“As malaria,” I replied solemnly.
“I have your friend’s head in a vice-like grip,” the demon said. “Yet you choose to debate the veracity of my statement?”
“It’s not so much the veracity,” I began.
Gray shot me a silencing look over his shoulder. “Let the witch go.”
The demon pulled back Beth’s head for a better view of her face. “A witch, you say? Those are my absolute favorite delicacy.”
I grimaced as he proceeded to lick the side of Beth’s face with his purple tongue. Beth squirmed to get away, but she had no chance against a demon of his size.
Gray slid off the back of the mare. “Release her, Rippon,” he said, through gritted teeth.
Rippon?
The demon cocked his massive head. “Do we know each other, vampire?”
“We’ve met.” Gray cracked his knuckles. “My name is former Warden Graydon Alastair Mappleworth III. You killed my partner.”
“Prepare to die,” I finished for him. “You’ve got to add that line in. Makes the moment more dramatic.”
“I kill a lot of insects,” Rippon said. “I don’t remember you or your partner.”
“Her name was Riya,” Gray said, ambling closer to the demon. I noticed the pulsing muscle in his cheek and knew he was about to throw down. “She was a warden, like me. Better than me, actually. A good witch. A friend.”
“Well, it looks like you’ve traded up since then, former warden,” Rippon said. “Three witches for the price of one. A coven of your own. You should thank me.”
Gray’s face hardened. “Let the witch go, so you and I can settle this old score.”
“I have no score to settle with you, insect,” Rippon said. “I do as I please. I’ll kill all of you before long and make instruments with your bones.”
“Instruments?” I repeated. “I bet you’re not remotely musical. Can’t you come up with something more intimidating? Like using our bones as toothpicks?”
The demon grasped Beth’s neck with a huge hand and squeezed. Her fingers curled desperately around his hand as she began to choke.
“No!” Cerys cried. She threw out her hands, and I knew she was trying to use her earth magic, but she was still too weak. A few pebbles fell from the stone wall of the tunnel, and that was all.
We couldn’t let Beth die, not now. She’d survived all these months as a prisoner in the underworld. She deserved better.
If I could get Rippon to release Beth, then Gray would have a clear shot at him. Right now, his hands were tied, and Rippon knew it.
I jumped down from my mare and ran over to Cerys. “Hold my hand,” I said. She turned from Rudolph and clasped my hand. “Focus on your magic. We’ll pool our energy.”
“That’s right, little bugs,” the demon said. “Hold hands and pray for a painless death. That is the best I can offer you.”
“As long as you keep talking, you can rule out the painless part,” I shot back. I called to the earth around me, and then focused inward. If I could draw Cerys’s magic through me and channel it, I’d have more of an impact. My earth magic wasn’t as advanced as my roommate’s, but I felt it was our best bet right now.
I felt the energy pulse between us as the magic began to flow more freely. I concentrated on the ground beneath the demon’s feet. The earth began to shift there, like a tectonic plate. He released Beth in an effort to regain his balance—which was exactly what I wanted him to do. He reached for her, but it was too late. The earth swallowed his feet and reformed over top of them. Rippon was literally rooted to the ground.
Beth ran to us, and we helped her back on the horse. Cerys mounted the mare after her, and encouraged me to join them.
“You go ahead,” I said. “Take Rudolph. Gray and I will catch up.”
I turned around to see the earth crumbling around Rippon's feet as he wrenched them free. He was even stronger than he looked.
Gray didn’t wait. He hurled himself at the demon, a muscular cannonball. Rippon tried to grab Gray by the neck, but the vampire was too quick for him. Gray grabbed the demon’s two horns and pulled them forward.
“How’s this for a mosquito bite?” Gray said, and tried to sink his fangs into the fleshy part of the demon’s neck. He didn’t seem able to penetrate the demon’s thick skin. If he could, then I could control Rippon the way I controlled Abraxas.
I debated whether to help but decided to hold back. If Gray needed me, I was here, but this had to be his fight, to the extent possible. He needed this.
I climbed onto the horse and waited. I wanted to be ready to make our escape at a moment’s notice. We had to catch up to Cerys and Beth because I had no idea how to get out of this place.
Gray rammed the demon’s head against the wall, embedding his horns in the stone. Blood streaked their bodies, and I was seized by fear until I noticed the color was yellow. Not Gray’s blood then.
Rippon tore his head away from the wall, revealing two stubs. The rest of his impressive horns remained stuck in the wall. A bellow of rage quickly followed. When Gray staggered back, I realized that he was injured, too. I pulled out my wand and called to the earth. I had no idea what I would do or whether I should intercede at all, but I had to be ready. If Gray needed me, no way would I let him down.
Rippon rushed the vampire and they tumbled to the ground, pummeling each other in an explosion of raw fury. Gray attempted to pierce the thick red muscle of the demon over and over, yet the bites barely registered. Small wonder Riya didn’t survive her encounter with the formidable demon.
“Keep going, Morrow,” Gray choked from his position on the ground.
“I’m not leaving you behind,” I yelled, sliding off the horse’s back.
The demon’s mouth parted in a sadistic smile. He disengaged from Gray and leapt to his feet.
“Morrow, go!”
Rippon lunged for me, his wings propelling him forward. I tried to release my magic, but I was too slow. He crashed into me, and my wand went flying as we fell to the ground. The mare skittered forward, out of harm’s way. The weight of the demon crushed the air out of me, and I struggled to breathe. Ribs cracked and I heard a whimper that must’ve come from me. His body felt strangely hot, and it was then that I heard a faint sizzle.
Time seemed to move in slow motion.
His veins bulged as his body acted as a type of heat conductor, and he was using it to burn me alive. Pain seared through me, more intense than anything I’d ever felt before. I worried that if I blacked out, I’d never wake up again.
Gray’s determined face appeared over the demon’s shoulder. Then I saw the glint of metal in the dim light of the tunnel and realized that he’d taken my dagger. He hooked his arm around the demon’s neck and yanked his head upward, wincing from the potency of the heat, and thrust the dagger into Rippon's eye. The demon reared up, tossing Gray backward. I summoned my last bit of energy and scrambled away, hunting the tunnel floor for my wand. I had to inject as much power into the wand as I could manage. I crawled around until I caught sight of it against the wall. I plucked it from the ground and jumped to my feet. I gave no thought to the fact that I was somehow alive and well enough to stand, despite the serious burns. I was too focused on the sight of Gray and Rippon. Every vein in the demon’s body was bright yellow and steam emanated from his skin. Gray had pulled one of the horns from the wall and was wielding it as a weapon. There was no sign of my dagger.
I shouted as Rippon's tail whipped out from behind him, glowing with yellow heat. The tail slapped Gray hard, knocking him sideways and causing him to lose his balance.
Then Rippon pounced.
Gray writhed in agony as the demon pressed against him, scorching the vampire’s body. He lifted Gray off the ground and soared toward the ceiling, his giant wings flapping. He used Gray’s like a battering ram against the stone. I summoned the air—the water—any element that would heed my call. If I didn’t do something now, Rippon would kill him.
“Don
’t go anywhere,” Rippon told me. “When I’m finished playing with your friend, you’ll be next.”
A hurricane of magic swarmed inside me, begging for release.
“You might want to think about a patch for that eye,” I said. “No need to be self-conscious. Girls love that pirate look.”
My pulse raced when I saw that Gray’s eyes were closed, and I knew I had to strike while the demon was hot.
“Let him go, and I’ll even let you lick my cheek,” I said. “I’m kinky like that.”
Rippon lobbed Gray into the air and whacked him with his tail like the vampire was nothing more than a baseball. Gray’s limp body shot across the tunnel and landed on the hard earth.
Rippon streaked toward me, and I took aim. A wave of magic surged through me with such force that the wand jolted from my grip, and I nearly toppled over. A small tornado erupted from the ground--not spawned from wind but from the earth itself. The funnel of dirt and rocks caught the demon in its eye and began to compress. His wings and tail lashed inside, but there was no way he could fight his way out. Even his heat couldn’t save him. I focused on the magic and squeezed my hand into a fist.
The demon’s head was the first to pop, quickly followed by the rest of his body. I let go of the magic, and the funnel dissipated, rocks and dirt falling back to the ground. My body swayed, as I fought to stay on my feet. I needed every ounce of energy to get to Gray.
He was on the ground, twitching. It was awful to see him like this, but at least I knew he was still alive.
Barely.
Instinct told me what I needed to do. I was fairly certain I understood the reason that I was able to recover so quickly from the demon’s deadly attack. The reason I’d made it through this underworld relatively unscathed, despite the powerful obstacles we’d faced.
I pulled my father’s red healing stone from my pocket. I’d carried it with me this entire journey as a talisman, and I was sure it had saved my life more than once.
And now I’d use it to save Gray.
I held the stone in my hand and focused my intent. There was no bargaining with this power. No pleas for mercy. Somehow, I knew the stone required a purpose. It drew from a source of strength, not weakness. I felt its vibrational energy radiate in my palm, as it began to mingle with my own. I pressed the stone against Gray’s heart and told it to heal him. I didn’t ask. I didn’t beg. I willed it to happen.
Gray’s eyes opened, and I cried with relief.
He sat up like he’d simply been on the ground for an impromptu nap. As his burns faded, a bemused expression crossed his handsome features.
“What’s this?” he asked, looking down at the stone.
I smiled through my tears. “A gift.”
In that moment, a realization dawned on me. I’d been so fearful of the stone because of its association with my father. So ashamed of my desire to own it. The healing stone didn’t contain a malevolent energy. The stone itself was neither good nor bad, just as I was neither good nor bad.
“How do you feel?” I asked.
Gray gave the demon’s remains a final, satisfied look. “Ready to move on.” He took my hand and raised us to our feet.
Incredibly, our mare was still within sight, lingering in the distance. She’d waited for us.
As we strode toward the mare, I felt like a weight had been lifted. Gray had exorcised his demon, literally, while I had reached an understanding about my father. I had no doubt he was as evil as everyone claimed—his deeds told me everything I needed to know—but there was also another side to his story. A story no one knew. The love story that involved Volans Moldark, evil sorcerer, and Dr. Jenny Morrow, healer of humans. Whether he would’ve eventually killed us both, I’d never really know. What I did know was that my wonderful, compassionate mother had—however briefly—loved him enough to offer her heart, and, without him, I wouldn’t exist.
An overwhelming sense of peace filled me as I climbed astride the mare. I tightened my grip on Gray’s waist, as the horse bolted through the tunnel.
We’d lost our friends once. I wouldn’t let it happen again.
16
We caught up to Cerys and Beth in the most unlikely of places. The campy neon signs declared that we were in ‘Funderworld,’ a place reminiscent of ’South of the Border’ in the human world. We passed a mini-golf course, a fake windmill, a huge sombrero, a video arcade, and a variety of restaurants.
“This is not what I was expecting,” Gray said, surveying the area with a puzzled expression.
“Is it another illusion?” I asked.
“I don’t think so,” Gray said. “For starters, we’re not the only ones here.”
“I thought this was the secret passage out,” I said. “I couldn’t imagine Abraxas sneaking in and out of the underworld through here.”
“We must have missed a turn,” Gray said.
“There!” I pointed to where the other black mare was hitched to a post out front of a souvenir shop. “Cerys and Beth must be here somewhere.”
“Fancy seeing you two here,” a familiar voice said.
I looked down to see a white goat. “Clyde. I thought you were going to a hillside.”
“I decided to keep moving. I didn’t want to stay too close to that demon’s palace.” He shuddered. “Anyway, I heard travelers talking about this place. Best food this side of the border, they said.”
At the mention of food, my stomach rumbled.
“Did you find your friend?” Clyde asked.
“They did,” Cerys said.
I turned around to see the other witches, each with a cotton candy. Beth’s was blue and Cerys held a pink one. Rudolph bounded over to us, panting happily. Two tongues were blue and one was pink.
“What is this place?” Gray asked.
“Funderworld,” Beth said. “It’s the last official stop in this region before crossing back to the overworld.”
“Why is there a stop at all?” I asked. “Can’t we just get out of here?”
“Not from here,” Beth said. She handed us paper tickets with a number. “We got you these so we can cross over together. When they call your number, you go in front of the Devourer. She decides whether you pass through.”
“The Devourer?” I queried. “That doesn’t sound like someone encouraging you to leave.”
“Shouldn’t we find an easier way out?” Gray asked. “How long has everyone been waiting?”
“Not sure,” Cerys said. “But there’s plenty to do while you wait. Your number lights up when it’s your turn.”
Beth’s lips were bright blue. “You should try the candy floss. It’s amazing.”
“I’d rather get back to the academy,” I said. “Beth, what happened to the secret passageway out of here?”
“I think we made a wrong turn somewhere back there,” she said, seemingly unconcerned. “It was a little distracting.”
“If there’s time, can we do a round of mini-golf?” Cerys asked. “It’s been ages since I’ve played.”
“Is mini-golf a thing in the paranormal world, too?” I asked.
“With certain modifications,” Gray replied. “But I think we should concentrate on getting out of here. There’s no telling who we might have pissed off during our stay.”
He left the rest unspoken, but I knew what he meant—we’d killed our shares of demons and other creatures while we were down here. The AMF might forgive them as self-defense, but who knew how the underworld perceived such actions?
We secured our mare beside the other one, and joined our friends on the ground.
“How about the arcade?” Beth asked. “That seems popular.”
“Too noisy,” I said. I didn’t want to risk missing our turn with the Devourer.
“Should we get something to eat?” Beth asked. “I’m ravenous.”
I had no doubt that she was. Gray cast a sidelong glance at me. He knew how my stomach responded to the smell of food.
“I think we should steer clear o
f anything here,” I said. “I don’t want that whole pomegranate thing biting us in the butt at the last minute.”
“That’s a myth,” Beth said, and polished off the rest of her cotton candy. She tossed the stick into a nearby trash receptacle.
“We can eat whatever we want here,” Cerys chimed in. “The Devourer determines whether you can return to the overworld based on your value.”
I heard a buzzing noise, and Cerys retrieved tickets from her pocket. “Our numbers are up,” she said. “Let’s go.”
“They’re calling all four numbers at the same time?” I asked.
“I told them we were a group,” Beth said.
They marched toward a large and colorful circus-style tent, and Gray and I reluctantly followed.
“Our value?” I said, echoing Cerys’s previous statement. “What does that mean?”
“You have to prove your worth to the land of the living,” Beth said over her shoulder.
Gray and I exchanged uneasy looks. Our meeting with the Devourer sounded more like Judgment Day.
We stood at a counter where a woman checked our tickets before handing them back. “Have a seat, please,” the woman said sourly. “The Devourer will be with you shortly.”
“What happens if we don’t pass the test?” I asked the woman.
“It’s in the small print on your ticket,” she said.
“Should the Devourer find your soul wanting, she retains sole discretion as to whether to devour your heart, and cast your soul into eternal limbo. You agree to indemnify and hold the Devourer harmless from any claim, injury, damages, actions, liabilities (collectively, the ‘Claim’) arising out of or relating to any act or omission by you in connection with the Devourer’s performance.”
Gray met my astonished gaze. “What? We have lawyers in the paranormal world, too, you know.”
“And the hellbeast stays here,” the woman added.
Our heads swiveled simultaneously to Rudolph.
“Why can’t he come?” I asked.
“Because those are the rules,” the woman said.
I pretended to examine the fine print. “All the rules are written on the ticket. I don’t see any exclusions.”
Outlast: Spellslingers Academy of Magic (Warden of the West Book 3) Page 15
