by J E Mueller
I didn’t know the details but knew Mare wouldn’t be helpless. There was that whole other alliance, Negza, that would help her. “Exactly. She’s got this.”
Estella nodded and moved to let me through.
How long had it been since I had seen everyone? I couldn’t keep time right anymore.
As I made my way over to the sofas in the middle of the room I could see Mare asleep on the far sofa. Benz and Gretta were closer, facing away from me until they heard my footsteps.
Benz stood up, surprised, while Gretta stayed put, mouth agape.
“Hi?” I gave a faint wave.
“Where the heck have you been?” Benz moved to meet me and engulfed me in a hug.
I awkwardly returned the affection, surprised by the hug. “Um, well sort of dead for a bit, and to make a long story short, it took time to recover.”
He let go of me and just gave a small laugh. “You got lucky is what happened.”
“I really don’t know if being stuck here is lucky,” I joked before shaking my head and looking back at Mare. “How’s she doing?”
“Recovering.” Benz glanced down at my gauntleted hand. “Marella said she needed that.”
“I needed it to help relearn some things. I suppose I’m mostly caught up now. Except on what exactly happened to Mare.”
“Canton tried to kill her, but with the combination of the tiara that brings extended luck and the healing gauntlet she made it through just fine.” Benz shrugged. “Really great we had found the gauntlet just as everything went on.”
“How did you know what it was for?” I asked, surprised.
“I didn’t until I reached her side.” Benz shook his head. “Luck, luck, and more luck. Even better was that polycoy, Midge, that Marella sent with us. The thing ripped Canton limb from limb.”
I never thought I would nod approvingly at someone’s death, and here I was, nodding away. “Well, that settles that.” It was thrilling to hear it confirmed.
“Indeed. Mare managed to hear that Canton said Clove sent him so we’ve been keeping her away from anyone known to be on Clove’s side.”
Now that made sense.
“Marella is going to suggest separating people from Clove. Anyone that is pro-Creator should be moved up here. I’m sure she’ll have a fairly detailed plan when someone gets there,” I replied, trying to think of a way to bring up my own mission.
Sure my sister was safe, but for how long? The outside was exceedingly dangerous.
“We can go get details while Mare’s resting,” Gretta finally spoke up.
I shook my head. “I think that’ll be a good thing for Mare to do. I’m sure she’ll love a little vengeance.”
“I’m surprised you don’t want to keep her from danger.” Benz gave me a confused look.
“While I do, I actually need your help.” I said, moving to sit on the armrest of the sofa.
“Okay, spill.” Benz crossed his arms, ready for whatever was to come next.
I shrugged, not exactly sure how to start it. “I don’t know how or why but someone associated with the Creators lives in the realm we’re from.”
“Kegan.” Benz nodded. “Don’t think I haven’t asked several details about all possible Creators to rescue.”
Well, at least someone was updated. “Exactly. Somehow, she reported in that those angel and demon things brought my sister here.”
“Aw fuck.” Benz shook his head.
“Seriously, the fuck?” Gretta echoed.
I nodded. It was a disgusting ploy to try and manipulate someone. “Whatever their game, Marella was able to give me her location. She’s safe for now, but with the Watch.”
“And the quickest way is through spider tunnel which Mare is not going to handle at all,” Benz summed up. “Fine, I’m with you.”
“Thank you. I’d do it myself if I thought I could get past them all,” I admitted.
Gretta shook her head. “I don’t know if two is even enough for that.”
“Maybe not.” Benz considered it for a moment. “Maybe if we get a larger team to make a hole, cause a distraction we can slip by. They are mostly centered in that part of the basement, the tunnel is actually a fairly clear path.”
“Kip can do that easy with his fire, and Consta has her explosions,” Gretta suggested. “You will need more than that. I don’t think my spikes will help long term, but I’m down for a distraction run.”
“Can you find a few others willing to play that game?” Benz asked her.
“On it.” Gretta stood up and stretched. “I think I know a few who would love to play and maybe even start putting feelers out there for team Creator.”
“Perfect.” Benz smiled as she headed out. As soon as she was out of sight he frowned. “What’s going on exactly now? How can these things just bring someone here?”
I mirrored his frown. “Truthfully it’s a complicated mess, and one Marella understands all too well. To start, she’s one of the demons.”
Benz gave a slight nod. “I’ve heard as much but it’s not like anyone elaborates on that fact.”
“Long story short, she knew the balance was important and that her kind shouldn’t be simply allowed to destroy world after world after realm. So, she helped to trap and seal them to maintain the balance,” I summed up as best as I could.
It felt like more could be said but for now I continued on. “Marella could always hear their cries while being trapped and assumed it was her connection to them so she never noticed the difference of them calling out while trapped and while slowly breaking free. The demons and angels have grasped some magic, slowly over who knows how long.” I paused, considering how best to continue while Benz frowned at me.
Still, I pressed on. “The more of us they are able to influence, the more magic they are able to tap into. Bringing someone body and soul here would be impossible, but since it’s just a soul, they have the magic to snatch on to them through their dreams, and hold them here indefinitely.”
“Because that’s not messed up at all,” Benz scoffed.
“Agreed. They aren’t afraid to fight dirty at all, and I’m sure being trapped for ages has removed all the stops,” I felt a range of emotions from disgusted to upset by all the facts, but there was no changing the truth.
Benz sighed and stretched out on the sofa. For a moment he thought about it all. “So, she was pulled here through her dreams… I wonder if that means some of us being regular Dreamers were here because of them. Those creatures slowly pulling us back to try and build a web around us.”
I adjusted how I was sitting, unsure what to say. “Sadly, that does sound possible. However, it doesn’t seem to have worked.”
“On you.” Benz looked away from me. “Worked on me, even for just a bit. Worked great on Clove… They may have a wider web than we can handle. How much can the dead truly handle?”
The minutes ticked by.
There was nothing I could positively add to it.
Benz finally spoke again. “We need to get to the Watch to find your sister. Then what? She might be better off with them. I know it’s hard to believe that, but Asher has a great team out there. He isn’t going to just let something happen to her.”
I sighed, “That’s not enough for me. I believe you when you say that but anything can happen and if those creatures, those angels and demons, still have a hold on someone like Clove, they may order her to get my sister. I don’t want her being used against me and I doubt Asher knows what’s going on in this house of horrors.”
Benz gave a reluctant nod. “Then let’s get going.” He stood up and froze, his eyes on the door.
I turned and slowly got up as I saw the Agmon in the doorway and no Estella in sight. Where did she go?
The creature let out a blood-curdling scream as it started to run toward me, thankfully to be stopped a moment later by Estella appearing out of nowhere in front of it.
Estella reached up and in one quick motion ripped its face off. The tearing sound c
aused me to turn away and I noticed Benz covering his ears. A few more sounds of wet flesh ripping and then a loud thump on the floor echoed through the room. Carefully turning back around, I sighed and looked upward.
“Thank you Estella…” I honestly meant it too.
“Of course,” she said from across the room. “The energies are always so much better when they’re fresh.”
I did not know what she meant by that. I did not want to know what she meant by that.
“I think that’s our cue to go.” I sighed, wondering how I could navigate getting out without seeing what she was doing.
Benz carefully turned around and nodded. “Oh good, it vanished quickly.” Happy with the fact, he led the way out of the library, and away from the murderous spirit we were lucky to have on our side.
Chapter 25
No part of me wanted to go into the basement, but I was grateful to have a good distraction team on board with me. Gretta and Kip stood in front of a trio I had never before met, but before I could ask for names Benz started to put things into motion.
“Well, I’m guessing Gretta filled everyone in on things?” Benz looked at the group as they all nodded.
“Smash some spiders and retreat. We can reform and finish the quest to set things right here and find the Creators. Really, not too shabby of an adventure.” Kip smiled as he crossed his arms. “Think we’ll make a few new enemies?”
“One can only hope.” Gretta nudged him.
“Think if we help enough they’ll get rid of spiders forever?” joked the guy behind Gretta.
“I’d just be thrilled if there was a better, less painful way out of this place. Can we move on without the death?” asked the girl just behind Kip.
“Now that is a great question,” Benz agreed. “Until we can ask though, let’s smash some spiders.”
“Should we be worried about you?” someone asked.
“Nah, it’s not the first time I’ve slipped around them.” Benz waved off before grabbing something out of his pocket and handing it to Gretta. “That should give you the advantage.”
She looked down to see what Benz had shoved into her hand. “But won’t you need this more?” She held up the coin.
I shook my head. “We’ll be fine.”
Benz looked at me, surprised. “Glad you share my confidence.”
“Emmyth helped train me in what is basically that gift. We’ve got this.” I summed up, not wanting to get into the details.
“I think you might be a little over-powered.” Gretta laughed.
“Does this mean I can stop dying then? Because that would be great.” I laughed back.
Benz sighed. “I really hope so, but gods know your luck is atrocious.”
“You’re not lying.” I shrugged as I moved over to the basement door. “Let’s get this over with.”
“We’ll go first so you can slip around us,” Kip stated as I opened the door.
“Remember everyone, spider acid sucks, but just grab some web and it’ll hold off the pain until we get back here to cure it,” Gretta chimed in as she went down the stairs first.
“How do you cure it?” I asked curiously, glancing over at Benz.
“It’s awkward.” Benz sighed. “Let’s have that conversation another day if we can avoid it.” He followed the last of the group down the stairs.
It sounded like Kip was laughing in the distance and I was even more curious now than when I had asked. Still, with no choice left, I followed them down, shutting the door behind me lest the spiders escape somehow up the stairs. No one needed that chaos.
At the bottom of the stairs, it was oddly quiet and far darker than I had expected. In the distance a light hung, swaying softly from side to side despite the lack of wind. The dim light did little to really illuminate things, but I could glimpse something dark and large from time to time.
I hugged my arms close to my chest. Spiders were not my thing, but at least I didn’t have an immobilizing fear of them. There was no way I could have asked Mare to join us. Flipping my vision over, I noticed there were a ton more spiders than I thought. All sizes at that. Tiny ones, ankle sized ones, and ones as large as farm dogs. I didn’t see too many bigger than that, but I didn’t know for sure how far my vision could go.
“Your eyes are gold,” Benz whispered, causing everyone to look at me for a moment.
“Oh…” I flipped my vision back to normal, the darkness taking a moment to adjust. “I didn’t know the magic did that.”
“It’s not too crazy, but right next to you the slight glow is obvious.” Benz patted my shoulder. “Still, good to see how it works right away.”
I nodded my silent agreement as Kip spoke up. “Shall we begin, then?” He held up a fireball and movement could be easily heard.
Kip didn’t wait for anything and cast his fire far and wide, setting a few spiders on fire and helping the others to see. Gretta started to throw her spikes, and I noticed another using throwing knives. One of the girls magiced a scythe while the guy had lightning dancing along his fingertips.
With the chaos of the fight begun, we slipped along the wall. Benz called for his sword while I summoned my bow. Nothing seemed to be looking our way at first, and then Benz lunged forward to meet a spider jumping from the shadows. A quick thrust through its head ended its existence.
“You really are ready for this…” I hadn’t even seen it there.
Benz shrugged. “I think I’ve seen a few too many of them recently.” With another shrug he continued on as he whispered, “Maybe use that vision of yours. This place is not one you want to get tripped up on.”
Taking his warning to heart, I switched my vision over and really hoped it wouldn’t call much to me.
Nothing seemed to shift toward me. In fact, it seemed everything was either watching or moving toward the group fighting by the stairs, allowing us to stay nearly against the wall.
Random objects got in our way every few feet, but they were all small, easy to walk around objects. There seemed to be everything down here from side rooms, chairs, broken tables, and almost all of it was covered in web. I really wanted to know what was in those rooms, some closed by doors or blocked with too much cobweb, but I didn’t dare deviate from the path. As likely as there was cool things, there was probably also another dozen spiders just waiting for someone to come on in.
It didn’t take long for the sound of fighting to stop and for the room to slowly narrow into a tunnel and steadily grow cooler. Nothing was ahead and nothing close enough behind us so I shifted my vision back to normal.
“How much longer?” I whispered curiously.
“Maybe two or three miles.” Benz shrugged. “There shouldn’t be much trouble here.”
“Much? What could be ahead?” Probably something from outside.
“Mostly bats, some normal, some not.”
“Do I even want to know what the not is?” I really didn’t but just in case we were to meet such a thing…
“Well, it’s very similar in shape and stature to the Agmon, except instead of long and horrifying claws, it has smaller claws and wide wings. It’s really an awkward creature that can’t do much harm, can’t really fly, but can screech loud enough to cause you to temporarily lose your hearing, which is the only way it really gets in good hits. It’s easy to be disoriented when you suddenly go from hearing to not.”
“Joy…” I shook my head. “It’s not poisonous or anything like that?”
“Nope. Basically, an oversized bat that is really bad at killing things.” Benz smirked, the amusement lining his features. “Even better. It can’t fly but it still might try and pick you up to fly. Talk about a lost cause.”
“Maybe it could if there wasn’t someone around to kill it?” It was something terrible to wonder.
Benz scoffed. “It tends to sleep in caves but it goes out and does like to try and mess with humans. I am confident the Watch takes care of it.”
I wondered how he could be so confident in a group
he never saw or interacted with. How was he so certain they were even all still alive? The only reason I thought they were was because of Marella. Without her say so, there was no proof.
Still, Benz never had a shred of doubt about it.
“How do you know they’re even alive?” I decided to just ask.
Benz gave a slight shrug, letting his sword vanish. “Asher is just one of those people. They used to come back and visit more but I bet with the Creators missing it’s made things harder for them. Still, you’ll just have to see what I mean. It’s like… If you had an entire group of just me, Clove, and Mare. We’ve done this for years and we’re pros at indoor stuff. He’s done it for years, but with outdoors. Asher knows how to handle things and trains everyone to handle things.”
I nodded and wondered how well my sister was learning any of this. Hopefully, she was doing fine. I missed my Melly. It was weird being apart from my sister for so long. Usually, we only spent hours apart, sometimes a day or two. I couldn’t help but pause when I saw the dark figure standing off to the side between the shadows. I quickly switched my vision over to try and get more information.
While I couldn’t see the face or much detail from here, it looked like someone wrapped up tightly in a sheet. It hit me that it had the giant wings wrapped around itself, blocking its face, and thin dark legs with claws for toes. I wasn’t sure if the wings would actually work or not but I did not want to find out. With it being maybe around eight feet tall, I didn’t see it flying very well, even with the larger wings. This must be the thing Benz had mentioned.
Benz gave me a light nudge, not saying anything. It was probably better to continue to move along, but couldn’t bats pick things up very well by their hearing? While we were being fairly quiet, enough not to bother the spiders, I did not think this bat-like thing would be as easily forgiving. Then again, it could just be asleep.
Carefully, we moved past it. The creature didn’t even look like it was breathing. There was no detectable movement from it. Maybe it was dead? Maybe something injured it and it retreated here?
Every few feet I kept turning to glance back at it. It didn’t move though, and I finally gave up on it. I started to wonder if we would arrive to whatever end point in total darkness or if there would finally be lights again. It was at this point something made me check back behind us again.
