Bael charged forward, swinging the end of his chain above his head like a lasso.
They dodged to the side as a large shape suddenly loomed ahead of them. Ursula caught a glimpse of a small bat splayed out on the dusty ground. Blood flowed from a wound on its head. As they neared, an enormous insect-like creature scuttled off its back.
They sprinted past, just as the bat’s body exploded in a spray of gore. Thud. A giant tree trunk—or something—had smashed through its abdomen.
They raced along the path, Bael in the lead, Ursula just behind—running as fast as she could with her manacled hands, her breath ragged in her throat. Kester brought up the rear. Darkness enveloped them, and thudding impacts shook the ground. Ursula’s lungs felt like they were on fire, her legs burning with the exertion, and sweat trickled down her brow.
Thud. Another impact slammed down, this time just inches in front of Bael, and Ursula’s heart skipped a beat. Tree trunks. Definitely someone throwing tree trunks.
Far up ahead, Bael slammed into the trunk at full speed. Ursula tried to dodge to the side, but that only meant that she slipped and fell, her balance thrown off without the use of her arms. Kester tripped over her, stumbling onto his hands and knees.
He scrambled to his feet, but another tree trunk slammed into the ground next to him. As Ursula crawled to her knees, she glimpsed the closest trunk, illuminated by the faint glow of the path. With a stab of horror, she realized it wasn’t made of wood, but of a thick chitinous armor.
Not a tree trunk. A giant leg.
Ursula turned to run, but Bael’s voice stopped her. “Don’t move!” he barked.
From the forest floor, Kester tugged sharply at her dress, his finger to his lips. Slowly, he raised it and pointed. Adrenaline snapped through Ursula’s nerve endings. Twenty feet above her head, another monstrous leg was poised to strike. If she ran, it would crush her.
Ursula’s stomach dropped as the head of a massive insect slid into view. It took all of her willpower not to scream at the pale arachnid monster looming above her.
The spider was enormous, at least the size of a small house. Its skin was the color of bleached bone, but her gaze froze on a lethally sharp pair of fangs. They were bracketed by a pair of longer appendages that twitched like giant fingers.
Ursula’s mind raced. She stood below it unarmed, her wrists bound by golden manacles. No way to defend herself. Even though Bael had cautioned not to use fire, it sparked to life in her veins anyway.
Kester stood next to her, watching the spider intently. Bael was maybe twenty feet from her. Just like her, he stayed perfectly still, then slowly pointed to his eyes.
Eyes. That’s a signal we did not discuss, so…
The spider’s head lurched lower, so that the twitching appendages touched the dirt in front of them. Unlike its massive legs, these appendages moved delicately over the cavern floor, tapping the soil like a drummer tuning a timpani. Ursula’s muscles tightened as she realized it was searching for them.
That was when she understood what Bael was trying to tell her. The spider has no eyes. It can’t see us.
Bael’s eyes were wide as he pointed frantically at the cavern floor. Another gesture I need to interpret. The air behind her moved, and she ducked instinctively as one of the giant appendages passed over her head.
From the ground, she met Bael’s gaze. He held up one of his hands, letting all five fingers dangle like legs. With his other hand, he made a walking motion on the top of his knuckles.
You’ve got to be bloody kidding me.
Chapter 8
Ursula shook her head vigorously no, but Bael ignored her, kneeling to pick up a handful of dirt from the floor. No, don’t do it. In a slow, underhand motion, he tossed it about ten feet in front of her. As soon as the dust hit the floor, one of the twitching appendages flicked over to touch it.
“Now, Ursula!” Bael hissed.
“I’m going to kill you,” Ursula snarled as she leapt. But she was too slow, the manacles and the long gown throwing her off. The spider’s appendages snatched her in midair. Oh balls. Her pulse raced wildly.
Claws of fear pierced her rib cage. Above her, the spider’s fangs stabbed downward, aiming straight at her head. Instinctively, she summoned her flames. As the venom-soaked fang plunged toward her face, she caught it in her burning fingers.
Her blazing hands melted through the tip of the chitinous fang like butter. The arachnid’s head jerked back with a dry scream. The severed end of the fang narrowly missed puncturing her leg as it spun past her. The loss of its fang sent the arachnid into a sort of frenzy as the remaining fang flexed and pulsed.
Ursula’s heart slammed hard against her ribs. She pulled the heat from her hands, and reached above her head in an effort to pull herself up one of the spider’s legs.
From the darkness below, Bael shouted, “Ursula, are you all right?”
“Sort of. I melted one of its fangs.”
“Can you climb any higher?” asked Bael.
“I’m trying, but my hands are bound.” Seriously, what the fuck were you thinking?
The appendage moved, and she swung out over darkness. In the dark cavern, she had no idea how high up she was.
“Maybe try moving the leg lower,” Bael suggested.
“Does it look like I’m in control of this thing?” she shouted.
“This was your idea?” Kester asked.
“Can you two be quiet?” yelled Ursula. “I need to concentrate.”
A light blazed below her—Bael had called up a glowing orb. While she could now see what she was doing, she could also see that she was at least fifty feet in the air, and her stomach swooped. A fall from this height would kill her.
Ursula stared down at her body—her torn, mud-spattered gown practically hanging off her, draping to her ankles. Frankly, the damn thing was encumbering her. Ankle-length gowns weren’t made for climbing spiders any more than they were made for running through mushroom forests. Time to give the gown a trim.
She summoned fire into her body—enough to burn the fabric off the lower half of her dress, until the flames quickly snuffed out again in the damp air. She now wore a dress that reached just below her arse—much better. She kicked her legs forward so that she was able to wrap them around the appendage. Slowly, she began to shimmy upwards, blocking out the fact that her inner thighs were rubbing against the spider’s disgusting skin. At last, she made her way up onto the spider’s head.
The spider must have worked out what she was trying to do, because the other appendage swung back to pinch her. And yet, this time she was ready. As it neared, she cinched her legs tightly. When the approaching appendage was about five feet away, she let go with her hands. She only had to think of Bael and this asinine plan to channel enough heat into her fingers to melt a deep hole in the exoskeleton of the incoming appendage. The spider unleashed another eerie howl that keened throughout the cavern. That’s for trying to smoosh me.
She shimmied upwards, making it maybe ten feet, when the spider suddenly began to swing its head from side to side like a terrier shaking the life out of a rat. It took all of Ursula’s strength to hold on.
“Can you try burning it again?” Bael shouted from below.
Ursula’s stomach was churning, her nerves blazing, but she channeled some fire into her hands, letting it flow through her fingertips. The spider shrieked, then raised its head into the air like a trumpeting elephant—bringing her up with it.
Ursula’s blood roared in her ears. Okay, this isn’t ideal. For a moment, she felt almost weightless, suspended a hundred feet above the floor of the cavern.
Then, the spider flung her down.
The fall felt like slow motion, her hands slipping loose, her body tumbling backward, plunging into darkness.
Midair, a powerful set of arms caught her, absorbing her impact with a shocking grace—and hurtling back upward with her. Shadow magic whirled around them, propelling them through the air. Her blood thundere
d in her veins, and she gripped tightly to Bael’s shirt, clinging on for dear life.
They raced toward the giant arachnid’s carapace, shadow magic flowing around them in dark wisps. They landed hard on the spider’s body, Bael clinging tightly around her waist to keep her steady. Ursula gasped as the impact knocked the wind out of her. The spider screamed, lurching upright.
Bael grabbed tightly to a ridge of exoskeleton with one hand, and with the other, he pulled Ursula close. “Are you all right?”
“You almost got me killed.”
“But you survived.”
When we’re off this thing, we’re going to have some stern words. They were sitting on the back of the spider’s body now, and it shifted beneath them, stalking into the darkness. Up here, and with her dress shorn, it wasn’t quite so difficult to balance.
“So what’s the plan?” asked Ursula.
Bael crouched on the spider’s back. “Are you ready?”
Ursula was rapidly losing patience. “I asked you for the plan. I’m not ready until you tell me the plan. If you ask me to battle this spider again—”
“Molok,” said Bael.
“Spider, Molok, whatever. I almost died.”
Bael smiled. “I think you’re going to like what I have in mind. Do you remember how to call Sotz?”
“Do you think he can hear us from here?”
Bael nodded. “We’re right under the rookery. He’s up there somewhere.”
“And the plan is—”
Her question was cut off by a lurch from Molok as the spider lumbered on. Okay. No time to ask about the plan.
While Bael helped steady her on the creature’s back, Ursula put her fingers to her mouth and whistled. A moment later, the sound of bat wings rhythmically beat the air, and Sotz swooped out of the shadows. Ursula’s chest unclenched at the sight of the enormous bat.
Sotz kept pace alongside them as the spider trudged through the cavern. She could probably jump onto Sotz from here, but they were missing someone.
“What about Kester?” she asked.
“The Headsman? We could just leave him behind.”
“Bael.” Her voice was growing sharper. “He’s a friend.”
A wry smile from Bael. “Of course. I’ll get him. Tell Sotz to take you to the Grotto. We’ll meet you there.”
Before she could say another word, Bael leapt off the back of the spider into the darkness below.
Chapter 9
Bael’s orb flickered above her like a guttering candle. In a few seconds, it would extinguish. With a final whistle for Sotz, Ursula leapt off the spider. The bat caught her expertly, and she clutched his soft fur, clenching her thighs around his body.
Pressing her face against his neck, she whispered, “Take me to the Grotto.”
Sotz’s wings pounded the air as he flew through the darkness. For the first time since she’d arrived on the moon, Ursula felt in control, losing herself in the familiar rhythms of lunar bat flight. Despite being a hellhound, she was at ease in the sweet oblivion of the shadows. Above her, the bats’ shrill voices loaned a sense of place to the otherwise pitch-black Cavern of Night.
Ursula peered over Sotz’s side, but she could see nothing. Here, the cavern lived up to its name—reminiscent of Nyxobas’s void. Why the hell did she find the void oddly comforting, strangely alluring? Sweet oblivion, boundless freedom. An escape from her true self.
A voice rose from the depths of her own mind. Who are you, Ursula? Who are you really? She pushed the voice out of her mind, tuning into the sounds and scents around her instead. The bats rushing above her, the wind whipping at her hair, Sotz’s familiar smell… Here, she felt at home.
Sotz banked sharply, and a vortex of lights greeted her. Arrayed in a massive spiral, the lights twisted around like the gyre of a distant galaxy. Not stars, but rather tiny mushrooms growing on the cavern floor. Sotz glided lower, his speed slowing until they landed gently on a giant boulder.
“Is this the Grotto?” asked Ursula.
Sotz chirped in what she thought was an affirmative answer, and she slid off his back onto the damp soil. The lunar bat launched himself into the air, leaving her alone again among the faint light of the mushrooms. Where exactly was she supposed to meet Bael here?
At the base of the rock, a glowing path led toward the spiral of mushrooms she’d seen from her flight. While she was waiting for Bael, she began walking quietly along the path. It sloped downward, weaving between the mushroom caps. Goose bumps rose over her bare legs, and she would have rubbed her arms for warmth if only her hands weren’t still bound. The slope steepened, until she found herself walking along a path that wound along a cliff’s steep face. The path twisted between giant boulders and ran along narrow ledges that kept the yawning precipice only a single misstep away.
Ursula’s lungs and thighs were burning when the path stopped at a massive onyx boulder, blocking the mouth of a cave. Ursula drew in a short breath at the sight of the stone. It looked exactly like the one in Bael’s manor, and when she ran her fingertips over it, she found it smooth and cool to the touch. Is this where she was supposed to go? Bael was able to push his boulder to the side, but Ursula couldn’t get this thing to budge. She’d need shadow magic to move it.
Exhausted, Ursula sat on the damp earth, the soil cool beneath her bare thighs. She rested her back against the cliff face, pulling her knees up to her chest for warmth. I guess I’m going to have to wait for Bael and Kester after all.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when the boulder suddenly rolled to the side, revealing the cave entrance.
A familiar voice pierced the silence. “Ursula, is that you?”
“Cera?” Ursula hopped up.
“Ursula!” The little oneiroi woman hurried toward her, frowning at her singed dress. “What are you wearing?”
“Is that really your biggest concern right now?” She lifted her hands. “Not, you know, the manacles binding my wrists?”
Cera hopped from one foot to another, muttering to herself as she stared at the singed hem, her silver hair cascading over her back. Apparently the hem was the main concern.
Ursula nodded at the cave’s opening. “Cera, can you tell me what’s going on? Where are we?”
“We’re at the Grotto. You’re perfectly safe here.”
“Is there any chance we could go inside? I’m freezing.”
“Of course. It will be an honor. Everyone is very excited to meet you.”
“Everyone?”
“You’ll see.” Cera hurried back into the tunnel, and Ursula followed, ducking her head to pass under a low stone archway.
“Bael hasn’t arrived, I take it?”
“He’ll be joining us soon,” said Cera. “Not to worry.”
Cera led Ursula down the tunnel, carved straight through the side of the cliff. It looked similar to the tunnels in Bael’s and Abrax’s manors—narrow with smooth walls. Glowing fungi illuminated strange runes and twisting designs engraved into the walls. Voices began to carry through the cave, growing louder as they walked. The tunnel curved sharply, then opened to a large, well-lit cavern.
Ursula gasped. This cavern teemed with people.
Not people, she realized as her eyes adjusted, but oneiroi. They moved among a small collection of stone dwellings, like a miniature version of the city at the foot of Asta.
Cera began to lead her down a rock slope, and toward the closest structure.
“What is this place?” asked Ursula.
“This is the Grotto.”
“Why is it here?”
Cera stopped, turning to look at her. “It’s the last free city of the oneiroi. I’m taking you to Xarthra. She’ll explain everything.”
As Ursula digested this information, Cera led her into the city. Oneiroi filled the streets, each one wearing thick robes, with hoods covering their silver hair. Ursula’s eyes widened. I know these outfits. When she’d seen a group of oneiroi reviving a golem in the mushroom forest, they’d been we
aring these robes.
Cera led her through winding streets until she stopped at a small stone dwelling.
“This is where Xarthra lives?” asked Ursula.
Cera laughed. “No. But there is absolutely no way you can go to an audience with Xarthra wearing mud and a singed dress.”
Cera opened the door, revealing a modest bedroom. A small bed and dresser nestled in one corner. Dominating the center of the room stood a table covered in myriad colorful fabrics, sequins, and sewing equipment.
“Have you always lived here?” asked Ursula.
Cera shook her head, her eyes darkening. “No. I used to live in the great crater. After Bael went into exile, my little home in the crater was destroyed. Punishment for serving him. So, Xarthra moved my belongings here. I had nowhere else to go.”
Ursula bit her lip. “I’m sorry. That must have been hard.”
Cera shrugged. “It’s all right. I didn’t have much.” She yanked out a patch of green tulle from the pile on the table. “And they saved all my dresses and sewing supplies.” She loosed a long sigh. “Let’s get you something to wear.”
She turned, rummaging through a basket of clothing at the far end of the room, muttering to herself the whole time. While she searched, Ursula peered outside the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Bael and Kester. No such luck so far.
After a moment, Cera scrubbed a hand over her mouth. “Somewhere, I’ve got a cream silk dress for you. I hope that will be suitable?”
“Cera. You are amazing, and I’ll wear anything you have. Assuming you can get it on me.”
It took Cera only a few minutes of rummaging before she pulled out a long, pearly gown—strapless, and slashed up to the thigh.
Ursula blinked at it. “Are you sure it’s not too…fancy?”
Cera tutted. “You cannot meet Xarthra looking like you might plan to assassinate her. And most importantly, it’s strapless. Your manacles won’t get in the way.”
She had a point. Ursula turned her back, and Cera ripped the tattered, singed dress off her. Cera spent a minute scrubbing the dirt and grime off Ursula’s body while Ursula shivered in the center of the room, goose bumps all over, until Cera directed her to step into the dress. Cera helped to pull it up her body, and it fit like a glove. A pair of cream high heels were the finishing touch.
Shadows & Flame Complete Boxed Set: Demons of Fire and Night Novels Page 75
