by Eric Vall
“Now comes the hard part,” I mused as I put the crystal back at my side.
Gawain had already walked ahead of me while he fiddled with the setting on his gun. “If we can manage not to draw any attention to ourselves, it will be nothing short of a miracle. Monsters can sense magic, you know. They’re drawn to it.”
“Well, if we’re quick about it, we don’t have to worry about it, now do we?” I tossed back at him. For that moment, I was happy to have the playful banter back between us, even if it wouldn’t last for long. It usually never did.
I smashed the kalgori crystal to the ground and commanded it to multiply around me. Now that I’d gotten used to summoning them, I found it was easier to control how many they divided into, and I was able to keep better track of the mass of them easier. There was something to be said about practice makes perfect. Having so many of them around didn’t feel like they even put a dent in my mana. Before, they would have worn me out after only a few minutes. Now, I felt mighty. I felt like I was in complete control even with divided attention.
“Go,” I whispered to them, and they shot out past Gawain and locked onto their first target. Before the troll could even get out a single cry for help, it was gone, There was nothing but the bones left of it, and I took an odd sense of pride knowing it was the power of my carnivorous butterflies that did that.
They moved onto the next of the trolls, and Gawain finally finished playing with the settings on his gun. He lifted it but hesitated, then dropped it again, and it was with that same pride that I realized he wasn’t needed for this fight. The kalgori did all of the work while I silently commanded them, and we marched across the sand like we were kings of this realm and nothing could touch us.
Of course, that wasn’t true, as we’d gone out of our way to avoid being detected by anything that could potentially make a snack out of us, but I was fine to bask in that small amount of glory, for when we came up to the hole in the wall and I recalled my kalgori, there was nothing but death and devastation in their wake.
“And here we are.” I gestured to the long hallway as though I were showing off something new and shiny I’d purchased. “Is it everything you’d dreamed it would be?”
Gawain rolled his eyes, but I could see the hint of amusement in them this time. He moved from my side and meandered toward the unmovable door. He glanced over it for a moment before he turned his gaze onto me again.
“This is the door?” he asked.
I hummed and nodded as I propped myself against the wall next to it. “Sure is. Good luck getting it open, though. The damn thing wouldn’t budge, and Orenn is a pretty big … ”
I trailed off and my jaw went slack as Gawain, with only a minimum amount of effort, pushed the door open with a slow, quiet creak. The symbols on the door glowed an eerie blue color I was all too familiar with.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and Gawain seemed to get the same impression I had gotten. His gut feeling wasn’t a gut feeling. Rather, he’d been shown where to go. We were lead right into the angel’s trap, and now there was no turning back. I took a breath and steeled myself. Trap or not, it didn’t matter.
We were going to fight that angel, and we would save Nia in the process.
Chapter 16
As Gawain continued to push the door open, a chill crept out from between the cracks that sent a shiver racing down my spine. I swallowed a lump in my throat and instinctively put my hand over my crystals. If something was going to jump out from behind those doors, I wasn’t going to be caught with my guard down.
When the space between them was wide enough for Gawain and me to slip through, he stopped. He looked over his shoulder at me again, and I noticed his skin had visibly blanched. A sheen of sweat glistened on his brow, and I nodded in understanding. If the angel really had led us here through him, then I would be just as terrified as he was. Was he being manipulated? Were there any signs that I just ignored?
I shook my head. Now wasn’t the time to question Gawain, not when we had other problems that lay in wait, not when Nia’s life was at stake.
“Come on, Madox.” I clapped him on the shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “We’re gonna save Nia and get out of here.”
“What if … ?” He trailed off and looked uncertain of himself. His fists were clenched at his sides, and he forced himself to keep his eyes on me. I could tell he was afraid because of that.
“Whatever happens, no hard feelings,” I told him.
I wasn’t quite sure what I’d meant by that, but it seemed to ease his mind a little. His shoulders slumped, and he took a deep breath before he nodded. Whether he was ready to face whatever was inside or not, only he knew, but he straightened his spine and took his gun out of his holster all the same. I knew Gawain wasn’t going to go down without a fight.
I walked past him and slipped into the darkness on the other side of the door. I heard Gawain’s footsteps behind me as we walked down what seemed to be another hallway. It was pitch black at first, but the further we walked, I was able to see sconces on the walls that were alight with a purplish blue flame. The light it gave off was eerie, and it reminded me of the light outside that had given me a headache before.
Along each side of the wall were two sets of doors. As I came up to each door, I tried the iron handles. I pushed and pulled, but there was no moving them. I even let Gawain have a crack at them, but he didn’t have any luck either. It wasn’t until I tried the last one on the left that I noticed this one had a window.
Curious, I stepped up to it. Gawain stepped up beside me to also take a gander at whatever was within. It was dark in there, much like the rest of the hallway, and I sensed a dark theme going on within these walls. What little light there was didn’t illuminate much, but what it did show shook me to my core.
On the floor, beside what looked to be a cot of sorts, was a skeleton with a red cloak. Shackles, now loose on the bones without the flesh to hold them taut, were clasped around its wrists. It looked at me from where it was perched, as though it had been watching the door while it died waiting for someone to come and save them.
My stomach dropped.
“I-is that--?” Gawain stammered.
“No,” I cut him off before he could finish his sentence.
I wondered if that was the only cell on this hallway or in the palace at all. Is that where the other doors led to? I wanted to explore, but more importantly, I wanted to find Nia and get her out of here before she ended up in the same predicament as the poor soul who had made it this far.
I stormed off with renewed vigor and determination, and Gawain fell in stride beside me. I couldn’t even begin to fathom what else was in this place. According to Gawain, it was huge which meant there could be tons more hallways like this with prisoners in each one. Surely, this place was important once in the Shadowscape. No one built a palace in the realm of monsters for no reason. Even monsters, well, some of them, weren’t that dense.
I had a thousand questions but no definitive answers, and it started to drive me mad.
“Gryff?” Gawain whispered, and it was only then I noticed he had stopped some six feet ago.
I stopped and turned to face him.
“What’s up?” I asked, but he didn’t answer. Instead, he held his finger up to his mouth to shush me. He took a few steps forward, then paced back, then forward again.
“I’m going to light a fire so we can see better,” he whispered. “Stand back.”
“Good idea.” I could barely make out his face in the dim light, but I could tell he was working through something. He repeated the motion a few more times, and I grew impatient.
Suddenly, a fireball appeared in his hand, and I heard the snap of fingers as he hurdled it toward me. I barely had enough room to duck, and I yelled as I leapt back up.
“Really?” I whirled on him with widened eyes. “I’m standing six feet away from you.”
“You fail to realize how awesomely powerful I am.” Gawain rol
led his eyes and stepped closer to me.
“Oh, please.” I had half a mind to push him away and deck him so hard he’d be seeing stars for the next week, but he was just a tad quicker. He grabbed my shoulders and whirled me around to face forward again.
We were no longer in the hallway. Instead, we had been dumped out into a large room with chandeliers that sparkled in the light of Gawain’s fire. It looked to be a ballroom of sorts, not that I’d ever been in one, but I’d heard enough stories from travelers.
At the very back of the room was a stage that looked more like an altar. Candles made of crystal lined the stairs, and they shimmered off what could only be described as a giant birdcage in the middle of it. Something was inside of the cage, but I couldn’t make out what it was.
“How did you know?” I asked Gawain as he dropped his hands from my shoulders.
“The echo of our steps stopped,” he replied. “The sound was able to disperse to a wider area, so there was less reverberation.”
I gawked at him. “That’s… actually impressive.”
“Yes, well, I like to think I’m better at you at some things from time to time,” Gawain smirked and stepped past me.
“In your dreams,” I tossed back with an amused snort, and I followed beside him again. “Did you know about the chandeliers, too?”
Gawain shook his head. “Of course not. I couldn’t see a bloody thing.”
“You little rat … ” I punched his arm, not too lightly but not hard enough to really mean it either.
The jovial jokes came to a halt rather quickly as we continued through the room. There really wasn’t much to look at. The walls were bare and cold, and the room’s only light came from above and at the back of the room. Another shiver raced down my spine, and I thought my bones might freeze with how frigid the air was. I needed that spell Arwyn had cast on Layla, Braden, and me after Nia’s round of the Magicae Nito to keep me warm right about now, but I hadn’t learned any enchantments yet.
As my pace slowed, Gawain must have taken notice. He conjured another fireball in his palm and murmured some spell before he held his hand out in front of me.
“Take it,” he told me. “It won’t burn.”
I did, and I immediately felt warmer. It wasn’t a cure-all, but it was enough to take the bite from the shaking.
“Where’d you learn that?” I asked with a grateful smile.
“I taught it to myself while I was training,” Gawain explained. “It’s advisable to be prepared for any kind of climate when dealing with monsters across the world.”
I laughed, though it came out harsher than I intended thanks to my shivering. “Aren’t you the studious one?”
Gawain snorted as we kept walking further into the room. It seemed like it went on forever. Were we even making any progress anymore? I looked around and saw the same blank spaces and dangling crystals we’d seen at the beginning of our walk, but the entrance to the hallway seemed just as far away as the altar did.
“Something isn’t right here,” I murmured cautiously, and I placed my free hand over my arsenal of crystals.
Gawain stopped and gritted his teeth as he stared at the altar with narrowed, furious eyes. When I looked back, I saw why. A little girl, clad in a simple white dress with long black hair and skin so pale it was almost blue, stood at the top. I could see her malicious grin from where we stood, and goosebumps pricked my skin as the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight.
“It’s her,” he whispered before he scratched at his back, as though it were a reminder of what she had done to him.
“How delightful you’ve made it this far,” the angelic girl praised us. “Congratulations, my little toys.”
I growled angrily. I wasn’t here to play her games. I just wanted to grab Nia and get home so we could figure out a better plan of attack and do some more research before we jumped into anything. I’d always been the kind of guy who flew by the seat of his pants, and sometimes, that was necessary, but I had a feeling this battle was more than what was on the surface. There were layers upon layers of lore and information just waiting to be uncovered that built a much larger picture than what we could currently see.
This angel was only another piece of the puzzle.
“Where is Nia?” I howled. “I know you’re the one who is responsible for her going missing!”
“Based on what?” the angel girl giggled. “You just want me to be responsible so you have another reason to destroy me.”
“I have more than enough reasons as it is,” I replied, and I took several steps forward. The room didn’t seem to stretch the way it had before, and now I was almost across the room.
At my sudden approach, the girl vanished before my eyes. In her place was the birdcage I’d seen from the other side of the room near the hallway. Within the cage was a girl with long, ashen hair and beautiful blue eyes that welled up with tears.
“Nia!” I yelled and rushed to her, but before I could reach the cage, I was thrown backwards from the altar by some invisible force.
What in the blazes was that?
I stood, shook it off, and tried again to reach her, but I was again pushed back. I put my hand up and pressed against what seemed to be an invisible magic barrier. I pushed and punched it with all my might, but it didn’t seem to budge.
I frowned and stared as Nia watched with a look of horror in her eyes. Dried blood crusted on her forehead and some fresher blood was wet on her arms. The angel had done a number on her.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
Nia’s response was muffled through the barrier, but I clearly heard her as she nodded. “Help me, Gryff!”
“I’m gonna get you out, Nia. Just stay calm,” I tried to reassure her, though I doubted in a situation as dire as this it had much effect.
The little girl reappeared behind me right as I heard Gawain’s footsteps approach, and I whirled around just in time to see her reach out and touch Gawain’s cheek.
“You came back,” she cooed as she trailed a finger along his jaw. “You must have missed me.”
“Don’t touch me!” Gawain tried to sound defiant, but there was a definite tremor in his voice that did away with any of the bravado he had intended to put into his words.
The little girl outright laughed and put her lips close to the shell of Gawain’s ear. “Poor disgusting creature, so unloved, so useless … ”
“Gawain, don’t listen to her!” I yelled over her and dove between them. I pulled out my rhin dagger and slashed it through her chest, but she fazed through the glowing blade and disappeared with a maniacal giggle.
Gawain’s face was struck with fear, and I looked all around for the little girl, but she was nowhere to be seen despite being able to hear her laughter ringing in my ears.
“The girl you love doesn’t even notice you’re here,” the angel whispered to the room with another giggle.
This time, I heard the hitch in Gawain’s breath, as though he were stifling back a wave of emotion that she was trying to draw out of him.
I turned to face him and frowned when I saw the unshed tears well up in his eyes. The angel’s words had really gotten to him.
“I know you can be great, though,” she continued to tell him. “I know how powerful you truly are.”
“Gawain, look at me!” I gripped his shoulders and shook him wildly, but I still couldn’t get through to him.
“I-I-I…” He was dazed and caught in a trance, it seemed.
“You’re better than this,” I pushed on. I wasn’t going to give up on him. “You’re one of the strongest mages of our age, and you don’t need this little witch to be validated.”
Gawain’s eyes seemed to snap open despite never having closed them, and his gaze darted to Nia. I looked behind me to see she was staring at me with a pleading look in her eyes. I had to do something. I needed to get the angel away from Gawain. I needed to distract her.
“Who are you anyway?” I asked, and I hoped I sounded noncha
lant. “I mean, we know you’re actually this badass angel monster that can control other monsters and make them stronger, but who are you, really?”
The little girl stopped when she realized I was aiming my conversation at her, and she looked me up and down. “What does it matter to you?” she sneered.
“A pretty little girl like you must get lonely here in the Shadowscape,” I added. I couldn’t believe I was attempting to flirt with the enemy to get information from her and distract her in order to save the day.
“I-I have company!” she argued. “My monsters are my friends!”
“So you’re a summoner?” I asked with an arched eyebrow.
“I am not,” she told me in a fluster, though I wasn’t entirely convinced of that. I let it go, though, and tried a different approach.
“Okay, then can you tell me your name?” I went with something simple, something I could build off of.
The angel blinked and then hung her head as if she had to think about it for a moment. When she finally looked at me again, another harsh shiver raced down my spine. Her eyes went from bright and playful to red and sinister, and she teleported the few feet between Gawain and me before her hand was around my neck.
“Gryff!” Nia shouted, and I gasped as the angel’s fingers closed around my neck.
“You understand nothing, you wretched human. Nothing!” she shouted at me, and I could feel the nails on her fingers grow and press harshly into my skin.
I hissed, and I felt the blood trickle down the side of my neck as she leaned closer to me.
“Fine, I’ll tell you, but only because you’ll be dead before you can tell a single soul,” she replied. “My name is Phi.”
“ … Phi,” I repeated at length and then persisted. “Why are you doing this?”
“You aren’t in any position to be questioning me any further,” she suddenly yelled at me. She tossed me to the ground with a look of utter disgust then stormed past me and through the magical barrier with ease. “Here’s the deal, summoner. If you want to save this girl, then you need to leave someone else behind.”
