Fly into the crater until I say, Zaria instructed.
Gripping the cage tighter in my arms, I leapt into the abyss.
* * *
Lexsi
Kory's dive was swift and elegant. He held his wings tight against his back until he was a hundred yards down before snapping them open to glide. I hurled my Thifilatha off the snow at that point, hoping my dive would be half as assured as his was.
I didn't wait as long to snap my wings open to glide downward; all I could see was the fiery depths of the volcano speeding toward me at a terrifying rate.
See, there on the right—a ledge, Zaria instructed when we'd almost reached the bright orange lava near the center of Tungurahua.
The ledge was narrow—to an eighteen-foot Thifilathi or a fifteen-foot Thifilatha. We'll have to land carefully and walk sideways or we'll never get over it carrying the cages, Kory informed me.
You won't be walking on the ledge, Zaria said. That's just a place to land before dropping into the lava.
Great, Kory responded. Out of the frying pan and all that.
You go first, I begged him. I wanted—needed to see how he'd land on such a narrow ledge.
Kory furled his wings and dove toward the ledge, before snapping his wings open again and flapping twice, turning neatly in mid-air and landing like a ballet dancer on the ledge.
The claws on his black-scaled feet hung over the edge, while I flew in circles over hot lava. Don't mess this up, I warned myself. I'd never had flying lessons. I'd only had a Thifilatha for a few months, and had only brought it out a few times.
Kory had years—if not centuries—of experience with his.
Baby, you can do this, Kory said. If you find yourself falling, push off and start flying again. Nobody will think worse of you if it takes a try or two.
I already think worse of me. I gulped a breath—at least the hot, corrosive air near the bottom wasn't damaging my Thifilatha. We—Kory and I—had been made to survive this as long as our Thifilathi and Thifilatha were engaged.
Mark your spot, Zaria instructed. Don't get too close to Kory—you could cause both of you to fall. If a cage drops into the lava, she didn't finish.
Can't you or Yoff do something if a cage falls? I asked.
No power can be used near the cave entrance, young one, Opal broke in. You and Kory are using natural talent. The fact that you and he are holding our cages keeps the door warden from engaging.
There's a door warden? If I'd spoken aloud, my voice would have risen an octave.
Don't worry, we're okay for now, Zaria soothed. Take one more turn, fold your wings and dive toward the ledge.
I took one more turn, but it wasn't enough. I took two turns. Then three.
Onion, you can do this, Kory said. Take one more turn. When I say, fold your wings and head for the ledge. When I tell you, open your wings and turn your body in mid-air. One good flap or two will settle you onto the ledge with your back to the wall. Fold your wings quick after that and drop onto the ledge.
All right.
Keep your speed steady, now, he said as I made one more turn. Fold baby, he said. I gulped as I folded my wings and dived toward the ledge.
Open, he shouted into my head.
My wings snapped open as I turned my body in mid-air. I flapped once—twice, just as he said and dropped onto the ledge.
My wings! I forgot to fold them fast enough. I teetered on the ledge and almost dropped my cage.
Nooo! I shouted at myself and clutched the glass-like cube close against my chest. With all the strength I could muster, I dug clawed toes into the ledge, while rock crumbled and huge chunks of the wall fell into the waiting mouth filled with lava. I slid down the rock wall as the ledge disintegrated beneath my feet.
Gripping the cage with one arm, I flung a hand backward to grasp at the wall. The claws on my fingers forced more rubble from the inner walls of Tungurahua and into its maw. My slide downward was barely affected by my desperate efforts; the fiery lava hissed and chuckled as it waited for me to fall in, too.
Hold on, baby! Kory shouted mindspeech at me. With the ledge completely gone and the sloping wall crumbling around me, I struggled to do just that. Inside the cage I held, I could hear Anita shrieking as I slid farther down. With an effort, I gripped it as best I could. Gritting my teeth, I dug claws on hands and feet deeper into the rock.
Keep it up, it's working! I finally heard what Anita shouted at me. I did. With claws on both feet buried in the sloping wall of rock and one hand doing the same behind me, we eventually slid to a stop.
Kory still stood on the ledge, nearly fifteen feet above my head. At first, I couldn't move to loosen my claws on hand or feet.
Everyone waited patiently until that happened. Gulping in breaths of poisonous air as if it were lifesaving oxygen, I struggled to steady my nerves and calm my heart. I'll bet you wish you'd gone with Kory, I sent shaky mindspeech to Anita.
Too boring, Anita said with a smile in her mental sending.
Yeah? I'd settle for boring, I retorted.
Take a few minutes, Zaria said. We're in good shape as far as finding the lava path, she added. We're fifteen feet closer to it than Kory is.
Right. Kory would leap like a prima ballerina and land exactly where he was supposed to, while I scared all my passengers to death for a second time in less than ten minutes.
Kory, are you ready? I'll be instructing Lexsi to land right behind you, so be careful where you set your feet, all right? Zaria said. The lava path is almost as narrow as that ledge.
I'm ready, Kory confirmed.
Good. Below the ledge where you're standing, and four feet from the edge of the lava, is the lava path. It's four feet wide. There, the lava is only eight feet deep. The path is wide enough for you to walk it, as long as you don't stray from the path. If you land on it properly, you'll see the cave entrance across the lake of lava. Wait for Lexsi to catch up to you before going through the cave entrance.
Don't worry. I want her as close behind me as she can get, he said.
What he wasn't saying was that I'd just scared the hell out of him. I'd scared the hell out of myself and my passengers, too. He knew not to yell.
I was grateful.
Do you have the spot targeted? Zaria asked him.
I do.
Then go—and be careful.
Kory let several seconds pass as he made sure of his grip on the cage he held. My breath caught as he leapt from his narrow perch and landed in the lava below.
He teetered on one leg for two seconds before setting both feet firmly on the path beneath the bubbling lava.
I'm good, he announced. I have room on both sides.
Lexsi, set down right behind him, Zaria breathed into my mind. Push away from the wall, open your wings and glide towards his back. Don't knock into him, just set down gently.
All right. I gazed down at the cage I now held in both arms—for a while, it had hung precariously as I gripped it in the crook of my right arm while clawing into the rock wall at my back with my left hand.
Crouching down as well as I could, I leapt away from the wall and snapped my wings open before gliding toward Kory. At the last moment, I flapped upward and circled, before coming in above and behind, then folding my wings and dropping into place behind Kory's broad back.
I didn't even teeter when I did it.
You're getting the hang of this, Kory said. Come on, onion. We have a cave entrance to find.
Several minutes passed as Kory and I, holding our cages higher so as not to expose them to the lava bubbling about us, walked across an invisible bridge beneath our feet. It took those minutes for our eyes to adjust to the brightness and find a darker darkness above melted rock—the cave entrance.
I wanted to ask Zaria about the door wardens. Instead, I shifted my grip on the cage in my arms, refused to look at Anita and the others inside and followed in Kory's wake.
* * *
Peru
Laurel Rome
"We've
destroyed a warship off the coast of Colombia," Berke crowed as he took the chaise next to mine at the pool.
That's when the woman in the pool pulled her head above the water right in front of us. She settled her arms on the flagstones at the edge and glared at us. If V'ili hadn't told me to leave her alone, I'd have thrown my chair at her.
"I hope you all rot in hell," she snapped and dived into the water, her tail thrashing angrily as she swam from one end of the huge pool to the other.
"I didn't realize those machines could hit something so far away," I said, ignoring the mermaid.
"It took three acting together to do enough damage to sink it. What's funny is that the ship didn't have a target to return fire. Dervil is still laughing."
"What about V'ili and the others? Where are they?" I asked. "They should be celebrating with Dervil on this."
"Morgett arrived and said they had an errand to run. Didn't say what it was, but I heard Deris say that they'd spotted the enemy somewhere, and that they'd played right into our hands."
"The enemy isn't hard to spot," I snorted. "They're lined up across the border."
"I got the idea this wasn't about the military," Berke said, reaching out to take my hand. He lifted it to his lips and kissed my palm. "My dearest, when this is over, we'll own the entire planet. I shall enjoy giving you whatever you want from its wealth."
My breath caught.
Morgett. The treasure he wanted. I couldn't say it, but I knew that's what he and Deris meant about the enemy playing into their hands.
They'd gone to collect it.
I wanted it. Why should they have it all? Surely it was enough to share. I opened my mouth to tell Berke what I wanted. No words came. Silently I cursed V'ili for perhaps the hundredth time.
* * *
Lexsi
I had no idea what Zaria meant by a door warden. When we passed through the cave entrance, I saw nothing except rock walls. An icy blast hit us as we stepped through, shocking me immediately. It was contrary to what should have been—we'd just waded through a quarter mile of molten lava. The severe cold at the cave's entrance was a weapon in itself.
Keep going—just a little farther, Zaria instructed. Then you can put the cages down.
Kory jumped when light illuminated the cave a hundred yards in. I stifled a scream at the same time and almost dropped my passengers.
Set the cages down here, Zaria said. We're past the door warden's eyes.
* * *
Ecuador
Tungurahua
V'ili
Morgett's information proved true—every step of the way. He said we'd need to ally with High Demons. He'd managed to corrupt many.
High Demons in Full Thifilathi flew us toward the center of the volcano, where lava boiled and bubbled.
The one carrying me was stupid and beneath me, but I didn't voice my opinion aloud. It will require them to carry us past the cave entrance, Morgett had warned us. Any use of power, for even the most mundane of reasons, will result in our deaths.
It wasn't difficult to see where the enemy had traveled—their wake was marked by a brighter, more molten path in the lava.
The cave lies at the end of this path, Morgett sent mindspeech. Deris and Daris, nephew and niece to Morgett, worshipped him and what he'd been able to do for them. They'd supplied the plans for the N'il Mo'erti; he'd arranged everything else, including our alliance with Dervil to hide our tracks and true purpose.
"All will be ours, not just the Earth," Morgett had promised. "If we can collect this treasure."
I understood the treasure held power. If we held that power, we held everything. My High Demon conveyance grunted as he settled onto the path. He stood waist-high in burning lava while the stench assailed my nostrils.
Hurry, Morgett snapped at the High Demons in mindspeech. We cannot hold our breaths for long.
Four High Demons quickened their pace while Morgett, Deris, Daris and I rested in their arms. Behind us, eight more High Demons, carrying only themselves, waded through molten rock as if it were water on a sunny day.
* * *
Lexsi
However Zaria and Yoff had designed the cages and spells to make them smaller, they melted away of their own accord and all our passengers stretched to their full height.
No use of power and silence is a must, Zaria warned as she came to stand beside me. Lexsi, you have to take the lead, now.
She directed me forward, but after a while, the cave branched into four choices. Take the one on the left, Zaria said when I hesitated.
I think I read this in a book, once, Kory joked.
Kory, please save it for later, I begged. Every step I took was filled with dread. I felt as if the cave were watching us. Judging us. Waiting to strike against us.
We're with you, onion, Kory soothed. Keep moving. That's all we can do for now.
I turned my head to glance back at him. He was at the rear of our party, with all but Zaria between us.
I could see they were uncomfortable, too. Watson looked as if he wanted to turn to wolf and run. Thomas, Jorden and Davis kept a close watch on him, probably for that very reason. Kell and Klancy kept an eye on Anita, Tibby and Mason.
That's when the cave shook around us, and rock and dust dropped from the roughly-hewn ceiling overhead.
Somebody activated the door warden, Zaria's mindspeech was a bare whisper. They're here.
Chapter 17
Lexsi
Who? I asked.
The ones who want us dead, Zaria replied. This has been their objective all along. We have to draw them in. I need to see their faces.
Why? I didn't understand at all.
They know where the N'il Mo'erti are positioned. I need that information to destroy them—after we face off against what's following us.
Wh-what's following us?
Don't worry about that now—keep going. They're far enough behind us that we'll reach our destination before they do.
I felt as if I'd been drawn into a trap of someone else's construction. Zaria—I'd trusted her. Was she intending to get us killed?
Yes, Kory and I knew that much—that we could die in this. I just didn't want someone else deliberately planning my death in a situation from which there was no escape.
Lexsi, if there is any way, Zaria began.
She knew what I was thinking.
Save it, I snapped. We live or die—together.
* * *
Tungurahua
V'ili
Two High Demons who thought to growl in surprise as they passed the cave's icy entrance were introduced to—I couldn't explain it.
The cave's walls moved. Living rock peeled away from the entrance; between the two terrifying creatures that manifested, two High Demons were crushed to death as if they were nothing. They didn't have time to attempt to skip away, the attack was so sudden.
Keep moving, Morgett's voice growled in my mind. He didn't voice my concern; that we were down two soldiers in our small army.
* * *
Lexsi
We began to pass pools of water; my Thifilatha could smell it. The springs smelled fresh. Natural. I wanted a drink.
No, Zaria warned. Don't even touch the water.
An image of another unsettling inside the cave was sent to me—and then of people dying.
The waters are full of bones, Zaria informed us. Of those who succumbed to their thirst.
Good to know, Kory sent back.
Keep moving, Opal instructed. Your thirst may pass after we clear this section of the caves.
How much farther? Anita asked.
Perhaps a mile—maybe more. It depends on the mood of the library, Zaria replied.
Great. The library has moods, Kory grumped inside my head.
Kory, I'm scared, I said. Nobody told us about any of this before we started. I'm not sure we're going to Peru any longer.
I know. Just keep moving, onion. We'll either get out or we won't.
Another mile
to go—if we were lucky. If we weren't, how much farther than that would it be?
This library—what did it hold that was so important the enemy wanted it? Why were they willing to kill to get a clear path to it?
Surely it wasn't to sell—I couldn't imagine going to all this trouble for printed pages of gold or information embedded in crystal.
Information.
I chewed my lower lip. The library held information so important it could make lives of no consequence to obtain it.
But—what information could that be?
I had no idea.
The next test the cave tossed at us I was completely unprepared for.
* * *
Tungurahua
V'ili
Don't touch the water—I don't care how thirsty you are, Morgett ordered. It will kill you.
At least three High Demons blew smoke in Morgett's direction, but after the attack at the cave's entrance, they were more willing to listen.
Like I said—stupid. All of them.
I considered the levels of their stupidity until it hit me.
The waters sang a song to me—to change and swim in their depths. They sang of untold wonders if I sank into their bliss and allowed them to caress my body.
Focus! Morgett barked at me.
Tearing myself away from the visions the waters offered, I plodded behind Morgett and the High Demon he'd placed at the head of our small army.
* * *
Lexsi
I blinked and refused to walk any farther. Ahead, I saw it—the strangest sight anyone could expect inside a cave.
As if it had been planted there, waiting for Kory and me to pass.
Yes, our humanoid companions could get through it with no trouble. The sharp, crystal spikes lined the cave ahead of us, placed in such a way that the razor-like tips would scrape into our scales if we attempted to walk through them.
Can we change? Kory asked. He wanted to be smaller, just as I did, so we could pass this section intact.
No, Zaria sighed mentally. You have to allow the spikes to take your blood.
* * *
Washington, D.C.
Notes—Colonel Hunter
"Baby, we're officially at war with Peru," I sighed into my cell phone. Laci, my wife, had called to ask what our status was.
"But they're showing planes being shot down on every news network," Laci said. She was close to tears; I could hear it in her voice.
A Demon's Work Is Never Done: Latter Day Demons, Book 2 Page 24
