The Goddess of the Underworld: The Chronicles of Arianthem VIII

by Samantha Sabian

  “I must confess,” the Goddess said, “traipsing into the Underworld is certainly daring. But you were a fool to come here alone.”

  Skye’s response was as surly as it was bold.

  “Who said I came here alone?”

  And suddenly Skye was not alone, but surrounded by six heavily armed intruders. The demon guards were surprised by two imperials as Dagna and Bristol engaged them sword to pike in a ferocious attack. An elf and a dwarf menaced Hel with their bow and axe, but before Hel could laugh at their pitiful and ineffectual attack, Idonea raised her arms and cast an ancient and malevolent spell. Red glyphs carved themselves into the ebony stone of the ground and red light split out in all directions, forming a pyramidal cage which enclosed Hel.

  “What is this?” she demanded, waving her hand as if to brush the spell aside.

  But the cage did not move. The red light sparked, then stabilized, and Idonea grounded herself to maintain the spell.

  “Ah, the dragon’s daughter,” Hel said sarcastically. “You, too, will pay for this indignity. And let me guess where you found this little spell.”

  Raine watched in amazement as the spell held against Hel’s dreadful onslaught. She recognized the cage, and silently thanked Fenrir. It was apparent that Hel also knew where the cage had come from, and how it had been thwarted. She turned to Raine.

  “You can end all of this right now by walking over here and touching this cage. I will let your friends go and we can pretend this never happened.”

  Raine wavered at this offer and Hel saw her opening. “I will even free Talan. Only you will remain here.”

  This stopped Raine in her tracks. If Hel would release her friends and her love, it would be worth it to know they were safe. She could endure anything to save Weynild.

  “She’s lying, Raine,” Elyara said softly. “She is the daughter of the father of lies. She will kill us all.”

  Hel gnashed her teeth in fury, and Raine was persuaded by Elyara’s quiet logic. She glanced to the growing tumult on the terrace of the throne room and knew that the alarm was being sounded. “You should go help Dagna and Bristol,” she said, nodding to Feyden and Lorifal, and the two disappeared, sword and axe swinging, into the brawl outside. “Idonea, can you hold her?”

  “I can,” Idonea said, gritting her teeth.

  “Then follow me,” Raine said to Skye and Elyara, returning to the shrine room.

  “You will not be able to hold me long,” Hel said disdainfully, “even now I can feel you weakening.”

  “Shut up,” Idonea said, infuriating Hel even more. There was no danger in making her mad, Idonea thought. If she was unable to hold Hel, she would be the first to die.

  Elyara gasped when she saw Talan. The wood elves worshipped the dragons, and Talan’alaith’illaria above all others. It was painful to see the elegant woman so reduced, and even more painful to know the effect this must have had on Raine.

  “Can you think of any way to get her out of here?” Raine pleaded.

  Elyara thought furiously, and she and Skye exchanged hopeless glances. A new tumult of noise attracted Raine’s attention and she ran back into the bedchambers.

  “There,” Idonea nodded at the main door, “there!”

  It was Faen, having come in the other door from the hallway, the one that was always locked. He stared in dumb disbelief at the sight of his Mistress imprisoned in a cage of light, and a handful of mortals beating a demon guard squadron to death on the terrace.

  “Faen,” Hel hissed at him, “sound the alarm! And release the Hyr’rok’kin through the gates!”

  Raine tried to catch him, but the spry demon was too fast and too close to the door. He was also driven by a fear of Raine, and an even greater fear of the Goddess, who was angrier than he had ever seen her. He sprinted back through the door from which he came, slamming it in Raine’s face. It was once again as immovable as it had always been, no matter how hard she strained against it.

  “Damn!” Raine said, then turned back into the room.

  Hel watched Faen’s departure with satisfaction. “Your window of opportunity is closing, Raine. Your mage grows weaker,” she said, nodding to Idonea. “You can free me now and take my deal, or I will destroy everyone when I break free myself.”

  Raine again wavered and Idonea shook her head. “I’ve got this Raine.”

  But the strain on Idonea’s face was evident, as was the indecision on Raine’s. She leaned through the doorway into the shrine.

  “Anything?”

  Elyara looked crestfallen and Skye morose. They both shook their heads.

  “I’ve never seen anything like this material,” Elyara said. “It’s not of the natural world. I don’t know how to free Talan.”

  A crashing noise brought Raine back out of the room and she moved to the opening to the throne room. Faen had clearly done his duty, for there were demons rushing in everywhere from the hall below. The only thing keeping the four at the top from being completely overwhelmed was the staircase was a bottleneck of sorts. Raine grabbed a pike and cleared an entire swath of the monstrosities, but they were quickly replaced by others. And an endless stream was beginning to pour through the many doors into the throne room below.

  “Raine.”

  Her name was spoken with a strained intensity, and she answered Idonea’s summons.

  “I don’t know how much longer I can hold this.”

  Raine assessed the situation. Her comrades nearly overwhelmed on the stairs, her love still trapped in the amber prison, Faen off to release the Hyr’rok’kin into the mortal realm, and Hel on the verge of being loosed. She turned back to the Goddess, but this time Hel read her expression and just laughed.

  “Oh no, my love, the deal is off the table. You had your chance, and you squandered it. Everyone here will die. Everyone except you, and you will wish for death.” As if to punctuate her threat, the red light of the cage flickered as Idonea staggered, then stabilized as she regained her balance. Hel’s eyes did not leave Raine as she smiled an evil smile. “I will fuck you on their corpses, and rape you on their graves.”

  “Well, isn’t that a pleasant sentiment.”

  A portal flashed into existence and a beautiful woman with long white hair strolled through it into the room. Before Idonea had time to determine if Ingrid’s presence was a good or bad thing, to guess whether the sorceress had come to help or to commit her final betrayal, Ingrid answered with her actions. She threw up her hands, added her dark power to the spell, and Hel was again fully contained. The Goddess fairly sputtered with rage.

  “You! YOU!”

  Ingrid cast an admiring glance at Idonea’s heaving bosom. “You still owe me,” her gaze flicked to Skye who stood in the doorway, looking at her with boundless gratitude. “And I would miss my monthly romp with my little Tavinter.”

  The Goddess had once terrified the sorceress, and in a way, still did. But when one was facing almost certain death, resignation tended to muffle fear. She ignored the fury of the being she was now helping to hold in check. “I don’t suppose you have anything else up your sleeve?” Ingrid asked, “otherwise we’re going to die, and that one’s going to get raped on our graves,” she said, nodding to Raine.

  “Fortunately, Isleif and your little Tavinter had a Plan B,” Idonea said, still wrestling to contain Hel.

  Drakar and Kylan stood before the opened Gates of Hel, watching the Hyr’rok’kin army begin to pour forth into the red and black courtyard. They were still under the ephemeral spell, still in human form, arms crossed, watching the horde vomit from the Underworld.

  “I guess that answers our question as to how we’re going to get the gates opened,” Drakar said.

  “Yes,” Kylan said, her sarcasm evident. “One problem solved.”

  “And I’m also guessing we should prepare ourselves to be released from this spell.”r />
  “Right again, my handsome boy.”

  The tumult on the terrace was unabated. There were screams of pain and fury, the clanging of metal on shield, the curses and roars of Lorifal, the exclamations of Bristol and Dagna. Skye and Elyara joined the battle on the staircase, the Tavinter adding her unmatched archery skill and Elyara her magic. Still, it was clear to Raine that Ingrid’s arrival had merely delayed the inevitable, for Hel still strained against the cage, making headway against the power of the two mages.

  The courtyard was now full. It seemed that every demon in the Underworld was in the great hall, drawn to the plight of their Mistress and in a blood lust to kill the intruders. Whoever struck down these interlopers surely would be rewarded beyond imagination. Skye was forced to switch to her sword when one large demon forced his way past Bristol and engaged her directly. She danced out of his way, using misdirection and speed to counteract his much greater brute strength.

  “Ah, you are a nimble little thing. I will try to just wound you in hopes the Goddess will give you to me.” He leaned back with a leer. “Maybe just cut off your legs at the knees, still leave all the good parts.”

  Skye shoved him back in disgust, but he pressed forward once more, his foul breath in her face. He used the throng around her to pin her against the wall, raising his bloody axe to carry out his threat.

  “A handful of mortals,” the demon sneered. “You should never have come to the Underworld alone.”

  “I’ll say it again,” Skye said between clenched teeth, “what makes you think I came alone?”

  An explosion of light filled the throne room, and three swords materialized in the body of the demon, one held by the Dallan, the Princess of the Ha’kan, Rika, her future First General, and Torsten, Skye’s second-in-command. The demon could not process this impossibility, and died before any of it sunk in. Dallan wrenched her sword from his body and turned it on the stunned adversaries surrounding her, as did her First General, her Ranger, and her friend.

  Similarly, demons died throughout the great hall, impaled by the weapons that materialized as their warriors did. The throne room was filled with Alfar soldiers and Tavinter rangers, all fighting close quarters and using their element of surprise to devastating effect. The demons screamed and ran, trampling over one another in their panic, for they were trapped and surrounded by the army that had appeared.

  The Hyr’rok’kin in the red and black courtyard were similarly surprised by the two enormous dragons that appeared right in front of them. And if that was not enough to sow terror, when the two dragons took flight, they revealed an army of imperials and Ha’kan behind them. On each flank, a regiment of dwarves appeared, the heavily armored soldiers letting loose their fierce battle cry.

  Senta, First General of the Ha’kan, looked across the courtyard to Nerthus, Knight Commander of the Imperial Realm. They nodded grimly to one another, and Senta raised her sword.

  “Charge!”

  The din in the throne room had increased exponentially, and Raine looked askance to Idonea.

  “Skye hid an army,” Idonea said, shrugging. “Actually, two. We left one in the courtyard to stop the Hyr’rok’kin.”

  Despite their desperate situation, Raine had to grin. Leave it to Isleif and Skye to do the impossible. That old wizard had seen far into the future.

  “But,” Idonea said, the fatigue in her voice evident, “we have a problem.”

  Hel had stood quietly, utilizing every bit of her strength to fight against the barrier. She smiled an evil smile at this latest pronouncement.

  “You’re losing her,” Raine said.

  “We cannot contain her much longer.”

  And that would end everything, Raine thought. If Hel joined the fight, all would be lost. She could freeze mortals in their tracks, annihilate swaths of troops with a wave of her hand, bind her with those hideous dark tendrils while she watched everything she loved destroyed.

  It is time.

  The voice whispered in her head, the low, husky voice of one she loved. She closed her eyes as the silken tones caressed her ear, and she could feel the breath of her love on the nape of her neck. It was the voice of one who had seen further than anyone, an Ancient Dragon whose sight into the future was unmatched, a vision that Raine had held close and followed from the day they met.

  It is time.

  A dramatic change came over Raine. For the first time since Idonea had seen her in the Underworld, the warrior looked herself again. She stood up to her full height, her shoulders squared, the blue and gold markings rose on her skin, and her eyes were a flint-like blue. The only thing that frightened Idonea was the look of absolute resignation on her features. She walked from the room to find Skye.

  An area had been cleared around the Tavinter, her friends having defended her then provided space for her to rest. Idonea’s and Skye’s contributions were equal, the difference being in intensity. Skye had maintained the invisible and ephemeral spells for days, releasing them only for brief periods, whereas Idonea was expending everything she had in a matter of minutes. It was hard to say which was more difficult: hiding an entire army, or restraining an angry god.

  Dallan had kept a close eye on her beloved friend, and saw when Raine approached her. It was good to see the Scinterian warrior, but the look on her face concerned Dallan. And when Skye and Raine engaged in an intense conversation, with much distraught gesturing on Skye’s part and calm insistence on Raine’s, Dallan tried to move closer to overhear. It was evident that whatever Raine was telling Skye deeply distressed her, but she could only hear snippets of the conversation.

  “You cannot ask me to do that!”

  Raine put her hands on Skye’s shoulders. “You must do this. When I give the signal, you cannot hesitate or all is lost. Trust me.”

  Skye was unhappy, that much was clear, and Raine walked stoically back to the doorway of Hel’s bedchambers, casually killing two demons bare-handed on her way. She stood in the entrance, every once in a while glancing over her shoulder to judge the retention of the Goddess.

  The dragons rained down fire and ice upon the hapless Hyr’rok’kin as the troops were trapped on three sides by the enemy, and to the rear by their own. The surprise attack had been enormously effective, and the bodies of the filthy beasts were strewn about and the red and black courtyard was now mostly red with spilled blood.

  Still, the Hyr’rok’kin army greatly outnumbered their foes, and they continued to march through the gates in never-ending numbers. Although the Ha’kan, imperials, and dwarves had been chosen for their size and strength to hold the courtyard, they were slowly losing ground to the infinite horde. Senta assessed their situation grimly. They could fight the Hyr’rok’kin for hours, keep them from breaking or penetrating their ranks, but even so, they would eventually be pushed clear across the courtyard and trapped against the outer gates.

  Finally, Idonea and Ingrid could hold the Goddess no more, and the red cage exploded outwards in a blinding flash of red light. Hel lifted both women with a wave of her hand and flung them across the room as if they were rag dolls. Raine raised her hand, giving the signal to Skye, but Raine’s heart fell when she saw Skye hesitate.

  Hel threw out her hand in fury, immobilizing Raine.

  “I don’t know what you think you’re going to do,” the Goddess said, “but you’re not going anywhere.”

  She raised her hand again, and swept an entire cohort of elves from the terrace.

  “But everyone else is going to die.”

  An enormous wolf sprang through the doorway past Raine, and leaped upon the Goddess. His great jaws closed upon her neck and his claws stabbed her through the midsection. She shrieked in fury and pain, a noise so horrible it caused all who heard it to tremble.

  The paralysis fled, and Raine could again move. She had the momentary hope that Fenrir could defeat Hel, possibly even kill her, but t
hat was quickly dashed. Hel flung the wolf god to the side much as she had flung Idonea and Ingrid across the room.

  But his attack had done some damage, and Hel staggered, even went to one knee before she pulled upright once more. Raine saw Idonea stir.

  “Idonea,” Raine called out, “can you cast the spell again?”

  Idonea was dizzy and disoriented, and she tried to understand what had happened. Something had struck Hel a terrible blow. Ingrid began to stir at her side.

  “Perhaps together we can.”

  Hel assessed the situation and determined she was not going back in the cage. Even wounded, everything was in her favor and she spelled this out for Raine.

  “If you leave,” she said, her words dripping with venom. “I will kill Talan. And then I will come for you. And regardless, I will punish every single being who has been a part of this sacrilege.”

  And with that, the Goddess of the Underworld turned and entered the realm of the dead.

  “No!” Idonea cried out, casting the spell, but too late. Hel’s transparent form could be seen walking through the bedroom, then out the doorway exiting to the garden.

  Raine sighed. Hel’s words were true. She would never give up, and Raine had always known this would end in only one way. She looked fixedly at Skye.

  Dallan saw the strange, brooding look from Raine, and turned to Skye. Very slowly, the Tavinter raised her bow and aimed straight at Raine. She had tears running from her eyes.

  “No!” Dallan screamed, realizing what was about to happen.

  Skye loosed the arrow, it flew true, and impaled Raine right through the heart. The arrow protruded from her torso as she looked down, fell to her knees, and then collapsed, dead.

  “Skye!” Dallan screamed again. She ran over to her friend. “What are you doing? Why would you do that?”

  Skye swallowed hard, tears still streaming down her face.

  “Because she told me to.”

  Idonea and Ingrid both stared at the impossibility before them, and Fenrir buried his great head in his paws. Raine lay dead on the floor, the arrow sticking out of the chest that no longer rose and fell. Despite the noise of the battle outside the room, it was suddenly very, very quiet in the bed chamber.