The Poison Princess

by J. Stone

  “Thank you, Scarlett,” Ruby replied, taking the clothes from her demon servant. She slipped on the shoes and then threw the coat over her shoulder, working her arms through the sleeves. “Actually, I think I could use some poison. Would you be able to get me some?”

  Scarlett smiled at her master. “Last one for a while.”

  The horned demon reached back through the void and pulled out a flask like the one she had acquired in Gloomport and handed it to the princess. Ruby pulled the cork out and took a healthy sip of the fluid. The venomous liquid reinvigorated her instantly. She didn’t feel as strong as she could have, but she was at least healthy enough to stand and continue their journey.

  The princess corked the flask and handed it back to her horned demon, who in turn folded it back into some unseen layer of reality. They both stood and looked up at their next challenge. The Rashtalg Mountains were a harsh vision. Jagged rocks littered the base of the mountain path, while at the top, snow and ice covered the landscape. The very tip of the mountain seemed to have a perpetual snowstorm centered directly at the peak known as the Roof of the World. That was where they were headed.

  Few dared to climb the mountains, as they held no strategic value, had no resources, and there were faster ways to travel than by going over the tall mountain range. That isn’t to say no one had ever done it, nor that the rebellious monks of the Glow were the first to do so; it’s just that it was a rare occurrence. Few were willing to lose their lives to Rashtalg only for their own satisfaction. Now that the monks were situated at the Roof of the World, however, even fewer ventured up the mountain. The Cloister housed a generally respected group of monks, but everyone saw the Glow as tainted somehow. People preferred to stay away from the dark monks and forget that they were even up there.

  Ruby and Scarlett had no such luxury. If they wanted the rune inscribed bracelets mentioned by Niada, they would have to scale the mountain to its very peak. It would be a challenge, but neither woman was in any way normal. The princess no longer needed food or water, and she no longer slept. All she required was the occasional poison, and her demon was largely able to provide that for her. Scarlett, alternatively, was able to use the magics of the world to aid their journey. Even in her depleted state, she would still be able to help get them to the top.

  “And you’re sure you can’t get us any closer?” Ruby asked, intimidated by the journey they were about to embark on.

  “I apologize, my princess. This is the best I can do for now. I must let my energies replenish themselves.”

  “Very well. Then we walk.”

  The princess went first, venturing onto the rarely used path that the Glow established upon their journey up. Uneven, poorly laid rocks were piled into makeshift stairs. While not ideal, they served them better than if they were to attempt to walk on the natural and irregular path of the mountain. Ruby walked forward with Scarlett following several feet behind. They both moved slowly, careful of their footing and moving awkwardly thanks to the heavy coats. Though empowered by their respective physiologies, neither was immune to the pull of gravity. If either were to fall, that would likely mean the end for them both.

  Periodically, they would pass a flag staked into the ground left behind by the Glow to mark the trail. Ruby’s eyes watched for the next every time they passed one. They were still in the bleak grey area of the mountain, and it would have been difficult to miss one, but she suspected that, as they got further up and into the snowy regions that would not be the case any longer. For the moment, it was just a small ritual to keep her mind from wandering too far.

  That always threatened to be the case, as the princess had many stray thoughts those days, and upon seeing her sister once more, her mind drifted to Leina and her craggy hand demon. She wondered what had transpired at the Cloister after she left. Ruby had killed nearly all the monks herself, leaving no one for Leina to torture and question. She, once again, tried to tell herself that it was a mercy to kill them like that. That if she had left them alive, her corrupted sister would have only questioned them about her in an attempt to discover what they had told her. She suspected in the quiet space of her mind that that was all a terrible lie she told herself to feel better about it. This recessed piece of her mind knew for truth why she had killed all those men and women. Leina knew that her sister had been after a way to separate her from the craggy hand demon. Ruby was unwilling to let Niada divulge the whereabouts of such a thing. The darkness was returning to the princess’ mind after its brief departure, and she feared that she would become lost in it once again. She had killed hundreds of monks, demons, and soldiers all within a few minutes’ span of time. She tried to think about something else. Anything else.

  Scarlett, alternatively, was not displeased to see such actions from her princess. She would support her human host in any way she desired, but for whatever reason, she preferred the darkness inside the poison princess to the moral woman she had been before they met. She liked the violent, harsh, lust-filled woman she knew that Ruby could be. She felt more powerful when her princess lashed out at those that wronged her, devouring their flesh in her poisons or breaking their bones with a war hammer or slicing their heads off with a scythe. Scarlett was aroused just thinking about it, especially when it had been on her behalf. She was not eager to separate from her princess when they were to find the rune-etched bracelets at the top of the path. Her worry was that their temporary divorce would change Ruby’s thoughts and feelings towards the demon in some way. Regardless, she had sworn to do her master’s bidding, and she would abide by such a pact. She would dive into the nether realm and uncover the craggy hand demon’s true name.

  Days and nights came and went as the women trudged on past the grey, rocky sections of the path until they reached a colder, less hospitable section of the mountain. Screeching winds soared past, and the snow from above was blown down toward them, biting at their exposed skin. Neither Ruby nor Scarlett paid it much attention, protected in part by their poison and magic respectively. As the princess had suspected, however, visibility became more difficult as they ascended. The gusting snow covered the laid stones at their feet, causing them to slow their progress even more to acquire sure footing. The flags became harder to make out, and on more than one occasion, the princess was given pause, when, at first, she didn’t see the familiar little blue flag waving in the wind.

  Further up they traveled, until no longer was the snow merely blowing down on them from above. They were now crunching down on a fresh layer of snow on the carefully laid rocks, buried somewhere beneath the frozen precipitation. Flags still lined the way, and that was the only method by which they knew they were still on the right path. At one point, Ruby looked up to try and find where the Glow’s monastery was, but she could see nothing through the storm they had willingly walked into. She would have to trust that the flags would guide them along the correct path.

  The journey up was harsh, and it took longer than Ruby would have liked. Nightfall’s darkness forced them to halt their climb on more than one occasion, as they sought refuge in any tiny recess they could find in the mountainside. As soon as the light was sufficient to see their way, the women set off once more for the Roof of the World.

  The princess and her demon continued on through the harsh weather. She raised her arm to protect her eyes from the assailing snow, and she’d largely given up on trying to see more than a few feet in front of her. She guessed the direction of every next blue flag, but the blinding whiteness made such a task difficult. After a while, Ruby started to think that they traveled in circles around the mountain, not making any true progress towards the Roof. It had been hours since she’d spotted one of those little blue flags flapping in the severe wind and snow.

  She almost thought she was seeing things when she saw a little dark cave in the side of the mountain. The princess had no idea how far off the path they were, but she and Scarlett both needed a break from the constant snow. She grabbed her demon’s hand and pulled her forw
ard into the cavern that shielded them from the storm outside. White flakes covered both women’s coats and hoods, and they took the opportunity to tidy themselves back up as best they could.

  Though partially resistant to the effects of this kind of cold, Scarlett was still quite uncomfortable in it. She wished she could dry herself and Ruby off with a touch of magic, but she also knew that it would be dangerous to dip any further into that well. She would have to make do, so she dropped her hood, wrung whatever moisture there was out of her orange hair, and wiped the melting snow from her cheeks.

  Ruby, meanwhile, sat on a rock, lifting the coat and the hem of her dress to rub one of her feet through the leather boots. She too seemed somewhat unaffected by the cold weather, but that didn’t stop her feet from both going numb from the lack of heat. She rubbed some warmth back into the first before swapping and doing the same to the other.

  “Can you tell how close we are?” Ruby asked Scarlett.

  “I can’t sense much,” the demon replied. “There’s some faint bit of magic not far, but I would expect more for these Glow people and their demons.”

  “Where’s the magic you can sense?”

  Scarlett looked around. Their eyes hadn’t adjusted to the darkness of the cave that was in sharp contrast to the white storm outside, but she wondered how deep the tunnel really went. She pointed along the cavern pathway and up a small amount. “That way, actually. You think the cave is part of the monk’s path?”

  “I wonder,” Ruby replied before standing up and going back outside the tunnel.

  She didn’t go far, just examining the entrance to the cave. She felt along the rocky wall for something specific. The rushing snow and its sheer brightness blinded her eyes, but her fingers had no such restrictions. She found nothing on the first side she checked, so she moved to the other. There, hidden behind layers of fallen snow was what she had searched for. Ruby wrenched it from mountainside and returned into the cave, where Scarlett waited and wondered what her master was doing. The princess held out her prize, a ragged, but altogether, same kind of flag that they had been following all that time.

  “We’re on the right path,” Ruby said with a big smile.

  Scarlett grinned as well, happy to know not only where they were going was the correct direction, but also that despite her sapped state, she was still able to accurately use her magic sense.

  The princess planted the flag back down in a soft spot in the ground inside the cave, and she walked forward into the unknown darkness of this new cavern to see what they would have to move through next. Unlike the caves she had spent eleven years dwelling inside of, this tunnel had no glowing mushrooms to light their way. Her eyes didn’t penetrate farther than twenty feet into the cave before losing out to the darkness.

  “Can you see in here?” Ruby asked her demon.

  “A bit,” Scarlett replied.

  “Can you grab a torch or something?”

  She bit her lip, feeling inside herself for her power levels. “Mmm. Better not. I could guide you, if you think that will help.”

  “I guess that will have to do. I can’t see a thing.”

  The horned demon nodded and took her princess’ hand in her own. She moved forward through the darkness, still able to see rough outlines of the rocky pathway, while Ruby trailed a bit behind her. Her demon eyes were certainly better than a human’s but that didn’t mean she saw perfectly in the black that made up that cave. She still had to move slowly, and she was careful in her step, as she guided Ruby along behind her.

  “Can you judge how far this tunnel goes?” the princess asked, fumbling forward in the dark.

  “Not sure,” Scarlett replied. “I feel the magic energy getting closer, but it’s still quite a distance away.”

  “You said the source was weak, right?” Her eyes continued to uselessly search for light in front of her.

  “Yes, I said that, but… I’m thinking weak wasn’t quite the right word.”

  Ruby stubbed a numb toe on a rock but kept moving forward. “Ow… What do you mean?”

  “It feels… old. It’s subdued and suppressed. I almost think it’s in hibernation.”

  “That sounds ominous.”

  “It feels ominous, my princess.”

  “But then where is the Glow’s monastery? Surely it would have a magic aura as well.”

  “This old energy is all I feel up here. You, me, and it. There is nothing else unless something is disguising or hiding the monks from my sight.”

  “Is that possible?”

  Scarlett thought about it for a moment. She wondered if she could shield her own magical energy from detection. The horned demon suspected that if given enough practice it should be possible, but that it would still be quite difficult. “I think so.”

  “Do you think that’s what the monks have done?”

  “I don’t know. I suppose it is possible. Either way, this path seems to be the one the monks took, so we might as well see where it takes us.”

  Ruby nodded, but when she realized no one would have seen that, replied, “Right.”

  They went on through the dark like that for some time. Scarlett felt the energy getting closer, but she no more understood what it was or what it meant. She knew enough to have her reservations about it. There was something ahead that she didn’t want to learn more about. Regardless, the horned demon pushed forward into the darkness, pulling her princess along behind her.

  The utter absence of light slowly began to recede after some immeasurable scrap of time had faded. Ruby still couldn’t make out the difference, but Scarlett’s enhanced demon eyes caught the slight change. She focused those red eyes forward through the darkness until she could spot a light at the end of the tunnel. They were almost there.

  “Not much farther,” Scarlett said.

  “Truly?” the princess replied. “Can you sense something?”

  “Nothing new, no. I can just see a light.”

  “Really?” Ruby squinted her eyes. “I see nothing.”

  “It’s there, my princess, but it is quite dim still. A few more minutes and we’ll be through.”

  Ruby was impatient. She tried to wait, but she found her feet moving faster than Scarlett was guiding her through the darkness. Two times she kicked the back of her demon’s feet with the toes of her boots, apologizing with each. She cocked her head to the side, trying to peer around where she imagined Scarlett’s head to be, but for what felt like the longest time imaginable, she saw nothing. Ruby was tired of the darkness. She’d had enough of places like that tunnel when she was eating the toxic blissroot and living an idle dream life. She wanted out in the real world, where the light was.

  Eventually, the princess’ desire was satisfied, and she could make out a very dim light like what Scarlett had described. With it, she was able to make out the contours of the horned demon at her front, guiding her steps. Ruby noted that Scarlett seemed to walk more quickly now, apparently able to see quite well with the additional light. Soon, the princess could see well enough to walk on her own. Her eagerness to leave the dark overtook her, and she moved ahead of Scarlett, releasing her grip on her demon’s hand. She was almost running by the end of the tunnel, and when she got close enough, she saw that the light was from several torches placed in sconces at either side of the cave wall. They didn’t burn with normal fire. Even with Ruby’s inaptitude for magic, she could see the torches burned from some sorcerous spell. It was when she got closer that the princess stopped to take in the scene.

  Standing between the torches, Ruby stared into a wide-open chamber built into the side of the mountain. The floor looked to be of marble or some similar resource, checkered in alternately black and white. Tall, thick pillars colored pearl white stretched to the vast ceiling overhead. A set of steps rose up to a second level further in. Doors were on the right, left, and even forward to either side of the steps, looking to lead down to what constituted a basement level. The second floor had a sort of balcony overhanging the first
and lead off to additional rooms. Similarly enchanted torches in the walls illuminated the whole chamber, giving off an artificial light that was different enough from daylight or fire light to be an irritation to the senses. The ceiling was the only proof that this room had ever been a cave. The strange light of the torches just barely lit the rocky ceiling enough to see the stalactites hanging down and casting shadows among themselves.

  The strangest part about the room, though, was that it was entirely empty of life. No soul was in sight. All of this elaborate architecture, and they were completely alone in there. Scarlett, however, had her reservations about that point due to the strange magical energy emanating from deeper within. Whatever the case, they had arrived in the Glow’s compound at the Roof of the World.

  Chapter 29. The Absent Glow

  “Where do we start?” Scarlett asked her princess.

  “We certainly have options,” Ruby replied, looking out over the dozens of doors from the main chamber. “Can you still sense that old magic?”

  The horned demon frowned. “Unfortunately, I can.”

  “Should we head in that direction?”

  Scarlett shook her head. “I think that is the one thing we should not do. Let’s avoid that if possible.”

  Ruby shrugged. “If you say so. I guess we can just look around then. Though, I’d have expected we would have seen somebody by now.”

  “Yes. There is that.” The horned demon’s eyes drifted around the massive room. “I have a very bad feeling about this place, Ruby.”

  “Well, we don’t have much choice. If we want these bracelets, we have to keep going.”

  Scarlett bit her lip. “I know, but… just be careful.”

  Ruby continued forward, the leather of her wet boots squeaking against the tiled marble floor, while her demon followed unenthusiastically along behind her. The princess picked a door almost at random and proceeded through it. The hinges of the old wooden door creaked, as she pushed it forward, and she peered down a narrow hallway. There were yet more closed doors lining the hall alternating with the same magically lit torches in sconces along the wall. The smaller nature of this area of the monastery led to some revelations. Cobwebs appeared in many of the corners and dust was prevalent on most of the surfaces. The sight would lead you to imagine no one had been there in quite some time, and you would be close to correct.