Bound to the Abyss

by James R. Vernon

  "You let your pet imp talk to you like that?" Surprise touched Azalea's voice.

  "He isn't my pet. He's … well, he's my friend."

  She let out a laugh, then took a closer look at Ean and grew serious. "You mean that, don't you? You actually consider this little worm a friend. How curious. I think I am starting to understand why—"

  "I'm standing right here you know, life sucker," Zin cut in. "You could at least wait until I wasn't around to insult me."

  "Life sucker?!" Anger flashed across her face for a moment, and then was gone, replaced by her playful smile. "Little imp, if you're smart enough to be able to talk, you should know better than to call any of my kind that name. You're lucky we have this little arrangement, otherwise I would rip each of your limbs off and beat you with them."

  "Enough!" Things were getting out of control again, but this time Ean would stop it. "What do you mean, arrangement? What have you two been discussing while I've been ... sleeping?"

  He made a point of staring directly at Azalea and was surprised when she looked away quickly.

  "Well, we had quite the lengthy discussion," Zin said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "And to sum things up, she's agreed to help us and follow your orders --" Azalea coughed loudly, cutting the imp off. He looked at her with a frown before continuing. "Agreed to try and follow your orders whenever possible."

  Ean looked over at the Yulari and this time received a nod and that same smirk that seemed to be a permanent fixture on her face. Shaking his head, he turned back to Zin. "And how exactly can she help us?"

  "The better question," the Yulari said with a hint of annoyance. “Is what can't I do? Or more importantly, what can't you do, little one? Obviously you know very little about the Abyss and how to use that energy coursing through your body. You're also a horrible warrior, so I can handle any fights you get into. Unless of course, that would hurt your ego too much, having a girl fight your battles ..."

  She stared at him, expecting an answer, but Ean refused to play her games. Returning her gaze, Ean plastered on a blank expression. Realizing she wasn't going to get a rise out of him, she sniffed indignantly and continued on.

  "Well, if none of that sounds appealing, there is one last thing I can do that you cannot do."

  Without warning she extended her wings and pushed off into the air. The light from Ean's tattoos silhouetted her in the darkness, the shadows created only seemed to add to her beauty. She hovered for a few moments slightly off the ground, her leathery wings beating just fast enough to keep her aloft. Then, with a wink at Ean first, her wings tripled in speed and she rose into the air. Branches rained down as she shot through the canopy above and disappeared. Moments later, she came crashing back down through the trees, dislodging even more twigs and leaves from above, before landing in front of Ean.

  "So, little one," she said mockingly. "Which way do you have to go in order to get out of this forest?"

  His supplies were gone. His friends, well, ex-friends, would be almost impossible to find, and he wasn't sure he wanted to find them. And even if he did want to and eventually found them, they still would have no idea which way to go. Azalea was his only hope now. The fact that Zin seemed to support the idea of having her along cemented his decision.

  Ean searched her eyes for any sign of treachery. He saw mockery and arrogance reflected in those blood red eyes, but no treachery. Trust his gut, he decided with a defeated sigh. She meant him no harm ... at the moment. He extended a hand in her direction.

  "You swear to follow my orders and not ignore them when you think they're inconvenient?"

  She gave his hand a puzzled glance, and then gripped it firmly. Her nails dug into the skin of his hand.

  "I promise, little one, that as soon as you make my presence in this world more permanent, I will aid you to the best of my ability."

  "It's a deal then," Ean said, pulling his hands away. He grimaced a bit as he noticed small pinpricks of blood where her nails had dug in. "And the first thing you need to do, after telling me which direction to go, is to stop calling me 'little one.'"

  "Fair enough, child," she said with a smirk.

  Wonderful. Another person that teased him about looking young. Ean was eighteen-years-old, but due to his thin build, smooth complexion, dimpled cheeks, and scraggly black hair, people often mistook him for a much younger person. He found it demeaning when strangers referred to him as a boy, but child was even worse.

  "Now make my visit here a bit more permanent." Ignoring Ean's scowl, Azalea turned and walked over to a pile of leaves. Brushing them out of the way, her summoning circle came into view. It still glowed faintly with the power that kept her tied to this world.

  Ean took a few deep breaths to compose himself before moving over to join her. Making her time in the realm more permanent meant transferring the summoning rune to something he owned, just as he had carved Zin's rune into the pendant around his neck. It had to be something that he could keep close as well, just in case she got out of control and he had to send her back to the Abyss. It would be much easier to break the rune if it was inscribed on a physical object anyway.

  Ean spied a small, flat piece of bark resting on the forest floor. It was about half the size of his palm--thin enough to tuck in a pocket, with a large enough surface on which to draw the intricate summoning rune. Picking up the wood, Ean was about to open up his Pocket to retrieve his carving knife when a thought struck him.

  Well, it wasn't so much a thought as it was a feeling. Taking the bark in his right hand, he placed his left one down on the summoning circle. Closing his eyes, he pictured the rune on the ground transferring onto the bark. A chill washed over his body, moving from his left hand to his right, and sure enough when he opened his eyes the summoning rune that had been on the ground was now perfectly inscribed on the piece of wood.

  He glanced up to catch Azalea's red eyes studying him carefully. When their eyes met, she broke their gaze and turned to walk away, mumbling under her breath. "He could have at least bound me to this world by something more flattering than a scrap of wood."

  Ean was about to call her out, but she spoke again, louder this time.

  "If you want to get out of the forest, you need to head that way." She pointed off in a direction opposite the one he would have chosen. "I could fly to the edge of the forest in barely any time at all, but since I'm supposed to follow you two geniuses around, it will probably take us a day or two on foot. Unless you are as weak as you look of course, then I would say three to four days."

  "Leave now? I can barely see anything."

  "Well, then I suppose I'll have to lead you by the nose, and then you and your ugly little imp will be out of the woods in no time."

  "Unless you enjoy being called soul-sucking hag, I would stop with the insults and call me by my name."

  "Fine, fine, can we go now?" Azalea was staring at Ean, her hands now on her hips with one foot tapping impatiently on the ground. Ean returned her stare, drinking in Azalea's form. White leather hugged her curves. Thick purple hair hung to her shoulders, framing a face with petite features. Anyone normal man would consider her beautiful ... if they could ignore the bat-like wings spread behind her.

  Ean knew better. As alluring and almost hypnotizing as her beauty was, deep down she was no ordinary woman. She was just another denizen from the Abyss. A creature of darkness. If Zin hadn't made a deal with her, she would have killed them both by now.

  "Yes, we can leave. There's nothing left to pack. So if you're ready to go, then so am I."

  Without another word, the Yulari walked off into the dense forest. Zin and Ean hurried to catch up. The threesome walked single file through the forest, with the light of the moons barely breaking through the canopy and creating dappled shadows on the leafy ground. Azalea took the lead position, while Zin and Ean walked a few paces behind.

  Zin had been the one to support the decision of keeping Azalea around after all. It was confusing now to see him frown in he
r direction. Ean couldn't exactly ask the imp what the problem was with Azalea only a few steps ahead of them. So, all three of them walked on in silence until tiny rays of light began poking through the canopy above, signaling the beginning of a new day.

  “NOT TOO MUCH FURTHER now,” Azalea said after her sixth check of their position. “You’ve been keeping up a better pace than I would have thought, and I’m very surprised that the imp’s little legs have been able to keep up as well. Guess I underestimated you.”

  “These leg’s don’t feel so little when their kicking things, Yulari,” the imp responded. “Keep that in mind.”

  “Such big threats from such a little creature,” the Yulari retorted, her expression that of fake concern. “Good thing I have Ean to keep you from hurting me. Oh wait, it’s the other way around. It’s a good thing you have Ean to keep me from hurting you. But don’t think that the fact that I can’t kill you because of our arrangement doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you. So watch your tone when you address me.”

  Time for Ean to step in before things got bad.

  “Azalea, that’s great that we are almost out of the woods, but that means villages and other people who have never seen your kind before. They’ll take one look at your blue skin, and the wings on your back, and try to stone you to death. It might be safer for you to…”. As far as I know, humans don’t exactly have your skin color and the wings certainly are a dead give-away that you are not human.”

  “Oh, by the Abyss,” Azalea’s voice was a mixture of sadness and condescending. “Don’t you know anything about Yulari? Well you are going to learn something today.”

  Stopping, she turned around to face him. Once she was set, her wings lowered and folded about her body, underneath her arms. Then her entire body seemed to shimmer, blurring the image of her body and face until Ean was barely able to make her out. Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the blur was gone and Ean’s mouth dropped.

  Standing in front of him now was a woman slightly smaller then himself, short blonde hair framing a petite face, her body covered in what appeared to be a thick cloth robe. The woman’s features resembled Azalea’s but were slightly muted, the thin nose a bit more rounded out, the mouth smaller but with lips just as full, her eyes slightly slanted and a dark green color with actual pupils. Her hair was cut the same, but was a dirty blond color. Her skin had taken on a lightly tanned tone, like someone that spent most of their life out in the fields but had just spent the Chill season indoors.

  But there was something else. That shimmering effect was still slightly there, although it didn’t blur her appearance any longer. It was the same effect that Ean saw on Zin any time he became invisible.

  “Well?” Azalea asked, lifting her arms up and slowly spinning around, “would I pass for human?”

  “Yes absolutely, unless normal people can see that shimmering effect as well.”

  She stopped spinning abruptly and turned to face him. “What shimmering effect?”

  “I think I can see the spell or whatever it is that changes your appearance. The same thing happens when Zin tries to turn invisible.”

  “Oh really? How peculiar." Shrugging, the Yulari spun one last time with a laugh before dropping her arms. “Well I’m sure it won’t be a problem.”

  Raising her arms again, the shimmering effect washed over her once more and in an instant she had returned to her pale blue skinned self. “All that spinning made me forget which way we need to go. I’ll be right back.”

  Taking off into the air once more, Azalea was only gone for a moment before returning to the ground. With a casual wave of her hand she motioned for Zin and Ean to follow. The three of them walked on in silence again, with Zin shooting daggers with his eyes at the Yulari while Ean pretended not to notice.

  "Here you are," she said, spreading her arms wide, "delivered from despair and starvation by your wonderful Yulari guide. Just a little bit further and we'll be out of these woods and hopefully to more populated areas.”

  She flashed Ean a smile and patted him on the head.

  "Not that I've found your presence boring, of course. It's just that you stink of depression, and it leaves a sour taste in my mouth.”

  Ean pulled away from her hand, making sure he kept his face and the scowl he wore clearly in her view. It was one thing to put up with all of her demeaning pet names for him, but he wasn't about to stand there while she patted him like a disobedient puppy.

  “I’m not depressed. It’s just been a long journey.”

  “You sure?” Tilting her head, Azalea gave him a quizzical look. “I’m pretty sure I’ve been smelling depression wafting off of someone, and it certainly isn’t the imp.”

  “How do you know it isn’t Zin?”

  She flashed Zin a wide grin. “The only emotion that I’ve been smelling from him is distaste, and I’m sure is directed at me.”

  Returning her grin, the imp began making his way towards the end of the forest. “Finally something we agree on.”

  Azalea followed after him, forcing Ean to have to follow along or be left behind. They both caught up to the imp as he cleared the forest.

  What lay out before Ean was something he had never seen before. To the North and Northeast were rolling hills of dark green grass, a welcome change from the brown dirt of his home and the overgrowth of the forest. To the West he could see the Skyfall Mountains, not that far off in the distance. It was what he saw to the East though that made his eyes go wide.

  A huge stone wall traveling from North to South towered over the land. It stretched up into the clouds and out of sight and seemed to travel in the horizon without end. When Ean was finally able to shake away his shock, he turned to his companions.

  JAMES VERNON was born and lives in eastern Pennsylvania. He enjoys reading, writing, most types of music, and anything in the fantasy and sci-fi realm. Often stuck in long commutes for his job, James’s imagination was free to create new worlds and stories. Through the assistance of family, friends, and some generous backers, James has been able to pursue his dream to spread his stories to more then just his own mind.

  For more information about James and the Three Moons Realm, visit us at jamesrvernon.com!

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