“Simon is what matters. Let’s move out.”
Becca strode at his side, the teen’s dark eyes scanning the dry landscape as if she expected monsters to leap from the ground any second. From the growing disappointment in her expression, Logan guessed she wished they would, if only to relieve her boredom.
The wall of buildings was farther off than it appeared at first. The massive size of each building threw off their perspective and Logan had a sheen of sweat beading his brow by the time they finally approached. Movement in the dim shadows between buildings gave the party pause, and they approached with caution.
Logan hadn’t been sure what to expect within the shadows of the buildings, but the milling crowds of lost souls wasn’t it. He could feel thousands of sets of eyes on him and the women as they drew close, but the souls were skittish of the living, pulling back into the deeper shadows.
Logan felt dwarfed by the towering wall as he neared it. His mind struggling to make sense of the scale he was seeing as the buildings marched off to the left and right. The outer wall of buildings didn’t have windows on the ground floor, or in the narrow alleys that separated them. Drawing abreast of the place, Logan had to cover his nose from the awful stench. The reek they’d been smelling since passing through the portal was sharp and strong here.
The first two souls Logan saw close up looked human, though their features were unlike any he’d ever seen before. Eyes with epicanthic folds, skin a dark black, and mouth wider set than any on earth, he frowned in puzzlement until he saw the third creature with its dangling antenna. Those large oval eyes and tiny mouth had never evolved on earth.
Their bodies were clothed in rags, but where the flesh poked through, it lacked solidity. As if a strong breeze could blow the souls away at any moment. The four in the alleyway sat huddled against the walls, eyes downcast and expression blank, unregistering of the living that passed by.
“Have you ever seen the like?” Syn asked, a disturbed expression etched across her beautiful features.
“There are more worlds than ours in the universe,” Becca said with a frown down at the lack of reaction from the alien-creature. “Why would it be a surprise their dead end up here too?”
“She’s right,” Logan said, then motioned for Syn to lead on. “Let see what’s in these buildings before we get in too deep.”
They passed through the alley and found a wide boulevard on the other side stretching to the left and right as far as the eye could see. There was no sun in this place, but the buildings still cast dark shadows over everything on ground level. It wasn’t the structures and their lack of features that interested Logan but the souls he saw milling around.
He spotted human’s scattered throughout, but also demon’s and even a lone High Elf, towering above the rest with his long, slender ears. The insubstantial figures wore expressionless faces as they watched the living pass, but Logan’s skin crawled as he felt their eyes on him.
The second line of buildings had windows and doors on the ground level. Black openings without doors or windows, he approached the nearest window with caution, seeing nothing in the blackness until he pressed his face into the opening.
Inside he found a strange scene.
A long room, the length of the building, was filled with hundreds of small desks like you’d find in an elementary school with the desks affixed to the chairs. Every desk had a soul sitting at it. Men and women of every race imaginable made up the strange classroom, but most were children. They stared forward with universally bored expressions as a golden figure lectured them.
“-is the end not the means. Goodness doesn’t spring from within; it is granted by God. Seek the sin in your hearts and root it out. Because all who find themselves in this place have lost the love of God and must make themselves good again in His eyes.”
Logan pulled his head out of the dark space and the voice cut off. Syn shot him a frown as she pulled her head out of a window next to his and glanced down the boulevard.
“They can’t all be filled with the same thing.”
“Let’s check,” Logan said.
Chapter 18
In the next building they found the same hall, filled with hundreds of bored souls while a different golden figure lectured them.
“At their heart all living beings is sin, greed and all the worst impulses. Only in ignoring yourself, can you reach a hand up toward Heaven. Ignore your thoughts and impulses, for they are the Fallen One’s work, and instead meditate on the unending love God pours forth-.”
Logan pulled back and found Becca beside him.
“Trouble’s approaching, find anything interesting?”
“No,” Logan said as he noticed the growing crowd approaching from one direction. There were several large figures at the front of the crowd and from the angry muttering and hisses from the crowd behind them they weren’t the welcoming party.
“Nonsense!” Syn said when she pulled her head back, a frown of disgust marring her features. “They’ve perverted the Ancient Teachings.”
The high elf snapped her jaw closed but from the frown she wore it was clear to Logan she’d been thinking the same thing. He wanted to ask the dark elf what she meant by Ancient Teachings, but the angry crowd was growing close, and he stepped forward, wondering if he should draw his sword and then wondering what would happen to a soul that was killed in purgatory… was such a thing even possible? Seeing the angry crowd in a new light, Logan focused his attention on the figure in the front they were centered around and tried to ignore his growing fears.
“Your kind has no place here, mortal.”
The man, if such gender definitions conformed to its race, towered over more than two feet over Logan’s not inconsiderable height. Its hair hung down its back in braided ropes and the face was covered in boney protrusions that grew over its eyes and mouth in armor. The protrusions stuck out from its entire body, giving it a terrifying appearance.
“We don’t wish to disturb you-.”
“Then leave!” Called a soul from back in the crowd, earning itself a chorus of faint cheers and cries of agreement.
“They trapped my friend within this place,” Logan said, keeping his tone calm but firm as he addressed the giant before him. “If you know anything or can help us find him, then we’ll be gone.”
“Your friend is lost,” the giant rumbled, “Forget what cannot be saved and care for the living, mortal. Your appearance disturbs our re-education.”
“Is that what’s going on in there?” Logan asked, nodding towards the buildings but the giant just crossed its great arms and frowned at him. “Who are the golden beings up front, giving the lectures? Angels?”
Laughter rose from behind the giant and one of the souls nearby spoke.
“The High Ones can’t come here.” Snickered the lanky fellow with a wispy beard and missing teeth. “Not unless they want ‘nother Great War. Sent they Psion’s, come to teach us good.”
It was strange seeing a human man with a strong Tennessee accent surrounded by monsters, aliens and all manner of strangeness, but before Logan could ponder on the oddness, the giant unbound its arms and gave a single shove.
“Go. Now.”
The giant gave him another shove, but this time it was hard enough to send the young man stumbling backwards. The shove awoke Logan’s anger, already on a low simmer from his frustration but instead of burning hot, a coldness settled over him as he stood tall and looked the giant directly in the eye.
“Apparently the Psion’s haven’t taught you about grace, good luck seeking salvation within yourselves. That path only leads to darker and darker places.” Turning to Becca and the elves, he nodded his head for them to follow and released the hilt of his sword. “Come on, we’ll torture them with our presence no more.”
He felt thousands of eyes tracking him as he turned to go, but one set bore into his back so powerfully he almost wished he could summon his armor to protect himself from them. Turning, he spotted the little demon w
atching him not with the anger he thought to find, but curiosity.
“What?” He asked her
“You wield Excalibur, the blade of blades. It could cleave that Balrog in two and, in this place, add its strength to the weapon. You could have defeated an enemy, cowed the rest and made yourself the more powerful.”
“They aren’t my enemies,” Logan said. “Our presence is a reminder of the lives they once had. The loves and losses… Couldn’t you see the pain in them?”
“It surprises me you would care, Black Dragon.” Iyllia said with a frown at Logan.
“That’s because you continue to believe lies about me,” Logan said with a shrug then motioned for Syn to range ahead. “We should keep moving, they’re still back there.”
The elves glanced back and saw the human was right, souls shadowed the group as they slipped through alleys and passed through wide boulevards. Every street looked exactly the same, the only difference being the souls that filled them.
Some streets were busier than others, and when they passed through others, they were entirely deserted. There didn’t seem to be a reason why some places were more populated than others, but Logan began to notice the deeper they got, the more segregated the races became and the older everything felt.
Passing an area filled with a long-eared bunny-people, Logan was forced to keep his eyes off the pleasingly rounded souls or earn a frown of disapproval from Iyllia. The Fae creatures were known for their amorous desires, and the young man was warned by his dark lf guard that no woman would look kindly on her husband slipping off to bounce a bunny girl on their laps.
“Some pleasures a man can’t come back from, yes? He would find the things that once pleased him would no longer be good enough and His Majesty would set able and willing servants aside for the joy of his bunny girls.”
“Logan wouldn’t do that,” Becca said, reassuring the Commander, then her eyes took in a particularly buxom young elf who looked too young to be flaunting her rounded body before the party and her confidence wavered. “They are adorable little creatures aren’t they.”
Hours and hours the party walked in the direction the fetish pointed, always deeper into the strange, strange place. When they grew hungry, they stopped and had a quick meal, but Logan tried to push through the evening and ignore their exhaustion, but with the endless city passing by and no end in sight he finally called a halt for the day.
“Let’s find a place we can rest up. We’ll sleep in shifts.”
“I do not need to sleep, and you’d know that if you weren’t such a fool,” Dystra said with an angry glower. “I’ll keep watch while you rest.”
“You think I’ll trust a demon to watch over me when I sleep?!” Iyllia said with a sneer for the little demon that perfectly matched the sneer that had worked its way onto Syn’s lips, which she was wiping away.
“The witches were wise enough to make sure the fetish won’t work for me,” The little demon said with a sneer for the elves. “If it did, I’d have already found my Simon and gotten him free. If I’m going to be stuck at your sides, then at least you can be rested and useful for when the fighting starts.”
“It’s settled then,” Logan said, shooting a firm look at the two elves and quieting the arguments that bubbled up on their lips. Ly’Synthia accepted his word as law, though she clearly didn’t like it. Iyllia looked ready to bite Logan’s head off as he turned away, but Becca didn’t fail to notice the bright spots of red in her cheeks, nor the cut of the White Knight’s eyes down to take in the young man’s firm backside.
It really is one of the best asses I’ve seen on a man, Becca noted as she slipped in beside Iyllia and took in her friend’s figure. The high elf glanced at Becca and she offered the taller woman a wink, and nearly laughed out loud when the red spots deepened on the elf’s cheeks but kept her expression still knowing how prickly the woman’s honor was.
“You any good with those?” Becca asked, raising an eyebrow as she took in the woman’s fine swords.
“I am Second.”
The high elf said it simply, using the word as a title in a way that gave Becca pause. There was such serene confidence in the elf’s stride and manner that the human found herself more than a little intrigued.
“Does that mean the dandy with the stick up his ass is First?”
“Commander Darioush sits at the top of the rankings,” The elf nodded carefully. “And has held the place for 327 years now.”
“When was the last time you challenged him?” Becca asked, that crooked smile of hers working its way onto her lips as she watched the high elf’s features go still.
“It would be unseemly to challenge the Queen’s sworn sword. These things are not done.”
“She keeps the pups off their Commander’s back,” Syn said with a sneer for the high elf. “She’s only a female after all… Old traditions still find a home in the White Knights ranks.” Iyllia glared at Syn but said nothing and dark elf went on. “The men who give the order think it’s all their doing, but their Queen’s a cagey bitch.”
“Have some respect when you speak of my Queen,” Iyllia said with a snap of anger in her voice.
“I thought I was?” Becca didn’t fail to notice how relaxed and comfortable Syn had become since leaving the Darkened. It could be because the woman was so far from her homeland for the first time in her long life, but Becca suspected it deeper than that. “Their Queen inverted her command structure. Instead of facing farmers with swords on the front lines, her most able fighters and tacticians are there to make immediate decisions. It’s damnably frustration to engage the lowliest High Elf forces, and that’s why their reputation throughout Fae is so great.” The dark elf’s eyes glittered, and the corner of her lips curled up in a grin. “Not because they’re any better than we are.”
“This section looks empty,” Logan said, interrupting a fascinating exchange and making Becca want to kick his ankles. When she glanced around, she saw he was right, but those shadows still lurked behind, always following their path.
“What do we do about them?” Becca asked, pointing, so they’d be sure to know who she was talking about.
“Leave them for now,” Logan said with a frown. “I don’t know what they want but maybe they’re just curious.”
“Those looks feel more dark, than curiosity,” Becca said, and Logan nodded.
“Clear,” Syn announced, having done a quick sweep of the building. “There are stairs leading up, but the door’s locked, I couldn’t budge it.”
“Perfect,” Logan sighed as he stepped into the cool interior and gave a shiver, wishing he could have had the word back.
Chapter 19
The place was far from perfect. He felt like he was walking into a tomb the moment he stepped into the place. He was reaching out to feel the walls when the ground gave another violent heave, throwing him to the ground. The elves tangled one another up, and nearly came to blows as they stood.
“Get your hand off me,” Syn growled dangerously and Iyllia grinned a wintry smile before Logan stepped between the two.
“Save it for sparring practice,” he said with a glare at the pair not relaxing until they backed down. “I want to be back on the trail as soon as we can so let’s try to get some rest.”
“I’ll prepare your pallet, my liege,” Syn said, with a knowing grin on her lips as she pointedly ignored the high elf.
“Nothing more than a bed-slave for the Black Dragon, eh?” Iyllia asked with a cold grin. “You blackies love being slaves. Must be in your bones, eh?”
Syn bared her teeth and Logan saw her knuckles go white as she gripped her spear, but he reached out and rested a hand on the powerful dark elf’s shoulder. When the woman’s eyes met his, she saw the warning there, as well as the warmth, and closed her mouth before saying what had been hovering on the tip of her tongue.
“The prissy bitch will know why we want to sleep next to him in the morning,” Becca said with a smirk. “And then we’ll see who’s ha
ppy to be a slave.”
“I am a slave,” Syn husked in Logan’s ear as she steered him towards the laid-out blankets. “As is my Queen and our Goddess as well… A slave to your powerful cock.”
Logan gave a little shiver as the dark elf peeled away from him and undressed for bed. Becca slipped into the blankets next to him, while Iyllia took a place directly across from the threesome. The high elf didn’t look like she was going to get much sleep as she cast suspicious glances at the little demon perched in a dark corner on look out.
Seconds after his head hit the blankets, his eyelids drooped, and he felt the weight of sleep dragging him under. Logan’s thoughts went to his friend, hoping Simon wasn’t in pain or being tortured, and that he would still be here and alive when they found him. The day had been exhausting and terrifying, but a deep part of Logan loved the excitement, craved it even, and he couldn’t help feeling guilts about that as dark dreams pulled him deep.
His dreams were chaotic things. Colors swirled in every hue of the rainbow and loud voices thundered to one another in argument, and then growing anger. The words weren’t merely sound.
Every utterance Logan heard, spoken in a language too complex for mortal minds to comprehend, was an attack. Every syllable, a blow that rocked the foundation of the golden world around Logan. The speaker was clothed in light, its features unrecognizable, but what it shouted at seemed to fill all of space and time.
Logan’s mind reeled when he touched upon that vast being. Unlike the goddesses he’d encountered, there seemed to be no end to it. As the shouting figure railed, the vast presence’s awareness shifted to the little human swirling in their midst, but before Logan could register anything, the angel of light spun on him.
“YOU!!”
The voice wasn’t harsh as Logan had been expecting, instead it was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard in his life and the face that loomed out of the light struck to the core of him, for it was the most beautiful and terrible things he’d ever beheld.
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