The Witch; Stronghold; Underworld

by Ky Tyrand

That settled it. The girl had determined which way she would go: straight over that horrifying waterway, while its ferocious current wished her to fall so it could gobble her up again.

  But if she didn’t climb above the river now, she’d still have to pass right over it while crossing the bridge. As much as Ki’ara wasn’t looking forward to it, this way was quicker and safer.

  And with Sylor on the loose, the sooner she got to her friends, the better.

  The trail of blood had ended with a larger pool on a ledge near the far end of the bridge.

  But the footprints were still clear, leading down a twisting tunnel. At least, the girl’s tracks were – lighting up on his mask’s display with a small white box around them. The prints left from the boy’s prosthetic feet didn’t seem to register at all.

  No matter. He wouldn’t have any trouble catching up to them down here. One set of tracks and a powerful beacon of energy was more than enough to follow…

  Sylor halted.

  The second beacon…

  It had been so faint a short while ago. Yet, now it was even brighter than the other.

  And this one was directly behind him.

  24

  With a final jump – which was little more than a hop and a stretch with her G.R. so far gone – Ki’ara caught hold of the sharp, squared-off ledge. She jammed her foot into the small notch where the base of the stone columns met the top of the natural rock. From there, she stood herself up.

  Now her Night Vision was crapping out, too. She could still see, for the most part, but it was nowhere near as bright. It had allowed her to see handholds, and anything within arm’s reach, but not much more than that. Everything else was so dim Ki’ara figured she would be able to see better without the visor. But every now and again the tech would blink out entirely for a moment, proving her wrong. Without any light, this cavern was completely black.

  And the sightless “moments” seemed to be growing longer each time.

  The only benefit to lack-of-sight was that she didn’t have to see the channel of water rushing below her as she climbed.

  But she could still hear it.

  After throwing her leg over the top of the columns, Ki’ara hooked her foot against the other side and pulled herself onto the end of the bridge. From there, she positioned her toes between the columns and pushed, sliding her chest onto the natural ledge.

  Once on solid ground, Ki’ara let out a breath – right up until she realized that she’d just slid herself into a puddle of blood.

  “It smells like old here.”

  “And, what does ‘old’ smell like?”

  “It smells like this, Petch. Keep up.”

  The pair had been creeping around in the dark, perhaps with a little less caution than they should have considering the risk of triggering something nasty. But the fear of Sylor capturing them outweighed the threat of any harm that a trap could offer. Even death.

  A short while after escaping the man’s clutches, Je’nna had gone through her items in search of something that might provide a bit of light.

  She found a small Firestarter, but they didn’t have anything to burn. So, she kept looking, hoping to find something that could be turned off right away, in case any of those crazy cave-monkeys chased them down.

  It was her mapping device that she settled on. Though it was glitching with flashes of zigzagging lines and garble, the gadget still cast a small amount of light. Turned up to its brightest setting, the screen provided just enough of a glow that the two of them could almost see the ground at their feet.

  Je’nna put it in her palm and held it forward as they edged ahead, waving it high and low so the pair could alternate between tripping their feet and banging their heads.

  It wasn’t until the pain under her skin began to ease that Je’nna was able to get her helmet to close, letting her activate a subdued version of its Night Vision. With one more means of sight, she handed Petch the map, allowing them both to move a little faster.

  For the most part, Je’nna kept a hand on one of the boy’s wrists, towing him along at the speed she saw fit. But every so often she would let go – just long enough to scratch her wrist – before reaching back and catching hold of him again.

  After the third time this happened, Petch couldn’t take it any longer, and asked, “Why do you hide it?”

  There was a slight pause before Je’nna asked, “Hide what?”

  “The tattoo of the rose.”

  It couldn’t get any better than this.

  Sylor reveled at the tech the New Gods had given him. He could reach out and grab hold of her at this very moment, and there wouldn’t be a thing she could do to stop him. Whatever they had done to contain the Dark Matter in a way that allowed his tech to work, while blocking hers, was perfect.

  He was beginning to get a good feel for using the energy tendrils, and Sylor could tell that with practice they would become an extension of his fingers, allowing him to manipulate them with incredible precision. But, for now, all that mattered was that they were powerful – crushing, even.

  There was no question that he could have squeezed the lives right out of his previous captives. One by one their little ribs would have snapped had he added even a little pressure.

  Oh, to hear those screams…

  And now, the Witch-Princess herself was at his feet. And she didn’t even know he was there.

  25

  Ki’ara’s heart began to race at the discovery of blood. She desperately wondered who it belonged to.

  Please, be Sylor’s.

  The notion of it being either of her friends’ was horrifying.

  The evil man made Ki’ara’s skin crawl – literally. And the sharp pain the Princess suddenly felt throughout her body warned her that he was much closer than she’d thought.

  Ki’ara glanced over her shoulder, expecting him to be at the other end of the bridge. But her Night Vision was so dim that he could be standing right beside her and she wouldn’t even see him.

  She leapt to her feet, pressing herself against the cave wall as she listened…

  The shouting had long since stopped. The only sound she heard was that of the water flowing below her.

  Where is he?

  She instinctively tried to draw the Blue Energy from her Niksuru, but of course there was nothing there. Ki’ara went for the sword instead, trying to draw it silently. Despite her attempt, the blade made a metallic ring when she pulled it free – louder than the sound of the river, but still quieter than the thumping in her chest.

  It didn’t matter. Sylor knew she was here.

  Ki’ara just wished that she could see him. It was torture not knowing where he was. She suspected that this was why he hadn’t made an appearance, yet.

  But Ki’ara knew that Sylor couldn’t stand to remain hidden for long. It wasn’t in him. Not if he wasn’t certain that his stealth was tormenting her.

  “Might as well come out and play,” Ki’ara offered. Her voice sounded far calmer than she was. “You know you want to.”

  The Princess heard his snide chuckle coming from the passage beside her, before he materialized from the shadows only a few feet from where she stood. Barely a blur through her fading Night Vision.

  “It’s good you came back, Princess,” said the man. “I feared I might have to go down and retrieve you.”

  He appeared different for some reason. But unless she allowed him to come close enough for her dwindling Night Vision to register more than a big, dark silhouette, she wouldn’t be able to tell why.

  Ki’ara wasn’t about to let that happen.

  The only problem was, when Sylor took another step forward, her Night Vision cut out completely, leaving her in utter darkness.

  This time, it didn’t return.

  Je’nna felt her breath catch and her eyes go wide. “You saw that?”

  “Sure,” acknowledged Petch. “So did Ma’gy.”

  Je’nna stopped. “Did you say anything to Ki’ara?”

&nb
sp; “Nope.”

  The girl’s breath finally came out in a whistling gust, as she took another step.

  “…didn’t have to,” added Petch. “She saw it too.”

  “What???” Je’nna stopped, for good this time, and turned back to the boy. “Why didn’t she say anything?”

  Petch shrugged. “Don’t know. She seemed very interested, though.”

  “Crap,” was the only word that came out of Je’nna’s mouth, before she turned and continued on her way. “She must think I’m a killer, or something.”

  “Why, because you have a tattoo?”

  “No,” said the girl. “Because of what the tattoo represents.”

  “A flower?”

  “Not just any flower.”

  “A rose.”

  “A black rose.”

  “What’s so special about that?”

  The girl didn’t answer, until Petch put on the brakes, coming to a halt behind her.

  Je’nna’s hand slid off his wrist. “What, are you going to stay here and wait for Captain Creepy if I don’t tell you?”

  Petch crossed his arms. “Maybe I will.”

  He was lucky that he couldn’t see the cold daggers that were shooting at him through the visor of Je’nna’s helmet.

  “Maybe you should,” hissed the girl, turning to leave.

  Petch stood his ground, waiting – wondering if she would keep going without him.

  She stopped a short distance ahead. Petch couldn’t see her, but he heard another breath blow out of her lungs.

  “Fine,” she said. “Keep walking, and I’ll tell you.

  26

  Ki’ara didn’t know what to do.

  She was certain that Sylor could see her, while she couldn’t see a thing.

  With a ledge two steps to her right, and the trickiest of bridges stretching across a life-ending drop, she was not in the best position. Not when she couldn’t see any of it.

  Her only hope of surviving was to bail over the ledge and hope to land in the water channel that she was so desperately trying to avoid. As much as she hated the idea, at least it offered a chance. And even drowning in an underground river would be better than letting Sylor get his awful hands on her.

  Of course, this was all supposing she would be lucky enough to land in the water again.

  If she were to miss, Ki’ara would splatter herself all over the rocks.

  The Battle Armor hasn’t given out yet. Maybe it will protect me…

  Ki’ara took a step toward the ledge just as a flash of blinding orange light came out of nowhere.

  She quickly changed direction, diving to the side to avoid several streaking bands of energy that whipped over her head.

  Now Ki’ara could see the man. She was surprised to find him wearing a suit of hi-tech armor, not all that different from her own.

  The tendrils of orange light were projecting from atop his glove, snaking about – trying to catch hold of Ki’ara as she swung her sword.

  A shower of sparks burst from the blade when it connected with a strand, leaving a curved notch where the plasma took a bite out of the steel.

  That tendril dimmed and retracted, offering Ki’ara a fragment of hope as she blocked and then swung at another.

  Every time she hit a strand, the cord faded and withdrew. Seeing the positive effect sent Ki’ara into a frenzy of chopping and slicing as the bands thrashed around, trying to catch hold of her.

  The girl felt a glimmer of hope – like she was finally getting the better of this madman.

  But, with a laugh, Sylor thrust out his other hand – a hand that Ki’ara didn’t even think he still had – and another five fingers of energy came at her.

  The reaction of the steel against plasma was spectacular to say the least. And it seemed to take out the snaky tentacles one-by-one. But each burst of sparks also took a chunk from her blade.

  Nevertheless, Ki’ara was undeterred. Apart from blasting him with her crossbow, the girl had never felt so powerful against Sylor, and she wasn’t about to back down.

  Ki’ara had already diced a fist’s worth of energy beams and didn’t think she would have any trouble with the second.

  And then she would run what was left of her blade straight through Sylor’s cruel heart.

  That was her intention. That was the plan.

  With her pulse pounding, Ki’ara advanced, chopping and lopping the glowing bands, bringing her sword closer and closer to Sylor’s heart. It all seemed to be going in her favor – she was winning, she could feel it – right up until the tendrils from his first hand suddenly blasted back out at her, fully recovered and completely recharged.

  Caught off-guard, Ki’ara choked on her breath and tried to block.

  The strands all hit at once, severing what was left of her blade and knocking the Princess to the ground under a shower of molten metal.

  “I didn’t always see eye-to-eye with Mother. You haven’t met her – she isn’t the easiest person to get along with. Anyhow, a while back, I kind of… ran away.”

  It was a part of Je’nna’s life that she didn’t like to talk about. Not ever. And yet, here she was, about to spill her guts.

  “While I was out exploring the world, I met a boy.” Je’nna blew out another breath. “He was kind to me, and sort of took me under his wing.”

  After a long pause, Petch interjected, “You don’t have to tell me, Je’nna. I’m not going to hold you up.”

  “It’s okay,” she said, before going on, “I had no idea he was an assassin. At least, not at first. But, one thing led to another, and pretty-soon I was in the fold.”

  “You’re an assassin???”

  “No!” Je’nna insisted. “I mean… Look, I’ve done some things that I’m not proud of, but I didn’t kill for him.” Under her breath, she calmly added, “I couldn’t.”

  Now it was Petch’s turn to let out a relieved sigh.

  “But that put me in an awkward place, and I didn’t know how to deal with it.” She remembered how disappointed Landry had been, and the altercation that came afterward. Who knew that the boy and his friends were as skilled as they were? “Luckily, Mother had sent a team to retrieve me.”

  Up until that point, Darius had been nothing more than another soldier to her. “Her best team,” she added, fighting a lump in her throat. She knew from the moment Darius burst in that he was willing to give his life for her.

  That doesn’t mean that he should have.

  Though Petch wanted to ask what this had to do with a black rose, he patiently waited.

  “After what happened at Stronghold, The Black Rose was sent to kill Ki’ara.”

  “Ah,” said the boy, beginning to understand. “This Landry is the Black Rose.”

  Without reply, Je’nna tilted her head.

  “He’s not the Black Rose?” asked Petch.

  “Yes, he is,” insisted Je’nna.

  “But…?”

  “But, Ki’ara thinks the Black Rose is the name of one person,” she explained. “It’s not. The Black Rose is the name of an entire sect of assassins.”

  “Whoa,” said Petch. “Are they still after her?”

  Je’nna shrugged. “I imagine they are. Were it not for all her hopping around through Abnukadins, I’m guessing they would have caught up to her by now. Anyhow, I’ve been trying to babysit her in hopes of keeping her safe.” She scratched her wrist again, muttering, “It hasn’t been working very well. I think I’d have better luck with a toddler. And I’m terrible with kids.”

  “How many Black Rose assassins are there?” asked the boy.

  Je’nna shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  Before Petch could ask anything more, a thunderous rumble echoed through the passage, shaking the floor and dropping rocks from the ceiling.

  27

  Ki’ara’s eyes went wide when the snaky tendrils appeared after the sparks bounced off her visor.

  The orange plasma was everywhere, but Ki’ara didn’t hesitate. />
  She threw the bladeless hilt at Sylor’s face before rolling to her front and scrambling toward the bridge.

  There’s no defeating this man, Ki’ara reminded herself, as she popped to her feet and bolted. I was a fool to even try.

  Ki’ara took the steppingstone bridge flat-out, with Sylor charging behind.

  She wondered if he knew that the only thing that kept her on track was the warm light from the squirming tendrils he continued to whip at her.

  Perhaps that was why he hadn’t stopped. He didn’t want her to fall.

  For some reason, the stepping stones were wet and slippery in places. But it wasn’t enough to slow her. Sylor had found a way to instill a desperation that took the fear of falling clear out of Ki’ara’s thoughts. So, she bounded across the tile column-tops three at a time, trusting her balance and agility to keep her from a misstep.

  Though she’d been able to stay just ahead of his energy vines, it wouldn’t take much to knock her off the narrow pathway. If he so much as hooked her ankle – even just a little – she would go down.

  But, by now, Ki’ara knew that Sylor wanted her to get across.

  And so she did, finally planting a foot onto the rock ledge before she darted into the passage on the other side.

  It wasn’t how she remembered it. Everything was orange from the light of Sylor’s energy strands, reflecting smears of wet blood from all the gray beings that he’d killed.

  Even running for her life, Ki’ara felt a powerful wave of guilt. These creatures were all dead because of her. All because she’d turned the lights on. She wondered which of them had been the one that opened its eyes right next to her, giving her such a start.

  I’m sorry…

  But now wasn’t the time to mourn the little beings. Ki’ara needed to stay focused. She could hear Sylor’s footfalls directly behind her own.

  He was much faster now that he was on solid ground. And if he gained on her even the slightest, those snaking tendrils of… whatever they were, would catch hold.