Cradled

by Christina Bauer

  “The good news is, we killed the phase demon.” The man tossed the head onto the floor before him.

  “The bad news is, he phased us somewhere before he died,” added the woman. Her tail perked up and tapped her shoulder. The woman looked to the arrowhead end. “What’s up, boy?”

  The tail gestured toward me and Rowan as if to say: pay attention; there’s something behind you.

  The woman slowly turned around. “Hello there,” she said. If she was shocked to be in a strange place, she didn’t show it.

  The man turned around as well. He had mismatched eyes—one blue and one brown—as well as strong bone structure. The pair of us were a study in opposites. I was thin and dark haired, while the woman was curvy with long reddish locks. The man was pale and regal looking. At the same time, Rowan may be a king, but he always looked tanned and rugged.

  The woman waved at us. “I said, hello there.”

  “Hello,” I replied. “I’m Elea and this is Rowan. Who are you?”

  “I’m Myla,” said the woman.

  The man gave us a chin-nod. “Lincoln.”

  “This may sound strange, but...” I debated how to ask the question, but decided quickly that there was no good way to pose this particular question. “Are you Changed Ones from an evil mage named Vitkor?”

  “That would be no,” said Myla.

  Rowan stepped forward. “Are you a lightning goddess, by any chance?”

  “You could call me that,” answered Myla. “Look, here’s the situation. My husband Lincoln and I, we like to hunt demons for fun.”

  “Demons?” asked Rowan. “What are they? We don’t have them in this world.”

  “So we’re in a different world,” said Lincoln calmly. “Good to know.”

  “To answer your question,” continued Myla. “Demons are evil creatures who come from Hell.”

  Now I was confused. “What is Hell?” I asked.

  Lincoln held up his hand. “Let me give it a try.”

  “Hasta la vista, muchacho,” said Myla. She certainly had a strange way of speaking. Not unpleasant, just unusual.

  “We’re from different worlds,” continued Lincoln. “In our world, there are sentient evil beings called demons.”

  “Understood,” I said dryly. “In our world, there are sentient evil beings called family.”

  Myla grinned. “I like her.”

  Lincoln didn’t all-out grin, but the edges of his mouth curled up slightly. “Glad we understand each other. So, Myla and I were hunting one of those demons, a one of a kind monster called a phase demon. It can open portals to other worlds. We killed the demon, but not before it sent us here. Now, we need a way to return home. Can you help us with that?”

  Myla raised her pointer finger. “Just to add some context, I have a toddler at home who will get spoiled rotten if we aren’t back by dinnertime.” She glanced over to Lincoln. “You know your mother will feed Maxon nothing but ice cream and snickers bars until we show up.”

  Lincoln sighed. “Without a doubt.”

  My mouth fell open. Myla and Lincoln were not only married, but they also had a child together. On reflex, my hand went back to my belly.

  I still hadn’t told Rowan I was pregnant.

  Myla tilted her head. “So, can you help us?”

  “Yes,” said Rowan. “Both Elea and I are mages. We can open a magickal gateway that will return you to your home realm. But we ask for your help in return.”

  Lincoln narrowed his mismatched eyes. “What do you need?”

  “I have a younger brother,” began Rowan. “His name is Jicho. He was just stolen away by Kronos, an evil mechanical king. I suppose you might call Kronos a demon. Jicho is also a Seer, that’s a mage who gets accurate visions of the future. Before he left, Jicho said that a lightning goddess and her consort would arrive through a circular gateway.” Rowan gestured to Myla and Lincoln. “And here you are.”

  “Jicho’s prophecy was very specific,” I added. “We need your and your fire swords in order to defeat Kronos. Once that’s done, we’ll gladly take you home.”

  “It isn’t a condition of our help,” added Rowan. “Merely a request. We won’t ask you to put your lives at risk without fully understanding what’s at stake. Kronos is a fierce enemy who’s backed by a mechanical army.”

  “Fierce, huh?” Excitement danced in Myla’s eyes. Clearly the idea of fighting a new kind of demon was interesting to her. I’d judge her choice, but I was a woman who enjoyed covering the skeletons I conjured with pink gemstones.

  “Very fierce,” answered Rowan. “Elea and I are the strongest mages in our realm, and Kronos had us defeated in minutes.”

  Myla pursed her kips. “Anything else we should know?”

  “My parents,” I replied. “They’re the sentient evil beings that I spoke about before, so they are somehow involved with Kronos. It may be that they are working together, or they could all hate each other. It’s a very confusing situation.”

  “I see.” Lincoln bowed his head slightly. “Thank you both for being honest.” He turned to Myla. “Well?”

  With that, the two shared a long look. It was another of those stares that hid a silent conversation. With every passing second, the air in the chamber seemed grow thicker. Soon it was hard to pull in a single breath. After what felt like another eternity, the pair finally shared a slow smile.

  Myla turned to me and Rowan. “Lincoln and I will help you.”

  Hope sparked in my heart. “Thank you.”

  “We have a little boy in our lives as well,” said Lincoln. “If someone ever took my Maxon…” He shuddered. “I can’t imagine your pain. We will certainly help you.”

  “Thank you,” said Rowan. “Kronos said we had until tomorrow at midnight. If we didn’t come to his dungeons by that point, he would kill Jicho.” My husband slipped his hand into the folds of his jacket and pulled out a pocket watch. It was one that Amelia had designed for him, and it was a marvel of our realm. The piece even tracked day of the week and month. “According to my watch, we have about twenty hours.”

  “We need to rescue Jicho before that happens,” I said. “So we can’t waste any time. Rowan and I will cast a portal to take us to Kronos’ realm of Quetum. Is there anything you need before you go?”

  Myla shrugged. “I’m good.”

  Lincoln nodded. “Same here.”

  Rowan turned to me. “Ready to cast?”

  My breath caught. We had less than one day to open a portal to Quetum, rescue Jicho and defeat Kronos…And let’s not forget the part about my being pregnant and still needing to tell Rowan.

  If it wasn’t Jicho’s life on the line, I’d say this was impossible. As it was, I’d say we won’t give up, no matter what. So, I steeled my resolve, straightened my spine, and looked at Rowan straight on.

  “Am I ready to cast?” I asked. “Absolutely.”

  And with that, the next stage of our adventure began. If only I could be sure it ended with all of us alive.

  Chapter Six

  A minute later, Rowan and I had cast a gateway made of sparkling blocks of amethyst. Beneath that archway, a cityscape soon came into view.

  Quetum.

  It was a city was unlike anything I’d seen before. A grim charcoal sky loomed above. Piles of gray scrap metal stretched off in every direction. The place looked more like a trash heap than anything else. In the distance, a bronze clock tower cut up from the horizon line.

  “That must be the Bezel Tower,” I said.

  Rowan’s eyes narrowed as he took in the scene. “Definitely.”

  Before opening the gateway, Rowan and I had cast a seeing skull. The enchanted head told us Jicho was indeed being kept in the tower dungeons. It then confirm that it would be a terrible idea to cast a transport spell right into those very dungeons. Kronos had loaded the place with magickal traps. The skull suggested that we land in Quetum’s labyrinth and look for a cat. We kept pressing with more questions, but the skull had no useful an
swers. In the end, we decided to open the gateway, ask for it to place us in the labyrinth and hope for the best. With a little luck, we would find a way to steal into the dungeons under the Bezel and rescue Jicho without Kronos being any the wiser.

  Myla stepped up beside me. Angling her head, she scanned the cityscape through the gateway. “Looks like the archway opened up somewhere in the sky.” She took a small step closer to the gateway’s edge. “The ground doesn’t look too far off, though. I think we can jump it.”

  I gulped. That might not look like a big jump for Myla, but I wasn’t looking forward to it.

  “We need to move quickly,” said Rowan. “The longer we stand here, the more magick it takes from me and Elea.”

  “Got it,” said Myla. Taking Lincoln’s hand in hers, they leapt out the gateway in unison. I really wanted to do that as well, so I gave myself some internal words of encouragement.

  You can bound out as well, Elea.

  Just jump.

  Go.

  Any second now.

  Leap.

  More time passed.

  I wasn’t leaping.

  Rowan stared at me with that intense gaze that I knew so well. He said two words. “Hold on.” After that, he scooped me up into his arms and raced out the gateway.

  I grabbed onto Rowan’s neck with such force, I’m surprised I didn’t snap a vertebrae or two. Pressing my forehead against my husband’s shoulder, I didn’t look up until I felt the thud of us landing on solid ground. Then I took a peek.

  What I saw amazed me.

  From the view of the gateway, it appeared as if the world of Quetum was totally flat. However, the four of seemed to have landed inside a long ravine of some kind. The walls around us were tall, metal and covered in bits of clocks. The floor was nothing but clock parts as well.

  Definitely a labyrinth, just like the seeing skull said. Perfect.

  Rowan set me on my feet. Leaning in, he spoke gently in my ear. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine.” Scanning the scene, I saw Lincoln and Myla were investigating the walls around us. “Everyone looks like they landed well, too.”

  “They did,” replied Rowan. “We seem to have landed in the labyrinth.”

  “It’s a decarinth,” said a high-pitched female voice. “And you’re going to die.”

  Now that was an ominous way to start a conversation.

  Looking up, I saw that the speaker was none other than a bronze clockwork cat. Another piece of the prediction from the seeing skull had come to pass! She had large gear-shaped eyes, metal wire whiskers, and a segmented tail.

  I tilted my head, thinking. It’s true that on our world, announcing that someone’s about to die less than friendly, but this was Quetum now. For all I knew, you’re going to die is the kindest greeting they have. I decided to act that way and hope it was the truth.

  “Hello,” I replied. “I’m Elea. And you are?”

  “Kitty. And this is Tank.”

  At the name Tank, a block of gears rose up beside her on gangly metal legs. It stood no higher than Kitty, which is to say, not more than a few feet tall. A pair of oversized eyes popped up from the top panel of the boxy creature. It waved its thin arms at us. I had a strange feeling of a power, as if the small creature were sending magick our way.

  Magick? Inside a metal box creature? That couldn’t be right.

  I reached out with my mage senses, ready to check the power signature again. The feeling was nowhere to be found. I shook my head, deciding that it must have been a figment of my imagination. After all, I just stepped through a magickal gateway to another world. My mage senses might be all kinds of misaligned.

  Speaking of the boxy creature, it stopped waving its arms. Kitty nodded at her square friend, and then turned to us once more.

  “Tank says Hello,” explained Kitty.

  “Hello, Tank,” I replied. “I’m Elea and this is Myla, Lincoln, and Rowan.”

  Myla’s tail bobbed over her shoulder in a fast rhythm. She pointed at the arrowhead end. “And this is my tail. He hates being ignored.”

  “Hello, Myla’s tail.” Kitty started licking her front paw. It should have been a smooth feline movement, but with a clockwork cat, it became more stilted.

  “So Kitty,” said Myla. “I couldn’t help but notice what you said before. Why do you think we’re all going to die?”

  Kitty didn’t miss a beat of her licking. “You’re in the Decarinth.”

  “Let me guess,” said Rowan. “That’s deca as in ten. Rinth as in labyrinth. Plus, these walls are all made up of different clocks counting down from ten to zero.” Rowan looked to Kitty. “Why not twelve?”

  Kitty sniffed. “Time is fluid here in Quetum.”

  “Is it now?” Rowan slipped his hand into the folds of his jacket and pulled out his pocket watch again. He frowned. “Ten hours have passed back in our home realm. We have twelve hours until Kronos’s deadline.” He looked to Kitty. “I don’t suppose you can translate that into Quetum time?”

  “Not possible,” said Kitty. “Time works differently here, even from one hour to the next. Life works differently too, although that stays the same. I trust I make myself clear?”

  “As mud,” said Myla.

  I stifled a smile. I was really starting to like her.

  “We have no idea how long these twelve hours will really last,” said Rowan. “So, we must work quickly.” Stepping closer to the wall, he scanned a nearby watch face. “These clocks all read eight now.”

  Lincoln folded his arms over his chest and stared at Kitty. “What happens when the clocks all reach zero?”

  Tank waved his little arms again. Kitty watched silently, then turned back to us once more. “Something different every time, but it all ends the same. Whoever is in the maze, they all end up dead.”

  Kitty’s final word echoed through my head.

  Dead, dead, dead.

  And this wasn’t just me, there was my unborn child to think about as well.

  The child I hadn’t even told Rowan about yet.

  Not to mention a dwindling countdown to save Jicho.

  What a disaster.

  “Now they read seven,” said Rowan.

  Spinning about, I scanned the clockwork walls myself. It wouldn’t be easy to climb out of here, but I could cast some more skeletal servants to help. Closing my eyes, I searched my soul. The trip to Quetum had drained me. I had enough magick remaining for a spell or two, but nothing more. I need to pull in more energy.

  Reaching out with my mage senses, I sought additional sources of Necromancer power. My consciousness spread out across many leagues. I found a few wisps of magick, but other than that, there was only empty and metallic space.

  Certainly not enough Necromancer power to recharge me fully.

  My chest tightened with worry. I rounded on Rowan. “There’s no Necromancer magick around. Can you pull in Caster magick?”

  Rowan shook his head. “I already tried. I don’t sense any here, but there’s a residue in the air. If we had some months here, we could pull enough energy to recharge ourselves fully.”

  My stomach sank to my toes. Clearly, Rowan and I had to conserve our magick to fight Kronos. But in the meantime, we were all stuck in some kind of killer labyrinth? Not good.

  Now Lincoln scanned the labyrinth walls. “They all read six,” he announced.

  I turned to Myla. “Can you summon your lightning? Cast some magick to get us out of here?”

  “Sorry, Sweetie,” Myla shook her head. “My powers are so I can move around souls in my world. I tried calling on them here when we got here. No go.”

  Kitty went back to licking her front paw. She and Tank were a little odd, but they didn’t seem nefarious. Plus, the seeing skull said they could be helpful. Perhaps they’d to aid us, especially since our magickal options were looking limited.

  Forcing a smile, I focused on the mechanical cat. “We need your help.”

  Kitty kept up her grooming. “Hel
p with what?”

  “Finding Kronos,” I replied.

  Kitty paused mid-lick. “And why do you wish to see our king?”

  “Well, uh…” I looked to Rowan. My husband was excellent at saying a lot without telling people anything, mostly thanks to his years of spy work. “How would you explain our mission here?”

  “We’re here to kill Kronos,” said Rowan. “Slowly, if possible.” His voice lowered to a rumble. “That bastard took my brother.”

  Then again, Rowan blurt out everything in fifteen words or less.

  Tank waved his arms around in a different rhythm, far more excited this time. Lowering her paw, Kitty watched him silently. Every nerve in my body went on alert. At last, the mechanical cat turned back to us. “We hate Kronos as well. We’ll help you hunt him down.”

  Myla raised her pointer finger. “Define we.”

  “The Springlets,” said Kitty. “That’s me, Tank, and all the others. Quetum was our planet before Kronos made his Oculus Warriors. That’s why we’ll help you find Kronos.”

  Tank waved his tiny arms again. Once more Kitty translated. “Oh, and Tank says we’ll help you kill him, too.”

  Lincoln raised his hand. “Down to five.”

  “Then we better move quickly.” In a series of leaps, Kitty scaled down the wall to join us at the bottom of the maze. My brows lifted. The edges on the walls were miniscule. Kitty may be a mechanical cat, but she certainly moved like the real thing.

  “Kronos rules from the Bezel Tower,” announced Kitty. She started stalking along the floor, her joints clicking softly as she stepped along. “Our so called king rarely leaves his tower—and it’s the only structure around with a dungeon—so that’s definitely where your Jicho is being held.”

  “We may have gotten some magickal advice along those lines as well,” I said. It was good that Kitty’s advice aligned with the seer skull I cast before. It meant it was more likely that we coud trust her and Tank.