Cursed

by Sue Tingey

  We flew for another hour or so over rural areas punctuated by the occasional small village until tall, rusty eruptions of rock appeared in the distance. They looked different to the mountains at home; like giant shafts of stone that had forced their way upward in pillars.

  Jamie swooped down to fly beside us and pointed ahead. “The middle pillar,” he said, shouting to make himself heard over the wind whistling past our ears, “is Dark Mountain, the temple of the Sicarii.” It was the gloomiest of the five largest monoliths; tall and imposing and so dark it was almost a glossy black. At least, that’s what I thought, until it became apparent that the mountain actually was more of a ruby red and slightly translucent; the suns sinking down behind it gave it a bloody halo that tinged the sky. I would have called it Blood Mountain, but as most demons’ blood was green, I supposed Dark Mountain was more logical to them. It then occurred to me the rock could actually be one great big ruby. Gold wasn’t quite as precious here as it was at home, so maybe it was the same with some stones?

  It got colder as we came closer, gradually flying lower and lower until we were only twenty or so feet off the ground, hidden from the mountain by a line of trees. Ahead of us Bob’s wings stretched out to their full extent and he glided down until his back feet hit the earth with a puff of dust. He reared up for a moment, then his huge front hooves dropped to the ground.

  Jamie glided down to join them as Vaybian half fell from Bob’s back in his hurry to get away from Jinx, who slid off with his usual graceful ease. Jinx sauntered over to stand beside Jamie and they both looked up, shielding their eyes as they watched us coming in to land.

  Pyrites took his time circling the waiting demons, getting a little closer to the ground with each circuit until he touched down with hardly a bump. Almost immediately he began to shrink until he was small enough for Shenanigans to climb down before helping to lift Kerfuffle off and then me.

  “From here on in it’s best we walk,” Jamie said.

  “Good,” I heard Vaybian mumble.

  “Didn’t you enjoy your trip, brother?” Jinx asked, the corners of his eyes crinkling with laughter. Vaybian glared at him, but kept quiet.

  “Shall we have something to eat?” Shenanigans asked, probably trying to prevent an argument, although food was never far from his thoughts—unless he was thinking about his ladylove, Leila from the Drakon’s Rest Inn.

  “I’d prefer it if we were under the tree line at the foot of the range before we stopped to make camp,” Jamie said.

  “We’re not going straight to the temple?” Vaybian asked.

  “We’ll take a page out of their book,” Jinx said. “We enter during the hours of darkness.”

  “When we won’t be able to see?” Vaybian said.

  “When we can’t be seen,” Jinx replied. “We’ll be exposed on the mountain path otherwise.”

  Vaybian stared at him for a moment then gave an abrupt nod. “I concur.”

  Jinx looked surprised. “You do?”

  “If they don’t see us coming they can’t use my lady as a shield to deflect us.”

  “Right then, let’s head for the trees,” Jinx said, and we started to walk.

  We made camp within the forest west of the Dark Mountain rather than directly ahead of it, where they were more likely to see the smoke from our fire.

  “We could go without a fire,” I suggested.

  “No need. I doubt they’ll notice it, and if they do they’ll just think it’s travelers making their way to the village yonder,” Jinx said, pointing further to the west. I didn’t argue. What did I know?

  Pyrites lit the fire in one puff and Shenanigans had dinner cooking in no time. I wasn’t sure how any of them could think of food; I was sick with nerves. Then Jinx broke open a bottle of wine.

  “Should we really be drinking at a time like this?” I asked.

  “Did you know that certain British regiments were given shots of rum before they went into battle?” Jinx said.

  “Well, hopefully we aren’t going into battle, but I still think it unwise to be swilling wine when we’re going into a temple that’s probably full of psychotic, bloody assassins,” I said.

  “She has a point,” Jamie told him.

  Jinx gave the wine a forlorn look and rammed the cork back into the bottle. “You’re probably right.”

  Hence the meal was a fairly quiet affair and as soon we finished eating, Jamie suggested we should get some sleep. “Shouldn’t we have someone keep watch?” I asked.

  “No need,” Jamie said with a smile. “If there’s danger we’ll know it.” Even Vaybian didn’t argue, so I snuggled down with my head on Pyrites’ belly and soon Jamie and Jinx joined me with Kerfuffle and Shenanigans curled up together under the drakon’s chin. Vaybian leaned up against a tree on the periphery of the group.

  “I feel awful that poor Vaybian is all alone over there,” I whispered to Jamie.

  “I think he’s hurting a lot at the moment, he probably just needs some space—especially after a ride with Jinx.”

  “You think?”

  Jamie kissed me lightly on the lips. “You are sometimes too good to be true.”

  “I doubt it,” I said.

  “I’m hoping she’s not always so good,” Jinx said, snuggling up against my back and wrapping an arm around my waist.

  “So am I,” Jamie said, but in a whisper only I could hear.

  I closed my eyes with a smile on my face. Somehow they knew exactly what to say and do to chase away my fear, if only for a short time.

  Six

  “Vaybian’s gone!” I heard Jinx say, and I was instantly awake.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked as I struggled to sit up.

  “Bloody Vaybian,” Jinx said, and then added a few more choice words.

  Instant anxiety that was fueled by his anger flooded through me.

  “He’s not taking a piss is he?” Kerfuffle asked.

  Shenanigans came lumbering out of the trees to the east of the camp. “He’s not back there,” he said gesturing with his head.

  “He can’t have gone far,” I said. “We’ve only been asleep—”

  “For long enough for him to get into the mountain,” Jamie said.

  “Who in the whole of the Underlands does he think he is going off on his own crusade?” Kerfuffle grumbled.

  “He must have a death wish if he’s gone in there on his own,” I said, but I had a nasty feeling that he might have done: he hadn’t wanted to wait, and in retrospect, had given in far too easily—it was probably also why he’d slept away from us, so he didn’t wake anyone when he left.

  “If we leave now we could catch up with him before he causes too much damage,” Shenanigans said. “After all, he would’ve had to walk and we can fly.”

  “He’s had a head start of up to two hours. It wouldn’t have taken a third of that to reach the bottom of the Sicarii stronghold,” Jinx said.

  “So, at best it’s all over, at worst he’s dead and they’re sitting there waiting for us,” Kerfuffle said with a scowl. “Bloody upstart.”

  “He was worried about Kayla,” I said.

  “He’ll get us all killed,” the little demon grumbled.

  “Pay him no heed,” Shenanigans said, “he’s fractious is all. Not much sleep and no breakfast always makes him like this.”

  Kerfuffle scowled at his friend, then huffed. “I’m sorry mistress. I’m sure he is anxious about his lady, but going off poorly prepared is no help to anyone, least of all her.”

  “If the Sicarii we questioned lied and they do have her, can you imagine what they’ll do to him if they catch him?” Jinx said.

  “I’d rather not,” I said.

  “They won’t be going for the quick slitting of the throat option this time, that’s for sure,” Kerfuffle said. “It’ll be slow and they’ll probably make her watch.”

  “Shush,” Shenanigans told his friend.

  “I will not shush,” Kerfuffle said, pursing his cupid bow lips, �
��it’s best she knows.”

  “They won’t waste a sacrifice,” Jinx said. “If they think he’s alone they’ll use him for a ritual killing.”

  “Lucky, I think you should stay here with Pyrites,” Jamie said. I began to protest when Jinx spoke up.

  “No,” he said, with a shake of his head. “If Lucinda is indeed the Soulseer, I think she should come to the Sicarii temple.”

  “I don’t agree. If they realize what she is—”

  “She still is the bearer of both our marks.”

  “Hey! I am here you know,” I interjected.

  Jamie glanced my way, indecision written all over his face. I thought I’d make it easy for him.

  “If you’re going into that place, then so am I. And that’s final.”

  “Are you sure it’s she who bears our marks, and not us hers?” Jinx asked with a grin.

  “Come on,” I said, “Vaybian may be in trouble, and I don’t want to be the one to tell Kayla that we saved her captain only for him to get himself killed in some kind of Bruce Willis rescue attempt.”

  “Bruce, who?” Jinx asked.

  “He’s an entertainer in the human world,” Jamie told him.

  “Rescuing people is entertainment?”

  “You really do not want to know.”

  We flew to the base of the huge, ruby rock in a matter of minutes. The difficult and time-consuming part was finding the way in; it was an almost sheer rock face with a surface like glass and therefore impossible to climb. We circled for a while before deciding to land.

  “There must be an entrance at ground level,” Jinx assured us. So we began the long process of walking around the rock. It would have been quicker to separate and go in opposite directions, but splitting up was not an idea any of us wanted to contemplate—especially in the dark.

  “It’s a bit rocky underfoot,” I said, as a lump of stone cracked and crumbled beneath the heel of my boot. With the next step I stood on something that felt like a branch; it rolled beneath my foot and I almost went over.

  “I can’t see a thing. And what is that stench?” Kerfuffle grumbled. “It smells like something died. How did we ever think we could do this in the dark?”

  “Well, unless we find Vaybian sitting on a log around the other side of the mountain, he somehow managed it,” Jinx said.

  “Yeah, when it was lighter,” Kerfuffle said with a snort. “Or the idiot got himself caught.”

  “We’re going to have to risk lighting torches,” Shenanigans said. “The moonlight isn’t enough for us to see by.”

  “Pyrites, give us a quick blast of light will you lad?” Jinx said.

  We all moved back so he was slightly ahead of us. He puffed out a stream of fire that lasted a few seconds and instantly lit up the landscape at the bottom of the monolith.

  I let out an involuntary squeal, Jamie said, “Oh shit,” and Jinx and Kerfuffle came out with several more earthy expletives, followed by instant apologies to me.

  The blaze of light faded away, but I could still see; the images were imprinted on my retinas, and probably my memory, forever. I had thought we had been walking on rock and other debris. Now we knew differently.

  Pyrites gave another little burst of fire. It lasted only moments, but it was enough to prove to us our eyes hadn’t been deceived. The base of Dark Mountain was piled with the bones of the dead; eyeless sockets peered up at us and fleshless jaws grinned, all cushioned upon a jumble of thigh, arm and other bones. We were surrounded by so many dead that it was impossible not to tread on their remains.

  I took in one deep breath and then another. We were walking on the bones of the dead. I was walking on bodies. I could feel myself beginning to hyperventilate. Get a grip Lucky, get a grip, I told myself, and gradually my breathing slowed and the moment passed. For some reason I had closed my eyes. I had no idea why, as without Pyrites’ blasts of flame I couldn’t see much at all, only the dark figures of my companions outlined in the moonlight.

  I opened them again and looked around to make sure I was close to the others. Jinx was slightly ahead of me, his hand resting on Pyrites’ flank. Jamie was to my left and I could see Shenanigans’ huge frame next to Kerfuffle’s diminutive figure to the right of Jinx.

  “We have to go on,” Jinx said, his voice trembling with anger, “if for no other reason than to stop this.”

  “We should look for a place where there are fewer bones,” Shenanigans said, “or where they are crushed mainly to dust. That’s where the entrance will lie.”

  I took another deep breath. Jinx was right: these demons had to be stopped, but to do that we would have to get inside. Then I thought maybe the spirits of the Sicarii victims could help us.

  “Is there anybody there?” I asked inside my head, instantly feeling like a fool. It wasn’t lost on me that I sounded exactly like the fake psychics I had spent so long trying to discredit.

  I took a step toward Jinx, the crunching beneath my feet bringing bile to my throat. Treading on their bones can’t harm them, I told myself.

  “Please, is anybody there?” I tried again.

  I took another step and their voices began to call to me.

  “Milady, help us.”

  Jinx’s head jerked around to look at me, and I saw a flash of white as his lips curled back. “Lucinda?”

  “I can hear them,” I told him.

  “Hear what?” Kerfuffle asked, and I saw Shenanigans bow down so he could whisper in his friend’s ear.

  The voices grew in number and in volume, and then wispy gray spirits began to rise up around us, though it was noticeable they shied away from Jinx, the ghostly figures parting around him as they glided toward me.

  I went to greet them. Several dropped to their knees, their hands clutched together as if praying, others stretched out their arms to me. They surrounded me, some reaching out as if to try and touch me, though they couldn’t; I slipped straight through their fingers.

  “Help us, please help us.”

  “Jinx, what should I do?”

  “Ask them to show us the way inside,” he said.

  “No, I mean for them.”

  “If they show us inside it’s possible we can stop Vaybian being added to their number. Once we’ve helped him, then we can help them.”

  I turned back to them. “Can you lead me inside?” I asked.

  Their expressions became fearful. “No lady, you mustn’t enter,” one whispered, and then the others joined him until a chorus of whispering voices filled my head.

  “Stop,” I said, “please stop.” The voices continued for a moment or so then diminished into a soft moaning. “I will help you, I promise, but first I must help the living and then deal with those who did this to you.”

  “Sicarii, Sicarii,” they whispered.

  “I know,” I told them. They began to drift away, and several turned and beckoned for me to follow. I let out a ragged breath. “Come on,” I said to my friends, “I think they’re going to lead us to the entrance.”

  We would have found the way in eventually. It was just as Shenanigans had said: there was a path up to the base where the bones had been either kicked aside or ground to dust. The entrance was a fissure in the side of the monolith, but at such an angle that rock overlapped rock, rendering the entrance invisible from where we were.

  The spirits slipped inside and we followed. The fissure turned into a long and narrow corridor of glistening rock leading into the center of Dark Mountain. It was dark, but not the pitch black I had expected. Light bled into the passageway ahead and after a few yards the confined space opened out into a huge high chamber, awash with light from dozens of flickering torches and lamps.

  Vaybian was slumped, head in hands, at the bottom of a semicircle of steps; his sword abandoned on the floor below him. At the top of the steps an altar carved out of the same red rock as the mountain had pride of place in the center of a wide platform.

  The spirits swarmed toward him, but it wasn’t the captain they wer
e interested in; it was the gray-clad figures hanging from two of the three crosses mounted at the back of the altar. Both demons had been gutted, their entrails hanging down from their waists like ropes. Puddled beneath their feet were glistening pools of dark jade blood, together with other bodily fluids that tainted the air with their stink. The spirits roared their approval and my head felt like it might burst.

  “Are you all right?” Jinx asked me.

  I could only nod in reply. “I need quiet,” I said, “please be quiet,” but the spirits of the Sicarii’s victims were enjoying their small moment of celebration too much to hear me.

  “Lucinda?” Jinx said, and I must have staggered as he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to him.

  “I’m all right,” I said, but winced as my ears were ringing.

  “Help her,” Jinx said, thrusting me into Jamie’s arms. He strode across the cavern and, ignoring Vaybian, jumped onto the steps leading up to the altar. “Desist,” he shouted, and when the spirits continued their roaring he ran to the top of the platform and put himself between the spirits and the dead Sicarii. The spirits drew back from him in fear. “I said: desist,” and this time they quieted.

  I walked across to the altar with Jamie holding my arm as if he was worried I might fall again. I climbed the steps until I reached Jinx and murmured a “thank you.”

  “I don’t understand why there are so many,” I said to Jinx and Jamie, gesturing out at the ghosts. “It was the same at the banqueting hall at court. They obviously know they’re dead, so why are they still here?”

  Jinx stared down at the spirits through narrowed eyes; apparently I wasn’t the only one who thought it odd.

  “Now you mention it,” Jinx said, “I can understand why some may hang around, but in these numbers …”

  Vaybian turned to glance up at us. “Aren’t you in the slightest bit interested to know what has happened to Kayla?” he asked.

  “Yes, Vaybian, I am,” I said, more than a little irritated by his tone, “but it’s plain to see she isn’t here.” The room only had one entrance as far as I could tell, which also served as the exit, and there was nowhere to hide. “So I’m doing the best I can: looking for other clues.”