“Best friends in battle once again,” the assassin jokes as he draws a long knife. Coating the blade in an orange poison that seeps from his tongue, he blows on the liquid to turn it into hardened spikes. “Doubt this stuff will work either. Even the insightful Archillious is at a loss when it comes to figuring out what will hurt this demon. Oh, I saw Lost and Stephanie to my right. They’re holding their own, but neither of them are carrying real weapons like us. It’s only that bunny and superspeed that’s been keeping them alive.”
“You take the lead and I’ll move with you,” Decker says while he makes sure he has the correct direction. Whenever he feels his companion take a step, he matches it by moving a little faster. “Your strides are longer, so don’t walk too quickly. We can’t afford to get separated again, especially since we’re the ones in trouble. If poisons and blades don’t work then it has to be magic or psychic abilities. Lost and Stephanie have both of those. Did you notice that there is very little resistance when you hack into this thing?”
“Not really, but my strength makes everything I strike seem weak,” Archillious casually replies. Firing a bolt at a blossoming eye, he frowns at how the projectile snaps and splinters from the impact. “Now that you mention it, there is something strange here. Demons are still living things, so there must be an effective poison that I can secrete. Nobody is immune to the toxic Archillious and that includes beings from the Chaos Void. Its master could have done some alterations.”
Spinning his axe, the soldier sends a circle of fire into the shadows and watches it get consumed. “Titus did say Jewelz controlled this thing by stealing its true name. Maybe she’s convinced it to let her add enchanted gems to its body. Seems like a waste to me if you’re only going to use it as a way to dispose of corpses. We must be missing a clue. What if the demon is only an illusion?”
“It took Titus’s legs.”
“A construct?”
“That is a possibility.”
“You don’t sound very sure of that.”
“I’m more interested in killing a creature that I haven’t seen before.”
“The things you take joy from.”
“It’s what keeps me smiling, General.”
The shadows suddenly recede enough that they can see Lost and Stephanie on the other side of a long row of ebony spikes that run from the floor to the ceiling. Not wanting to distract them from defending themselves, Decker covers Archillious’s mouth and shakes his head. The assassin is confused for a moment until he watches the women narrowly avoid getting gobbled up by a mouth that lunges out of the darkness. Stephanie is a blur of movement as she tackles Lost and rolls to bring them dangerously close to the demon. Focused more on their friends, the two men almost miss the strange swirling in the shadows on their side of the barrier. Bracing themselves for an attack, they watch as hundreds of faces materialize in the muck and release mournful howls. The bone-chilling sound causes Decker to change his mind about standing his ground and he rushes at the spikes. Following the dwarf, Archillious spits his fangs at the wall of spirits, which shriek whenever they are struck in the eye. The two men crash through the hardened darkness with less effort than they expected, so they nearly slam into their allies. With a final moan, Dark One sends the captured spirits flooding ahead even though its targets are already out of range.
“Looking ravishing as always,” Archillious says to Stephanie with a grin. He chuckles when Lost’s bunny skims his nose to destroy a tentacle that is about to stab him. “Guess I owe you a thanks for that. So, I was telling Decker that this thing doesn’t feel right. You know, he was too busy swinging away to notice that it’s too easy to get through its body. I haven’t even heard the demon scream in pain, which all living things do when they are injured. Any ideas?”
“We can throw you to it and then we’ll know where the real mouth is,” Lost playfully suggests. A pain in her skull stops her from catching a tendril, but her pet quickly wrestles it to the ground. “There’s definitely a mind in there, but it’s filled with fear instead of rage. This demon doesn’t want us . . . me . . . Someone to know something. I can’t figure it out. One of us is really scaring this guy. Otherwise, he’d have flooded over us and torn us apart. By the way, I still can’t figure out why Stephanie smells so familiar. Oops, Dark One doesn’t want me to talk about that in front of him.”
“It’s terrified of Stephanie?” Decker asks while he watches the demon. Seeing it tremble, he waves for the ritualist to get behind Lost. “I think I know what it doesn’t want you to do. Might not be pretty, but I think you’re going to have to use that power. Archillious and I already promised to keep it a secret. I’m sure Lost would be willing to do the same. After all, we’re all on the same side for this fight.”
Her cheeks a bright red, Stephanie glances at the silver-haired girl, who emphatically nods her head. “Fine, but I need a few minutes to muster the strength. Once I’m done, all of you need to get out of the way. I don’t have that much control when I use this power. Don’t look directly at me either. It’s embarrassing.”
Decker stirs the others to action when he charges at the shadowy mass and plunges his axe into what he thinks is an ear. A blast of ice creates a frozen block that the demon crushes and chews in a toothless maw. Tendrils erupt from both sides to grab the dwarf, but Lost has her bunny grab him by the pants and yank him to safety. She leaps at the projections and hastily ties all of them into a ball that prevent them from retracting. Decker jumps onto the wriggling orb and uses it to launch himself closer to the ceiling where he hopes to hit something more substantial than the shadows. For a brief moment, he feels the resistance of flesh against his axe before the weapon clangs against solid stone. Crossbow bolts hit all of the lidless eyes that appear around the soldier, each one tipped with a poison that Archillious is still gargling in his mouth. Spitting the rest into an empty bottle, he licks the edge of his knife and rushes in to deliver a flurry of stabs. He cannot tell if the toxin is running through the demon’s veins to make it drowsy, but he continues his gleeful assault until the tentacles become too numerous for him to remain in one place. The three vampires try to switch tactics with Lost focusing on defense and the two men struggling to find anything solid to hit. Frustrated and scared, Dark One surges forward to consume the circle of light that its enemies have been protecting. The advance is short-lived when a wave of invisible energy pulses through the caverns and sends a terrifying quiver through the demon’s soul.
With bloody tears falling down her face, Stephanie begins to weep and growl using extra mouths that have appeared on her body. She gradually grows to five times her height and her frame becomes stockier with bulbous patches of muscle squirming beneath her skin. Eyes and noses sprout from her flesh while her own face stretches forward into a pointed snout. Gnarled teeth slip out of her lips, each one a different shade of red and dripping with a clear liquid that hardens on the floor. The ritualist’s tail sheds some of its fur to reveal reptilian scales, which slide down to the tip to form a heavy club. Flexing her clawed hands and cracking the knuckles of her wide feet, Stephanie gazes at her friends and the demon before unleashing a roar that shakes all of Apelios.
The blast of noxious air from the monstrous Dawn Fang’s mouth is enough to drive away the shadows and reveal Dark One’s real body. A bulbous ball of blackened flesh is fused to a single pillar while thick tentacles run along the ceiling. Dribbles of darkness fall from throbbing holes in the demon’s flesh, but it is unable to revive its protective cloak. Unable to move its core, the creature frees its gangly limbs and wraps them around Stephanie. It tries to tear her apart, but finds that her transformed body is too powerful. The fanged mouths along her skin viciously bite the tentacles, which become tighter in an attempt to crush the vampire. Saw-like bones sprout from the ritualist’s forearms and spin to slice through the ebony bonds, which snap back to the demon’s body with a loud crack. More of the shadowy projections erupt from a mouth that opens in the center of the orb of pulsing f
lesh. Dripping a corrosive acid, they eat away at the blades and begin to erode Stephanie’s putrid flesh. Enraged by the pain, she roars and grabs all of the tentacles in her massive fists. Her heart pumping fast enough to increase her frightening strength and slow the melting of her skin, the Dawn Fang violently yanks on the demon’s limbs. Instead of them popping off, the pillar shatters and the defenseless core comes flying at the grinning vampire. Catching it in one meaty hand, the ritualist smashes it into the ground and roars in triumph.
“You’re where all my old friends went!” Lost exclaims as Stephanie shrinks back to her original form. The calico avoids looking at the girl, who runs over to give her a hug. “I’m glad they found a place to live. Are they eating all of their vegetables? They better not be because that’s not how I raised them.”
“Let’s finish this on the surface,” Decker says, pointing to a hole in the ceiling. A loud crash causes him to whirl around and he can barely make out a puff of dust in the distance. “What’s with all of the trembling? Almost like an earthquake is starting up. Stay on your guard in case that demon is still around.”
“I think it’s worse than that,” Stephanie groans while Archillious puts his jacket over her naked body. Wrinkling her nose at the sour smell, she still nods a silent thanks to the smiling assassin. “You saw all of the tentacles running off Dark One. I knew what it meant right away, but I couldn’t stop myself from destroying them. Worse, I was wrong about who was truly connected to this place. The Vampire Queen trapped the demon down here to dispose of bodies, but also to keep the island in one piece. It was acting as Apelios’s foundation and we just destroyed it. That means everything is about to sink like it did with the fake one. We don’t have much time.”
As if hearing her words, part of the island collapses a few feet behind Decker and the ocean water starts to seep in from below. The vampires scramble up the sinking pile of rubble and jump out to find themselves on the opposite shore of the lagoon from the arena. With pieces of earth falling away and foamy geysers erupting, they leap into the churning water and swim as quickly as they can. They can feel tiny fish bite at them, but the animals never linger long enough to get more than a nibble. No sooner have they reached the thin beach around the arena than the lagoon becomes choppy and rough. Within seconds it has transformed into a gigantic whirlpool that is gradually eating away at the crumbling coasts.
15
“There is a dangerous maze beyond this door, so don’t wander off,” Dean politely says while he unlocks the tower entrance. Hearing clattering footstep, he stops to watch a squad of guards cross a nearby courtyard. “Sorry, but I don’t know what their orders are. Seems your arrival has sent everyone into a panic. By the way, I’m glad to have seen that your friend got my message about Titus. It was difficult to cast such a spell within view of my master. She was far too enthralled by her child’s execution to see my gestures, but it would have only taken one look to see what I was doing behind my back. I was saving his legs in case you needed them, but it appears everything worked out.”
“Wait a second,” Mab whispers before the door can be opened. Putting on Clyde’s corn-shaped necklace, she watches to see how the butler reacts, but receives only a blank stare. “I’m still trying to figure out what’s going on here. Titus told me that you’re Jewelz’s top servant, which means you’ve been by her side for centuries. Your history with Xavier doesn’t mean anything considering how long you’ve been with her. So, why would you become a traitor at this time?”
“I will explain once we are safely within the maze,” he replies with a bow.
Ready to attack at the slightest sign of danger, Mab nods for the bald vampire to open the door and step inside. She hurries behind him in case he plans on disappearing, but she stumbles to a stop when the darkness dissolves to reveal walls of polished jewels. Shielding her eyes from the bright light that bounces off the beautiful facets, the burglar sees that the hallway slants upwards and ends at two ladders. Each one leads to a mirrored door, which repeatedly depicts a written message. Following Dean, who tucks the key into his pocket, Mab reaches out to run her hand along the warm wall. Her claws skid along in an instinctive search for any gems that are loose enough to pop out. She notices that the butler is smiling as they reach the ladders and he climbs up the one on the right. He ignores the riddle and knocks on the mirror’s frame to match the song he had chosen as the answer. With a hiss of escaping air, the other door opens and he waves for the burglar to follow him onto a spiral staircase.
“Believe it or not, I used to be on the vampire council,” Dean explains while he pulls a night cloak out of his back pocket. Putting it on, he takes a shuddering breath and enjoys the sensation of his strength returning. “It might be night, but this maze has absorbed enough sunlight to make it dangerous for my kind. Where was I? Yes, I was a nobleman who put knowledge above all else and that made me an oddity back in the old days. I strove to be more instructor than ruler, which eventually got me exiled by my war-loving peers. My execution was interrupted by Xavier, who was a student of mine, and I fled with the intention of taking refuge with one of my brood brothers. By the time I reached Apelios, Rellan had been killed and the island was falling into ruin. Jewelz was still there and I promised to teach her. It was an awkward beginning since she was more interested in making you suffer than learning. Still, I always had high hopes that she would accept my belief that knowledge is more comforting than revenge. Titus was an interesting addition to the family, but she never let us interact for more than a few minutes at time. Now, was the door here or on the next floor? I swear, this maze is a step too far in her games since it would have taken you days to get out of it.”
Mab waits for him to pull a part of the wall away and follows him into a long hallway decorated with sapphires. “So, you had a plan for her, but she didn’t go along with it. You should have realized that would happen since she’s a thief. We aren’t really known for loyalty and obedience. None of that explains why you stuck around for so long, especially once she started this plan to destroy me. Has anything on Apelios helped you achieve your goals?”
“I began to have misgivings when she called herself the Vampire Queen,” the butler admits with a sigh. Flicking a coin ahead, he watches as the gems light up and send icy beams across the hallway. “Copy my movements exactly because I can’t thaw you out. I was the one who pulled Jewelz out of the volcano and nursed her back to health. She did manage to protect herself with a spell, but the incident still left her badly burned. I found that she enjoyed stories more than history lessons, so I gave her more of those. Looking back, I’m probably the cause for all of this chaos. She wanted to build a kingdom and rule over it like in the ancient tales. Each one had a monster to be slain as well. Although, the humiliation part is all her own. None of the stories I told had such pointless spectacles.”
“She made me her personal demon.”
“Are you surprised?”
“No, but it is rather pathetic.”
“I always found it more unfortunate.”
“Why didn’t you stop her?”
“Because I was on her side until recently.”
Pushing open the next door, Dean leads the way into a long shaft that has axes swinging out of the walls. Casting a levitation spell, he floats through the very center of the chamber towards the pearl hatch in the ceiling. Remaining straight as an arrow, the vampire travels along the safe path with only a few slices delivered to his billowing cloak. Hitting the top, he watches the golden-edged blades until he can quickly pull his legs up to his chest. Flipping in midair, he plants his feet on the icy stone and crouches with his hand on the hatch handle. Glancing down, Dean is surprised that Mab did not try to use his shadow to reach the top. Instead, the burglar is traversing the rough walls with perfectly timed jumps and flips that keep even her long jacket out of harms way. When she is halfway to the top, she leaps at two axes that are already swinging into her path. Grabbing them, she dangles between the blades tha
t are fighting against her powerful grip. She takes careful aim while bobbing up and down a few times before launching herself to where Dean is waiting. With a crack, the traps she was holding onto tumble towards the floor and hit those below, which makes a grinding mess of the deadly shaft.
“Your losing points with me again,” Mab admits, her claws sticking into the stone. Once the hatch is open, she flips inside and cracks her sore neck. “I guess I can see how someone like you would find Jewelz appealing. She has a talent for making believable promises and her excitement draws people to her side. Although, it tends to be idiots or those who think they can use her for their own ambitions. You’re not the first, so I’m going with the second. What was she going to do with all of the knowledge you had for her?”
“Create a kingdom built on information instead of conquest and monetary wealth,” Dean answers, his finger tapping on his lips. He steps towards the path on the left, but quickly changes direction to walk along the one in the middle. “I kept hoping that she would do this once you were dead or forgotten. Then, Clyde was brought here and I realized she would never become the ruler I had dreamed of. With him under her control, she would certainly attempt to conquer all of Windemere. His presence made it clear that she never intended for my dream to become her own. Once I realized that, I noticed other problems that I had previously ignored. The people of Apelios are slaves who have no interest in knowledge. For many, they are nothing more than obedient, pleasure-seeking drones. I regret spending so much time with Jewelz when I could have left to join either you or Xavier. Either of your kingdoms would have been preferable to this place.”
Rivalry (War of Nytefall Book 3) Page 26
