond handle. Bill held the weapon as if he knew what he was doing and smiled from ear to ear.
“Wow, you really were a… a warrior once upon a time?”
He nodded. “I’m just like you, Nips. People underestimate me ‘cause o’ my appearance.”
I high-fived Bill, and we rejoined the others. His bow morphed back to the creature that now hovered above his shoulder, its wings buzzing.
Asterion eyed the Sentinel with a smile. “So, you really are the William Uriel spoke of,” he chuckled. “I always wondered if his story was true.”
Tallis looked between the two of them with a perplexed expression on his handsome face. Asterion informed him that Bill had been mentioned in the scrolls that chronicled the War In the Kingdom.
“Yes, our friend, Bill, was always regarded with great respect by Uriel,” Asterion said as Tallis shook his head.
“I cannae oonderstand how that ‘tis true.”
Bill flipped Tallis his middle finger and sauntered back over to Metra. “How the hell did you get your grubby little hands on my Sentinel?” he demanded with a smile.
“As I said, I can’t tell ye all my secrets or I wouldn’t have any secrets left, would I?”
The angel pulled Metra into a crushing embrace until she threatened to remove his favorite body part. I snickered under my breath and sheathed my sword in the scabbard behind my back, one Metra had given me. The comforting weight helped ground me internally. “We have our weapons, but what else do we need to know before we head out?” I asked after Tallis stopped poking at the golden insect.
Metra gestured for us to follow, and she walked us to the southern gate. Her men opened the gate as we approached. Metra led us through a small thatch of trees until we saw what appeared to be a cave hidden among a cluster of large stones. She motioned to the cave with a nod.
“Follow the path into the cave,” she said. “You’ll come out on the other side of a waterfall. Drink the water from the Sanctuary and then dive into the pond below, don’t climb the rocks around the waterfall. When you hit the water, breathe in.”
“That sounds like the opposite o’ what you’re supposed to do,” Bill griped. “An’ I ain’t such a good swimmer.”
“Trust me. When you awaken, the waters will have carried you to the entrance to the Trials,” Metra said with a clipped nod.
“Okay, then what?” I prodded.
She faced me. “You’ll have to soak the weave of Arachne with your blood and place it on an ivory scale. Then the weight of your sins will be judged. If you’re granted entrance, the first Trial you must face will be one of Gluttony.”
I followed Metra’s instructions closely. The others listened just as intently.
“The completion of Gluttony and Sloth will grant you the Chalice of Truth. Wrath and Pride will allow you to unlock the power of the silver locket you wear around your neck,” she continued as she motioned to the locket. “It represents sacrifice,” she continued before turning to Asterion. “Lust and Greed will grant you a golden coin that once belonged to the very first soul to ever commit the sin of greed.”
When she looked to me again, I felt a shiver race down my spine. “You will have to lead them, Lily. And then you must face the final Trial of Envy on your own.”
“And what will happen then?”
“After you face that Trial, you’ll receive the emerald. Once all of the items are gathered, a portal will appear and it will take you to the forge at the end of the Trials of Damnation where Tallis will forge the key to enter Uriel’s cell.”
Metra turned to walk away, but I stopped her. “Are you sure the key will open Uriel’s cell and how do we escape the Void once we have him?”
“Yes, the key will grant you entrance,” she said. “The Void Overseer is part of the Forbidden Council, but he does not have the authority to turn away a key holder. And he will grant you exit just as surely as he’ll grant you entrance.”
Metra returned to her camp and I joined the others. Tallis took my hand as Asterion ventured into the cave ahead of us. I watched the shadows that swallowed up Asterion anxiously, but after a few heartbeats passed, he whistled sharply to signal it was safe to proceed. Bill followed next, and then Tallis and I slipped inside. Bill’s glow helped light the way.
###
TALLIS
I could hear the rush of flowing water echoing through the cave.
Besom squeezed me hand harder and breathed out a sigh of what appeared to be anxiety. I did not blame her for being frightened. It was then that I saw her eyes were focused on her wrist. As I glanced down, I realized her bracelet was glowing, the runes clearly delineating themselves. When I glanced down at me own bracelet, I noticed the same. Lily’s hand went limp in mine, and she stopped suddenly.
“They’re going the wrong way,” she whispered.
“How do you know?” I asked.
She shook her head. “My bracelet is pulling me in the other direction.”
I watched as she released me hand, turned to face the rock wall beside her, and lifted her hands forward, up to touch the face of the rock. But instead of touching it, her hands went right through it! She turned to face me, opening her eyes, and smiled. Then she simply stepped through the rock as though it were made of air.
“Wait!” I shouted to the others. They came running back towards me. When the Minotaur and the angel stopped in their tracks, I glanced down at me own bracelet and felt the pull towards the rock wall. Swallowing me trepidation, I neared the wall as Lily had done. Then I walked through it.
When I appeared on the other side, I saw me Lily immediately. I wrapped her in me arms and glanced down the length of a second tunnel, where a blue light filtered in through the waterfall. Lily was backlit by the light as she smiled over at me.
“Creepy, huh?” she huffed. “Part of me keeps waiting for Professor Xavier to come ask me if I want to join the School for Gifted Youngsters.”
I scowled at her as the angel appeared behind me and the Minotaur, behind him. Lily then stepped up to the edge of the waterfall and hesitated a moment as she looked at the rest of us.
“Remember what Metra said?”
The angel scratched the skin behind his ear and shook his head. “I can’t say I was payin’ much attention at the time, Nips. Could you, uh, just remind me?”
She glanced back at the ridiculous angel and laughed. “We have to drink the waters from the Sanctuary,” she started as she unzipped the pouch around her waist and produced the bottle of sacred water. She unscrewed the cap. “Then we jump into the water and when you hit it, inhale. Don’t hold your breath.”
“Oh, right,” the angel said with a brief nod.
“Be careful,” I said as I watched her down a swallow of the enchanted water. She handed me the bottle next and I accepted it. When I swallowed me mouthful, I noticed the water tasted of nothing. I handed it to the Minotaur and he swallowed, followed by the stookie angel.
“Great, now I’m left drinkin’ all yer backwash. Fuckin’ gross.”
He swallowed the remainder of the water, all the same. Then I faced me Besom, reached out and took her hand. She smiled up at me and nodded as she then released me hand and jumped through the waterfall without a se
cond of hesitation. Me heart plummeted long before I took the leap.
Legends said those who attempted to complete the Trials never returned. If I lost Lily along the way, then I could not see meself carrying on without her. While I cared little for me own life, I cared greatly for me Besom’s.
“You comin’, Tido?” the stookie angel asked.
“Aye.”
“Well, hurry it up, dude. Lils is like… way ahead.” The angel slicked his hair back and tucked in his shirt a wee bit. “Geronimo!”
I watched the angel jump and then looked to the bull-man. The Minotaur gave an abrupt nod before leaping through the curtain of water. With one last prayer to the gods, I dove through the opening after me companions. There was no sight to see as I tumbled, just blinding sunlight before I hit the water—if that was what you could even call it. I could not move me limbs, for the substance we had fallen into was thick, like molasses. But in the back of me mind, I heard Metra instructing us to take a deep breath.
A wave of panic caused me to thrash slightly, but I opened me mouth to scream and sucked in until the world grew darker. Much darker than I had ever felt it before. I was afraid of this darkness because it was so potent.
And the more I inhaled, the deeper I sunk and the bleaker the blackness around me felt. I began to push upward but the sludge was thick and it held me captive. Was this the end for me? Would I die here, never to be freed from the thick gunk that held me down?
Hands grabbed me arms and wrenched me out of the black abyss, even as the darkness reached out and tried to pull me back in. I expected to cough or sputter, but I did not think we had been in water at all. Upon being pulled from the dark sludge, I noticed me kilt and skin were as dry as they were before the jump.
“What happened?” I asked as Lily came into sight. We stood upon what looked like a granite pillar floating amidst a cerulean sky, surrounded by wispy clouds. The wind rustled her curls, and I could not help but stare at her. She truly was the most beautiful lass I had ever set me sights upon. I walked over when she beckoned me and stole a chaste kiss.
“That was… interesting, wasn’t it?” she asked with a wide smile.
“If it werenae for ye, I’d have drowned,” I answered, shaking me head. “I believe this place wants to absorb me, mayhap owin’ to all the things I’ve done.”
“Tallis, you can’t think like that,” Besom scolded. “Now let’s get a move on.”
Then she smiled and turned away from me to face the others. She nodded to them and then began to walk to the edge of the pillar and held her hand out. A large and flat rock appeared beside the granite on which we stood. I moved beside her as she jumped onto the second floating rock. Me palms were sweating as I did the same. The Minotaur was behind me and the angel behind him.
“Look,” Besom said and I glanced down to see a scale appearing at the center of the stone upon which we stood. The scale began to grow from the stone and then separated itself until it floated above the ground. Upon one side of the scale was a scrap of fine weave. The other plate was empty, causing the scale to be off balance.
“What is the history behind the scale?” Lily asked as she turned to face me.
“Scales have long been a symbol for balance an’ justice. Each pantheon has their own deity, but this scale is specific to Themis. As for the weave, it was Arachne’s.”
“And remind me who she was again?” Lily asked.
“She was a mortal woman who challenged Athena’s skills,” The man-bull explained. “Though Athena had accepted the challenge, she felt contempt for Arachne when she sensed the woman’s anger and hubris.”
“Aye,” I near interrupted. “They each weaved different scenes: Arachne wove a scene depictin’ the oonfair treatment o’ mortals by the gods, an’ Athena’s weave revealed the consequences for those who thought they were better than the gods.”
“Who won?” Lily asked.
“Arachne lost an’ was transformed into a spider for her toxic pride,” I answered before the man-bull could. I did not appreciate his interruptions.
“So, what next, Nips?” the angel demanded.
Besom chewed her lip and pointed to the scale. “Each of us have to cut ourselves and soak Arachne’s weave with our blood so we can be judged,” she answered as she continued to frown. “But what is the web judging specifically?”
“Themis was often the one who interpreted the will of the gods,” the man-bull responded. “She was a divine symbol of justice. This meant her purpose wasn’t just to weigh sins and consequences, but she also weighed a person’s future and how their destiny affected the whole of the world. She had the gift of foresight. So, Themis’s scales won’t just weigh our sins, they’ll also weigh our fates and determine whether we have the strength to overcome the Trials ahead. The plate with the weave represents our sins. The empty plate represents our will to overcome them.”
###
LILY
There was no way to go but forward.
I stepped up to the scale and sliced open the palm of my hand with the blade of my sword. The wound burned like hell and bled terribly, but that was exactly what I needed. I allowed it to drip over Arachne’s web. And then with a yelp, I jumped back as the scales began to tremble slightly. But they didn’t do anything more.
Asterion stepped up next and sliced the palm without Charybdis with little emotion. He bled atop the web and wore an impassive expression as the scales dipped a bit more with the weight of his sins. Bill and Tallis walked forward at the same time, cutting open their palms and bearing their souls for judgment.
The four of us then stood side by side as the scales moved up and down. I glanced down and noticed the wound on my hand had healed over. I reached for Asterion’s hand and noticed such was the same for him. And Bill. When I grabbed Tallis’s hand, it too was healed and I held it tightly.
I watched as our mingled blood suddenly floated out of the weave and separated. The red liquid floated back into the palms of our hands and sunk into our skin, in the exact places we’d cut ourselves. Tallis stared at me as if to gauge my reaction, but I couldn’t react as the pillar beneath our feet began to rumble.
Bill’s Sentinel clung to his back as its insect face looked this way and that. As the rumbling beneath our feet continued, more pillars appeared. They circled the perimeter surrounding us before dropping back down into the rock face again. One by one they lowered, creating a staircase that dropped down from the slab of granite, seemingly endless. The scale blinked out of existence, and we were left with only one option as the rock beneath our feet began to crumble slowly.
“Run down the stairs!” Asterion shouted.
I sprinted for the edge of the pillar and leapt onto the first step, gripping the edge of the third to keep myself from falling into the nothingness surrounding the staircase. Asterion was right behind me. He helped Tallis when the Scotsman’s foot slipped on the edge of the disappearing granite slab. Bill was surprisingly nimble and made it over on his own.
We lay against the enormous stairs, gasping for air as the blue skies began to fade. The clouds flashed with lightning, and a clap of thunder roared in my ears.
“Great,” I hissed.
I climbed to my feet and dashed down the staircase that seemed to get narrower as we took each stair.
Bill’s Sentinel fluttered around nervously.
Lightning struck the staircase, causing a huge chunk to break off. I didn’t stop running. When I came to the gap caused by the lightning, I jumped as far as I could. The gap was wider than I’d anticipated, and I fell. I gripped the jagged face of the stair and just managed to keep myself from falling into the void below. Tallis vaulted himself over and landed just inches away from the tips of my fingers. His hands curled around my arm, and he yanked me back to my feet.
We moved out of the way so Asterion and Bill could jump over. Once they made it, the four of us hustled downward, but there was no end in sight. It was just stairs, stairs and more stairs. “What do we do?!
” I asked.
“Jist keep goin’, dinnae look back!” Tallis boomed above the lightning and the thunder.
At the next flash of light, rain began to fall. I splashed through the puddles, feeling cold and miserable as the water caused my hair to cling to my face. Tallis’s muscular torso glistened as he walked beside me. The staircase broke once more, but not in the way I expected. As we continued down it, it suddenly tilted forward and crashed into what looked like a bridge. I lost my footing and rolled on impact, hitting what appeared to be a door.
Asterion was the only one on his feet when the rumbling stopped. He walked up to the door and touched the surface. I pushed myself up and did the same. And that was when I felt something calling to me. I looked down, expecting to feel the pull coming from my sword but it was strapped to my back and the feeling wasn’t coming from it. No, it was coming from the door, itself. My bracelet began to glow and pulled me forward, toward the door. I strode forward and brought my palms up to the faded wood.
“It’s an empty room beyond the door,” I revealed and took a step back.
“Are you sure?” Asterion asked.
I nodded. “Pretty sure.”
“What was that, Nips?” Bill asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I just… felt the need to touch the door. It was almost like the bracelet was guiding me… if that makes any sort of sense.”
Asterion turned the doorknob and pushed the door open, and we saw what appeared to be a waiting room.
“What?” I asked, shaking my head because the visual made no sense.
A woman sat behind a desk and typed away at an old typewriter. The smashing keys seemed out of place in such a modern-looking room. Sleek, mirrored walls and leather upholstered seating were accompanied by black and white abstract paintings. The woman looked up, and I realized she wasn’t a woman at all. Six tiny black eyes covered her forehead. They blinked at me as she smiled with unsettlingly small, pointy teeth. She was a gigantic spider… secretary?
