The Fifth Portal: a supernatural urban fantasy action adventure (Cards of Death book 5)

by Tamara Geraeds

  Meanwhile, I pull Charlie back onto the path. He holds up a hand filled with grease balls and aims it over my shoulder, hitting another demon in the eyes. Then he pushes himself up and holds out his hand to me. “Come on, we’ve got more monsters to kill.”

  We turn to where the others are fighting. There are only a couple of demons left, so I take a few seconds to steady my breathing.

  Then I nod. “Okay, let’s finish this.”

  Charlie pulls some sweets from his pocket and shoves them into his mouth. Then he conjures two large grease balls and raises them above his head with an exhilarated cry. He dives forward, and I follow with a less enthusiastic yell.

  I brace myself, but inches from impact, the battling monsters all freeze and back up with their tails between their legs and their heads down. Even the largest one seems afraid.

  We all lower our weapons and frown.

  A chill creeps from my toes to my neck at the thought of what could have made them run so suddenly.

  Then I see the boat, decorated with skulls and bones, and with a jolt, memories flood back into my head. I have to lean on Charlie to prevent myself from falling over. The light from the lantern attached to the bow of the boat seems to hypnotize me. I can’t tear my eyes away from it to look at the figure standing behind it. Not that I need to; I already know who he is and what he looks like. I’ve met him before. Charon, the ferryman of the Underworld. Has he come to punish us for screwing up the whole universe? It sure feels like it.

  I sink to my knees and grab my head, that feels as if it’s splitting in half. The tunnels of the silver mine appear before my eyes in hot flashes. The black void in the wall, the spider demon grabbing Mom, the premonitions of the Devil coming back to me.

  I press my hands against my eyes and scream.

  “Stop it!” I hear Vicky call out. “What are you doing to him?”

  “Just giving back what was taken in another world,” Charon’s raspy voice answers.

  Vicky’s response gets lost in the noise in my head, but the images sooth the pain somewhat.

  I see Vicky lying on the bed at Darkwood Manor and giving me the provocative look I have grown to love. I vaguely register rolling onto my side while flashes of kisses and more slide by. Touches filled with electricity, smiles and conversations heat me up further. Then the nice memories are pushed aside by battles, blood, swirling black smoke, an evil tree, Trevor holding a priest, the soul of a young man dragged away from me and the body of an old woman draped over a stack of suitcases.

  “NO!” I scream, curling up into a ball.

  A hand is placed on my back, and a soothing voice speaks to me, but I can’t understand the words. My memories drown out all sounds in the present. Mona’s face hovers in front of me, smiling as usual.

  “I’m your fairy godmother,” she says, and she turns and turns until she’s nothing but sparkles that warm my body with their soft touch.

  The pounding in my head finally stops, and reality trickles back in. I relax my limbs, push myself into a sitting position and blink several times. “Let’s not do that again.”

  Vicky, sitting next to me, still stroking my back, lets out a shrill laugh. “I agree.”

  Then I remember who gave me my memories back. Charon must have used his Lake of Remembrance somehow to bring them back. I scramble to my feet and bow deep, trying not to topple over as dizziness hits me. “Thank you for your help.”

  The skinny figure dressed in dark rags towers over me. Although I can’t see his eyes, I can feel them bore into me disapprovingly.

  “I would say it was my pleasure,” he booms, “but your respect is not enough to erase my rage.” He points a bony finger at me. “You upset the balance of the universe.”

  If I could shrink into oblivion, I would. Instead, I keep my head down and put all my regret in my words. “I know, and I am really sorry, Charon. It was a grave mistake, and we will do everything within our power to set things right.”

  There’s a short silence before he pulls back his arm. “You may rise.”

  I straighten up and pull at my clothes to give my shaking hands something to do.

  The silence between us pricks my skin. I open my mouth to apologize again when Gisella takes a step forward.

  “Can you tell us what happened, ferryman?”

  She seems to be the only one here not impressed by Charon’s presence, and I’m not sure whether to admire or disapprove of that.

  To my surprise, Charon answers without scolding her. “Your spell landed Trevor and the demons here and made sure they couldn’t get back to Earth. That is why he sent the souls from Purgatory to Earth instead, which in turn disturbed the balance of the universe even more.”

  “So we have to undo the spell?” I ask.

  He shakes his head, making the bones crunch. “No, it is too late for that.”

  Gisella throws down her arms, changing her hands into blades. “Don’t worry. We’ll get all the souls back here and take care of Trevor.”

  Charon tilts his head, and the dark holes where his eyes should be gleam in the passing sparks. “Your courage and determination are admirable, but you must remember that you are not alone. You are all part of a team in which some members are more important than others.”

  Gisella frowns at him. “Yes, I know I’m not as important as Dante. How could I ever forget? Everyone keeps reminding us he’s the chosen one.”

  “He is,” Charon replies calmly. “But he cannot finish his quest without all of you. You are all a part of this. In a way, you were all chosen to play a part, small or big.”

  Taylar clears his throat. “Are you saying he can’t succeed without us?”

  I hear the unspoken ‘without me?’ in his voice.

  The ferryman nods slowly. “That is what I am saying.”

  When no one else speaks, I bow again. “Allow me to apologize once more for our mistake. We’ll be more careful from now on.” He stares at me without uttering a word, so I continue. “And thank you again for returning my memories to me.”

  Charon floats back onto his boat through the side. His staff changes into an oar, and water rises up from the path under it. “Do not disappoint me again, young Dante. We all depend on you.”

  No answer seems good enough for that, so I settle for a ‘Yes, sir.’

  The corners of his mouth go up far enough to reveal his sharp teeth. “I took care of the remaining wolf demons for you. They won’t bother you again.”

  I recoil. “You did?”

  He bends forward, closer to me than physically possible. “Don’t tell anyone,” he says in a hoarse whisper, “but I’ve been keeping an eye on you since even before we met, and I’ve grown quite fond of you, boy.”

  He gives a small bow back, and when I blink, he’s vanished into a thick mist beside the floating path.

  The lantern attached to the high bow of the boat is the last thing we see, swinging gently from left to right, before the vessel disappears completely.

  Charlie breathes out audibly. “That was something you don’t see every day.” He wipes his forehead. “A bit scary too.”

  Gisella shrugs. “He wasn’t that impressive.”

  Vicky nudges me. “How do you feel, now that you know the ferryman of the Underworld is fond of you?”

  I’m still staring at the spot where Charon was standing just a couple of seconds ago. “You know… I’m not sure that’s such a good thing.”

  “Why not?” Jeep asks, rubbing the tattoos on his arms. “You told us he’s neither good nor bad. And he helped you before, didn’t he? When you were trapped in the Shadow World with Vicky and she zapped home without you?”

  “Sure,” I nod. “For his own good. If I fail, he’ll die, or perish, or whatever you call it in his case.”

  Jeep pulls down his sleeves. “Well, I think he meant it. He really likes you. And that could come in handy again.”

  My muscles scream at me to lie down whi
le my mind buzzes with all the memories that have come back. I swallow a sigh. “Maybe.”

  “Well,” Vicky says cheerily, hooking her arm in mine, “I’m glad he stopped by. He saved us a lot of time getting rid of those wolf demons, and more important: we’ve got you back.”

  Maël takes me in, leaning on her staff. “Speaking of this… how do you feel?”

  I look at her and try to find the words to describe what’s going on inside me.

  “Confused,” Vicky says. “And scared, determined and…” I meet her eye. “Grateful.”

  I shake my head with a smile. “Thank you for that assessment, Doctor Vick.” I turn back to Maël. “I’ll be fine. But the world will not be if we don’t do something now. So, who’s ready to dive through that portal and fight?”

  They all raise their hands and howl like a pack of hyenas. I laugh and beckon them. “Let’s do this!”

  CHAPTER 27

  The wooden platform is empty when we reach it.

  “Where did Paul go?” Charlie asks as I hold out my hand to Vicky. “Do you think Charon got rid of him too?”

  I shake my head, anger waking up in my stomach again. “No, he was gone when we came here. He probably fled as soon as he saw us. The coward.”

  Rage flares up in my best friend’s eyes. “Yeah, I think you’re right. But I’m sure we’ll see him again.”

  Once we’re all on the platform, it takes us to the portal without trouble. I stare into it and scratch my head. “If we close it, how do we get back home?”

  Charlie pulls his hair together. “We could go through and block it using a spell, you know.”

  “That’s a good idea,” I nod. “And I can write another spell to get the souls back where they belong.”

  Vicky kisses my cheek. “It’s good to have you back.”

  Her touch gives me energy, and I kiss her back. “It feels good to me too.”

  Okay, no time to linger. We have to get everyone back in Purgatory before they catch the fairy’s soul.

  Reluctantly, I pull back and take a last look at the pit leading to Hell. I’m coming for you as soon as I can, Mom.

  “Right.” Straightening my shoulders, I turn to my friends. “I’ll go first, with Vicky, to see where we end up. Wait for one of us to give the all-clear before following, please. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt or lost.”

  And with that, I take Vicky’s hand and step through the portal.

  It’s different than the last couple of portals we went through. We don’t arrive on the other side immediately. Instead, we land on some sort of slide. I feel us slipping downhill, faster and faster, going from left to right. There’s no sound or light around us, and suddenly, I wonder if this is actually a trap.

  But then we slow down, and Vicky’s cold hand wraps tighter around mine. Of course she senses my unease. I want to ask her if she’s worried too, but I’m afraid to disturb the silence. Darkness often hides the most horrible things, and I don’t want to wake anything.

  The slide ends, and we get up. Behind us, the air seems to change. It becomes more solid with every passing second, until finally it pushes us forward through a blackness I mistook for a wall. It’s all sticky, and it smells like a combination of rotten eggs and decaying flesh. It clings to every part of me and makes my skin itch. I try to move faster, but it’s like struggling through glue. I shake my head as it crawls up to my mouth and eyes.

  I knew it. It’s a trap. Thank heavens we didn’t all go in at once.

  The air behind us is still pushing, and hope ignites in my chest when I see a sliver of light in the distance.

  When I try to pull Vicky closer, my whole body grows cold. She’s no longer there. I’m clinging to the slick substance instead of to her.

  Reflexively, I nudge my power core. A blue ball comes to life in my hand and chases away the black mud. I concentrate on a bigger ball, and once the light spreads further, I’m able to move my head and arms. I look around and scream when two eyes and a mouth appear in front of me.

  “Shh, it’s me,” Vicky hisses. “Come. The exit is right here.”

  She takes my unlit hand and pulls me along. The oily substance tries to grab onto her barely visible form but fails.

  The light gets bigger, and suddenly, we tumble forward. Vicky catches me before my nose hits the rocky ground. She’s almost as solid as a living girl now, and I pull her into a hug.

  “We’re fine,” she soothes me. “But how are we going to let the others know they can come? We’re far from the entrance.”

  I rub the last bits of mud from my pants and freeze. “Wait a minute. I know this place!”

  In the dim light of the pulsing red symbols on the walls, I turn in all directions. “I can’t believe it! We’re in the silver mine!”

  “What?” Vicky furrows her eyebrows. “You mean our silver mine? In Blackford?”

  “Exactly.” I conjure a new lightning ball and illuminate the walls. “This is amazing. There’s not a single sign of the porthole to Darkwood Manor.”

  I wave at the spot where it should be. “Mona! Are you in there by any chance? Open up!”

  All remains quiet, except for the bubbling surface behind us.

  Oh right, we need a way to reach the others or get a message to them.

  “I can call the rest of the Shield to me,” I suggest.

  “Sure, but what about Charlie and Gisella? When they see the others disappear, they won’t know what to do.”

  “Good point. So, what then? Is there a way to send them a message?”

  She shakes her head. “I don’t think so.” She stares at the wriggling portal. “We could go back?”

  She sounds about as thrilled at the idea as I am.

  “There must be a better─” My last word changes to a shriek when a voice interrupts me.

  “You’re back!”

  We both whirl around and whip out our weapons.

  I slam my free hand against my chest when I spot Mona’s head sticking out of the open porthole just outside the tunnel.

  She smiles brightly. “I’m glad to see you’re still in one piece. I lost sight of you for a while, and a minute ago, you suddenly popped up.” She sticks her head through further to check the rest of the tunnel. “Where are the others?”

  “Still in Purgatory,” I say, lowering my athame.

  Mona wrinkles her forehead. “Did you by any chance bump into your mother? She fell off the grid too.”

  I exchange a quick look with Vicky.

  “What is it?” Mona asks.

  I can’t look at her, so I pretend to concentrate on putting away my athame. “Trevor got her. But she should be safe with him. He actually loves her.”

  Mona gasps. “How did that happen?”

  A distant scream makes us all turn our heads to the portal.

  “I’ll tell you all about it later,” I say, conjuring a bolt of lightning in each hand. “Close the porthole. We don’t want anyone to find this secret passage.”

  “I’ll keep an eye on you from here,” Mona says before stepping back. “Be careful!”

  Inch by inch, we move back to the portal, which seems to be swirling more violently again.

  “Do you hear that?” I ask in a hushed voice.

  Vicky tilts her head. “What?”

  “Voices.”

  Her face lights up. “It must be the others!” Without warning, she calls out, “Jeep! Maël! Is that you?”

  There’s a muffled response that could mean anything.

  Vicky sticks her hand in.

  “No!” I yell. “What are you doing?”

  But she’s already up to her elbow in the muddy substance.

  I yank at her arm, but it’s stuck. “Are you crazy? What were you thinking?”

  “That our friends are probably just as stuck as we were,” she responds calmly.

  “And we got out on our own, didn’t we? They’ll be fine without us.”
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  “Do you want to gamble their lives on that assumption?”

  I groan and stick my hands in too. “Guys? Take our hands.”

  Something touches my fingers, and I almost pull back. Not that I would be able too, because as soon as I try to pull the person inside toward me, something sticky wraps around my arms and hands and pulls me further inside.

  “I knew this was a bad idea!” I call out as I watch Vicky getting pulled in up to her shoulders.

  The darkness claws its way from my arms into my neck, and I shake my head in an attempt to get rid of it. Meanwhile, I’m pulling like crazy, but it’s like fighting cement.

  There’s a draft behind us, and a warm sparkle lands on my nose.

  “Keep still for a moment,” Mona’s voice says.

  I obey without hesitation, and when Vicky stops wriggling, a cloud of sparks drifts between us and splits in two. Half of the lights jump onto my arms, and the other half makes its way to Vicky’s shoulders. As soon as they touch the mud, there’s a high shriek, and the sticky stuff crawls back. The sparks follow it, but it’s not done fighting. In the blink of an eye, the strings of black form into claws that slam down onto the dots of light.

  “Enough of this,” Mona says. There’s a whoosh, and a warm whirlwind passes between me and Vicky. Sparks escape from it and rain down on us. A bunch of them cling onto the blackness of the portal, and part of the mud evaporates. The claws let go and retreat hastily.

  Simultaneously, Vicky and I pull as hard as we can. The resistance breaks, and we tumble backwards. Taylar lands on top of me while Vicky and Maël are a mess of intertwined see-through limbs and clothes.

  “Thanks,” Taylar mumbles, and we jump back onto our feet and help the ladies up.

  When we turn back to the portal, the Mona whirlwind is grabbing one arm after the other and hurling the people attached in our direction. Soon, we have D’Maeo, Gisella and Charlie at our side and a hole in the portal surrounded by sparks.

  “Look at that,” I say. “It’s turning.”

  The vortex behind the dark mud rotates right, then backs up a bit and proceeds to turn.

  “Now I understand why we were sliding down,” I mumble.