by G. K. Lund
“Shut up!” I snarled at him, feeling like I was twelve again, and then did what a twelve-year-old me would do. I didn’t use any weapons, I used my knee.
“Ooof!” the man gasped, dropped my wallet, and sank down on his own knees, his hands on his crotch.
“What kind of god forgets to watch out for knees?” I asked and picked up my wallet and driver’s license. “Oh, I know. An ex-god.” There were plenty of them in Atlantis, I knew that. The city was a melting pot of all kinds of people and creatures, including the gods of old.
“Come on, Chastity.” The man looked like he was about to throw up. “That’s no way to get familiar with any man’s equipment.”
“You’re joking? Now? Well, that is as acquainted as I’ll ever be with your… equipment. Why are you here anyway?”
“I’m going home too. I need a place where a portal can open, though.”
That stopped me short. I’d been about to turn around and pick up my own backpack to leave. Could this guy open a portal too?
“Do you need—”
“A human sacrifice? No.”
So, he’d been paying attention to us for a while before he’d intervened.
“Bet you’re regretting treating my crown jewels so harshly now, huh?” he said and managed a grin when he got up again. No matter how much he pretended to look like the pain had eased, his skin was a few shades paler than before.
“Maybe. But then you used the term crown jewels and I’ve decided to stand by my actions.”
That made him laugh. So, this guy was not prone to short temper and pettiness. That was actually a good sign.
“What’s your name then?” I asked him.
“Well, if you refuse to call me Mister, you must use Loki.”
I eyed him a moment. I’d heard the name, but not an abundance of information. Something in school as a girl, maybe. All I knew was that trust was not something to associate with this guy. Still…
“Can you open up a portal home?” The temptation was bigger and more pressing than whether he was a pillar of society.
“Of course.”
“And you’ll let me pass?”
“Why not?”
“No. Why?”
“I don’t much care for the rules of the Guardians.”
“Yeah. I suppose you wouldn’t.” They had strict rules. There was no free traffic through the Veil to Atlantis. No one could come and go as they pleased. Not even gods, ex or not.
Loki turned toward the protruding bedrock that was exposed. It rose about eight feet above the ground. Then he looked down for a moment and swallowed hard. “Damn it Chastity, your knee is not a friendly one.”
“It’s less in attack mode when people call me by my preferred name; Emery.”
He eyed me a moment and then straightened up. “Fine. Well, Emery. If you want to go home, you’d better get your belongings.” He closed his eyes for a moment and seemed to be listening for something while he raised his hands. “It’s there all right.” He turned and sent the green flames to devour the three bodies. They burned to ashes in a matter of a minute. No one would stumble upon the corpses, and the wind would take care of the ashes. I swallowed hard at the sight and steeled myself. I grabbed my backpack and turned just in time to see Loki conjure up the Shimmer. The actual Shimmer. Not the weak light that had hovered above the altar. This was silver and green with faint sparkles that shimmered in front of the bedrock. It was a film of light, a fracture in the Veil between realms, and I felt a lump in my throat at the sight. I’d dreamed about this for the last two years, and now it was here.
With no hesitation, I followed Loki when he led the way across the grass and straight for the magical portal. As I reached out a hand and felt the cold shimmering light on my skin, I had to hold back tears. I was going home to Atlantis.
Finally.
Chapter Two
The light of the Shimmer was bright, affecting my eyes even for the millisecond I was inside it. I saw spots in front of my eyes when I stepped through on the other side because there was darkness where I now was. For a moment I stood still in absolute silence. I heard nothing but the quiet movements of Loki. He had stopped to take in our surroundings. We were in the mines; I knew that much. Not inside them, though. The mines of Atlantis stretched around the city on two sides. The cave openings had been dug out over the millennia and could be seen everywhere. The thing about the mines was that the Shimmer also seemed to have the most access points there, just like the one we’d used.
I stepped forward, walking to the edge of the pathway that led past several entrances. Every pathway was covered by an overhang, the pathway of the level above, really, and the workers had carved out the walls too, giving them daylight and fresh air up there.
“Well,” Loki said and hefted his backpack. I could hear the bottles clinking in there. “This was fun, but I’m leaving. Nice… well, painful to meet you.” Then he was gone.
I barely registered his footfalls when he vanished. I cared about nothing but what I saw in front of me as I reached the edge and the full view of Atlantis spread out before me.
Forget what you remember from the legends. This grand city may have rested in an ocean once, but not here. Here it was the opposite since the city was surrounded by a barren landscape. It was dark outside, which was quite common in a realm with only six to eight hours of sunlight depending on the season, but the lights from the buildings down there showed the city in its glory.
It was exactly like I remembered it. The grand stepped pyramid at its core rose like a looming giant above the rest of the buildings. No one knew how big it really was, because every time someone tried measuring it, the result was never the same. Some thought the monstrous construction was halfway alive, expanding and detracting like a breathing thing and therefore never giving the same numbers. I didn’t believe that, but even I had to draw breath at the magnificent sight. It could be seen from everywhere in the city, from the richest houses near it to the most humble shack on the outskirts of the city. No one knew why, or exactly when, but once, before man’s memory, it had come here, the pyramid and what had made up the city then. Atlantis now rested between the walls of a canyon, or like many speculated, it had created the canyon. The landscape was a desert, as far removed from the cool and blue ocean it had supposedly rested in once. I could feel the heat on my skin despite the dark. I suddenly had little need for the fleece-lined jacket I’d been wearing before stepping through the Shimmer.
The city seemed so peaceful from up here, the lights and the general hum of people going about their day, like an old friend. I had missed this place so much. So I let my sentimentality get the better of me. When I heard boots hitting the ground and the clinking of armor and weapons, it was too late.
I stepped back and turned, looking desperately from side to side. Where were they coming from? Left? Or right?
I briefly considered running into the cave opening right in front of me but disregarded that notion. If they followed me in there, they would surely find me. That couldn’t happen. I had come here without permission. I hadn’t flagged them the moment I did, as was the custom. I didn’t want to. I only wanted to ease back into my old life. No, that wasn’t right. I couldn’t do that. I had to start a new one, but that would not happen if I was caught here.
Panic gripped me.
I moved over to a nearby column, carved from the hill itself, and tried looking. I could hear them now. They weren’t even attempting to stay quiet.
“—light up here, sir,” one of them shouted.
Then I saw them. A group of five soldiers jogging toward me from my left. Guardians. Soldiers who protected Atlantis from the perils of the Veil. Soldiers whose duty it was to stop people like me just coming here willy-nilly. There was a history of invading armies, of course, but that required an insane amount of magic, of which I had none. Of course, spies were also known to come through and the Guardians needed to stop such a person, not that they knew I wasn’t one.
&
nbsp; I quickly glanced to my right, figured the coast was clear that way and legged it. Unfortunately for me, the guards were trained to spot unusual movements around the mines even in darkness. It took about a second before one of them shouted my whereabouts to the others.
I sped up then and ran blindly along the passageway. There was the odd oil lamp lighting some of the way but keeping them lit likely required too much work and so I had to slow down certain places not to fall, and in the worst case, tumble over the edge. I’d probably have time to die of shock before I hit the ground down there then. The walls containing the mine entrances were steep, ninety-degree cliffs.
My feet hit the ground as fast as I could run, and I hefted my backpack so it wouldn’t slow me down. I had valuables that I needed in it and couldn’t throw it away for the Guardians to find. My jacket became way too warm because of the intense movements, but I didn’t dare take it off. I didn’t have the time.
“There!” someone shouted behind me.
I ran on, down narrow steps to the level below.
“She ran down here!”
Great. Now they were close enough to spot I was a she. The level below was dark, more of the same. I heard distant shouting. More Guardians had been alerted. My pulse sped up even more as panic tried overtaking me for a moment. I pushed it back and kept a steady, quick pace. I couldn’t let other threats bother me now. I’d deal with them when the time came. First thing on the agenda? Lose these guys.
I wished life could be that simple.
“Here! Down here!”
More of them were shouting now. I could hear their steps coming closer. My mind played tricks on me, thinking they would reach out any second and grab me. My breath came out jagged and I held the straps of my backpack so hard my hand hurt, the other moving back and forth in the rhythm of my pace.
I fled down another flight of stairs, found myself in complete darkness, and at the spur of the moment, made a snap decision. There was some woodwork under the stairs, used to support the thing. I swung myself up along this framework and climbed fast and with desperate movements until I pressed up under the stairs. When the Guardians came, a moment later, I could feel the vibrations of their combined weight pressing down against me. The stairs shook at the abuse and I had to hold my breath not to sneeze because of all the uprooted dust.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
I jerked sideways and almost fell. I grabbed hold and stayed put, halfway keeling over, fighting the strain in my muscles while the Guardians ran past under us. They’d taken a left at the stairs, thinking that was where I’d gone. I held my breath until I dared look sideways.
“Who are you?” I whispered.
“I’d like to think I made more of an impression than that.”
“Loki?”
“None other.”
I huffed in exasperation and pulled myself up again. Without a word, we both climbed down. It wouldn’t be long before the guards realized they were not following anyone. Then they’d retrace.
“Didn’t think you had it in you, to elude them for so long,” Loki volunteered.
Asshole.
I ignored him and ran over to the edge. It was difficult seeing properly below. The city shone like a starlit sky down there. It was still far too long a drop to survive.
Another kind of light flashed.
Shit! I’d been caught.
I whirled around and saw no one. Loki had gone too, quiet as a freaking cat. The light was still there, though. Behind me. I drew a dagger when I turned again. The light was still behind me. It didn’t help to turn one more time. The light remained behind me.
“There she is!” a voice yelled.
I realized what it was then. I tried reaching back for the small orb of light that was surely there, fastened to my jacket or backpack.
“God damned a-hole!” I snarled, realizing Loki had done this with his now likely diminished magic.
“Here, boys. She’s here.”
The voice of the Guardian was too close. I cast a glance over my shoulder and saw the form of one of them approach. There was no choice then. I would not spend any time in a cold prison cell, or worse, be banished again.
I climbed up on the barrier and lowered myself.
“She’s jumping!” the soldier yelled.
I was so not jumping. Falling? Probably. I was attempting something else though, and I had no time to think. Which was likely just as well. The fall to the city below would be the equivalent of falling from a skyscraper.
I lowered myself until I was hanging from my hands.
Don’t look down.
I breathed carefully and began swinging my legs like a pendulum, back and forth, back and forth. My entire body became part of the motion.
“Take my hand!” the shadowed face of the Guardian yelled at me when his head and shoulders popped over the edge above me.
Noo, was the only thought in my head. I let go when my body was angled inward. It happened too fast, though. I hit the gangway, thankfully, but I also hit the barrier down there. I cried out in pain and fear when a moment’s disillusionment hit me. I didn’t know which side of the barrier I was on.
There was no surge from free-falling, though. I gasped for air a moment. My right shoulder and arm hurt, but I was safe. Well, safe-ish. I forced myself to my feet. There was still shouting above. That Guardian had seen me land on the level below. They wouldn’t risk doing the same, though. I wasn’t sure I would again either. And I was thankful for the lack of clarity the dark had given. I was not thankful for Loki using me as bait. Hell, that was likely the reason he’d taken me with him through the Shimmer. He’d banked on them seeing the Veil open and then pin it on me while he got away scot-free. There truly was no such thing as a little kindness from strangers.
I yanked the backpack off. I didn’t have time for this, but I could not get away with a beacon of light on me signaling my every move. I used one of my daggers and cut straight through the tiny orb of golden-green light, and it vanished in a puff of smoke. That was the neat thing about them, they could nullify magic. Of course, that messed with my night vision again. Having lived in Atlantis, my night vision was better than most Earthsiders’, but that wouldn’t help me now. I ran into the darkness anyway. I had little choice.
And besides, it was a long stretch of the pathway in front of me. The nearest light source was far ahead, signaling a set of stairs. Hopefully, the dots of light in front of my eyes would lessen by then.
I slung the backpack back on and ran toward the stairs. They would lead me down to another level, and then another, and so on. It would take time, but I was resilient in my goal to reach the lower levels and the city. My home. There was nothing to it—
“Hey! Ouch!” cried the ex-god when our shoulders slammed together. I fell sideways and crashed to the ground; the hard, rocky ground. I cried out in surprise more than pain. I slammed my hands flat on the cool surface and looked around. I could hear voices and something…I glanced sideways and saw Loki halfway down and using his arm to stay up.
“Where the hell did you come from?” I yelled at him despite the sound of my followers.
“I could ask the same thing of you, but I—” he stopped and seemed to be listening for something. “Oh, got to go.” He scrambled to his feet and then ran the way I’d come. It took me a second to realize he was running straight for my followers. I shook my head to get it level and got up. That was not my problem.
I didn’t get far. It was so dark, and even with the spots disappearing from my vision, it was so hard to see.
The Guardians chasing Loki were not verbal like the ones that had been following me. I almost crashed into one of them like I had Loki. The first collision with Loki had warned my brain to watch for even the slightest movements though, so when the bulky guard appeared, I swung around him. Easy-peasy. Problem was, he wasn’t alone. I ducked a waving arm and tripped another guard in a fluent motion.
“Hey, what the—?”
Just two more. I needed to pass them. Quickly and with no fuss. They’d need a second to regroup and turn. A second was all I needed.
The last Guardian of the group reacted to the abnormal movements of his comrades. I felt arms as thick as logs and hard as iron lock around my waist, lifting me and then slamming me to the ground.
I landed on my side, cried out in pain, and felt the pang of agony all over. Voices shouted around me, feet scuttled about while they all regrouped and turned, my precious second gone.
“No,” I gasped. I felt hands reach for me and pull me up. I briefly considered using my daggers, but I knew I couldn’t. The Guardians were free to kill if threatened in such a way.
“It’s a woman,” one of the Guardians said, his voice grating and too close. “Weren’t we following a man?”
“Doesn’t matter,” another one answered. “We have her now. That was the last bit of freedom you had, missy,” he added to me.
Didn’t I know it?
Chapter Three
“Aamphh!” I managed while being unceremoniously dumped on the ground down on city level. My hands were tied behind my back, which made it difficult to brace myself, hence my clumsy fall. The Guardians had taken my daggers, backpack, and anything in my pockets. A few strands of my hair had come loose from the chignon, and I blew them away, irritation making me huff with anger at the guards at the same time.
I was barely conscious of them talking and shouting among themselves. Now that I was caught, I found I cared little for them.
When another person was given the same treatment and landed in a heap beside me, I awoke from my stupor.
“Serves you right,” I said in my most scathing tone of voice, reveling in the momentary satisfaction of schadenfreude.
“Ugh, you,” Loki said. He winced in pain at his most recent meeting with the cobblestones. Like me, he was bound, and lacking his sword, backpack, and likely other things. I glanced up then and saw, in the added lights down in the city, the tiny medallion the Guardians all carried about their necks. It was said they protected them against magic. If Loki had been caught, his magic was included in that.
