“Fuck!” I swore. I searched among the bodies for Stella, moving piles of flesh and bones. “Stella!” I screamed, out of my mind with desperation. Who knew what kind of infernal creature had brought the party to an end in that black bloodbath? Why hadn’t Vargan defended her?! There was no trace of him either. Could he be dead?
A grunt interrupted my thoughts. It was Gurdan, lying facedown on the ground. I rushed to him. He wasn’t dead. None of those present were, otherwise they would have disintegrated. That was why not finding Stella among the bodies was even more ominous.
The ogre’s hand had been chopped off but his fingers were already growing back. “Gurdan, talk to me! What happened?! Where’s Stella?”
“Kahlena hit.” He gurgled something in his own language that I didn’t understand.
“What do you mean ‘hit’? Where is she?” I shook him by the shoulders and he put something in my hands. It was my dog tag, the one I’d given Stella . . . and it was covered with black blood.
I couldn’t accept that she had disintegrated. Ada had said she’d been taken. “Who did this to you?”
“I did.”
The voice turned my body to ice. Kreeshna.
I whirled around and the Witch smiled at me, her expression smug. Blind with rage, I strode to her and shoved her against a tree. “Where is she?!” I snarled. “What did you do to her?!”
“I invited her to a much larger party,” she said, her expression shrewd.
“You try to hurt her and I’ll hunt you down to the very heart of Hell.”
The Witch’s smile grew even wider. “Sounds amusing.”
“Tell me where she is!” I shouted. “Let her go.”
The Witch shook her head. “Freedom has its price.”
“I’ll go with you,” I promised. “I’ll fight for you.”
“Of course you will. You know, your Kahlena did a good job hiding. I might never have tracked her down. But did you really think I wouldn’t find you? Your soul belongs to me.” The Witch touched her Dreide complacently. Each Witch collected in her medallion the purest essence of the Subterraneans she claimed. That was where she had trapped a piece of my soul. The relic lit up, reminding me she was right. The moment I had received the Kiss of Darkness I had become one of her slaves and she had become my Amìsha.
“You led me to her,” she went on, “and now she’s going to lead you back to me. Your next battlefield is Hell. Good luck, Child of Eve. If we meet again, you’ll be my Champion.” The Witch disappeared with a sneer on her lips as her voice filled my mind: Your first challenge begins now.
With a howl of desperation I smashed my fist into the tree trunk over and over again until my hands were covered with blood. “Stellaaa!!!” My scream shook the forest. Even the most fearsome of the Damned would be smart to steer clear of me.
I climbed the outer rock wall of the cave as lightning bolts lit up the sky overhead. I dragged myself to the top, a height not even the massive trees dared challenge. In the distance, the lightning branched, becoming an electric spiderweb ready to catch me. The Witches generated the lightning, so the Castle had to be right there. If Stella was in their clutches, I was prepared to let myself be captured.
I slid down the rock and grabbed hold of some vines. I had to return to the cave before setting out. Once inside, I collected a bow and arrows, daggers, ropes, and all the other equipment I could carry.
The rock sealing off the door to the cave rumbled aside and a giant walked in, stooping as he crossed the threshold.
“Princess save warrior girl. Gurdan help.”
In other circumstances I would have laughed at his clumsy attempt to help me, but I was done joking. “You can’t come with me.” I looked him up and down. “You’re injured.”
“Gurdan come.” The ogre stepped forward as a sign of his determination.
“The Witches will kill you,” I insisted.
“Then Gurdan die.”
I looked at him steadily. He showed no signs of fear or hesitation. He came over to the counter and with a single hand picked up half of the weapons in Stella’s arsenal. “I carry weapons,” he said to convince me.
“All right, then. After all, you could come in handy.”
He nodded and together we left the cave. Gurdan sealed off the entrance with the boulder and then followed my gaze, looking up at the sky.
“We’ll follow the lightning. It’ll lead us to the Castle,” I told him. “Hang in there, Stella,” I murmured to myself. “I’m coming to get you.”
A lightning bolt lit up the sky over our heads, sealing my promise.
STELLA
11
A Reason for Everything
My first instinct as I came to was to grab my daggers, but they were gone. I opened my eyes and saw the world upside down. I was dangling by my feet and below me Hell was whizzing by. Suddenly it all came back to me. I had been captured by the Witches, and now one of them was taking me somewhere on her Saurus.
I bent double at the waist and touched the rope binding my feet. The poison it was impregnated with instantly burned my fingers. My leather gloves only protected my palms, but I didn’t let go. I pulled with all my might, silently hoisting myself up onto the animal’s massive back. It was enormous, like a dragon. I had never touched one. Its hide wasn’t as tough as it looked.
Freeing myself from the ropes, I flung them over the Saurus’s back into the void. The Witch didn’t seem to have noticed my movements. Her silver hair streaked with black flowed behind her in the wind. I spotted my daggers in one of the sacks tied to the beast’s side and cautiously leaned over. Once I had them in my hands I did a backflip and pointed the blades in the Witch’s direction, but she had disappeared. I spun around and she smiled at me craftily.
“Good morning, warrior girl.” Her pupils lengthened, as blue as pole stars.
“I’m not impressed.” I launched an attack but she skillfully dodged my blows.
She kicked me and I toppled off the Saurus, managing just in time to catch hold of a length of the rope that was still dangling from the animal. Skilled with vines, I swung myself up and landed on top of the Witch. She grabbed me by the legs and flung me onto the animal’s back, pointing my own daggers at my throat. I glared at her defiantly.
The Witch smiled. “I wish I could keep playing with you, but we’ve arrived.”
I turned and the Castle loomed up before me, dark and immense. The Saurus reared up and flew to the top of a tower. It landed and the Witch slid off its back. The rope came to life, binding my wrists and jerking me down.
A shiver crept up my legs as I looked around. The tower was the Sauruses’ nest, and the giant winged beasts were perched in their stalls. They were majestic, with their black wings. Their mighty claws and barbed tails made them the finest guards anyone could ask for. And they were surrounding us. I looked for a possible means of escape, but could see no way out. Not yet.
The Witch laughed, recalling my attention. “There’s a reason you’re here. No escape plan could ever work.”
My eyes went wide. The Witch was reading my mind.
A huge gate opened before us. “That’s just one of the little tricks I can do. Want to see another?” All at once I felt myself being slammed into the wall. My back hit the stone so hard it knocked all the air out of me. I tried to move but found I was glued to the wall, my feet not even touching the ground. I looked at the Witch, who hadn’t moved an inch. She flashed me a smile and in the blink of an eye was right in front of me. Her blue eyes glimmered as they lengthened like a serpent’s while her irises extended over the whites. A hiss made my black blood run ice cold. An actual serpent slithered out from beneath her skin and fixed its hooded eyes on me.
“Be good now,” she warned me. “We’ll play some more later.” She released me from her spell and I fell to the ground. Before I could get up she pulled me along after her. She made her way through the gate and the darkness swallowed us up. “Welcome to your last home. No one leaves the Ca
stle alive.”
No. I would never give up hope. And it wasn’t true. Drake had managed to escape, after all.
The Witch laughed again, still dragging me behind her. “There’s a reason for that too.” My mouth fell open when I realized the meaning of what she had just said. Drake hadn’t really escaped on his own. The Witches had allowed him to. But why?
The gate closed behind me, sealing me inside.
12
Kahlena
Two young women took me by the arms. They wore matching brown combat outfits and each had an intricate tattoo on one arm. They looked strong and highly trained, but they weren’t Witches. They were Mizhyas, their slaves. Or, as we called them in the Copse, “she-warriors.”
Following the Witch, they led me through various areas of the Castle. Some were well lit and elegant while others were horrifying, full of instruments of torture and cages hanging from the ceiling. I wondered whether they were showing me those on purpose. When we entered a grim-looking stone tunnel I realized we were nearing our destination. The passageway ended in front of a cell. The bars withdrew almost as though afraid of the Witch.
“Let me go!” I struggled to break free of the she-warriors’ grip.
“As you wish.” The Witch motioned to the two Mizhyas and they shoved me inside.
“Nausyka! You’ve brought her.”
I instantly recognized the new voice and a fire burned inside me. She was the one who had raided the party and slaughtered everyone. It was Kreeshna, the Witch who had subjugated Drake. The same one who had damned me to Hell by seducing me with her promises.
“You were right,” Nausyka said. “She’s perfect.”
I spat at the Witch’s feet, my menacing gaze locked on hers. She, however, simply smiled. “I like your temperament. You could be an interesting resource. You just need a little discipline.” All at once, leather straps gripped my wrists and ankles, lifting me off the ground.
I screamed in pain as the ropes attached to them pulled taut, threatening to tear me limb from limb. “Let me go!”
Kreeshna came closer, her face inches from mine. “I might, but you’ll have to give me something in return.”
I frowned. What could she possibly want from me?
The Witch gazed through the bars on the window, which overlooked a courtyard where the Mizhyas were uttering war cries and battling like Amazons. “You’d make a perfect Mizhya. Join us and you’ll be free to serve us. What do you say, warrior girl? We repay loyalty very generously.”
Her presumption made me snort. “You’ve got a strange notion of freedom.”
“Serving us is a privilege—you’ll soon realize that. Until then, enjoy your stay.” The Witch turned her back on me and the cell bars slammed shut, trapping me inside. I screamed at the top of my lungs, but the only reply was my own echo.
I hated the Witches because they had damned me to Hell. And now I was their prisoner. They had taken my soul, but I wasn’t about to grant them my loyalty. No matter what kind of torture was in store for me, I would never bend to their will. I was Kahlena, warrior of the Grimash tribe.
I looked out the window where the army of she-warriors was now performing a synchronized war march. Hell had forged me. Soon its queens would regret it.
DRAKE
13
In the Middle of Hell
You led me to her. The Witch’s words tormented me as we made our way across a rocky wasteland in search of the Castle. Gurdan was behind me, occasionally letting out grunts.
How had I ever thought I could hide from Kreeshna? I couldn’t forgive myself. I’d gone out to find Stella and protect her, but instead I’d put her in danger and now she was in the Witches’ hands.
A raven flying overhead cawed as though reproaching me too. Or at least I thought it was a raven. When I saw it alight and hang upside down from a branch I wasn’t so sure any more.
What on earth could the Witches want with Stella?
And now she’s going to lead you back to me. Kreeshna’s voice in my head gave me the answer. It was obvious. The Witch wanted me. She wanted me to fight in the Opalion and win the third trial, the one against one of her Sisters’ Champions. That way she would win the title of Queen of the Opalion. A fleeting honor, given that the Witches held Games pretty much every other day. Challenges turned them on, inciting constant rivalry among them.
But if Kreeshna wanted me, why abduct Stella? Why not just capture me and throw me into the Arena again? Whatever her reasons, this time I would fight to the death to free Stella, even at the cost of serving those harpies forever. I had put Stella in danger, and now I had to make things right.
A sudden noise made me turn around. I went over to the rocks, certain I would find something hidden there, but I was wrong. After one last glance around, I started walking again. We had to be careful. Hell was full of creatures willing to do anything to ensure their next meal, and I had no intention of ending up in the belly of some infernal beast. Not before I’d saved Stella.
Gurdan stopped in his tracks and I almost collided with him.
“What’s up?”
“Shh.”
He reached out his huge hand, picked up a giant rock from the ground, and studied it closely. Then he sniffed it.
“You hungry, big guy? We don’t have time for a snack break.”
Gurdan tossed the rock over his shoulder, almost hitting me, then picked up another and started sniffing again. The area around us was full of rocks, so I hoped he didn’t mean to smell them all. Before I could figure out what he was doing, he tapped on the one in his hand and started to tickle it. Just when I was about to tell him to stop kidding around, the rock let out a yelp. Seconds later it came to life, unable to resist Gurdan’s tickling.
“It’s you.” I should have known. Stella’s stone teddy bear had followed us. “Scram! Go away!”
Gurdan rested him on the ground and shooed him away with his hands. Tricu looked at me and his eyes grew incredibly large, taking on an endearing expression.
I groaned with exasperation. “Oh, do what you want, I don’t care. I can’t waste any time. We need to get moving.” The ogre nodded and walked after me.
I had no idea where the Castle was. We continued to follow the lightning bolts in the sky, hoping they would lead us to Stella, but we never seemed to get anywhere. And yet it couldn’t be so far away.
“We’ve got to climb higher,” I said, not waiting for a reply.
We’d skirted a huge rocky mountain, but it was time to climb it. Just as I began to scale the boulders the sound of an explosion made me flinch. I looked down but all I saw was a wave of pebbles that were rolling up the rock as though possessed. I watched them as they passed me and disappeared above us. Tricu let out a grunt from the peak. It was him. Apparently, he not only had the power to summon the rocks around him so he could grow bigger—like I’d seen him do in Stella’s cave—but he could break down into smaller pieces too.
Gurdan’s foot slipped and he clung to a rocky ledge to avoid falling.
“Hold on tight!” I shouted, going back down to help. Taking out a rope, I tied it around his waist. “Tricu, catch!” I threw it toward the peak. The stone teddy bear caught it in his teeth and struggled to pull the ogre up. Finally Gurdan regained his footing and Tricu released his grip, letting the rope fall down the mountainside.
“No!” I tried to grab it, but lost my balance and felt myself falling backwards. “Shit!” All at once a slab of rock jutted out of the mountainside, breaking my fall. I looked up at Tricu and shot him a gesture of thanks. He let out a yelp. He’d saved my ass. I resumed the climb and finally reached the top, right after Gurdan.
Standing on the summit, I let out a sigh of discouragement. Not even from there could we see the Castle. “Come on. We’ve got a long way to go.” A thump was the only reply. The ogre had plopped down, shaking the ground.
“Gurdan tired.”
I groaned. We didn’t have time to rest. Tricu rolled over to me. “What
do you want? You tired too?” I asked him. He opened his mouth and spat out some prey he’d been hiding inside it. I stared at him, bewildered. “What are you, a hamster?”
Gurdan threw himself onto his back. The long climb had worn him out.
“Oh, all right,” I said, giving in. “After all, we do need to eat. Just stay away from me, okay?” I warned the stone teddy bear. He had begun to trot around me as I started a fire.
After eating, Gurdan fell into a deep sleep from which it was impossible to wake him. Damn it. There was no time to lose. Stella might be in danger.
Tricu rolled over to me. He was pretty small now, but I knew he could morph into a boulder in the blink of an eye. “She means a lot to you, doesn’t she?” The stone teddy bear gurgled. “I’ll take that as a yes. We’ll find her,” I reassured him. Or maybe I wanted to reassure myself. There was no guarantee Kreeshna would agree to let Stella go even if I won the Opalion for her. Maybe the Witch was just jealous and had already killed her. I bent my knees, pulling my legs in toward me as I ran a hand over my face, banishing the thought.
No. Stella was still alive. She had to be. I would never give up, even if it meant turning Hell upside down to find her. Then the Opalion would have a new Champion.
14
Hell Has Its Flames
Something tickled my back, waking me from a nightmare. I looked around, suddenly alert. Gurdan was still snoring, while Tricu was standing guard. No one was around, but I could still feel something right beneath me.
When I lifted my legs I saw it: something was burrowing through the ground, raising small ridges of earth that moved quickly in our direction. There were hundreds of them and they had surrounded us. Tricu backed up toward us, growing larger and larger until he was as big as a car.
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