by K T Munson
“Satisfied?” Destiny asked.
“You’re one of the Fates.” It was a statement, not a question. Elisabeth turned slightly away from her, not sure what the woman was going to do. She didn’t trust her.
“I am, Seer,” she said and seemed amused by Elisabeth’s wariness. “We aren’t so different, you and I. You see through the layers of the world while I see through the layers of time.”
“Yet you cannot see my future?” Elisabeth asked, eyeing the other woman with suspicion.
Destiny’s lips curled back in a smile that made Elisabeth’s blood run cold. Facing this ethereal and powerful creature was as dangerous as facing an army of Weavers. She might look small and blind, but Elisabeth could see what she was below the surface, could sense her subtle powers as they reached down into the ground and into the air. It was as though everything that had ever existed was connected to her, reach out in front of her like winding rivers.
“You will soon travel beyond my reach, and not knowing what is to come next muddies the waters of your future paths. All those possible outcomes have become blurry, unclear.” Her voice felt like water against Elisabeth’s skin. She could feel Destiny extending out to the world around her and through time.
Elisabeth tried not to betray any of her emotions, though hope filled her. If she indeed would travel beyond Destiny’s reach, perhaps it would happen because she learned how to use the Nowhere Gate. “Why are you here?” Elisabeth asked, glancing around.
“Curiosity.” Destiny tipped her head.
“About me?” Elisabeth asked, trying to get more information.
Destiny’s lips curled in amusement. “Before I was Destiny, I was a Det Morian. I am curious about the woman in whom Nauberon has taken an interest.”
All of the hair on Elisabeth’s arm stood on end. She gulped despite herself and wondered what the woman had done to become a Fate. She had read little about what was required to become something so powerful. She’d had to shed her identity in order to become who she was now. And she’d said his name without his title—something few dared do.
“Well?” Elisabeth asked, feigning indifference.
“You are exactly opposite of what he should want for himself,” Destiny said matter-of-factly.
Elisabeth shrugged. She honestly didn’t understand it either. “I agree.”
“So I will help you find what you are looking for.” Destiny lifted a hand and flicked her wrist. Elisabeth could feel the air pull and push a moment, and her hair stood on end. Suddenly, a book to her right shifted out from the rest. She turned her head away from Destiny to get a better look at it.
“What exactly—” Elisabeth started to ask, but when she looked back she was alone. Destiny was gone, and no matter where Elisabeth looked, she knew she would never find her. She crossed the short distance to the book and took it carefully from the shelf. It was thin and old and leather-bound. As she turned it over in her gloved hands, she realized it was a journal.
Destiny suddenly appeared on her left. Elisabeth gasped and jerked away from her.
“You can’t remember everything,” Destiny said and touched Elisabeth’s head.
Gasping, Elisabeth sat up, finding herself in a chair. She looked around her, most of her memories flooded back. She remembered Destiny appearing and remembered discussing the king with her—but not why. She remembered Destiny offering her help, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t quite remember everything. It felt like awakening from the sort of dream that started slipping away just as you were remembering it.
She shifted back, nearly convinced that it had been all a dream, and then a book fell to the ground. She looked over the side of the wrought iron chair, and her eyes widened. A leather-bound book stared back at her, and she felt gooseflesh break out on her arms. The longer she stayed in the Netherworld, the more treacherous creatures she seemed to encounter. Picking up the book, she decided she needed to find the Nowhere Gate sooner rather than later.
Chapter 21: Hystera
Kerrigan listened to Jinq as he slept, his slow inhalations proving he was alive. It was a sound that soothed her and reminded her of what she had been. She would float out of him and watch him sleep and wonder what that was like. It had been so long since she inhabited her own body that she could only remember the waking part. Spirits didn’t need sleep. She hadn’t told anyone that she could now leave Jinq’s body—not even Elisabeth. Whenever she did so for too long, he would stop breathing. It would only take a few minutes for his body to try to take on a natural death. Hibrius was dead, and Jinq should have been as well. His body wanted to die; it tried whenever Kerrigan wasn’t occupying it. The thought terrified her.
Elisabeth had brought this strange contraption with her when she had successfully separated them. Apparently it had been a working prototype for another spirit to occupy. Kerrigan could get inside and inflate it to a full height, like a strange body suit, but she couldn’t get it to do anything more than that. She wasn’t strong enough. It had been so hard to inflate that by the time she had finished she was exhausted.
That was about the time that she’d noticed Jinq had stopped breathing. She had rushed back to his body and felt his lungs fill with air. Jinq had woken up gasping for breath then, but she hadn’t told him what had happened. She’d been afraid that if she did he would leave her, and she didn’t want to be alone. Worse, the separation didn’t seem to affect Kerrigan. Whatever Elisabeth had done had set Kerrigan free, but she did not want to take that freedom at Jinq’s expense.
Kerrigan slid back inside as Jinq’s breathing became laborious. She could still sense the world around her. His breathing returned to normal as the early morning light blinked over the edge of the window. It caressed the wooden windowsill. She dearly wished she could feel sunlight instead of just sensing it. Oh, to feel things again. She longed to feel any sensation once more instead of perceiving them through Jinq.
A sudden knock at the door roused Jinq from his sleep. As he sat up, she could sense his old muscles and bones protesting. He had lost more than his spirit animal on that dreadful night; he had also lost his youthfulness. She was aware that with each passing day he aged a little more. Eventually his body wouldn’t support either of them. The thought made her sick.
I’m getting too old for this. Good morning, he muttered in his head.
Good morning, Jinq.
He lumbered over to the door and opened it slowly. He gave a startled cry, and Kerrigan felt herself gasp. A strange contraption stood in front of them that was shaped like a person. It took a moment for her to register the swirling face within the glass. She realized with a start that it was much like the suit Elisabeth had brought her.
“I apologize profusely for my early arrival, but Elisabeth has instructed me to assist you.” The being’s gaze shifted around the room. “Both of you.”
A.J., she whispered. She remembered Elisabeth explaining the strange contraption in their room and how it had been one of the better prototypes she had constructed.
“You must be A.J.,” Jinq said aloud before taking a step back and allowing the spirit in.
“Thank you for your hospitality,” he replied politely. In her whole life—as short as it might have been—Kerrigan had never seen anyone speak in such a strangely courteous way. She couldn’t help but to study the extraordinary spirit with a newfound interest.
Ask him if Elisabeth is coming, Kerrigan asked.
“She is not,” A.J. responded before Jinq could ask. Her confusion was immediately followed by relief. A.J. could hear her. “She hoped you might find comfort in someone else being able to hear you besides her.”
If Kerrigan could have cried, she would have. The emotion was strong, but it—she—wasn’t real.
A.J.’s voice was filled with surprise as he spoke. “I apologize for startling you. It was not my intent to upset you.”
Kerrigan waved her hand to tell him it was fine, but she couldn’t get the words out, as she was so moved. Elis
abeth had been kind to her and had saved her soul. If the time came that Elisabeth needed her, Kerrigan would do whatever it took to keep her safe.
“She is relieved,” Jinq told him. “I believe these are tears of joy.”
“Miss Kerrigan cannot cry, so more accurately they are sniffles of joy,” he corrected and smiled charmingly—or at least it seemed that way to her.
Kerrigan laughed, and Jinq did as well. She wiped away her imaginary tears, a habit one learned when alive and carried over uselessly into death. She snuffled once more for good measure before calming her erratic emotions. It was so good to be heard by someone other than Jinq.
I thought Elisabeth was in the Netherworld, Kerrigan said.
“She is indeed,” A.J. confirmed. “Before she left she told me that I must come here and ensure that you do not lose heart.”
“Do you know when she will be back?” Jinq asked. Kerrigan was also curious; she missed Elisabeth’s reassuring presence.
“When she finds what she is looking for, I imagine,” A.J. said.
“What is she looking for?” Jinq asked, echoing Kerrigan’s thoughts.
“Happiness,” A.J. responded, and Kerrigan narrowed her eyes. “Now why don’t we get started on what it means to be a spirit trapped on this plane of existence?”
Kerrigan felt helpless as A.J. launched into all of the information he had gathered over the years about the complexity of thresholds and places spirits shouldn’t wander. He was so polite that it seemed suspicious that he’d given such a vague answer to Jinq’s question. It would be one of the first things she would ask Elisabeth about the next time she saw her. She could only hope that by then Elisabeth would have a solution to their problem. Knowing that Elisabeth was in the Netherworld only made Kerrigan wonder how much trouble Elisabeth was in herself. Nothing good ever came out of the Netherworld, except maybe Seers.
Chapter 22: Lyreane
Selene sat in her regular spot on her window ledge as night embraced them all. The city was asleep, and the barest of lights winked below her. The rest was moonlight and the stars. She watched them as she always did and wondered about how her life could have been. She could not imagine a life worse than the one she now lived, yet the Netherworld and demons were a risky business. Selene wasn’t sure exactly how risky, but she knew for sure they were. But what if the demon had been telling the truth and she gave up the opportunity to leave, living out the rest of her life confined within this nightmare?
Tears threatened, but they had lost their appeal long ago. Instead, she ground her teeth and focused on the way they rubbed. It was a habit that allowed her focus, distracted her mind until she could work out all the angles.
On the one hand she could remain a prisoner, and on the other she could be making herself into a worse kind of slave by going with the demon. She could be forever trapped in the Netherworld. Worse, she could be killed before seeing her family again. Glancing around the inside of her current prison, she wondered if death wouldn’t be better. If she died in the Netherworld, at least her soul would be free. And if the demon had spoken truth, she had other family.
Family she knew nothing about—ones that could be worse than a demon. Selene wished she knew more about Spiritwalkers, or at least had paid closer attention to what she’d learned. Her memory was hazy, but she knew they were basically half demon themselves. In the end Selene had to choose between the known and unknown—certain unhappiness or the possibility of a better life.
The floorboard outside her door squeaked. Selene sat up and swung her legs over into the room. She held her breath and tried to listen for sounds. She hoped she had misheard and that it wasn’t the king outside her door. She couldn’t bear to have him near her. Not since Sorrow. When the keys jingled and a man grunted, she immediately got to her feet and rushed over to the mirror.
“Demon,” Selene whispered harshly.
Selene glanced over her shoulder as the key slid into the lock. Her heart hammered against her chest as she tried not to vomit. The air was tight in her chest and every hair stood up on her body. She was about to call out again, but when she turned around the demon was already there. “You’ve made your decision?” he asked.
“I’ll agree if you take his ability to have children,” Selene whispered as the knob turned. “If you make it painful for him to even try to be with a woman.”
A crooked smile spread over the demon’s face—a face Selene didn’t fear as much as the man behind her. The door opened, and she pressed her back to the wall. A hand reached through the mirror and Selene followed it up to the demon.
“Deal?” he asked.
“What is that?” King Tricten demanded, and she took a step back.
Her jaw clenched at his words as revulsion laced through her, hot and vengeful. She shook the demon’s hand. “Deal.”
Before she could let go, he tightened his hold and dragged her through the mirror. She gasped and screamed, and moments later she landed on the other side in a pile of limbs. She looked up, and there stood the demon with whom she had made the deal. He wore a strange white tunic with buttons, and a golden chain hung around his throat. The mirror had obscured the two black horns that stood tall above his head like rabbit ears.
“Welcome to the Netherworld.” He spread his arms wide.
The room looked exactly like her room, but it was old and ruined. Her beautiful furniture was timeworn, dilapidated, and covered in a layer of dust. Red light shone into the room instead of pale moonlight. As the demon waited, she slowly got to her feet.
“You will do as I asked?” Selene watched him closely.
“Once you are safely to the Divine Court, I shall ensure that your king is given his just deserts.” The demon gestured toward the door.
“He isn’t my king,” Selene told him. “Not anymore.”
She walked toward the door and her future.
Chapter 23: The Divine Court
Elisabeth crept along the hallway in the darkness of the evening. A strange dusky purple filled every room as night descended. It terrified her more than the rust-colored sky of the Netherworld. At least there she was feared. Here, she was only half of a Soul Collector and, therefore, only a half-breed among the strongest known beings.
She was trying to find a room that shifted and held exactly what she needed, but she had no idea what it looked like. From the book that held her answers, Elisabeth had been able to figure out two things: the room could only be found by the light of the dusk, and the room had defenses. Given that second thing, she wore a black, corseted armor-like dress her father had made for her instead of her usual fancy collared dress.
It was her third day roaming the halls trying to find a room that never stayed still, a vanishing room that held all of King Nauberon’s treasures and secrets. After two days of dwelling on what she was doing, she had summed up her mission: find a vanishing room that contained an item that would allow her to navigate a gate that was connected to nowhere. If it weren’t for Destiny’s prediction that she would soon be far away, Elisabeth would have assumed it was an impossible quest.
Instead she had decided to change tactics. King Nauberon had a particularly nasty grandmother, Babayaga, who was somehow still alive. She was somewhere between life and death and was so old that she couldn’t walk. In order to allow her to get around without causing anyone trouble, King Nauberon had created a blue box, shaped much like a litter. During one of her recent reads she had uncovered its very strange name: Mystic Elevator.
When Elisabeth came to a junction, she glanced around the corner. Once she confirmed that the way was clear, she continued down the hall. One more hallway and she would arrive at Babayaga’s room. She was one of the only people in all the Netherworld who King Nauberon couldn’t control. It was said that she did whatever she wished, harmed or helped those she met, and was as unpredictable as the weather.
Elisabeth wasn’t sure how she was going to deal with the old woman, but she knew that she would pay the price. Since she co
uldn’t find the chamber Babayaga’s transportation device was currently in, she needed a quicker way to check the fortress’s many rooms. She was intent upon using Mystic Elevator to get to King Nauberon’s vanishing room.
Why couldn’t things ever be easy?
When she rounded the last corner, she heard a sound further down the hall. She rushed around the closest pillar, pressing against the stone as the voices came closer. Two women were talking. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, so all she could hear was noise. When they passed by, she continued around the pillar until she could look at their backs.
They were caretakers. She recognized one of them from when she had first come to the Netherworld. She wore a green outfit and had strange tipped ears. Elisabeth watched them until they were safely out of sight before going toward the room. She’d only made it two steps before she felt a humming to her left. She studied the blank wall with wonder. Glancing to her right at the door, she felt nothing remarkable from it, so she returned her attention to the outwardly seamless stone wall. The pillar she had hid behind was covered with carvings that continued onto the wall in long rows. Gold embellishments had been woven into the paintings on each side of the matched carvings. Yet the wall in front of her was suspiciously bare. As she reached out her hand to check the surface, she heard another set of voices.
As she hurried along the wall, she ran her fingers against it, and her hand passed right through. Elisabeth made a startled sound, and then she was falling. There was blackness on the other side of the wall as she descended. She would have screamed, but when she drew a breath, she landed hard on the floor.
Groaning, she rolled onto the plush carpet. Lying on her back, she could see the endless black rising up before her. She looked to her left and saw that the blackness continued down like walls and that it seemed like the room was floating. She hoped she had accidently stumbled across the vanishing room.