by Lola StVil
Ya-Ya throws a final assault, a small ball of blue, and takes out the last of the twelve Ven Demons. Her actions answered my earlier question. She wasn’t throwing the blanket of power at me. I just got in the way. I allow her to help me to my feet.
“Try to stay in the center of the circle,” she says. “We’re still working on the outside, making sure more Ven Demons aren’t sneaking up on us, and right now you have the biggest target on your back.”
I nod my agreement. Clearly more are still coming and I need to be a bit more vigilant. Not just of the demons, but of friendly fire as well. I clap Ya-Ya on the shoulder and run towards the center of the battle. Rye and Mel are standing back to back, fighting a circle of Ven Demons who can’t even get close to them as their swords flash and their feet kick out.
Aziza and Jinx stand on the outskirts of the battle, forming a rough triangle with Ya-Ya and firing into what looks like thin air but soon fills with injured demons which they then begin to blast away. Sunday is fighting a trio of large Ven Demons, and although he’s holding his own, the fact he is so outnumbered sends me in that direction.
I learned from my earlier mistake that got my arm cut, and as I move, I swing my sword in a wide arc in front of me.
“Sunday, look out,” I hear Rye yell.
I look at Sunday. More Ven Demons are advancing on him from behind. He’s got no chance of being able to stop them without the ones in front of him taking him down. I start to run, but I only make it a few steps before a Ven Demon steps into my path. Our swords instantly clang together, but I’m more focused on what’s happening behind the demon than on him.
Rye and Mel have spun around so Mel faces Sunday instead of Rye facing him. She waves her hands, and at first, I think nothing is happening, but then I see it. The sand around the Ven Demons behind Sunday is starting to rise in a swirling vortex. It covers them to their heads and stops them from walking for a second.
“Aziza, now,” Mel shouts.
Aziza turns to face inwards for a moment and she throws both of her palms forward in the direction of the sandstorm. The grains of sand burst into flames and with pained screams, the Ven Demons are no more. I look away as their eyeballs pop, turning my entire focus back to the demon who is still fighting me.
I feel a surge of anger deep inside of myself. Anger that my friends are in constant danger. Anger that these demons think they should get the weapon and free the Horseman to wreak havoc on humanity. Anger that Raven has infiltrated my life. Anger that the very gods I’m trying so hard to help are the ones who are standing in the way of me being with Rye.
I raise my sword above my head, fueling myself with the anger. I slam it down and the Ven Demon’s head splits in two. I wrench my sword back out of what’s left of his head as he goes down, ignoring the blood and grey matter that cling to the blade.
A fire ball comes at me, and I effortlessly bat it aside with my blade. My anger isn’t distracting me this time, it’s giving me clarity, making me see everything more clearly. I move through the space, twisting and turning, swinging out with my sword. Any invisible Ven Demon isn’t going to want to get in my way now.
I manage to reach Sunday without any more interruptions, and I swing out, decapitating two of the demons who are on him. He glances at me in surprise for a moment, as though for the first time he’s seeing how dangerous I can be, and then he turns back to the third demon and sticks his sword through its heart.
“Look who woke up.” Sunday grins at me when the three demons are dead.
I laugh softly, a humorless laugh.
“Yeah, well it pisses me off when people try to hurt my family,” I say.
He gives me another strange look, but it’s gone in seconds and then he laughs with me.
“You and me both,” he says. “Let’s finish this thing.”
I look around and see this thing is almost finished without us. Rye and Mel have one demon each, which they’re making short work of. Ya-Ya is coming back towards us, and Aziza is fighting a single demon who looks like he already regrets taking her on.
“I think we got them all,” Ya-Ya says.
I glance over my shoulder and see Jinx fighting one Ven Demon and I’m inclined to agree. My face breaks out into a wide smile. We did it.
The smile freezes on my lips as a scream comes from behind me. I turn and see Jinx is down, blood running everywhere. The Ven Demon he was fighting towers over him, its evil face twisted in glee.
The demon explodes in a ball of flames as Aziza fires at it. We all run towards Jinx except for Mel and Rye, who are still battling the last two demons. Typical that the only two people who can’t get here fast are the healers.
I reach Jinx first and kneel beside him. I have to look away when I see the mess of him. His T-shirt is shredded, his abdomen split open in a sideways cut that looks like a terrible grin. I can see his internal organs and I think I see a flash of white bone that can only be his spine. I know he doesn’t have long left. His face is pasty white, beads of sweat standing out on his face. I take his hand in mine.
“You’re going to be okay,” I say, although I’m not sure if that’s true or not.
“I knew I’d get you holding my hand once you saw me with no shirt on,” Jinx says through gritted teeth.
I shake my head, but I can’t help but laugh. Even now, lying here dying, Jinx has only one thing on his mind. I remember my thoughts last night. That Jinx could be the Horseman. Maybe this is an opportunity. I could run off and grab the spear, have Rye and Mel keep him alive but not heal him, and then use the crystal on him.
I instantly push the idea away. There’s no guarantee Rye and Mel could keep him alive, and if I’m wrong about this, he might die for no reason except my own stupidity. And it would give us away to the rest of the team. If I’m wrong about Jinx, then the real Horseman would be warned that we were onto them.
“Rye. Mel. Get over here,” Sunday yells, pulling me out of my head. “He’s dying here.”
I glare at Sunday, but he’s not looking at me. He’s looking at Jinx’s wound, trying desperately to press it closed. I catch Jinx’s eye and he smiles.
“He’s right, Paradox. No need to give him the death glare,” he says.
I shake my head.
“You are not dying on my watch,” I say with a ferocity that I mean.
Even if he is the Horseman, I think Rye is wrong. I don’t think it’s a betrayal. I don’t think anyone would be strong enough to fight off the possession of a Horseman, and while I’ll do whatever it takes to kill War, I won’t let Jinx die.
I look up at the sound of running feet and I see Rye and Mel running towards us. Ya-Ya and Aziza have taken over the fight with the last two demons. Rye kneels down beside me, Mel opposite him. They link hands and put them on Jinx’s stomach. He screams in pain and I tighten my grip on his hand. He squeezes my hand so hard I feel a bone break, but it’s a small price to pay to save his life.
I watch the wound closely although it turns my stomach to look at it. At first, nothing happens and I think they’re too late, that Jinx is too far gone, but then it starts to knit together, slowly at first and then faster. Jinx relaxes his grip on me and grins at me.
“How about a kiss for the survivor?” he says.
I am so relieved that I lean in and kiss the tip of his nose.
Rye gives him a sideways glance and mumbles with a smile.
“Don’t get used to it.” I laugh.
He sits up as Ya-Ya and Aziza join us. Mel and Rye move around the rest of us, healing us. We all have cuts and bruises, and although none are fatal, we need to have our full strength back to face whatever comes next.
I pull the medallion out when everyone is healed.
“Let’s get this over with,” I say. “Before we run into anything else.”
“Sounds good to me,” Aziza says.
I spin around watching the medallion, and I get my head back in the game as it glows brig
hter when I face north, and I start walking in that direction. It continues to get brighter, confirming I’m once more on the right path. Jinx comes over to me as I walk, and although I hide it, I feel myself tense up.
“Sorry about that back there,” he says sheepishly.
I look at him with a frown.
“Sorry about what?” I say.
“Crushing your hand. I felt the bone breaking but I just couldn’t stop squeezing,” he says quietly.
Could he not stop because the Horseman is inside of him, making him hurt me, trying to crush my fighting hand? Or was it just because the pain was so intense? Either way, it’s not really his fault.
“It’s fine,” I say. “I think your pain trumped mine.”
“I could make it up to you,” he says with a wink, back to his usual self.
“Yes, you could. By not making any more suggestive comments for the rest of the day,” I say.
“Spoilsport.” He grins.
I feel a flash of guilt as he grins at me. I was on the verge of risking letting him die to make my mission easier just a moment ago. I tell myself I have to let this paranoia go. The Horseman will make himself known without me having to play games with the team’s lives. And when he does, I’ll be ready.
“Sailor, look,” Jinx says, nodding down at the medallion.
I look down and I see what he means instantly. The glow isn’t as bright. I stop walking so abruptly, Ya-Ya walks into me.
“Hey,” she complains.
“Sorry,” I say. I turn to face the others, who are all gathered behind me now. “Look. It’s not glowing as brightly. We’ve passed the spot.”
“But we haven’t passed anything. It’s all just sand,” Rye says.
He steps closer to take a look at the medallion.
“I hope this thing isn’t failing us,” he adds.
“It isn’t. Look,” Sunday says.
He’s standing a few feet back from the rest of us, pointing at the ground. I exchange a glance with Rye. He shrugs, and we move over to Sunday. As soon as I look down, I see what he spotted. The outline of the medallion is perfectly carved into a spot on the ground. No grains of sand move to fill the outline. I get to my knees in front of the shape.
“Here goes,” I say, putting the medallion into the shape.
“Be careful,” Rye warns me.
We’re going to retrieve a weapon that’s going to turn a member of the team into a killing machine. I’m not sure there’s any way to do that carefully, but I nod my head anyway. I turn the medallion slightly until I feel it click into place.
The second it clicks into place, the ground beneath us drops away and I feel myself falling.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: CAVERN OF SAND
My stomach rolls over as I plummet through thin air. My arms pinwheel, searching desperately for purchase, but there’s nothing but black, empty air around me. I can’t see or hear the team, and I can feel panic starting to take hold of me, but I fight it down. I can’t afford to panic. I have to find something to catch and break my fall.
Before I can find anything to stop me from falling, or even to slow me down a little bit, I slam onto the ground. It’s a hard landing, hard enough to leave me winded for a second, but as I begin to get my breath back, I know I’m not seriously hurt. The ground beneath me is still sand, and although it made for a painful landing, it cushioned my fall in a way concrete couldn’t have.
I gingerly open my eyes and push myself to my feet. The team is scattered around me, and all of them are starting to stir and moan. No one looks to be hurt, and I turn my focus to where I am while I wait for them to get up.
I am standing in a sandy cavern. The floor, walls, and ceiling are all made of tightly packed sand. It’s like being inside of one of the sandcastles I used to make on the beach while on vacation with my parents as a child. The walls here are much higher than a sandcastle’s walls though. In fact, they’re higher than the walls of a room in the average house.
I look around the walls for a door or tunnel entrance or something, but there’s nothing. The cavern is light and airy as though there’s no ceiling, but there is, and I don’t know where the light is coming from. I am aware that the burning sun is no longer beaming down on me, and while it’s a relief in one sense, it feels kind of ominous in another.
There are no gaps anywhere in this cavern. The whole room is about twenty feet by twenty feet, and it’s completely empty and sealed. I hope portals work from in here, because if not, we’re screwed.
“What the hell is this place?” Mel asks from beside me.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Sunday says. “But there’s no weapon here. There’s no anything here.”
“The medallion tricked us,” Ya-Ya adds.
“Or Rye was right and it’s broken,” Aziza says.
“No. It’s not broken. The outline was there in the sand and it opened the chamber,” Rye says.
“Someone beat us to it,” I say quietly.
As soon as I speak, the ground beneath us shakes slightly and I hear a scraping sound, like two concrete slabs being rubbed together.
“There,” Jinx says, pointing.
I look where he’s pointing and see a broken line on the ground at the opposite side of the cavern. A bit of floor a few feet wide and a few feet longer has raised itself ever so slightly from the rest.
“What is it?” I say.
The ground shakes again and the rectangle of floor rises another few inches.
“It’s the weapon,” Mel says.
“Huh?” Sunday says, looking at her like she’s lost the plot.
I have to admit it seems that way. Mel waves away his concern and goes on excitedly.
“It’s under that piece of ground. It’s responding to the Paradox’s voice. Every time Sailor speaks, it moves more. Try it, Sailor,” she says.
“I don’t know what to say,” I say.
The pressure of being told to say something does that to me every time, but even my uncertain uttering works and the rectangle moves up a bit again. I feel my eyes widening in surprise. It looks like Mel is right.
“Don’t stop now.” Mel laughs. “Recite the alphabet or something.”
I do as she says and the rectangle keeps moving. As it gets higher, it thins out and I realize that Mel might have been right about it responding to my voice, but she was wrong about where the weapon would be. This isn’t a trapdoor, it’s a column. I get to Z and there’s still no sign of the weapon, so I start over again.
The column keeps growing. The ground shakes beneath us as the column pushes its way through the ground and rises higher and higher, but not so much as a single grain of sand is dislodged from the walls or the ceiling. Finally, after my fourth run through the alphabet, the column stops growing. It flashes red for a moment, a glow so bright I have to shield my eyes and look away. The glow vanishes and I dare to look again.
“Holy shit,” I breathe when I look back.
On top of the column is a wooden box. It’s thin, but about a foot long. It looks exactly like the sort of box that would hold a spear.
“You did it, Sailor.” Mel smiles.
I rub my throat. “Yeah, and wore my voice out doing it.” I smile.
“It’s a shame it had to be you or Jinx could have done it. He loves the sound of his own voice,” Aziza says.
“I just like to hear the voice of reason, hence I prefer listening to myself over you, Az.” Jinx grins.
“Don’t start, you two,” Rye says in a low, warning voice. He spins around and shakes his head. “I don’t like this. It feels too easy.”
“Too easy? In case you hadn’t noticed the swarm of demons we just fought, I almost died up there,” Jinx says.
“Yes, but they were attracted by the darkness of the weapon. Why is there no safeguard in place? Getting the dagger was damned dangerous, and yet we’re supposed to believe the spear is just sitting here, unguarded?”
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nbsp; I know what he means, but I’m not about to look a gift horse in the mouth and start wishing that a pack of demonic creatures will appear. And besides, it’s not like we have a choice. We have to get the weapon. I take a step forward, but Rye puts his hand on my arm and stops me.
“Wait,” he says. “Let’s just exercise a bit of caution here, okay?”
“What do you suggest?” Sunday asks.
“This,” Rye says.
He pushes his hand into his pocket and pulls out his wallet. He takes out his money and cards and puts them back into his pocket. The rest of us look at each other with confused expressions. Rye throws his wallet towards the column. It bounces off it, and I realize what he’s doing. Searching for booby traps. The others seem to understand at the same moment as I do, and we all tense up, our hands on our weapons, waiting. Nothing happens.
“See? You’re paranoid,” Ya-Ya says.
“Yeah. It looks like it.” He reluctantly agrees but something in his tone tells me he doesn’t believe that for a second.
He still thinks there’s going to be an unpleasant surprise. He’s probably right, but we can take it. Whatever creature springs out of the walls or whatever, we can fight it and win. The longer we stand here, the more I feel like we’re almost inviting an attack. Like we’re giving any creatures lurking around plenty of time to discover our presence and get to us.
“Cover me,” I say. “I’m going to go and grab the box.”
Rye looks ready to argue for a moment, and I subtly slip my hand into his and squeeze it. He looks at me and I nod reassuringly. He sighs, but he nods back. He knows as well as I do that we have no other choice here. We can’t come this far and go home empty-handed because we’re afraid we’ll get hurt. And it has to be me that gets the weapon. I am the Paradox, and only I can release the weapon.
“Everyone be ready for an attack,” Rye says. He nods to me. “Go.”
I start to move forward, taking it inch by careful inch. I remember how the bridge crumbled away beneath me when we went for the dagger, and I don’t intend to be caught unawares by the floor dropping out from beneath me again.