by K. F. Breene
“Why would they want to go in there?” I whispered.
Trade. Communicating. Buying goods. Staying out of the elves’ kingdom. There are a few reasons, different for each species.
“Shifters?”
Cannot go through.
“Elves?”
Of course, but they almost never do. They have their reasons, one of them being that they don’t want to intrude upon Lucifer’s territory. Just as they don’t want him intruding upon theirs unless he is expressly invited. That is the reason Vlad is trying to recruit Lucifer—he stands equal to the elves in might and power. Lucifer would greatly increase Vlad’s chances of overthrowing the elves’ rule. Come, let’s get ready. Our real journey is about to begin.
Darius glanced behind him while unslinging the backpack. In the distance, walking toward us, was a large creature with horns twisting up from its head.
“Is there anywhere else it could be going?” I asked as I unslung my backpack. I followed Darius’s lead and took out the scaly leather suit.
You saw yourself. There is nothing much in this direction. No. It will be coming in behind us. We’d best hurry and stay ahead of it so it doesn’t get a good look at us.
The leather was lined with a soft material, smooth on the skin. The outfit itself wasn’t nearly as stiff as I might have expected, and judging by the material of the scales, and the hum of magical vibration I felt around me, it must’ve cost a pretty penny. A team of mages had probably made it, though the spells were muffled somehow. I couldn’t feel what they were for, and didn’t want to prod them too much in case I messed them up.
“Is the collection of spells in this suit necessary? I’m worried my magic will unravel it.” I pulled a cap out of the backpack and frowned. It would go over my head and face. After realizing Darius had one too, I shrugged and put it on. It couldn’t look much weirder than a human wandering around the underworld.
The silk velvet lining will protect the suit from you, as long as you don’t actively try to unravel the spells. The suits are supposed to repel attention, making us invisible. If a being forces their focus to stay on you—us—the spells woven into the suits will hopefully fool the onlooker into thinking we are demon-type creatures.
“So, they are necessary.”
I can’t say what is or is not necessary. Not without seeing for myself. They might not work down there at all. Ja said magic fluxes. I don’t know what to expect.
He knew a lot better than I did. Then again, he was a planner. I usually did just fine flying by the seat of my pants.
I reattached my new pouch, feeling a small twinge of guilt for liking it just as much as—if not maybe a little more than—the older one. The older one was just so scarred and stained. Not to mention the shape was not much better than a lumpy pillow. Poor old pouch.
Are you okay? Darius faced me, his gaze delving into mine.
“Can you feel my emotions?”
Some of them, yes. If they are strong enough. You feel guilty and sad. What is the matter?
“Why can’t I feel yours? I’m starting to think I got hosed. Except for the speed and visibility, that is. And the memory. Those are awesome.”
His brow furrowed, his eyes and a slice of his forehead the only things visible through his mask. You seem to be blocking the bond somewhat, as well as some of your powers. He shook his head. We can’t dwell on that now. We must get underground.
“Okay. Well.” I strapped on my gun and sword. “Let’s do it. I’m ready.”
Darius nodded and took my arm, walking me forward. He glanced behind us before picking up the pace. As we reached the blood-red fire burning in the air, I felt him hesitate for a brief moment before stepping through.
Prickles of heat and stabs of cold covered my body. A tunnel opened up before us, about ten feet long and surging with fire on all sides. Pulsing through the middle, attached at the top, were icicles, the points glistening and sharp, extending and retracting.
“Don’t come through here; we get it.” I stuck out my hand to touch the fire. The sweet heat glanced off my skin in a familiar way. “I wouldn’t touch that—”
I cut off the words as Darius ran his hand through the fire. His lips tweaked, threatening a smile. It is painful, but pleasantly so. Is this how you feel?
“Yep. You’re welcome. Except that fire isn’t overly hot. If that hurts, I wouldn’t go skipping through a more intense flame. You’ll burn your skin off.”
This is a mighty gift. I wonder if the potency of hellfire will be diminished as well.
I just shook my head. He was punch-drunk. A quick taste of the fire I’d spoken of would be enough to dampen his excitement.
We made it to the end of the tunnel. The ground dropped away sharply, leaving us standing in the air above an enormous cavern. Giant stalactites reached down from the rocky ceiling. Turning around wasn’t exactly an option, because as soon as we reached the end, the tunnel behind us disappeared, cutting out the light from the fire. Below us, small hovels dotted the way, demons or other creatures moving between and around them. A drop of water fell past my face, dripping from the rocky ceiling high above. A small stream ran through an outcropping of frozen rock to our right, the glimmer like moving diamonds.
“How do you suppose we get down?” I asked, feeling my power pulsing even stronger than in the Realm. “Should I get us down?”
No. Do not use your power if at all possible. That suit is supposed to disguise your magic, but the mages were operating under the impression of a normal magic user, which you are not. Using your power might act as a beacon for your kind.
My kind. Great. That just had to be said.
“Fine. Then…let’s…” I took a step forward and tipped, windmilling my arms to keep from falling headfirst to my death. Darius pulled me back. My heel hit off an invisible edge.
Back under control, I dangled my foot down and met a ledge. I stepped down with a smile. “Tricky. We’re on an invisible staircase. How many people have they killed with this little ruse?”
It seems as though they want only the experienced to come through.
“Experience is something you gain right after you need it.”
So it would seem.
We started down slowly, me with much windmilling and exaggerated steps, him smoothly and gracefully, as though he made a habit of walking out of the sky on invisible steps of differing sizes.
The fire and ice tunnel suddenly spilled light down onto us. That creature had to be coming through. The light shimmered off the wide staircase and highlighted the railings at the sides. Landings broke up the decline every so often, so I wouldn’t have tumbled far before landing in a heap on my face.
“Tricky,” I said again as my power surged. Not thinking, I let a small amount of fire run down the steps from my feet. Next I sent a pulse of frost the same way, just to see what would happen.
The stairs within the sphere of magic glittered to life, shining like marble. The railing glowed and gleamed, solid gold.
“Wow,” I breathed as Darius grabbed my arm.
I said not to use your power.
“Sorry.” I cut it off, pitching us once again into darkness. “But wasn’t that fantastic? I wish I could light the whole staircase up. I bet my dad does, just to create a scene. Why else have the ability?”
Darius glanced behind us, worried about the traveler on our heels. He—or she, it was hard to say—clicked on a light, the sound echoing down to us. The glittering stairs shone in the beam of light. Everything outside of the small beam stayed hidden.
“Ah. A secret flashlight. Clearly Ja didn’t fill you in on that.”
He didn’t comment.
We hurried along, trusting that the invisible steps would meet our feet.
A drip plunked onto the center of my head. I looked up at the rocky ceiling far above, a usual reaction to something falling on me when it wasn’t raining. Another drop splashed against my suit-covered cheek.
Near the bottom, we descended b
etween jagged rocks like the ones we’d seen near the gate. These looked even more treacherous, though, replete with sharp edges and points. Falling into them would be a good way to tear yourself up.
“So far, besides the stairwell when lit, this place is not welcoming.”
Not at all. It has lived up to my expectations.
“Mine, too, and that is a real bummer.”
The stairwell deposited us onto a dull gray rock path, pockmarked and uneven. It was wide enough for four people to walk abreast, or two people and Darius, with his big shoulders, so there was enough room to avoid the unwelcoming rocks lining the way. Those rocks tapered into a fine edge at the top, and while I could probably get over them without killing myself, it would hurt a lot, not to mention torment my boots.
“I don’t like that they’re trying to keep us on a select path. Will there be a test to see if we’re worthy to be here, like with that stairwell?”
Darius shook his head, his eyes hard. That meant he was anxious. And that was a very bad sign.
Chapter Thirteen
We walked along the path, the ground gradually sloping upward. Behind us, the other traveler still had their light trained on the ground, revealing the same thing I could see with my bare eyes.
The hovels and movement we had seen from the stairs were obscured by rising crags all around us. They hadn’t looked so big from above, or maybe I had misjudged them. Whatever the reason, they blocked our sight now, making it impossible to see what we were walking into.
A path intersected ours, nearly identical. Darius hesitated, clearly not knowing which direction would be best.
“Left,” I blurted without meaning to. Darius swung his gaze to me, his eyes assessing. “Unless this was on the map?”
He shook his head. We did not come in the way the map suggested. I did not trust it.
I nodded, because that was wise. We started walking to the left, slow and steady. I had a firm suspicion something would jump out at us, and that it wouldn’t be long now.
“The map is in your pack, right?” It was a rhetorical question, since I remembered seeing it in there, which meant Moss hadn’t trusted me to navigate. Before my memory upgrade, that would’ve been wise. “We should stop and have a peek when we can.”
Only the edges near the entrance the demon had chosen were clearly defined. We need to find our way across the river, then we will have more information.
“We are ridiculously underprepared for this,” I muttered, not seeing any approaching change in scenery.
Yes.
Sometimes I wished he wasn’t so habitually truthful.
“How big is this place?” I whispered.
As large as the Realm, but finite, like the Brink.
“What does that mean?”
The size is similar to the Realm, but as we can see, there are definable edges. The Realm, on the other hand, has strange pockets and weird fluxes that seem to go on for infinity. And they might. Creatures have wandered in and never come out.
I had not known that. And now I never wanted to run around there again without knowing exactly where I was going. Knowing me, I’d probably trip into one of those pockets.
A presence ahead of us, out of sight around the rocky bend, pressed on me in a weird way, throbbing in my middle and telling me to get lost. Usually my intuition told me to get ready for a fight. Not this time. I wanted to tuck my tail between my legs and run.
“Okay.” My voice was so soft, I could barely hear it. I pulled his arm back the way we’d come. “Maybe this way was…”
The thought of going back made me freeze up. It felt like a worse idea than staying.
Crap. What was happening? Was I second-guessing myself, or was this a totally screwed-up situation?
Let’s hope it’s just second-guessing, I thought.
“We are going to need to go slow and keep our eyes open,” I whispered. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
Remember, he thought, we have the suits.
He even sounded confident in his thoughts. How was the guy always so sure of himself?
I felt my sword pressing against my back comfortingly. Going on a killing spree wasn’t a great idea—it would be like putting up a billboard directing everyone to notice me—but if something came at me, I would take it out. No way would I allow something to kill or capture either of us.
After another ten feet, the urge to about-face and sprint away vibrated through my body. I took a deep breath, only then realizing there was still air. Not that it mattered at the moment.
I put out my hand, directing Darius to the side of the path, keeping as close to the jagged and treacherous rocks as I could. Voices floated toward us. I couldn’t make out the words. I couldn’t pick up on any stray thoughts, either. Scratchy and deep, the sounds were almost animalistic.
Darius put a hand on my shoulder. I paused, thinking he wanted me to stop.
You are unpredictable in tight situations, he thought. I can better monitor you by touch.
Ah yes. He’d told me that once before. Whatever worked.
I continued forward, feeling a warning itch at my back. Not eyes, like I was being watched, but like an army was closing in and squishing me into a less-than-optimal situation.
“We need to hurry,” I whispered, feeling urgency press in on me. “We need to get out of this area. I get the feeling it’s a rough sort of place.”
It seemed the narrowest of the edges, and it’s one of the few entrances not currently watched by Vlad’s people.
“There is probably a very specific reason for that, and we’re more than likely about to find out what it is.” I chewed my lip as we stalked forward. My vision narrowed and my hands drifted in front of my chest, a biological response to danger.
I pulled out my sword, my personal reaction to danger.
Claws poked my shoulder. Darius’s response.
The rocks on the sides smoothed out and shrank, giving us more visibility. We started around the bend. A few heads bobbed ahead of us, some with horns, some with hair, so it would seem a variety of species and beings were communicating.
That was probably good, right? Not fighting, but talking?
So why was my entire person ready for war?
The path straightened out again, and I saw the first hovel. It was much bigger than I’d expected. As tall as a one-story house and about fifteen feet wide. The side facing us was open and two beings were inside, gesturing wildly. One held a boxlike item. Both creatures were demons, one with protruding teeth and a rough hide, and the other with no nose and a large mouth filled with matchstick teeth.
A lizard-looking creature crossed our path, following an intersecting walkway. Its long tail ended in a fierce spike. That would put a nice-sized hole through its enemy.
“On second thought,” I said softly, “maybe we should go back to the Brink and take our chances. Dizzy was right. This was a terrible plan.”
Number one, it’s too late. Second, you know you can’t. It would only give them time to organize and plan your extraction. We don’t have the resources to protect you for long.
“Stop talking sense. It’s not welcomed here.” I gripped my sword tightly, my arm shaking.
I was the chick who ran at problems. That was my shtick. So what was up with the fear?
I was overthinking things. Had to be.
After a deep breath, I sped up. My gut pinched. Our path ended and more structures dotted the way. Shacks almost. Maybe huts. Most of them were open to the elements, like the first, and many of them were occupied by creatures talking in low voices. Judging by the wild gesturing I saw in one hut, some sort of bartering was underway, and the shoppers were arguing for a lower price.
Which way? Darius thought.
Flattened against the rock, I glanced right, seeing more creatures crowding the throughway, all on foot. Or whatever served for feet. I spotted one creature that had a human-type shape, though with odd proportions and too much hair. Maybe we wouldn’t loo
k so odd if the suits didn’t work.
The other way was a little sparser, and there were more loners, not many of which paused to talk to others.
I jerked my head right. “That way. Stick to the sides. Let’s try to blend in.”
We will soon see if the suits work, Darius thought.
Yes, we would. And if they didn’t, we would also see if I could keep from freaking out and accidentally killing things.
I stuck to the side and hunched, trying not to look so utterly human. A knobby thing staggered my way, and adrenaline dumped into my body. I kept walking, braced to lop off a body part should the creature swing one of those six-inch-long claws at my person.
Something jostled the creature and it hissed, but not at me. It looked over its—dislocated?—shoulder at whatever had tripped it. I couldn’t see the other creature, but it mustn’t have apologized, because the knobby thing swung around and lashed out. A splash of black blood hit the rock to the side. Creatures pushed away, opening up space for the fighters. The knobby thing lashed out again, but its target, a squat type of troll, roared and struck it with a spiked club. The club battered the knobby thing in the side, smashing its other shoulder and making it holler.
I plucked at Darius’s sleeve and moved into a stream of creatures edging around the disturbance. As long as we weren’t the only ones heading out instead of hanging around to watch the bloody battle, it was fine to move on.
Something dull and hard poked my arm. A different bony, gross thing bumped into me. Darius’s hand tightened on my shoulder and his claws dug into my suit as he pulled me away.
In front of me, a creature turned suddenly. Its half-torn wing jabbed my chest.
A blast of anger turned lightheadedness rolled through my consciousness. Fire roared in my middle, and I shoved the oddly squishy being without meaning to. My logical mind told me to stop, to make my way to the edge of the path so I could regroup, but I stalked forward like a woman turned battle-axe, forcing people out of my way.
My power pumped higher, daring any of these beings to challenge me. My power didn’t seem to call to anyone. The suit was at least partially working so far.
