by J D Cowan
Jason scanned for the source and found it in the tunnel forty feet ahead. He squinted and saw the figure of a woman embedded in the same stone pathway Shaula escaped through. The earth trembled around her indentation.
Around him, the enemies still slunk towards him even as they slid backwards into the center of the pit. They wanted him dead more than they wanted to live. Then he remembered that they were stone monsters and fire lizards. A fall into the trap might not hurt them even though it would kill him. Still, the floor slowly sank like sand as they pressed him.
“Hurry up, Matthew,” he whispered.
Soon enough there wouldn’t be any place to escape to.
Matthew knew Jason would throw him before the dumb kid did. He couldn’t help being predictable. But Matthew welcomed it. They needed to get Ordopha and Alain out before the cage fell into the lava. This was the fastest way.
He made a beeline directly for the cage at what felt like the speed of a Mack truck. The bars whipped close as the humid air pushed against him. His face brushed against the steel.
Matthew morphed into fog and whipped through the bars. Both Ordopha and Alain moved to the sides as the mist darted past. He solidified and slammed face first into the bars at the rear end. The cage rocked back and forth, and the chains squeaked and creaked. The three stumbled as the floating prison bobbed.
Alain clapped his back. “As insane as ever, Matthew.”
“You’d know. How you doing, Ord?”
Her trembling lips curved into a grin. “Well.”
“Sounds good to me. You two, grab on,” Jason said. “We’re gonna do this like the airship.”
Ordopha outstretched her hand just as the chain above whined, and broke. Matthew darted for her, with Alain at his side and they both clasped her wrists. The ceiling of the cage hit Matthew, and he turned to mist, taking the two with him. The bars of the falling prison battered his incorporeal form. Hot pain spread inside him into particles of dust.
Slowly, his molecules reformed into the ethereal mist again. Red aches stabbed his senses. Whether air or liquid form, disturbances could break him apart and changing his basic structure caused tremendous discomfort. Using Castor to its full extent still stayed outside of his grasp, but one thing he could still do was hold together. Keeping three different bodies inside his transformation took concentration. Tears raked across the inside of his soul threatening to split him to pieces.
The steel trap spun all the way down into the magma below. He drifted forward, battered about by the humidity and hot air. There was still a twenty-foot drop to get back to the ground.
“Matthew, you fool,” Alain yelled. “We are falling. Transform back!”
“I can’t do that.”
Ordopha whispered from inside him. “Yes, you can. It is right there. We can touch it.”
His sight through the mist returned as he focused, and he saw what she meant. The broken chain for the cage hung above him, swinging back and forth. He reached for it.
“When we reform we’ll be in the same position we went in on. Hold on to me.”
Matthew formed normal again and found himself falling. He reached out and took hold of the chain with his free hand, and weight pulled against his muscles. Underneath, Alain and Ordopha let go of him and also grabbed the chain. Matthew‘s concentration and breath returned.
“So,” he said to the woman below him. “Still doing well?”
“I cannot say that I am.” Her breaths were rushing hard. “Now what do we do? We’re trapped.”
“No, we’re good.” Matthew’s second wind returned. “We just climb back up and over down the chain. The pulley’s holding out.”
“You are endlessly positive,” she said. “It is nearly endearing.”
“Nearly?”
“Yes, every time I am with you our lives are in constant peril.”
“Come on,” he said with a laugh. “You love it.”
She giggled. “I cannot say it is altogether unpleasant.”
“Will you two shut up?” Alain asked. “You may reconvene your idle chatter when we’re not hanging above certain death. Can you move yet, Matthew?”
“I sure can spoil sport.” He took a breath and began climbing upwards. The other two followed. “We’ll talk later, Ord, when your brother isn’t in such a prickly mood.”
“But then we will never speak again.”
Alain sighed. “Very amusing.”
The entire cavern shook. On the platform below Jason fought the oncoming swarm. The platform sank in the center.
Off to the right that woman, Camille, hid herself inside an entrance with her hands buried into the cavern. She was destroying the platform with her power, and none of her cronies care.
He helped the siblings down onto the stone floor and removed his sword. Alain came to his side.
“I’m going after the witch,” Matthew said. “Can you help the boy out?”
Alain held a wolfish grin. He found an abandoned blade among the lizard corpses. “You don’t have to ask me. I was not planning on leaving yet.”
“I’ll go with you,” Ordopha said to Matthew.
“We won’t be gone for long.”
Matthew sprinted down the thin pathway to the left as Alain drove toward Jason. The platform slowly sank behind them. The woman in the stone ahead leaped out into the tunnel as Matthew and Ordopha got closer. She raised one palm towards them. Large stone projectiles broke free from the surrounding floor and soared forward. The size of beach balls, the slabs also flew like baseballs.
He slashed the first one out of the air and misted through the second which flew off into the lava. But the third made a beeline for Ordopha.
Matthew dove and seized her by the waist, knocking her to the ground. The stone flew directly overhead. Matthew straddled her with his arms and legs on either side.
“You alright?” he asked.
“Above you!”
Three stone balls merged into one and careened downward like a guillotine.
After a solid deep breath, he took her shoulders. “Are you ready for this?”
She nodded. “Always.”
The large boulder slammed into the earth and sent shattered stone firing out in every direction. Thankfully he had turned to mist once more, but the aches flowed through him regardless. He transformed solid again, wincing at the remaining pain. She stared at him as if nothing happened.
Camille ran away and disappeared into the tunnel. He helped Ordopha up and followed after her.
For a moment, the platform behind them stopped sinking.
The stone walls bent and jumped out around them as they followed. Camille could have sealed the paths off, but she needed concentration to do it. With enemies in pursuit, there was little chance she would risk it. The two had the edge on her.
“We got her on the ropes,” he said under his breath.
“Unless she is leading us somewhere.”
“Maybe she’s leading us where we need to go.”
“I wouldn’t trust a snake like her. Stop! Let me look in here.”
Ordopha broke off into a nearby carved room where weapon racks lay on the wall. Swords, shields, and spears propped up next to arrows and bows. Quite the arsenal had been set up. She took a bow and a quiver full of arrows from among them.
She nodded approvingly as she inspected the bowstring. “Now I no longer feel quite so naked.”
“And that’s why I like you so much.”
She laughed. “I will miss this.”
Shortly, they continued on. Camille, and Shaula by extension had to be close by. Hopefully, Jason and Alain could hold their own until they made it to the witch.
Chapter 21
Edging Toward Cavern’s End
The golem’s large fingers slammed against Jason’s shoulder and sent him spinning. The massive trunk of an arm swung sideways and successfully swept several salamanders from their feet and down into the magma below. The golem brought its arm back for a second hit. Jason�
�s shield rang, and his knees shook.
A spear thrust in on his left. He swung the shield to deflect it, and another stab came from his right. His blade blocked the point of the spear and guided it to the side. A lizard man sprinted to his unguarded front. He kicked out with a Pollux powered leg. The hit sent the salamander soaring into one of the golems, crunching rock. Jason rolled backward.
His sword clashed against armor, blade, and shield. His shield guarded and pushed potential blows away. His reflexes had never had quite this much of a workout. He silently thanked Alain and Sir Orach for teaching him pacing. Jason kept measured breaths.
Slashes nicked his armor and shield. The metal slowly reformed as if it were hard plastic springing back to its original shape. Zelana’s gift held out. He could last forever at this rate.
The golems leaped over the crowd toward him. He braced Pollux and his shield. Then, just as they were about to land, the monsters broke. A rain of boulders poured down on him, pelting and crushing lizards. Before he could tell if that was the intention, he also realized the floor was no longer sinking.
The lot of surviving lizards let out guttural howls and rushed him. He could not tell if it was due to fear or stupidity, but this desperation struck him as strange. He met them in the shifting sands of the platform.
But a cry cut through.
The lizard to his left fell dead to the dirt. Two more beside it spun around and lost a head and right arm. The rest of the pack backed away at Alain holding a bloodstained blade.
Jason smiled, unable to hide his excitement. “I could really use a hand.”
“Of course you could,” he replied with a grin. “I have seen you swing a sword before.”
Alain took to his side, and the formation of the enemy momentarily faltered. But they quickly regained their courage and hissed out a battle cry.
Metal collided against metal, and skin slashed open. Alain laughed like a madman. Jason darted his blade from enemy to enemy. The sealed exit where they had first entered quaked. Rocks along the red walls broke and dislodged. Stone split and burst open like a dam, revealing two dozen men in armor and masks led by Zelana. She had her arms held out where the wall had just crumbled.
Without a wasted second, the men from Fortuna all shouted and charged with their weapons out, and poured down into the open cavern onto the lizards.
“Now this is what I live for!” Alain roared. “Show some fire, Jason!”
For once, Jason understood Alain completely. The two fought their way into the thick of it as the salamanders shrieked and shouted against them. Blood and steel flew all over. His adrenaline only climbed as the battle raged on.
Still he could not help but think about his other friends. Where were Ord and Matthew?
“Did you hear that?” Ordopha asked with her bow raised. “Shouts.”
Matthew nodded but did not stop moving. That woman had to be nearby, but she had not used her power once since they followed after her. Either she didn’t know they were behind her, or she led them into a trap. But the two of them couldn’t stop.
Salamanders crawled about the tunnels. The narrow space made dodging difficult for the larger groups which made them easy targets for Ordopha’s arrows and his sword. Corpses fell as they ran past.
Finally, they reached a throne room. There he saw a towering regal chair of polished oak and flowing weaved red tapestries. A large mirror lined the rear wall. He recognized that glint shining from the last one. Despite the gold and gems adorning the room in tapestries of colors and crimson beauty, that mirror drew him in. The Mirror Gate. This was their ticket back to Serenity City. Shaula must have gone through there, but what about Camille?
Ordopha checked the corners of the room and found no one. Camille had vanished. Before he could make a guess, the ceiling above him creaked.
By instinct, he tackled Ordopha to the ground. Her bow twanged as she dropped before him. The cavern shook, and a large boulder struck the floor where he had stood seconds ago.
“Look!” Ordopha yelled. She pointed to a spot in the wall where her arrow lodged in. Blood streaked from it. “The stone was moving so I fired. Rock doesn’t bleed.”
The two approached the thin stream of blood. The rocks crumbled out to reveal the body of a young woman with an arrow in her chest. Camille fell listlessly to the floor, groaning.
Ordopha raised her bow to finish her when Matthew brought a hand up.
“We should end her now,” Ord argued.
“Answers first. She apparently needs to touch the earth with her skin to move it, so cover her hands and get her up.”
The pair removed a blood red tapestry and wrapped Camille in it. When she was held tight, he let Ord do her work. She slapped the unconscious girl.
“Wake up, witch.”
“What are you doing to me?” Camille mumbled. Her eyes opened after a few seconds. She thrashed and bit at the air.
“Asking some questions,” Matthew replied. “Where did Shaula go?”
“I have no cause to tell you, especially after what you did to my brothers. I will return that tenfold!”
“Do you think I wanted to fight them, Camille? It was either them or me. You made your choice working for a woman who doesn’t care if you live or die.”
“It is because of her that we not only have life but these powers at all, imbecile. We wouldn’t exist without the queen. But I suppose you know little of loyalty.”
“You got me there. I don’t know much about being loyal. But I also don’t steal young girls to syphon life force from them. I don’t sacrifice people to test my magical bracelets. I don’t imprison innocents to provide entertainment for my slave soldiers. But I know who does. All you have to do is tell us how to get through that mirror, and I can show you.”
“Only those with the blood of the King may open it. And you are no royalty.”
“No,” Zelana said. “But I may be able to help.”
Jason and Alain, as well as the men from the village, including Kydil, ran through the hall behind them. Zelana led the pack to them. She rushed to the Mirror Gate as greetings were exchanged.
“What does she mean?” Ord asked Alain.
He gestured to Matthew. “She was able to lead Kydil’s men here because of the magic she planted in their armor. Her awakened abilities are tied to magic.”
“The girl in the tree is this runt?” Camille asked.
Several of the men seized the fallen villain and placed her on her feet between two of them.
“She’s bleeding,” Jason said. He meant Zelana. A thin stream of blood dripped from her lips. “We can’t ask her to do any more than this, Matthew.”
“Any more than what?” Ordopha asked. “Don’t talk around me.”
Zelana let out a cry as she slammed her palms on the tall mirror. Clear white energy flowed like steam from her into the gate, rushing like a small typhoon. The large mirror flashed gold.
“Impossible,” Camille whispered.
“Time to go,” Matthew said. Jason didn’t argue. The crowd watched the mirror before noticing the pair moving toward it. “It’s been fun, everyone, but we have a witch to stop.”
Alain threw out his hand and gave both warriors a shake. “I only regret that we never had a proper duel. Keep practicing, Matthew. Don’t become sloppy. Pay attention to your surroundings. Jason, simply stop being a fool.”
“Thanks, man,” Jason replied, oddly serious. “You too, Ord.”
Ordopha embraced the boy in a hug. He squeezed back. “Alain is right. You have Pollux now, and Matthew. You can trust them both.”
Jason blushed and slowly nodded back. He left them for the mirror by Zelana.
“Matthew,” Ordopha said. “Thank you.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Please don’t do that. I’m not good at this sort of thing.”
“Fine, you don’t have to say it. Not now. How about when next we meet, then?”
Matthew laughed. “Something to look forward to.”
“I will be glad to be rid of this foolishness,” Alain grumbled.
Matthew joined Jason by the Mirror Gate. The flashing lights and swirling dots like dust mites inside nearly hypnotized him. Before he could say anything to the boy, Zelana squeezed Matthew in a hug. The move threw him off balance, and he stiffly patted her shoulder back. Finally, she gave him a wide smile. Jason laughed.
“Jason told me you like hugs.”
“Jason is a liar.” Before she could react, he added, “But they’re not always so bad.”
“Alain told me he was given a small piece of a mirror from that hermit,” she said. “In inspected it, and I feel faint traces of magic in it. The shard doesn’t work, not now, but perhaps we can use it to see through the other side to your world.”
“I wouldn’t put much stock into it. The corresponding mirror was probably destroyed long ago.”
“Perhaps,” she said with an upturned grin. “But it does not hurt to hope.”
Matthew laughed to himself. She bowed to the two of them.
“Goodbye, Matthew.”
“See you next time, Zelana.”
Matthew looked back one last time and saw a strange sight. Camille split open the tapestry, covered in a thin layer of earth. The guards saw her a second too late. She tackled Matthew and Jason, knocking them into the Mirror Gate.
Jason was thrown forward into the funnel. However, she stuck to Matthew.
The villain screamed as she flew through space grappling against Matthew. Matthew drew his sword, but she was too close. Camille shaped her thin layer of earth into hard rocks on her knuckles and slammed it into his face. Before he could regain his senses, she struck again and again. They pushed against each other in the drifting void.
“What are you doing?” he shouted.
“I’m stopping you! This is the least I can do for my queen and my brothers.”
“The least you can do is to get lost.” They spun out of control through the tunnel. He had to get her off before he rammed the sides at the edge of the light. He figured out one way to do it.