by Holly Ward
I’d hoped to find Shannon and Eric by now, but it was becoming doubtful that I would see them again. Holding my arms tightly against my chest, I continued walking alone. They were down here somewhere, lost, because of me.
Eric’s reaction at the Pool surprised me. I didn’t expect him to be the one to falter and step into the Pool. If we hadn’t been warned… If we all walked into the Pool… I shook my head clearing the grizzly thought from my mind. It didn’t matter now. They were gone. Lost. I’d be lucky if I ever saw them again. Hopefully they were still together.
Maybe the reason I hadn’t seen them yet was that they turned back. It would have been easy to run from the Pool of Lost Souls and back out the portal. A small part of me hoped they turned back. It was possible that Shannon pulled Eric back to the entrance. Martis were strong. She could have dragged him the entire way. It was possible they were safe in the catacombs right now. But, if that were true then Eric wasn’t safe. There was a crushing sensation in my chest as I thought about it. The Martis condemned him to death. Eric was in danger no matter where he went. I didn’t know whether to grieve, because they were lost in the Underworld, or be upset that they ditched me and left. Or they could be dead—killed by some creature I’d yet to see. The thought of two people who cared about me dying before we even started was unbearable.
Don’t think about it, I told myself. They’re fine. They’re… somewhere else. Safe. Take care of Ivy. Keep walking. Don’t stop.
This place was too deadly to let fear overtake me. I had to focus. There were no more free passes, and no one left to help me. Having people with me had made me feel more secure. Even if we weren’t best friends, we all wanted to stay alive. It gave us all a common goal, at least for a little while. There was no talk of demon blood, Seekers, or Martis. Now they were gone and a creepy feeling that I was being followed was gnawing at me. Ignoring it, I decided to focus on what I came here for—to get Collin out. I didn’t even know how to find him down here.
After I passed the Pool of Lost Souls, the rocky terrain shifted to flatness. There was flat rock as far as I could see. It gave off the same dull rust-colored glow that was on most of the rocks here. Darkness masked the cavern ceiling. It was so high above me that creatures could fly overhead without me seeing them. I felt a gust of wind periodically or heard the flapping wings of some oversized creature. By the time I looked, they were either gone or masked by darkness that my Martis vision couldn’t penetrate. The eerie sounds of dripping water and the calls of a million muffled birds echoed around me. The birds—at least I hoped they were birds—weren’t next to me, but they were nearby.
There were so many paths to choose from that I had no idea which way to go. There was no trace of Eric and Shannon. I decided to keep heading towards Collin. If I met up with Shannon and Eric again, good. But if I didn’t, I was here for Collin.
I took a step onto one of the paths, hesitated, and stepped back. Which way should I go? Where was he? I kicked at the dirt with my sneaker. Before I realized it, I was stepping onto each path. I stood there for a moment, moving the dirt around with my foot, and stepped back. The trails splintered into eight paths after the Pool. When I stepped on the second to last path, I felt something. I didn’t expect it, but it was there. The bond. When I stood on that trail, the old feeling of the rubber band in my gut pulled me gently. It wanted me to go down this path. So, that was how I decided where to go. It took some time whenever I was at a junction, but I was sure I was going the right direction.
After walking for a while, I came to grips with the fact that I was alone. The odds of me finding Shannon and Eric again were miniscule. This place was a maze. And the deeper I went into the Underworld, the scarier it got. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do this. I sat down hard, and leaned against a large rock that protruded from the ground. The cold crept through my torn tee shirt and felt good against my sore back. I closed my eyes for a moment. When I reopened them, Collin was standing in front of me.
His dark hair hung in his eyes, as he looked at me. At first I thought it was my imagination, or another demon trick to get me to fork over my soul. I drank him in anyway. God, I missed him so much. His voice. His smile. His touch. When he was around I felt more complete. More like the girl I should have been. I gazed at the Collin-mirage, wishing it were really him, but knowing that wasn’t possible. He was a prisoner somewhere down here. His powers were gone, or he could have efanotated himself out. No, whatever stood in front of me was not Collin.
“Oh Ivy, you shouldn’t have come here,” he said. He didn’t move towards me. He just stood there, looking down at me. My eyebrows rose on my face in disbelief. His voice. That was his voice. Could it be him? Was this really Collin? I rose slowly and took a step towards him. The bond tugged faintly. The bond. It’s him! Without another thought, I rushed into his arms. He wrapped them tightly around me as I buried my face in his chest. Tears flowed down my cheeks, as I looked back up at him. His fingers laced through my hair. He looked at me like he thought he’d never see me again. He whispered, “You’re not safe here. You need to go back.”
I pulled away from him. “But, I came for you. And I found you. We can go back now. We can just leave this awful place.” I threaded my fingers through his and pulled his warm hand, but he didn’t move. He looked like he wanted to say something, but no words fell from his perfect lips. “What is it?” My eyes widened, as dread filled me. Something was wrong. Why wouldn’t he tell me?
“I can’t leave.” He swallowed hard, with his blue eyes piercing mine.
I shook my head, not understanding. “What? Of course you can. I kicked the Guardian’s ass. We can walk right past and he won’t even see us leave. Collin, it’s not far.” But the expression on his face told me it had nothing to do with how far it was. I felt my heart sink into my stomach. “You have to tell me. I’m not leaving here without you. Tell me, Collin. Please.”
He looked away from me, and pushed his hair away from his face. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath; “I’m not really here with you right now. I thought I felt the bond earlier and wanted to make sure you weren’t here. I thought it might have been a vision, but it wasn’t because here you are.” He took my hands in his and spoke urgently. “You have to leave. The only reason I’m still alive is because I’m bait. They want you. They’re keeping me hidden near Kreturus and hoping you’ll come all the way down there to try and save me. You can’t do this Ivy.” He gently brushed my cheek. “He wants you and will stop at nothing to get you. He wants your power. Please, promise me you won’t do this. Please.” His eyes were glassy as he begged me to turn back.
“I can’t go back. No, please, listen to me. The Martis condemned me. If I go back to the surface they’ll kill me. There is no safe place for me, Collin. There’s nowhere to hide. I’m dead no matter where I go.” I paused, pulling him to me. My fingers rested on his face, making him meet my eyes. “I can’t leave you here. I love you, Collin. Don’t tell me to turn back again. I can’t do it. I can’t pretend you don’t love me. I can’t act like we never met.” His lips parted, but no words came out. His gaze rested on my face and looked grieved. I didn’t know what else to do so I pulled him to me, clutching him tighter in my arms. After a few moments, I loosened my grip and kissed his temple. “Tell me how you’re here, but you’re not here. I don’t understand.” He looked away from me, and tried to step back, but I wouldn’t let him. “Collin. Tell me.”
“It’s a Valefar power. It was the only way I could see if you were really here. I used the bond to track you to this point. You were so scared earlier that it wasn’t hard to find you. The bond is more intense when you’re afraid. After that, the bond paled, so I thought it was a vision and you were gone again. But the bond didn’t completely break off.” He swallowed hard. “I’m not really here. For me it’s like a dream. My real body is hidden below. What’s in front of you is a manifestation of dark magic.”
“I don’t understand. Why didn’t you teach m
e to do this when you showed me how to use my Valefar powers? What did you do to yourself?” My eyes lingered on his face. Dread crept up my throat as his silence became longer and longer. “Collin…?”
“I didn’t teach you because it would have corrupted you further. It’s an acquired power. One that can be used when the right things are within reach. It requires a sacrifice. Blood.” He closed his eyes. “With enough demon blood, a Valefar can split in two. The second body, this one, becomes whatever I want. It looks like whoever I want, says whatever I want, and sounds the way I want. It leaves my true body, and is typically used to lure prey back to the Valefar. It has risks that most wouldn’t attempt, but I had to. I split myself, and made myself look and sound like the Collin you saw three months ago. But this body is a shell and will dissipate as soon as I release the magic I’m using—or I become too weak to maintain it. And I’m weak Ivy. You’ll start to see what I look like now. What they’ve done to me.”
I couldn’t breathe. The horror of what he did choked me. A sacrifice? What did he do? Months ago, he willingly took my place and endured agony since then, just to warn me to turn back now. I’d pushed him farther into this by making him come looking for me. No words would form in the storm of thoughts battling through my mind. Instead, I reached for his face and pressed my lips against his. When he didn’t resist, I pressed my body harder to him, wrapping my hands around his neck. My tongue traced his soft mouth, as his lips parted and I kissed him deeper. My heart raced in my chest. Warm tears streaked down my cheeks. His thumbs brushed through the tear trail, and then Collin’s lips moved to trace the path down my cheeks. He gently kissed the tears away. Then he pressed his lips softly against each closed eyelid. He pulled me against his chest and kissed the top of my head. I could hear his pounding heart as he held me close.
“I’ll help you as much as I can,” he said. “But, I have to be careful. If they notice what I’ve done, they’ll know you’re here.” I nodded. “Ivy, nothing is as it seems down here. Be especially careful of anyone who claims to be me. Run from any place that is beautiful. Beauty doesn’t belong down here. Soon, you’ll come to a beautiful forest. You’ll see what I mean when you get there. Vile creatures live there. Remember that demons aren’t the only things that can kill you down here. Just about anything can tear you to shreds.” He pulled me away from his chest, and tilted his head. “Did you say you kicked the Guardian’s ass?” A crooked smile slid across his face.
I nodded, smiling slightly. “Yeah. He’s blind with severe dental problems right now.” I held up the tooth shard that I’d kept.
Collin looked at it and then back at me with his mouth hanging open. “Is that one of its teeth?” he asked wide-eyed. I nodded and explained to him what happened as quickly as I could. As I spoke I could see Collin’s skin discoloring in places. Red wounds and black bruises washed over his skin like watercolors. Welts appeared on his body containing long lacerations. His brilliant blue eyes faded into sunken dark orbs. His strong muscles and smooth skin began to melt away revealing a boy who’d been beaten beyond recognition.
My throat tightened as I spoke. I wanted to pretend not to notice, but I couldn’t. They were torturing him. I swallowed hard, as I reached for his hollowed cheek, “Collin…I’ll get you out.” He smiled weakly, kissed my forehead, and vanished like mist in the sun.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
My feet were dragging, scraping against the stones as I followed where the bond pulled me. The cawing of birds still echoed around me. Cries of animals rang out in the distance. I wasn’t alone down here, but so far I’d only heard sounds, and felt breezes as the Underworld creatures moved quickly around me.
I was so drained that I could hardly stand. Moving my legs took overwhelming effort. The desire to sit down and cry consumed me, but I couldn’t give in to it. I had to keep going. I wrapped my arms around my middle as I walked, thinking about how Collin’s arms held me tightly not so long ago. The memory of his skin on mine was still vivid. It warmed me inside to think about it. But, when I saw what he really looked like before he disappeared, before the magic wore off and he was forced back to the cell below, I couldn’t bear it. Pressing my eyes closed tightly, I tried to shake the utter agony painted on his face from my memory. But it didn’t recede. It was etched in my mind, always returning to the front of my thoughts.
Anger coursed through me, mingled with despair. Collin was older than me. Wiser. He knew what he was getting into. I didn’t. And it didn’t look like he could survive whatever they were doing to him much longer. What made me think I could? Hoping not to get caught seemed like a stupid plan. If I did get caught, I knew my fate would be worse than Collin’s. But, I couldn’t leave him. Just look at what they did to him! Abandoning him was something I couldn’t do, even if I got my ass handed to me. Even if I risked everyone and everything else to do it.
As I walked through the Underworld, it was becoming clearer that the only way for me to save Collin was to defeat Kreturus. When I first thought about rescuing Collin, I thought I could sneak in, take him, and sneak out. I didn’t have more of a plan than that, and it seemed good enough. But now, I knew there would be a confrontation. There was no way Kreturus would allow me to leave. And if I wanted to leave with Collin, it would be a fight to the death. A chill ran over my skin, and I pulled my arms tighter to my body. I had no idea how to fight a demon. If I saw Kreturus right now, I’d die. I was sure of that. How do you fight an ancient demon? One that was so powerful, even the Martis couldn’t contain him forever? But, somehow, that’s what I was supposed to do. That damn prophecy actually made me feel a little better. It was the only thing that said I could destroy Kreturus. It was the rest of the prophecy that I wanted no part of.
The path I was following had been dingy brown, illuminated by glowing rocks that resembled dying embers. Nothing changed. The Underworld looked the same since I left Apryl at the Pool of Lost Souls. I took one step, and then another, as hopelessness washed my pride away. It was several minutes before I realized what I was looking at. The scenery had changed gradually, becoming lighter and brighter until I stopped before massive trees. Their trunks were as wide as houses, and they gleamed silver, stretching up hundreds of feet into the air. The leaves made a dim chiming sound as they moved. My eyes darted from tree to tree, looking for something in the branches high above me that caused the limbs to shake, but there was nothing.
Uncertain, I stepped forward, knowing I had to pass this way. Collin said to beware of the forest; to beware things of beauty in this place. This forest of silver more than qualified. It was stunning. I wanted to stop and admire the delicate silver leaves and their intricate filigree. Each leaf appeared to have a different pattern cut into the silver, resulting in a different toned chime when the leaves shook. Clusters of gemstones grew at the tree’s base in vibrant jewel tones. Little golden flowers sprouted up all over under the canopy of silver. They looked like little golden buttercups. I stood there in awe, staring at the forest in front of me. Its beauty was unreal.
Just then, my neck prickled. But, when I looked behind me no one was there. My pulse shot up a notch, and I kept walking. The trees would rustle and then fall silent. It happened over and over again. And it was oddly quiet in the silver woods. The cries I’d heard earlier must have been completely muted by the massive trees. It spooked me. Forests usually housed life and have the noises to let you know. This forest was silent, save for the jingling of the metal leaves. It felt wrong. As I walked deeper into the woods the feeling of eyes watching me didn’t dissipate. Instead the feeling grew stronger. My eyes darted from silver tree, to golden bush, and back again. There was nothing there, but my stomach churned and the prickling sensation on my neck wouldn’t go away. Finally, I stopped and turned. My heart was thumping in my chest. The muscles in my legs twitched, ready to run. It seemed like something was following me at a distance for a while. But, now it was close. Very close.
Peering into the trees, I finally saw what was following
me. A small black bird sat high above me on a branch. It sat there, looking like a spot of ink against the ethereal silver canopy. Its black feathers gleamed with a purple tint. Its razor sharp beak sat below black staring eyes. Its head twitched from side to side, but its eyes remained locked on me. It was a grackle. Smiling slightly, I looked at it and felt stupid. Birds didn’t scare me and this bird was tiny—smaller than a crow. What could it possibly do to me? My nerves were running on empty. I couldn’t believe a bird spooked me. I laughed nervously to myself as I turned to start walking again. But then my breath caught in my throat and I nearly choked. There were hundreds of them. No, thousands. Grackle bodies lined so many of the silver branches that they formed a black wall.
The first grackle I saw made its horrible call. The high pitched screech shattered the silence. Suddenly, the birds swooped from their perches, extending their black wings, and dove at me. My arms shot up to cover my head, as my feet hit the path hard and fast as I ran. Several of the birds dive-bombed me, snipping at my skin with their sharp beaks during each pass. I screamed as one tore through my hand. Blood dripped from my arm, but I didn’t dare stop to see the damage. I ran. These birds were trying to rip me apart. They seemed to savor the taste of flesh. Another bird nipped my leg, tearing a piece of flesh away. A wild scream sprang from my throat. My heart pounded so violently that I thought it would explode. I ran so fast, and scared out of my mind that I didn’t notice the change in the forest. I passed splintered silver trees, and jumped over fallen logs that blocked my path. The little golden flowers were dug up, and wilted. Many of the trees had holes in their branches, like a Mac truck had driven straight through them. Another scream tore from my throat as more grackles tore at the flesh on my arms.