by Eric Vall
“No, we walk,” I told them in a calm voice.
“We’ve been walking.” Rana sighed, but I lifted a single eyebrow, and the fox went silent.
We stepped together, and I kept my eye along the floorboards at our feet. Nothing seemed out of place, but I examined each in every one in case something changed. We moved as a group at a sluggish pace, and when I lifted my eyes from the floor, the exit looked a bit closer but not by much. I calmed my nerves and slammed my eyes back down to the floor as the temperature rose even higher. The being played with us like toys, but I sensed something below our feet that might be a clue or would help us along the way.
Rana grumbled to herself behind my back, but the rest of my minions were silent as we marched on. I kept coming back to the floor for some reason, all the boards haphazardly thrown together with no specific order but then I saw it, a stray board with something burned into it. If I hadn’t been paying attention, I would’ve missed it completely. I stopped for a second and peered down at it. It took me only a second to realize it was a sigil, not a god’s but one given to this being at birth. The symbol burned into the pale, white wood was the shape of a curled snake with the face of a woman. The snake-woman held her tail high, and I squinted to see that at the tip of the tail was a stinger like that of a scorpion. I straightened then looked down the hall; there were more light wood pieces placed every few paces. I smirked to myself and pressed my heavy boot against the round sigil then jumped to the next light wooden plank at the other side of the hall. I glanced down at the light wooden piece I stood on and saw the very same sigil burned into it.
“Step only on these, the boards lighter than the others,” I told our party then leaned out to look into the faces of the pirates to confirm that they’d heard me.
We moved like this, and I concentrated intensely where I landed to make sure I made it onto the right ones. When I finally looked back up, the end of the hall looked closer than ever before, and relief washed over me. I’d figured out this part of the puzzle. I wouldn’t call it a difficult challenge, but it’d taken me longer than expected to figure out. I landed on the last board right before the doorway into the next part of the structure and glanced back over my shoulder at the rest of our group.
Carmedy sailed through the air gracefully as her black tail swung out behind her, and the feline giggled to herself like it was some type of silly game. Annalise leaped into the air with her arms held out beside her for balance, and each time she landed, she crouched down and took a deep breath. Rana hopped from board to board with her blue eyes glued to the ground and even though her expression didn’t show she enjoyed the actions, her tailed wagged behind her excitedly.
Morrigan was the only one who didn’t jump from the boards; she tiptoed to the edge of each then stretched out her long legs to step regally from each pale plank. I didn’t pay much attention to the pirates, but their bodies moved sloppily as they struggled to keep balance, but it didn’t matter to me if they made it across, only my women. I stepped into the crude archway of the exit and let out all of the air in my lungs.
This wasn’t a dungeon, and there was no god at the end of the trail, but I felt exhilarated and challenged for the first time since Baudouin, maybe even Nergal. I held out my hand and helped each of my minions over the threshold then turned towards another set of stairs. Rana groaned then dropped to the floor as she untied her heavy boots and took them off. The redhead tucked them into her pack, then stood as she placed her closed fists onto her hips.
“Alright, let’s do this.”
Chapter Seven
My women and I hurried down the tight corridor with the remaining pirates on our heels, and I noticed one pirate pick up their leader and carry the limp man on his back. I glanced at them and saw that the leader was still out cold.
This being was like no other that we’d witnessed so far, and as we came around a bend in the hall, we were greeted by another crudely made archway. I could hear the sound of flowing water in the distance, and I wondered what type of challenge we’d be given next.
“Okay, so it seems that our challenges are based on the lyrics of the song Rana heard. What was the next line?” Annalise asked as she replaced Bloodscale in its sheath.
We hadn’t faced any actual adversaries yet, and I didn’t think we would, but I still kept the God Slayer in my grip just in case we came across something in the darkened halls.
“The lazy fox that doesn’t run is a fool,” I told them as I stepped through the archway and looked at the room beyond.
“Great, we’ll be running…my favorite.” Rana grumbled sarcastically as she stepped in after me.
“You never know, this one might be more difficult,” the high queen whispered to her sister as her chocolate-colored eyes swung around the rocky space just inside the doorway.
The room beyond was massive and looked to be made of the same porous rock as the cave mouth we’d sailed through earlier. Deep black water sloshed up to the rock foundation just outside of the entryway, and I looked out over it with interest. The only path across were tiny stepping stones the size of my closed fist set in a straight line to the archway on the opposite side of the room. The redhead came to stand at my shoulder then rolled her head back as she groaned.
“We’re supposed to get across on those?” the fox exclaimed as she gestured toward the stones, and the rest of my women huddled through the door to see what she meant. “And we’re running? What the hell!”
“What were you expecting?” Morrigan asked in a somber tone as her dark eyes examined the surface of the water. “A walk in the garden?”
“No, but…not this bullshit!” Rana muttered as she shifted uncomfortably on her bare feet.
Something was going on with Rana, I sensed it deep within her body. The fox was never this agitated and irritable; she could be rather insistent sometimes, but not to this extent. I turned halfway and stared at her with hard eyes, and her lips stopped moving. I studied her smooth skin and the baby-blue of her eyes but sensed nothing wrong on the surface.
“What is the matter?” I asked in a firm voice, and Rana’s lips clamped tightly shut.
“Yeah, you’ve been acting weird since we stepped in here. Are you okay?” Carmedy asked as she lay a paw on the redhead’s shoulder.
“I-I’m fine!” Rana chuckled nervously as she shrugged off her smaller sister’s hand. “Just n-nervous or something.”
“If you are uneasy about the task at hand, you are free to tell us; we will not judge you,” Morrigan offered in a cold voice.
“That’s easy for you to say when you don’t even have emotions, elfy.” Rana snapped then covered her mouth with both paws as her eyes widened in horror at the words that had slipped out of her mouth.
The pale, white-haired woman blinked, then her eyebrows rose slowly in question. Morrigan didn’t speak, but from the way her plump, colorless lips pressed together in a hard line, I could tell that Rana’s words hurt her immensely.
“Rana…” Annalise whispered in disbelief, and Carmedy’s paw stopped and hung in the air as she reached out for the fox once more, then decided against it.
“Morrigan, I-I…” the fox started, and my eyes stayed hard on the redhead’s face as a range of emotions washed over her features in quick succession.
“It is fine, there is no need to apologize.” the elven woman muttered as she raised a hand in the air to stop Rana.
“No, she needs to apologize,” I commanded as I stared into the fox’s watering eyes for a moment.
“No, it is fine,” Morrigan said as she shook her head. “Rana is not in her right mind. The being in this place is influencing her words.”
“What? What does that mean?” both Annalise and Rana questioned as they stared in disbelief at the elf.
“I’ve been watching you this entire time, and I believe that you and this being have some strange connection that none of the rest of us have. She is influencing you, trying to alienate you from the group, possibly to get you
alone, but I am unsure why she would want such a thing.” Morrigan told us as her dark eyes shifted and went wholly black. She looked over the fox’s body for a moment, then her eyes normalized. “She is all around you, like a haze of swirling smoke of purples and blues. I cannot pick out her true form, she is hiding it from me, but she is here, pulling you away from us.”
“Hey! Weirdo being thing!” Carmedy shouted as she raised her closed paws into the air angrily. “Stop messing with my sister Rana, or we’ll make you pay!”
The same laughter I’d heard before vibrated against the walls then seemed to whoosh closer on a draft. The surface of the water rippled as something passed above it, and the laughter came closer. Warmth wrapped around us like a perfectly fitting glove, and I pulled myself away from it instinctively.
“You will make me pay?” the same voice we’d heard come from the leader’s mouth vibrated close to our ears. “I have learned over the passage of time that it is impossible to suffer without making someone else pay for it.”
“So, you’re making Rana suffer?” Annalise shouted into the open air where she thought the being floated freely. “What has she done to you?”
The being didn’t answer, and I felt its presence fade from my reach. Whatever the presence was, it disappeared without answering any of the questions it had left us with. I sighed loudly as I turned back towards the tiny stepping stones placed across the water. If we wanted answers as to why the being tried to take such a strong hold over Rana, we’d have to find her ourselves, but first, we had to make it past all the challenges. I held the God Slayer in both hands as I stepped out onto the first stone. I tested its weight with my heavy heel first and made sure that it was secure before I glanced over my shoulder and motioned for my women to follow after. Annalise was the first to step forward as she held her arms out at her sides for balance. The high queen was sure-footed and made it past the fourth stepping stone before she turned back towards her apprehensive sisters.
“Come on, it’s safe.” Annalise smiled to them.
Rana nodded once as she kept her eyes low and gritted her teeth. The redhead stepped onto the first cool, moist stone with her bare foot, took a deep breath, and stepped again. Carmedy’s emerald eyes flitted over the black water as she came forward and jumped onto the first stone. From the way her paws clenched, opened then clasped again I could tell she wanted to grip tightly onto her tail for comfort but needed it for balance. The feline glanced up at me once and gave me a shaky smile before her concentration slammed back down towards the stones.
Morrigan came last as she, much like Annalise, stepped out with confidence. The elven woman didn’t hold out her hands beside her like the high queen but kept them at her sides as she stayed perfectly upright. Morrigan was so graceful on her feet, and the way her dress shifted around her made her look as if she floated across the surface of the water instead of on the stones. It amazed me how she moved like that; even when on dry land, she looked as if her feet never fully touched the ground.
The remaining pirates followed after us, but none of them were as graceful as my women, and a few times, their voices rose into the air as they struggled to keep balance on the tiny stones. I tried to move at a quick pace, but the stones at our feet were so small that it was hard to take one step after another without throwing yourself off balance.
We weren’t even halfway across when I peeked over my shoulders and saw Carmedy pause for half a second. Her black ears twitched twice then her emerald eyes squinted as she concentrated on whatever sound she heard. Her tail whipped out behind her, then froze in the air. The feline stopped with both of her feet planted on two different stones as her head whipped to the left.
Her short black hair fluttered, and she batted it out of her eyes as a coral colored fin lifted out of the water and stretched on for seven feet. No one else saw it except the two of us, and the cat-girl’s mouth dropped open as her head snapped in my direction.
“Go, go, go!” Carmedy screamed as she lifted her paws into the air and slammed them against Annalise’s back as she forced the high queen forward.
“Hey! Calm down-what the hell is that thing?” Annalise cried in horror as she finally noticed the fin cutting through the water and making a beeline straight for us.
“Don’t know and don’t care to find out!” Carmedy screamed back as she pounded her paws against Annalise’s back.
Six pinkish red horns rose above the surface as the creature raced closer, and I could just make out the transparent coral colored head beneath the black surface of the water. Lidless black eyes stared up at me as a toothless, gaping mouth opened and closed like a catfish. Annalise pushed on my armored back as she looked up into my face with frightened eyes, and I slammed my eyes back down towards the small stones floating in the water. This time they looked farther apart than before, and I growled in the back of my throat.
I cleared my mind, and my heavy boots smashed down on the rocks as I ran forward. I didn’t think, didn’t let the thought of falling into the water even cross my mind as my minions screamed behind me. They didn’t have time to draw their weapons, and with our precarious situation, if they did, they’d topple over into the water with the beast. I kept my mind clear and sharp as I took calculated looks over my shoulder at the quickly approaching beast.
It looked alien to me, like nothing I’d ever seen before in my entire existence, and the abyss like black eyes swiveled to me from underneath the surface of the water. The creature’s eyes weren’t lifeless, but something was missing in them, and right as I placed it, I opened my mouth to speak, but it was too late.
The creature launched itself from the water into the air and aimed itself directly at Rana. The fox squealed and ducked down right as the beast’s long-digited fingers swiped above her head. I saw its body clearly for the first time and it wasn’t a fish, like I first thought. The whipping tail behind it was thick and huge but it had crudely formed, thin arms and legs that reached out for the redhead but missed entirely. Each hand and foot had three gooey-looking digits on them and they curled in the air as the creature dove back towards the surface. The pink and coral colored creature splashed through the water then was gone into the black depths.
“You gotta be a lot faster than that if you want to take me, you bitch!” Rana tilted her head back and screamed at the unseen being we knew watched us.
The being didn’t reply, and silence filled our ears, but it didn’t surprise me. The being wasn’t going to show herself until we reached the very end. She wanted us to make it through the challenges before we were deemed worthy of looking upon her face. I was eager to find out who toyed with us, but I had to wait until the danger was over. I scanned the water to my left and right, but the black water was still and didn’t ripple with movement from underneath.
“I think it’s-- look out!” Annalise roared as she reached out for Carmedy but the cat’s head turned too slowly, and she didn’t see what was happening.
A cry rose in my throat as I turned at the last second and balanced unsteadily on a single stone. I reached out with my telekinetic power, but it was too late. The aquatic beast flew through the air straight at the feline and slammed into her with full force. The beast’s mouth closed around Carmedy’s arm up to the elbow, and the feline screamed for help. The beast turned in the air to expose its translucent pink belly as it pulled Carmedy down with it. The cat-girl's scream roared up her throat then was drowned out as the beast pulled her underneath the water.
“Carmedy!” Annalise screamed as her eyes searched the rippling surface wildly for her sister.
I breathed in deeply through my nostrils as I closed my eyes and concentrated on the feline’s heartbeat. It beat wildly for a moment then evened, and I hastily looked to where the sound came from. Panic beat at my brain as I summoned all of my power and tried to pinpoint the cat’s location.
The beast seemed to be swimming around with the feline still in its mouth, and I gripped the God Slayer tightly in my hands as I prepare
d to dive in after her, but right as I moved to launch myself at the water, the creature surfaced once more.
The monster’s mouth opened and closed as it soared through the air, and my eyes widened to see the feline perched on its back. Carmedy’s knees held tightly to the beast’s middle as she whooped as she raised one paw over her head. All of my minions paused, and their mouths dropped open in surprise as the creature dove back down towards the water, and Carmedy waved to us as she laughed.
“What the hell is happening…?” Rana said under her breath as she watched the creature dive head first into the water along with the cat-girl.
Carmedy’s wet, black hair broke the surface a few feet from the stones I stood on, and I stared at her as she smiled widely. I bent down, careful to keep my balance and offered her a hand. I pulled her up then held her dripping body to mine. My avatar’s heart pounded in my chest as I stroked her wet hair and cradled her head in my hand.
Over Carmedy’s shoulder, the pink and coral colored creature rose from the depths and hung just below the surface. Its lidless eyes watched me for a moment as its six horns fluttered through the water like small leaves. I’d realized it earlier before the creature attempted to take Rana but hadn’t had time to tell my minions. This creature wasn’t violent or malicious, from the look in its big, round puppy-like eyes.
“Look how cute it is!” Carmedy giggled as she pushed away from me and pointed down at the creature.
The beast’s long pink tail whished through the water happily as it stared up at us, and I felt the same thing I did earlier. This creature didn’t want to harm us but instead, wanted us to play with it.
“Cute?” Annalise asked with a wrinkled nose as she looked back and forth between the creature and Carmedy. “That thing tried to drown you!”
“He didn’t try to drown me!” Carmedy cried as she vehemently shook her head. “He just wanted to play!”
“That certainly did not look like playing to me,” Morrigan stated in a somber voice as she glared down at the creature beneath the surface.
