by J. Clarice
They left the cave, and Raxon made a hard left.
Scarlett followed close behind but tripped on the sheet and sidestepped. She regained her balance as a tunnel of teeth jabbed for her. Scarlett jumped as they swiftly disappeared. She frantically swiveled her head, finding no clue to the Nightmare’s presence.
“I forgot to tell you. Don’t step outside the path,” he manically laughed while Scarlett glanced down to find worn footprints and to the left, the clear sand. “We don’t know what those are called, but we went with ‘The Veiled Parasites.’ Veiled because they hide behind that skin you’ve got on and parasite because once that mouth latches on, it’s not letting go until it’s sucked up all of your insides. Saw it happen once, quite the sight.”
Scarlett, although revolted, quizzically eyed the back of Raxon’s head. It was clear where his loyalties lied, but didn’t he realize the path he chose only led to the destruction of not just the Dreamers but of himself too?
“Why do you do it?”
Her question had him slowing a step.
“Do what?”
“Follow in your father’s path instead of making your own?”
He kept walking and didn’t answer. Scarlett turned her attention to the dull sandy plains. She didn’t expect him to respond, but it was a question she realized that hadn’t come to her until now. Maybe it was to gain his father’s much-loved approval. Perhaps it was because he was terrified to be his own person since his father’s ways were all he’s ever known.
“Because I choose too,” Raxon returned.
“That’s only a partial response, and I understand why. I don’t expect you to lay all your shit on me. I wouldn’t want to hear it anyway.” Scarlett shrugged. “You’ve clearly got some unresolved issues, and I suggest you get through them before they eat you alive and lead to something that’ll only be the end of you.”
“And I suppose you know this from experience?”
Scarlett knew he was simply entertaining her. It wouldn’t hurt to finish the conversation. “Not just my own but others. I’ve still got shit I’m holding onto. My trauma may not be as fucked up as yours, but it’s what makes a person, and from what I see of you, it broke you instead.”
“For someone of only eighteen years of age, you sound like a fucking old person.”
Scarlett bitterly laughed. “And for someone who’s supposed to be older, you can be pretty fucking stupid.”
“Touché.” Raxon nodded his head. “I did get my ass beat by you, so I’ll give you that one and only point, Scarlett. Mine still takes the cake anyway.”
At his added words, Scarlett stiffened as she remembered what he took from her. They may not have been by his hands directly, but he initiated the attacks and ordered the actions. Scarlett didn’t say anything as a flare of anger and pain flashed through her.
“Here we are,” Raxon stated.
Scarlett stared at the area he gestured toward.
“Aren’t you going to ask me where it is?”
She only blinked.
“Oh, come on. You’re no fun,” Raxon shook his head as he released a wave of red from his palms. It parted the sand like the red sea, creating a small tunnel. “After you.”
Scarlett covered herself with the parasite’s skin and held in the cringe from the rotten stench that clouded.
“Move around as you please, just as long as you stay near enough and don’t get caught. Make sure your entire body stays under that sheet. You can see through it anyway.”
Scarlett entered the cave, and Raxon followed as the sand returned to its place. She slowed until he walked ahead, keeping her distance. Occasional flares of white sparked from the edge of the tunnel, leaving them with little light to travel by. Raxon didn’t make conversation, and Scarlett was rather glad for it as the sting from his word still lingered.
It wasn’t long before they reached the doorway to the city. Scarlett remembered being dragged on a sled down the path they walked and stopping in front of the two guards. Raxon strode past them and they didn’t bat an eye his way. He moved as if he owned the place.
They passed the medical room with no healers around and entered the upper edge of the city. Scarlett peeked a glance down and took in how ample the space was.
Raxon led her down the spiral tunnel and entered the hall leading to Nate’s quarters. Two guards stood outside and glanced at Raxon. He went to move past him when one of them spoke, “We don’t think you want to go in there. He’s having one of his ‘parties.”
“I’m sure there won’t be much to it and feel free to leave your posts. I heard there was a real one happening at the bowl.”
The guards, so much without a second thought, took Raxon’s bait. “Fuck yeah, I’d rather be there than standing here listening to this shit. Thanks, man.”
The guards left the hall, and Scarlett heard an unfortunate female's moans at the mention of the sounds. She recoiled and silently gagged.
Raxon waltzed into the room. “Nate, haven’t you any courtesy to your guards. Torturing them to stand outside and listen to your… depressing music.”
Scarlett followed in and was met with a sight that had her wanting to bleach her eyes. Nate stood at the edge of the bed; cheeks bare as he gave all to the female on fours. Nate glanced back with a pinched face while the woman appeared to be void. Her moans were plastic wails if anything.
Nate detached himself from the woman and turned his head to Raxon. “The Red Death graces me with his presence. To what do I owe this pleasure?”
The drawl in his voice gave way to his hidden annoyance.
“I came by to discuss the arena.”
Nate raised a brow as he put his armor back in place. “You interrupted my fuck session because you wanted to discuss the arena?”
“Interrupted? You killed the session before it’d even started. The matters I wish to discuss are more important than this sad thing you call ‘fucking’. Dismiss your flavor of the hour so we can move along.”
Nate’s eyes flared at Raxon’s insult, but he complied and tipped his head for the woman to leave. She slipped on a grey bodysuit and went with a roll of her eyes.
Scarlett cleared her way of the door and moved deeper into the room until she was beside Raxon.
“I’ll let your insult slide this once, but know just because you’re a fighter doesn’t make you above me.” Nate tried to regain his authority, but sadly he couldn’t restore something he never had in the first place.
“Of course, all mighty one,” Raxon’s voice dripped with sarcasm, and Scarlett droned out the rest of their conversation. She walked to the edge of the opening that gave a view of the city. There were groups in corners fighting, others sucking each other’s souls, and the rare few merely conversing. Filled with the banished and criminals, the place was nothing more than scum and Scarlett didn’t want to stay another second in it.
With her mind made, she turned from the window and made her way past Raxon. Placing herself behind Nate, who sat in his rock chair, she threw the Nightmare’s skin off.
Raxon’s words trailed as Scarlett appeared with her hands on the side of Nate’s neck by his chin. They didn’t touch him as she leaned down and whispered in his ear, “You don’t lay your hands on anyone without consent, you piece of shit.”
Not waiting for Nate to react, Scarlett sent the thinnest thread of power from palm to palm and pulled. The smell of roasted flesh reached her nose, and she stepped back to admire her work. Nate’s body went slack with the occasional twitch of his limbs. His head slowly slid forward and rolled down the two steps before landing at Raxon’s feet.
“There’s your head. Now you hold up your end of the deal.”
Having beheaded a man, Scarlett loved the euphoria that filled her veins. The sight of his head falling would’ve weakened any other, but to Scarlett, it powered her. And, that rose the tiniest curl of worry around her heart.
Raxon narrowed his eyes. “What part of the fucking plan did you not understand? You w
ere supposed to wait until I left the room, and then some after. That way, I wouldn’t be suspected.”
“You wanted me to wait that long?” Scarlett exclaimed. “You guys weren’t even close to being done! You got the head you wanted. What else did you want?”
Scarlett asked herself the question more than him, and she cocked her head when she landed on an answer. “You fucking weasel. You wanted to take his place.”
“Took you long enough, and why wouldn’t I want to?” Raxon rolled his eyes. “Look at this place and all the people. They could use a king like me.”
He missed enforcing his pathetic reign.
“You’d do them more harm than any good.” Scarlett shook her head in disbelief. “That aside, grab the guy’s head or leave it for all I care, but I’m getting out of here.”
She grabbed the sheet and covered herself just as guards were heard from the hall.
“Fuck. Scarlett don’t you dare leave,” threatened Raxon.
Ignoring him, she calmed her breathing and moved with ease as the guards walked into the room. “Hey, Nate –”
One.
Two.
The guards caught sight of the head at Raxon’s feet.
“Hello boys, I’m afraid Nate has gone for a very long nap,” Raxon casually said. The guards yelled as they began to fire. Scarlett didn’t intend to see the fight through and made her way to the hall. Before she could leave, a blast threw her to the side and into a wall. Her shoulder pounded from the impact and she smelled something burning. Glancing down, she saw the parasite skin singed as a red wave of power burned half of it. She quickly tossed it to the side before his power reached her.
“You’re not leaving this party so soon,” Raxon said as he disposed of the two guards. They hadn’t stood a chance. “We’re getting out of this together.”
Scarlett ground her teeth, straightened, and glared at Raxon. “When we get out of here, you’re going to give us your fucking blood.”
“As promised.” Raxon nodded before heading to the hall. “The best way out would be through the top, but be ready as a majority of the guards will come from behind.”
At his words, footsteps sound from the spiraling tunnel. The duo sprinted up and broke through the exit. At the upper edge of the city, a row of guards met them with palms ignited. Raxon wasted no time in aiming for their feet and succeeded in sweeping three over the edge. Their screams echoed on the cave’s walls, no doubt alerting everyone of their commotion.
Scarlett threw a wide spread of darts and ducked the return fire. The scrape of metal alerted her of a presence behind. She turned only to be clocked on the side of her head. Scarlett whipped herself back and sent a dart for the guard’s eye. It slipped through the delicate tissue and left a burning hole as it traveled toward the other unfortunate soul behind him. It hit the guard on his armor, and he flew over the edge, plummeting to his death.
The crowd of guards blocking their exit thinned while more poured from the spiral tunnel. “We need to go now!”
Scarlett didn’t wait to see if Raxon heard her. She pumped her arms and legs as she headed for the medical room opening. From there, it was a straight line out. Shouts sounded from behind, but none stopped her from the path.
She dived through the doorway and plowed the guards attempting to block it. Having led with her shoulder, they felt the blow more than she.
Scarlett entered the central tunnel and watched behind for Raxon. A few seconds passed before a movement. An object was tossed through the entrance and stopped a few short feet away.
“Grab… the head… and go!” Raxon shouted in between grunts.
Not wasting another second, Scarlett yanked the head from the ground as a guard entered the tunnel and she ran. Even when they stopped chasing, she didn’t slow. Scarlett didn’t want to spend another second in that place, especially since she carried the head of their so-called leader.
Scarlett reached the end of the tunnel to find a dead end. She frantically glanced around when she laid eyes on a small hidden opening. It was her height and thin enough to blend in with the remaining wall.
Keeping the head positioned behind, Scarlett squeezed her way through. A light lit the way, and she burst out into the openness of the Nether Realm.
“Took you long enough.”
The voice startled Scarlett as she jumped in its direction. Cain stood to the left side of the hill with his arms crossed. He lowered his sight to the head clutched in Scarlett’s hand, and disdain shone from his eyes.
“You did it,” he commented.
“Yeah, no shit.” Scarlett was in no mood to converse with him any further. That all could’ve been avoided had he given her some blood.
She didn’t like having to make a deal with Raxon. She didn’t like having to choose to travel with that bastard the rest of the way. She didn’t like putting the life of her people in any more danger.
Despite all of those, the one that topped the cake was her dislike of herself.
The way violence whispered in her ear and sent the darkness within into a frenzy. A part of her hoped Raxon missed the look of peace that overcame her features as she cleanly sliced Nate’s head from his neck.
Her stomach churned at the thoughts.
Scarlett glanced down at the pale head in her hand. She held Nate by the tugged skin on the back of his neck. The man had been bald with no hair for her to grab and his eyes were shut with his vile mouth ajar. Drips of blood fell from his neck onto the grey sand, only to be sucked in and disappear.
Another wonder added to the list of the Nether Realm.
The head flew from Scarlett’s hand as she tossed it at Cain’s feet. “Your brother shouldn’t be too far behind. You can give him his head when he comes through.”
Not waiting for his response, Scarlett went the opposite of Cain and headed back to the cave. She wasn’t going to linger around him. She did her part of the deal and it was time for Raxon to do his.
The brothers entered the cave together, and Scarlett stood with her team. Everyone’s sight shot to the head that hung from Raxon’s hand.
“Well, well, well, I must give it to you,” Raxon started. “While you may not have followed the plan to the tee, you did deliver me Nate’s head.”
“I did, now it’s time for you to hold up your end.”
“Hold on, not so fast,” Raxon hushed her as he shot her knowing eyes. “Before I open that scroll, I just need one little answer from you.”
Scarlett tensed, wondering what Raxon could ask.
“Did you enjoy it?”
Her breath caught as she understood what he wanted to know.
‘Son of a bitch.’
Scarlett bit the inside of her cheek before clenching her jaw.
“I need a truthful answer, and I will know if you lie,” he pushed as they kept their eyes locked.
Swallowing down the fear of her people’s judgment, Scarlett pushed her shoulders back and kept her head high. “I did. Now, open the scroll.”
Raxon smirked and nodded with compliance. “Very well.”
Without a care, he threw the head to the side where it landed with a thump. He held his hand out, and Scarlett placed the scroll in his palm but didn’t let go.
No more risks.
With his other hand, Raxon cupped the edge of the scroll, and a small blade shot out. He slid his fingers across it and then lightly pressed them into the white side of the scroll. At his delicate touch, the scroll brightened and warmed Scarlett’s hand. She watched as the dark ends of it disappeared and gave way to four smooth wooden pegs.
Grabbing one on each side, Scarlett unfurled the scroll as Raxon removed his hands.
Scarlett’s face creased when a blank sheet met her sight.
“There – There’s nothing here,” she uttered as she shot her eyes to Raxon and Cain.
“Scarlett, your age really shows,” Raxon poked as he sealed the slice on his fingers with a quick singe of his power. “A scroll of
this size wouldn’t be able to hold the information it currently has without the help of magic. Ask the scroll for what you wish to see, and it will show you. Ask it for directions, and it will guide.”
Scarlett glanced back at her people before asking the scroll for where they wished to go. “Lead me to Muck Mountain.”
The white sheet swirled before coloring itself grey. Lumps indicating the hills appeared; they shone a valley that led to the clump of mountains. The map cut off there with no other image.
“That’s it?” Jasper asked as he peered over Scarlett’s shoulder.
“The map is known to show as it leads. Follow its path, and you’ll reach your destination,” Raxon explained.
“What are those?” Trevor pointed to the black circles that decorated the hills along the path they’d have to walk.
Scarlett brought the scroll closer to her face. “I don’t know, but we’ll find out soon enough. We now have the scroll to continue the mission. After a night’s rest, we’ll leave this place.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“How long will the scroll stay open?”
Jude asked a question that caught everyone’s attention. They silenced as they awaited Raxon’s answer.
“Until my little droplets of blood run out,” he answered. “Think of it as my assurance that you won’t attempt to ditch me.”
Scarlett eyed the swirl of blood at the bottom of the scroll and ticked her jaw.
‘Of course, he would pull such a thing.’
“Count it noted,” Scarlett coldly said as she closed the scroll. The others dispersed and took place along the edge of the wall to lay down.
They need all the rest they could get.
The grey sky ever so slowly brightened again.
Scarlett watched Cain as he sat at the cave’s entrance. Neither mentally prepared for what they were embarking on. She wanted to be angry at him – to hate him for everything.
And yet, she got up from the ground and made her way to sit beside him.
She didn’t know why she did it.
She simply did.
Scarlett sat and hugged her knees to her chest. She breathed in the cool air while trying to ignore the flush of her skin. She hated how his presence affected her. A part of her did blame him for what happened. Suppose he opened up sooner, even before she entered the Realm. Alerted her parents and teamed with them, things could’ve – no, they would’ve – gone differently.