Ethereal Underground

by Briana Gaitan

  They walked closer to the large rocks when Finlay called out, “Hey, you might want to let me go in first. I’ve, uh, met these creatures before. They will be less likely to rip your guts out and have you for dinner if I go first.”

  This made Ash pause and turn to look at the seraph. He considered the words for a second before nodding, “Okay, go ahead.”

  Annalise was surprised that he was stepping down to let someone else go in first. Finlay stepped ahead of Arie and shot her an apologetic look before taking up the front of the line.

  “What does he mean, he has ‘met these creatures before’?” Arie said with a mocking tone. She crossed her arms in front of her body. Ash and Annalise followed behind them. A soft singing voice could be heard as they closed in on the gray rocks. It was as if the ocean was singing to them from the other side, a beautiful sound flowing into Annalise’s ears.

  She looked over at Ash, “Do you hear that?”

  He nodded and gripped her hand tighter, “It must be the creatures Leon was talking about. Doesn’t sound so scary to me.”

  “Do not be so quick to think Leon does not know what he is talking about. If he says these things are dangerous, then I would say they are.”

  Ash shot her a troubled look and continued forward in silence. The singing grew louder and louder as they came to an opening in the rocks. Finlay gave one last worried glance back at the two of them and continued through the thin space between the rocks. Annalise could feel Arie and Leon catching up behind them as Ash pulled her with him behind Finlay, her heart racing to see these beings.

  The beautiful singing stopped, and then resumed, this time with words instead of a melody,

  “We heard that you were coming,

  We hoped that it was true.

  Oh, our dearest Finlay,

  Aren’t we so glad to see you!”

  “Ladies! It’s a pleasure,” Finlay said and threw his arms open in a greeting and let that charismatic smile spread over his face.

  Annalise peered around Finlay’s large wings to see a bonfire sitting in the center of the rocks. There were a dozen tall, curvy, gorgeous young women who were stood around the fire. They each wore skin tight clothing made from beast skins, some more revealing than others. Out from behind each of them curled long furry feline tails that matched the color of their hair. They were all looking at Finlay in awe, excited to see him here. Ash let out a surprised , “What tha-” and the hulmiens snapped their heads around towards him.

  Leon stepped up beside of them, Arie there as well with a less than pleased look on her face.

  The girls opened their mouth again, a song flowing from their lips,

  “We have been so very lonely here,

  And you have brought friends with you we see,

  Along with the beautiful women there,

  What handsome men you’ve brought with thee.”

  “We are just passing through,” Leon said as he reached for the dagger at his hip but not pulling it from its sheath.

  “Dear, dear guardian,” one of the ladies said as she stepped forward, her tail swishing back and forth behind her as she did so. Her large green eyes bore into Leon, taking in his body from top to bottom as she approached. She stopped several inches in front of him and trailed her eyes up at him and smiled, “No one simply passes through here. We are so very lonely here. We have been cast out from our home, forced to live in the lower levels.” Even though it was just one voice, the rest of the hulmiens quiet, she still sounded like water flowing as she spoke.

  Leon took a step back from her and took a deep breath, “You have nothing I want.”

  “I do not agree with that, seraph,” she said as she ran her hand down his chest and then skipped away to rejoin the others with a giggle.

  “What the moons was that,” Arie spat, angry brown eyes looking over at Finlay for answers.

  “Those, my dear, are the thing of nightmares. They will seduce you and kill you in one thought. Drag you back here and cut you to pieces.”

  “You speak so lowly of us,” one of them piped up, this one taller than the others. She cocked her head to the side and bit her lip affectionately, “Do not pretend you don’t love our company dear Finlay.”

  “Visitors, this is Mannassa, leader of the hulmiens.”

  “Come, join us for dinner.”

  “We were just cooking up something special,” spoke another.

  “Just for you,” another purred, as they all began to sing again. All but two of them began to dance around the fire, singing and moving in unison.

  “I do not think we are planning on eating here,” Annalise whispered as she leaned over to Ash.

  “Wouldn’t hurt. I’m starved,” he said in disagreement and walked forward.

  She reached out to grab him as he let go of her hand, but Leon had her arm, “Do not follow him.”

  “I will not let any harm come to him,” Annalise said and glared at him, annoyed that Leon would keep her from following Ash. If these beings were as terrifying as the seraphs said they were then she wanted to keep her eyes on Ash.

  He sighed and rubbed his forehead, “Fine, but I will come with you.”

  Finlay nodded and stepped ahead to go sit where Ash was by the fire. Arie came to stand by Annalise and walked beside of her, “What is up with these girls?”

  “I do not know. It appears as if they are harlots.”

  “Shhh, Annalise,” Leon chastised, “Do you want to get us killed?”

  “What would you like to call them?”

  “Hulmiens. That’s it.”

  “I don’t like them,” Arie growled.

  Annalise turned to her and put her hand on her shoulder, “Do not worry. Finlay, he cares for you. He may have a past with these evil creatures, but he will not have a future with them.”

  “Soooo, what are you cooking up?” Ash asked as he leaned over on the log from where he sat, eyes on the pot that hung over the fire.

  The others took a seat around the fire as one of the hulmiens came to stand beside of Ash. She leaned over, tail swooshing back and forth as she whispered in her ear, “Razda meat. I know it is your favorite.”

  “Yes,” another agreed and came to stand beside her friend and place herself in the mortal’s lap, “We aim to please.” She let out a giggle and wrapped her arms around him. Yet a third creature came to stand behind him and run her hands through his hair.

  Ash closed his eyes and smiled, “Can’t wait.”

  Annalise scowled at the four of them, crossed her arms and tried to keep her mouth shut. She did not like these hulmiens at all, she decided. She could feel the conflicted emotions fading away in Ash and being replaced by emotions that she was only slightly familiar with. Turning to Leon, she whispered her concerns, “Are they going to kill him?”

  “No, not yet,” he said with a laugh, “They are just playing with him. Like a beast plays with its prey.”

  “It is sick.”

  She heard Finlay let out a laugh and she turned to see him standing off to the side watching the show. The hulmiens would pass him as they danced around the fire, one by one trying to get his attention. He would swirl them around occasionally if they were friendly. The overly friendly, the ones running their hands over his wings, he would push off of him and encourage them to go dance.

  Arie stood up, going over to where he was and spoke to him angrily, “You had better watch it.”

  “Love, it’s all good. Come with me, dance,” he laughed as he grabbed her by the hand and began to dance around the fire with the hulmiens. His loud laughter reverberated off of the rocks as he did so. Finlay was a spectacular dancer, even moving in a circle around the pit of fire, and he eventually had Arie laughing and dancing with him. They would take turns pointing and laughing at Ash, making comments about him and the ladies. Annalise tried to ignore them, but found it difficult to ignore their persistent happiness. Did they completely forget that they were all about to waltz into the layer of the fallen?

&
nbsp; Leon scooted closer to Annalise and put an arm around her. She eyed his large arm suspiciously and didn’t say a word.

  “These creatures are fascinating aren’t they?” he asked, a smile on his face as he watched his friends having fun.

  “No. I do not think so,” Annalise disagreed and looked over at Ash to see the hulmiens attempting to pour some kind of liquid into his mouth from a carved out rock. He turned his head to refuse it and the liquid ran down his chin and onto his chest. Annalise turned her eyes away from him but could still hear their laughter. She badly wanted badly to get up and stop their nonsense, but Leon’s words made her stop and listen.

  “They are telepathic. That is how they can sing together like that. They hunt in packs sometimes. One or two will draw out the prey and then they will all feast on it. It’s very bloody, very vicious. They can also read the minds of their intended victims. That is how they know your mortal likes razda meat. I am sure that is not at all what is in that pot.”

  “I do not care,” Annalise insisted.

  “Is that really the kind of person you want to spend all your time with?” Leon asked and pointed over to where Ash sat.

  Annalise did not look over, choosing instead to eye Leon suspiciously, “He cannot help their enchanting ways.”

  “They do not make him do anything he does not want to do.”

  “Do not lie to me as you have before. I am not so naïve. I can see that Finlay is only having fun and letting it affect him and Arie. That is why you and I are sitting here unaffected. Ash is mortal. I am guessing that is what they feed on.”

  A hulmien came to stand in front of them and Annalise looked up at her and frowned.

  “Beautiful seraphs, come and dance with us,” she reached out to run her hand along the outer part of Leon’s wings.

  “No thanks.”

  “But we are so very lonely,” she begged, her hand now going to his arm.

  Leon leaned away from her to stay out of her grasp, “I said no.”

  She frowned, beautiful face showing legitimate concern and sadness, “We will still let you join us if you change your mind.” With that she walked away, and Annalise was glad. She was about to say something not so nice.

  “Tell me,” Leon said and turned her face to look at him, “What is it about this mortal that makes you feel for him?”

  This caught her attention, “Feel? What do you mean?”

  “You know exactly what I am talking about. You are sitting here about to go drown each of those hulmiens that have his attention. That is very unlike you.”

  “I am worried. That is all.”

  “You care for him.”

  Annalise paused and let out a sigh. She didn’t want to lie to him, but she didn’t want to tell him the truth either. He had kissed her before she left their realm with Ash, and that told her that he cared way more than he was admitting to her. It told her that his feelings may be unseraph like, like the ones she was having for Ash. “And if I do?”

  “I don’t know, Anna. I just don’t want to see you hurt, and I am worried that he will do just that.”

  “He has kept me safe,” Annalise said firmly, “And he will not let anything happen to me.”

  “I’m not talking about your body. I am talking about your heart, my dear Anna,” he whispered as he placed a hand on her chest and smiled down at her. “I do not think that I can replace this bond you have with him, but I would not break your heart. I cannot love like a mortal can but I have always been there.”

  Annalise brushed his hands off of her. It was so weird for him to be behaving this way towards her. However, as she let herself think about it, he had always found small ways to touch her. Small ways to complement her and help her out in any way he could. He had protected her, been her confidant and always her friend. Still, she had never thought to look at him in any way but that before. She had watched mortals in love on her globe and wondered often what that would be like, but never considered Leon as a partner. Duty was what had called. And duty was what had led her to Ash.

  “Leon, I do care for you. You are incredibly special to me and I do not know what I would do without you. I want you here. Always.”

  He smiled down at her, “I’ve waited a long time to hear you say that.” He leaned over to her and she pulled away from him, recognizing that now as him beginning to kiss her, and put some space between them on the seat.

  “But it is different with Ash,” Annalise mumbled. She laid her head down in her lap, not wanting to see the expression on Leon’s face. Covering up her ears, she tried to drown out the increasingly loud sound of the hulmien’s song and laughter and of Arie and Finlay as they danced and were entertained by the Ash’s behavior. Her own confusing feelings and those from Ash were absolutely exhausting.

  Ash

  The songs that came from the hulmiens’ mouths seeped in and out of his ears. The melody made him feel relaxed. It was a feeling that didn’t come often and one that he liked to savor. In his mind, he vaguely remembered the warning about the creatures being dangerous. However, looking at them, they didn’t seem dangerous at all. They looked almost human, except for the animal tails that swung behind them. They were all tall and extremely beautiful by any standards. One of the hulmiens with dark hair and piercing violet eyes kept winking at him. What he wouldn’t give to stay down here forever with them and forget about the world. He laughed as they all grabbed him by the hand and danced with him. Ash swayed along with their song and each time they started a new chorus he felt more and more relaxed. He noticed Annalise and Leon talking out of the corner of his eye, but decided to focus on more important things. He didn’t understand why he had been worried so much about Leon anyway? Whatever was going to happen would happen no matter if he worried about it or not.

  A hulmien tried to put a cup to his mouth, but Ash gently pushed it away and shook his head. The hulmien spilt the drink all over his chest. She grabbed her tail to try and mop up the mess. “Are you not thirsty from all the dancing?” she purred into his ear. Ash licked his dry lips and choked back the urge to grab the cup and empty it. Another one of his instincts told him to refuse the drink, so he promptly took a step away from the woman and tried to find something else to do. He noticed Finlay spinning Arie around on his shoulder. She laughed as her curls bounced over her face. Ash shook off another hulmien that had decided to grab him by the waist, and walked over to his friends.

  “Having fun?” Arie asked him.

  Ash grinned and put his hands on his knees to steady himself. “I feel so strange.”

  Finlay dropped Arie onto her feet and turned to face Ash. “It’s because you are the only mortal male in here. Their charms do not affect us. You probably feel euphoric right now. Do not worry. I won’t let them harm you. We will slip out after they have had their fun.”

  Ash felt some relief with Finlay’s words, but something else in the back of his mind kept him from acting on all the urges the hulmien brought out.

  A few of the girls ran over and broke up their conversation. “Do not talk when there is so much dancing to be done!” one of them cried out. She gripped Ash’s wrist to pull him back into the circle; while a few of the others grabbed Arie and Finlay.

  He let the girls pull on his clothes and rub up against him. They each took turns whispering in his ear and kissing his neck. He no longer cared about the fallen or his future with Annalise. The longer he danced, the less aware he became of his surroundings. All of the girls that danced around him started to blur. The colors of their clothes melted together. The fire swirled in the background. Ash fell on the ground, laughing. No matter how hard he tried to stop, the laughter poured from his mouth. He felt the tug of a few hands pull on him to get up, but Ash couldn’t see straight. He put his hands out along the floor to feel his way away from the girls and the music. Something wasn’t right. Inside he knew this, but there wasn’t a single part of him that seemed to care. Too many hands were pulling on him.

  He felt a strong set o
f hands grab him underneath his arms and pull him up. The hands dragged him away from the music. The sounds lessened in his ears, and Ash tried to see who it was that was dragging him away. Ash was set against a large rock, far from the creatures.

  “Who’s you?” Ash slurred. He noticed that his mouth wasn’t working the way he wanted it to. He groggily pinched his lips with his fingers to help them move and tried again. “I said who are you?”

  He rubbed his eyes once and watched as the colors started to take shapes again. He looked up to see Leon standing above him with a not so amused look on his face. “Great, it had to be Leon,” Ash thought.

  “You are weak, mortal. You can’t even withstand the bewitching of a hulmien.”

  Ash let the seraph’s words soak in. He knew that he wasn’t weak. Being the only mortal man, he was at a big disadvantage. He heard one of the girls sing for him to come back to them. Ash smiled and started to push himself up off the floor to join them. They were so beautiful, it made him feel carefree.

  “Oh, no you don’t,” Leon promptly pushed him back to the ground.

  “But I need to be close to them,” Ash complained. Why was he saying this? There was someone else he wanted to be closer to right now, but he couldn’t remember who it was.

  Leon shook his head. “The farther away you are from the singing, the safer you will be.”

  “Why do you care anyway?” Ash asked him. Leon wanted him dead. He figured that staying with the hulmiens forever was what Leon would want.

  Leon sighed and looked at the wall behind Ash. His eyes were cold. “Because if you are hurt; then Annalise will be hurt. I cannot stand to watch her suffer at the expense of your bond.”

  Ash let his head fall heavily to one side before he answered. How could he forget about Annalise? It was Annalise that he wanted to be dancing with not those creatures.

  “I will never let Annalise get hurt. All I want to do is protect her.”