“I doubt it,” Penelope remarked.
“I was being sarcastic,” Akira grunted.
“Whatever,” Penelope replied curtly, “first things first, we need some freaking light in here… who knows if we’re even alone?”
“I’m not sensing any creatures,” Faye said, “although, I could be wrong.”
“It’s happened before,” Morgana quietly commented. “No offense.”
I sighed and then pulled out my wand. “Illuminana.”
As soon as my wand lit up, I glanced around, and I realized we were inside some kind of dungeon or cellar. The air was cold, damp, and thick, and the floors were covered in grime and dust. What really made the room stand out, though, was its height and width. The chamber was massive, and it was probably more extensive than the banquet hall, even when Theodora expanded it to hold thousands of students.
The rest of the witches all pulled out their wands and then lit up the room as well. Now that we had more light, I could see more of the mysterious place, and I thought I spotted small ornaments against the stone walls.
“Wait,” I said, “I think I can see sconces on the wall… which gives me an idea.”
I raised my flame above my eyes and then took a deep breath. In my head, I pictured the fire from my wand flying toward the sconces and lighting up the entire room. I imagined the brightest inferno and then narrowed my eyes at the walls.
Motus.
Suddenly, the light from my wand spurted up into the air, and then great balls of fire sped toward the dry sconces. Each one lit up with a towering flame, and the entire room was soon glowing from the radiant fire.
“Where the hell are we?” Faye asked as we all slowly got to our feet. “It looks like some kind of abandoned cellar.”
“Or some kind of dungeon,” Beatrix commented as she gawked at the towering walls.
I followed her eyes and stared up at the rising stone walls, and I thought I saw flecks of something sparkling through the cracks. Without a word, I strode over to the fortifications and stared a little closer at the breaks. It was shimmering, and at first, I thought it was a trick of the light, but then I realized it was gold. There was pure gold in between the stone cracks, and as I looked around, I also spotted locked, wooden chests and skeletons splayed along the stone enclosures.
The dead were wearing tattered velvet cloaks with dust-covered fur collars. Gold goblets and chalices were held tightly in their skeletal grasps, and broken crowns and jewels littered the entire floor. Above us, there was a magnificently scaled iron and diamond chandelier with cobwebs dangling from the arches. The ceiling was painted in sunset hues, and small, angelic children were flying through rose-pink and pale-yellow clouds.
A sharp pain throbbed against my temples, and when I hunched over, I thought I could hear the woman from the painting in my head.
Look closer, she urged. You know where you are.
Before I could respond, another stab of pain hit my skull, and then a group of muddled images swept across my mind. Suddenly, I saw this room when it was full of life and gold. There was a human king, and he was urging slaves to craft his gold and jewels, and he killed them if they didn’t work fast enough. I saw all types of magical creatures, but mostly witches, and even though the images weren’t clear, I knew the king had mistreated magical beings and had some kind of alliance with the elder gods. As I tried to look deeper, the images grew murkier and then vanished as if they were never there.
“Cole,” Morgana said before she walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Are you alright? What happened?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said after a long moment.
I grabbed the bookworm’s hand and then led her back to the others, and they all stared at me with glassy, confused eyes.
“What did you see, Cole?” Vesta purred. “I know that look… you know something, don’t you?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “I saw pictures in my head… images of this exact room. It’s some kind of gold mine… a royal mine where a mad king kept hidden treasures from the rest of his kingdom. I don’t know what happened to him… but I felt his alliance with the elder gods and his hatred for magical creatures… specifically witches.”
“Satan,” Penelope said in a hushed voice as she looked around. “How the hell are we going to get out? And where are the others?”
Before I could respond, another sharp pain penetrated my skull, and I nearly keeled over from the sudden ache.
Come and play with us, a chorus of childish voices whispered. Don’t be shy. Come on and play! We love witches…
“Fuck,” I grunted. “Did any of you hear that?”
“Yes,” Vesta gasped before she placed a petite hand over her chest. “I can hear the voices of children in my head.”
The elvish witch’s serpent crawled up her slender figure and lightly coiled itself around her narrow waist. It hissed at the air, and then its glowing eyes scanned around for any signs of danger.
“I can hear them, too,” Faye remarked as she pressed her fingers against her temples and tried to gently massage away the pain. “Satan… why won’t they shut up?”
“We should move… it’s not smart to stay in one place for too long,” I ordered.
So, we split up and searched every corner of the expansive room, but there weren’t any doors or openings. I was growing impatient as we scanned every inch and crevasse, but there was nothing. As a last resort, I tried to summon the woman from the painting, but she refused to answer any of my questions.
“You just love to disappear whenever I need you the most, huh?” I muttered to myself.
“Look, there must be some kind of hidden door here,” Penelope snapped as we continued to circle the room. “There has to be. Cole… can’t you just see the door in your mind?”
“It’s not as simple as that,” I replied.
“Can you at least try?” she sighed.
“What the hell do you think he’s doing?” Akira interjected before I could respond to the orange-haired witch.
“Maybe if we press against the stones,” Morgana suggested. “We can find a loose one… or any kind of lever or secret passageway.”
“That would take forever,” Beatrix groaned.
“And I don’t know about the rest of you,” Vesta drawled, “but I’m worried about the other teams. We have no idea where they could be hiding… and we could be attacked at any moment… door or no door.”
Before any of us could respond to her sensible observation, I heard a chorale of soft giggles, and when I looked up, I saw small, translucent, winged children dancing in circles high above us next to the giant chandelier. The ceiling painting was now devoid of any angelic children, and it didn’t take a genius to realize they had come to life.
The cherubs looked down at us, and they continued to sing and giggle as they gracefully descended upon us.
We asked you to play, they sang, but you didn’t listen… now you have to pay.
“Shit,” I whispered.
The children tittered and swirled down in majestic swoops, and they hummed a melancholy tune as they dove closer and closer. As they hovered just a few feet above us, the air grew ice-cold, and snow began to fall from the ceiling and quickly coat the stone floors. While the children descended, I noticed they were innocent looking creatures with soft, angelic faces. They pointed at us, giggled, and sang as they drew even closer, and although the air felt tranquil and dream-like, I knew better than to be deceived.
“Morgana,” I hissed without looking away. “What are those, exactly?”
When the bookworm didn’t answer, I quickly looked down and noticed all the witches were staring up at the children with wide, vacant eyes and parted lips. They seemed to be completely frozen in place, and it didn’t even look as if they were breathing. Their mouths were purple, and their skin had turned a horrifying shade of white.
“Hey!” I shrieked. “Wake up!”
Not one of them moved, and I knew I had to do something to sn
ap them out of their trance.
Are your pretty little friends frozen? the children mocked. Poor, silly witches… their lungs won’t work now. You’re all going to die down here.
Before I could give them a piece of my damn mind, another voice seeped into my mind.
Fire, Cole, I heard the woman from the painting echo in my head. Use fire. Use whatever natural elements you can think of.
I glanced up at the menacing, devious little beasts and then quickly took out my blade. They all laughed as I raised my weapon above my waist, and I glared at their beautiful but harrowing faces.
And just what do you think you’re going to do with that, silly? they taunted. You can’t kill what is already dead.
“No.” I smirked. “But I can do this.”
I swiftly cut into my hand and then turned to look at the fire on the sconces. Hot blood trickled down my hand as I narrowed my eyes at the flame and willed the elements to do my bidding, and without another second to waste, I raised my wand and then muttered the incantation that would hopefully save all our lives.
“Imperium meum!” I shouted.
The fire from the sconces violently roared, and then I imagined the flames overtaking the sea of cherub children above us. The small fires quickly spread from the wall and then grew into a tremendous flaming cloud. The inferno spread across the ceiling, and then the ghost-like children’s songs turned into screeches and crone-like wails as the fire caught onto their wings.
What have you done? they wailed. How dare you, Wicca scum!
I watched in both horror and fascination as their translucent bodies turned into rancid flesh. Their glowing, transparent pale skin was now tainted a ghoulish-green, and warts and boils sprouted on their skin and covered their entire bodies. Then their white wings grew larger and turned into leathery black limbs, and their young faces aged by a hundred years or so. Instead of beautiful young children, I was staring at a group of hideous, monstrous-looking old imp-women. Their eyes were nearly swollen shut, and there was pus leaking out of the cracks and wrinkles of their skin as they opened their yellow mouths to shriek and cry out in pain.
When I glanced down at the witches, I was relieved to see they had all returned to reality. The color had come back to their faces, but they all gasped as the flames devoured the little floating beasts above us. The creatures screeched, and while still on fire, they dove toward us, but as one neared me with her claws extended, Alexander swooped up and snatched her by the neck, ripped her small head away from her body, and tossed it across the room with all his strength
The witches began shouting different spells to distract or dismember the flying beasts. As the flames continued to burn and hinder the creatures, though, I knew it would take more than fire to kill these stubborn bitches.
“Huddle together!” I ordered. “Form a circle around me and cut into your hands! Now!”
All the witches did as I commanded, and then I raised my wand above my head.
“Now what, master?” Faye asked in a rushed voice.
“When I say so,” I began, “freeze their ugly asses and spread the ice as far as you can with your mind. Turn the cloud of flame into pure ice!”
The coven all raised their wands, and together we uttered the spell.
“Glacio!”
Blue spurts of light shot up toward the ceiling, and in my mind, I willed the ice to freeze each flying bitch above us. As I repeated the imperium incantation in my mind, the ice began to spread like a frozen lake in the air, and as soon as it touched one beast, she would freeze, fall to the floor, and then shatter into pieces. Soon, the rest of the small army began to freeze, and it was suddenly raining lethal ice sculptures.
“Look out!” I shouted.
We spread out and dodged each frozen hunk of ice that fell from the ceiling, but it was a challenge. They rained down on us and then shattered on the stone floor like the most violent hailstorm imaginable, and I tried to look out for the familiars, the coven, and the other two witches, but everything was pure chaos. As I wildly looked around, I spotted Penelope, and she was right underneath the chandelier. It had frozen as well, and when I looked closer, I noticed the chains were slowly cracking and falling apart into pieces.
“Penelope, watch out!” I shouted.
By the time she looked up, the chandelier was already falling down, so I dove toward her, grabbed her waist, and tackled her out of the way. We skidded across the dusty floor, and the chandelier crashed into the ground behind us with a thunderous crash. Both of us had nearly been crushed by the massive, frozen chandelier, and Penelope looked up from beneath me with pure gratitude painted on her beautiful face.
I slowly crawled off her and then offered her my hand.
“Are you alright?” I asked as I helped her to her feet.
“Yeah,” she breathed with wide, beholden brown eyes. “Thanks to you.”
I smiled at the bright-haired witch and then took a look around the room. Everything had finally come to a standstill, and the witches were all spread out in different corners of the room and panting heavily. The chamber was eerily quiet now, and the floors were covered in huge chunks of ice and flakes of snow.
“What the fuck was that?” Akira finally gasped. The black-eyed witch then turned to look at the bookworm and tossed her hands up into the air. “Morgana? The one time I need you to be a loud, know-it-all, you keep your mouth shut?”
“I-I… I think they were a herd of filios interemptorum,” the brunette finally stammered, “but they’re creations of the elder gods… I didn’t think they would be a part of the Ludi Mortiferum.”
“What?” I breathed.
“Yes,” the bookworm replied as her lower lip trembled. “They are like sirens… except against witches… specifically female witches, which is why they were unable to place you under any trance.”
“How terrible,” Vesta remarked as she gracefully stepped over a lump of ice. “They were absolutely lovely creatures at first.”
“Yeah, well,” Morgana panted. “That’s how they get you.”
“Look,” Penelope heaved as she brushed past me and took a step toward the others. “We really need to get the hell out of here… and I don’t know about the rest of you, but that’s the only concern on my mind right now.”
“Penelope’s right,” I answered. “We should move it.”
“But how--” Morgana started until there was an echo that rumbled throughout the entire room.
“I see you’ve met my pets,” a beautiful, elegant female voice echoed. “Too bad you had to treat them so poorly. I’m an admirer of manners and proper etiquette, but it is clear to me that you possess none.”
The witches all stopped moving, and their eyes widened in fear and confusion. When no one said a word, I cleared my throat and then looked up.
“Who are you?” I asked.
The voice laughed, and the entire room rumbled as if an earthquake had struck the mine. The witches all fell down, but I managed to keep myself standing upright.
“You are a bold one,” the voice replied. “I like that… but it won’t make me spare you.”
“We’ll see about that,” I growled.
“Oh, we shall,” she replied, “but for now… I think I’d like to continue playing. If you all survive, I look forward to meeting you in person.”
Before I could answer, the room suddenly stopped shaking, and the air quickly grew very warm. The ice began to melt, and then some of the stones along the walls started to rearrange themselves and spread apart to reveal a dark pathway.
“That’s our exit,” I said as I pointed to the mysterious gap.
“Cole, you can’t be serious,” Penelope gasped. “It’s clearly a trap.”
Before I could answer, the air suddenly grew hotter, and sweat trickled down my brow.
“Satan,” Vesta panted as she waved at her face. “It’s sweltering.”
“Yeah,” Akira agreed. “I can barely breathe.”
“It’s her,” I growl
ed. “She’s doing this.”
I wanted to tear my clothes off because the heat was quickly growing unbearable. Gold from the cracks in the walls even started to melt, and I realized that if we didn’t run through the passageway, we were going to burn alive in here.
“Cole?” Penelope panted. “Do we go through the corridor? Even if it’s a trap?”
“It’s either that, or we burn,” I replied quickly. “Come on!”
Together with our familiars, we all ran toward the opening, and as soon as we stepped inside the darkness, we ended up falling down into the cold, black abyss.
As we fell through the air, I wondered if I had just led us to our deaths.
Chapter 20
The witches all screamed as we sank deeper into the pit of darkness, and after what seemed like an eternity of falling, we landed with a violent splash into deep, icy water. My entire body submerged under the violently cold liquid, and it felt as if a thousand needles were prickling my skin and stabbing every inch of my body.
I swam upward with numb limbs and my eyes tightly shut, and then I burst up through the surface. I gasped greedily for air and wildly turned around to see if I could find the others, but it was nearly impossible to see anything but shadows. Everything was dark as night, but I could hear the women coughing and gasping as they breathlessly treaded through the water.
“Is everyone alright?” I coughed as I reached for my wand, which had miraculously stayed in my waistband next to my dagger.
“Yes,” the witches replied in a chorus.
“Satan, it’s freezing,” I heard Akira grunt.
“No shit,” Penelope answered through chattering teeth.
It was difficult to tread water with only one arm, but it wasn’t impossible, so I retrieved my wand and raised it above my head.
“Illuminana!” I shouted, and my voice echoed all around us.
When the flame burned above me, it dimly lit the stone, grime-covered walls surrounding us. I took a quick, careful look around and realized we were in a narrow underground tunnel full of water, and all the witches and familiars were soaked and shivering as they tried to stay above the surface. Alexander was the only one flying above us, but it was a tight squeeze for him since the tunnel was so low and narrow.
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