“Beautiful, right?”
Val turned around to face Vladimir. “Where are we?”
“The Avenues of the Dead. Natural currents of the aether that cross the planet and connect realms. For those without the magic to use them independently, Fenestrams let you travel specific currents.”
Half-listening, Val turned back to face the swirling colors of the gateway. As hesitant as she was, everything about it begged her to step through. She willed her breath to steady and straightened her gaze into the refractions of color. Magic aside, it was currently her only option. Vladimir placed his hand on her back and she nodded, allowing him to lead her into the light.
Val’s feet touched soft earth as iridescent light morphed to thick mist and cool air. While she hadn’t had enough time to build a proper fantasy of the Enchanted Forest, there were still expectations. Tree houses, or huts; flowers, springs... Not whatever this place was. If Le Ciel had been magic incarnate, then the forest they had entered was…
Dead.
Tendrils of fog coiled the branches and hung in the air like a noose. She meandered through the trees, feet crunching dead leaves and poppy flowers. Extinct was the only word to describe it. The air was warm and patches of grass occasionally broke the dry earth, but the forest looked like the dead of winter. Twisting branches bent leafless at odd angles and not a single bush bore foliage. Even without a breeze, the air didn’t sit right. It had that same burning scent as the blue-skinned sorcerer, but worse. It was a stench like burnt flowers, and ash, and fire that hung from the trees for miles on end.
“Vladimir!”
The vampire had vanished when she stepped through the portal. For the first time that day, she was now desperate to find him. She wove through the trunks of dying timber and skeletal brush, only to skid on a rock and slam her shin into a dried brook.
The pants that the spirit-magician-person-thing had left absorbed most of the blow, but the shock still sent her to her knees swearing. When she pulled up, her eyes fell on a strange sphere. Lying on the lip of the brook was what looked like a crystal ball. Val traced her fingers over the surface in anticipation of some kind of light or pulse. It was cold.
She was about to pull away when something twisted in the center. The glass rippled and slowly but surely, an image came to formation. The picture was fractured from long cracks in the glass. She leaned closer and saw hooves stomping over bloody ground. If she listened closely, she could almost hear the riders yelling. The sphere snuffed out.
Val stared at the weightless globe for several more seconds, then turned away. Several paces down the brook was another crystal ball. She picked it up and pressed her nose to the glassy surface when it came to life. Two small boys with wings were clutching each other atop a high branch. One of the riders approached and removed the axe held across his back. In one motion, he pulled back and launched it straight at the—
A short scream burst out and she dropped the globe. Glassy shards exploded across the ground.
“Cyclops’ eyes.”
Val stumbled back and her foot caught on a spiny branch. She pulled it free with a crunch, only to fall to the ground. It hadn’t been a branch. Panic exploded as she scrambled away from a skeleton nearly twice her size. Her foot had broken the ribcage of something that looked human, but its massive lower half resembled a horse.
“I’m surprised they left them.”
Val craned her neck to see Vladimir sitting on a nearby log. He’d donned his long coat, hood somehow flitting into the still air. “The hunters, that is.” He rose and stepped closer, careful to avoid yet another skeleton that Val hadn’t seen before. He held out a hand and she took it, letting him pull her up.
“What happened here?” Val stared out at the forest with new eyes. The mist had dissipated, and she could clearly register slash marks along the stone and trunks—some sword, some claws. Trees were felled at random intervals and colossal stones lay smashed to pieces. Then the bodies. The more she looked, the more kept appearing. Two. Three. Eight. Seventeen. She stopped counting.
Vladimir motioned towards the broken glass. “Cyclops’ eyes are essential in crystal balls for those without the magic to make a real one. They only show the past, but that’s nothing smoke, mirrors, and exposition can’t fix.” He kicked a stone and watched it roll down the empty brook. “They must have gotten so many they were just killing for sport.”
Ice pooled in her stomach. The warm summer air felt frosted over and an unnerving prickling sensation spiked down her neck. She tried to look away, but everywhere she looked was death. Phantoms of a deer carcass. Her teeth in a man’s shoulder. She bit her lip and drew blood, leaning into the pain, letting it carry her back.
“Vladimir,” she said carefully. “What happened to the elves?”
“The same thing that happened to the satyrs, the centaurs, the cyclops, and the rest of the fae.” He motioned at the graveyard of bones. “Humans.”
Humans. The word rolled around her head like a curse. Why was she surprised? Her species killed and enslaved their own; they hunted animals to extinction and left the planet a polluted garbage dump. Of course, the first time they would wreak havoc.
A deep furrow ran her brow. She suppressed the torrent of thoughts, and the initial urge to vomit. Alternatively, she began to pace. Why had she come?
“What,” she began slowly, “what happened here was horrible.” She turned to face Vladimir, gaze even. “But it doesn’t represent every human.”
“Here we go again,” he sighed. Shoving himself off the log, he lazily meandered over. He was now close enough for the icy scent she couldn’t quite place, but identified as Vladimir, to fill the space between them. Close enough that she was fully reminded of canines that peaked longer than they should. Close enough to hear that his heart wasn’t beating. She set her jaw and prepared for another monologue. Instead, she received:
“You’re so stupid.”
“Excuse me?” She stepped back, cocking her head to meet his eye.
“You people…” He searched for an insult but settled on a frustrated grunt and turned aside. “You can’t take responsibility for anything.”
“Take responsibility?” Her voice cracked. Her eyes narrowed and heat shot up her veins like a storm. “Innocent people. Take responsibility? For what, Vladimir? Die for the sins of monsters they’ll never meet?”
“This is exactly what your problem is.” Annoyance pressed cracks into his cool demeanor and gravel lined his words. “Why can’t you admit that you people are broken? That you’re starved for truth and purpose, and your fairy tales and magic wands give you nothing. That everywhere you go, destruction awaits.”
He lunged in, grabbing her arm and yanking her close. “When was the last time you heard of a lycan attacking someone? When was the last time a siren crashed a ship? We have rules, and if someone breaks them, they are put to death. Freya fought to take down the veil in an effort to restore peace, and your precious humans gutted our people like livestock.”
Val roared and sent Vladimir flying back with a single push. He gracefully landed on his toes, but she was on him again, shoving him hard onto the dirt.
“Rules?” Her eyes now pulsed a deep violet and clawed hands dug into his collar. “You poisoned an innocent man with your bite, made him a thrall, then left him to die. Your angels broke their own rules and let the world fall in the first place!”
“Do you not hear yourself?!” Cords of black snapped to her wrists and ankles. Before she could move, they yanked her an arm’s length back. Vladimir disappeared into shadow, then emerged closer.
“And here we are again, Valentina.”
She spat at his feet, a low growl sounding from her chest. “You were never going to let me go, were you?”
He tilted his head, brow scrunched in puzzlement. “Hmm?”
Val huffed, straining again against the shadows before falling slack. Frustration and fatigue outpowered anger, and the purple tint faded. “The elves, dumbass.”
He gave an innocent shrug then pursed his lips. “I haven’t lied yet.”
“But everyone’s de—”
He held a finger to her lips. She had half a mind to bite it off but the taught bindings reflexively grew tighter. “The light elves remained with Freya in the Enchanted Forest—and died. The dark elves have always been underground. After the massacre, they turned to darker shades of magic.”
The shadows dissipated and Val rubbed her chafed wrists. She wanted to sock him still, but the mood had passed. “So, what does that mean?” she asked carefully.
The shadow prince shrugged again. “This entire region was sealed after the massacre. No human or mirage has entered since. If you’d like to go further, we can, but no promises they’re still alive. And if they are, they’re even less likely to help you.”
Val stared him over, a scowl still shaping her features. “Death by elves is better than another second with you.”
Val was surprised and a bit disappointed that the trigger for the secret passage was simply pulling a tree branch at the brook’s base. Vladimir had promised it was more of a spectacle when the forest was alive, but that did little to assuage the anticlimactic impression of their decent.
“Bloody Zadkiel told me this wouldn’t be so bad,” Vladimir said, more to himself than Val.
When she didn’t respond, he pulled a thin lighter from an inside pocket. Striking a spark, he flicked his wrist and the darkness scrambled up the walls to form an arch down the tunnel. The gesture seemed more of an act of restlessness than necessity. Val could see well enough in the dark and assumed he could as well.
“At first, I wanted Florida. Sun kissed beaches, sun kissed babes… If you haven’t noticed, I need to work on my tan.” He offered a sarcastic grin and Val grimaced. Rolling her eyes, she shoved past and pressed onward.
Her guide was more headache than aide at this point. He’d cooled down from their argument on the surface, but she would have almost preferred fighting about the apocalypse to small talk. She was tired. Sick of him, sick of angels, sick of everything.
“But I let him take it, because I’m a nice person.” Vladimir was still talking half to himself, but loud enough to be a jab as well.
“And where has my generosity brought me? In a damp, spider-web ridden tunnel under the Fae Graveyard. I figured, ‘alone time with the new girl with the incredible ass.’ This trip could have led to bonding and emotional companionship, or—’”
Val whipped around, purple eyes blazing holes through his. “Mention my ass one more time,” she growled. This was it. She’d kill him or he’d kill her, but either way, she wasn’t going to keep walking god knows how many hours with this maniac.
“If you’d let me finish.” He brushed past her then stopped several feet ahead. “I was saying, despite your incredible ass—” he enunciated each syllable— “this entire day, if not two years, has been wasted on a whiny brat.”
Anger pricked Val like needles, but she wouldn’t give in. He was a child. A child with the power of a god, but a child, nonetheless. Stopping beside him, she exhaled and focused on her own heartbeat.
“You will stop talking. Or I will cut out your throat. When we reach the underground city, you leave. If this is a problem, I will fight you here and now.”
Whether Vladimir agreed or simply didn’t want to stay in the tunnel any longer, he remained silent. Taking the quietude as victory, Val strode forward into the dark, preparing herself for the worst to come.
Time stood still. Or at least that’s what it felt like. Time froze in place and the tunnel grew by the minute. Val guessed it was nightfall on the surface, but couldn’t be certain. Dirt walls continued stretching downward with no sign of change. The shadowed arch would drift farther down when Vladimir shifted the lighter, but that was it.
Then there was the silence. Not that she preferred the first Sin’s constant yammering but the quiet gave room for questions. Was this plan a stupid idea? Should she have stayed in Le Ciel? Would they find a pit of corpses or be killed on sight?
“I haven’t lied yet.”
The word yet kept playing in her mind. She occasionally glanced in Vladimir’s direction in hope to see a nefarious gleam in his eye, or something that screamed Evil! Beware! Unfortunately, his grumpy expression bore zero clues.
On top of the unease was the itching feeling that they were being watched. She couldn’t see, hear, or smell anyone but the two of them. Even still… She was positive there were things moving in the darkness. Not the serous, fluid motion of Vladimir’s shadows, but something corporal.
Ten minutes later, a shape cut across her peripheral.
“What was that?” She spun in a tight circle, claws ready. Whatever it was had vanished, leaving only Vladimir’s mocking stare.
“Did you see that?” she asked, voice thin. He rose a brow then lackadaisically glanced about the tunnel. His fingers flicked in tight motions between sign language and playing a piano. The above shadows dripped down, then shaped themselves into letters:
So, you want to talk now?
“We don’t have time for this,” Val hissed. “There’s something—”
Vladimir doubled over, clutching his stomach. The lighter fell and darkness swallowed the tunnel again. Val rushed to his side. Dark blood specked the corner of his mouth as a growl of pain escaped his throat.
“I’m fine,” he muttered, rising to his feet. “It caught me off guard.”
Val spotted two small figures dashing along the wall. She moved to strike, but they were already gone.
“We need to run,” Vladimir said hoarsely.
“It’s two on two,” Val argued. “They were what, three feet tall? We can ta—”
“No.” There was an element to his voice that squelched her retort. The next thing she knew, she was sprinting after him down the tunnel.
She squinted and could see three of the figures flanking them on the left. “Why are we running?”
Vladimir cocked his head to the right, and she spotted three more. “Elves fight in packs. If they’re attacking now, then the city can’t be much farther.”
He winced, and the smell of blood shot up Val’s nose. Tucking her chin, she locked her body in speed with his. Something stabbed her shoulder. Something else slashed her thigh. Vladimir took another hard blow and stumbled back, but shook it off and kept going.
A jab to the ribs. A sharp lash across her back. She couldn’t tell what weapons they were using, if any. Whenever one got close, she’d just be able to make out pointed ears before it fell back into cover. An impossibly strong upper cut sent her reeling, but Vladimir was already grabbing her hand and yanking her back to stride. Right when she thought they’d have to hold their position, the tunnel yawned and gave way to a wide pitfall.
Val lunged forward, and seconds later, stood back-to-back with Vladimir in the buried city. The darkness didn’t break, but rather, was infused with green and purple fog. Giant towers tipped haphazardly or lay in crumbed pieces. Creeping shapes skittered along collapsed huts and broken buildings. What was still solid looked to be wasting into sand and dust. Whispers fluttered around the space like insects and in seconds, they were surrounded on all sides.
“Vladimir,” Val whispered. Soulless gazes shot through the vaporous dark like bullets. The eyes that stared down, and across, and up at them were solid black.
Straightening his posture, the tattoos on his arms stretched. The ones on his right arm formed a thin, clawed gauntlet. On his left, the ink spread up and across his neck and jaw to hang around his brow. The black of his irises spread like ink across both eyes then swirled to a murky silver.
Vladimir cleared his throat. “We mean you no harm.”
Val looked to the surrounding army, then back to him. He spoke with a power and authority she hadn’t heard before. The darkness swirled and flicked about his feet like it was alive, and for a moment, she feared she’d be taken in the assault if he chose to attack.
A sin
gle blade shot past her face, and in a flash, was pinned into a crumbling wall. Val then saw Vladimir holding a silver dagger with runes engraved on the blade.
“My name is Vladimir Dracule the Fifth, heir of the house of Dracule, Prince of the Eastern Kingdom, and emissary of the King of Angels. We merely seek an audience with your mage. We believe he or she can help us dispel a curse. Again, no harm will fall upon you if you refrain from violence.”
The chorus of whispers stopped. The dark elves seemed to muse his declaration, turning to one another or retreating back into the decayed city. There was a sound of a hundred shuffling feet, and for a moment, Val believed that they were parting a path for their mage. For a moment. Then a thousand knives rained down.
Vladimir ripped the shadows from the ground to form a dome around them. Val shot her attention upwards to see the blades soundlessly bounce to the ground. It was a strange feeling. Her heart raced and her body ripped into action. Her powers had been purely reactionary since she awoke in Le Ciel. Now, as she ran her claws gently along the barrier, she was in full control.
“When I drop my arm,” Vladimir spoke, “we kill as many as possible. If they still have mages, we’ll draw them out by downing their numbers.”
Val nodded. Her whole body ached for a fight, and the second the shadows dissolved, she launched herself to the nearest broken tower. Arms outstretched, she ran across the pillar and slashed out at the two nearest elves. They were lighter than expected and crashed down to the rubble below. They didn’t get back up.
When We Were Still Human Page 24