The landscape in front of me was filled with pink, yellow, and white flowers accented by several large rainbows. A pair of unicorns frolicked in the distance.
Before me stood a path lined with pink and yellow daisies, and as I looked at the golden bricks leading off through the green pastures, I grumbled in annoyance. Something had gone wrong, and I needed to get to my girls, only I wasn’t sure how to manage that.
I turned in a slow circle, trying to find a way out, but behind me, I saw pretty much the same thing. Just the same path I currently stood on stretching off into infinity. Turning my gaze down to Clarent, I found myself looking at the symbols etched into the steel. Part of me wondered if I could really summon Gwen to my side but if I did, would both of us be trapped here?
I wasn’t sure, but I couldn’t risk it. Not when we had ravagers coming toward us, and besides, if I was totally honest with myself, the other girls I’d been with knew the plan. Assuming they’d actually made it through into the reaches of the Darkness, they’d be doing what I’d told them. If they weren’t, well, they’d be here. I just had to find them either way.
Taking a deep breath, I made my way forward down the path. Clarent glowed softly in my hand. As I moved, I couldn’t help but find myself admiring the place. It reminded me of those postcards of the green hills of Ireland, only with way more wildflowers.
As I followed the serpentine path past a mother deer and her young, I found myself staring at what looked like an insane tea party. A teddy bear with one eye sat in one chair while the one next to it was filled by a patchwork lop-eared rabbit. The third chair was empty and, like the previous two, didn’t concern me.
No, it was the fourth chair that concerned me greatly. A woman with hair like freshly spilled blood and skin like alabaster looked up at me from the chair. She was dressed in gilded plate armor that gleamed in the sunlight, and her flat, jade eyes watched my every movement.
“Hello,” she said, and her voice was a tornado in a trailer park. She raised a chipped white teapot. “Would you care for some tea?”
“Is it poisoned?” I asked before I could stop myself and my words made her lips quirk into an almost smile.
“I should hope not.” She flicked her gaze to the teapot as if doubting her own words. “I’m not inclined to think that it is, anyway.”
“Then sure,” I said, moving toward her as she poured some tea in the china cup in front of the empty seat. “What’s going on, by the way?”
“I’m offering you some tea,” she said before sipping from my cup and swishing the liquid around in her mouth. “Doesn’t taste like poison. Bit hot though.” She put my cup down and gestured at the empty seat. “Sit. I won’t take much of your time, Builder.”
“Okay,” I said, sighing as I decided to go with it. This wouldn’t be the weirdest thing that had happened to me after all. “So, what’s going on?”
“Drink your tea first. Then we can talk. We have all the time we need.” She smiled, revealing a set of perfect teeth that glinted like opals in the sunlight. “I made it especially for you.”
“Fine,” I said, hoping to speed this along so I could get back to my girls. Who knew what was happening to them? I sipped the tea and was amazed at the rich flavor. The milk she’d added seemed to blend into the drink perfectly and was highlighted by a purposeful amount of honey.
“Pastry?” the woman held a tray filled with flakey goodness. As I stared at it, I realized I was famished. I couldn’t remember eating anything aside from the donut a few days ago. Had I really not eaten in all this time?
Not wanting to be rude, I took a pastry that looked sort of like a croissant with raspberry jam oozing out from the ends. It looked delicious, and as I took a bite, I realized that its flavor more than delivered on the promise of its looks.
“Do you need more tea, Builder?” the woman pointed to the teapot. “I could get you some more? Or some water, would you like some water?”
“No, thank you,” I said shaking my head. “Now, who are you, what’s this place, and what is this all about?”
“I am Princess Nadine, Right Hand to the Empress, Bringer of the Shadow, Lady of the Blood Court, and Destroyer of Wills.” She smiled, causing her eyes to twinkle in delight. “And I have come to offer you something, Builder.” Her tongue flicked out, licking her blood-red lips as she spoke. “But first, I would like to make sure you are comfortable. Things will be easier that way.” She leaned across the table then. “So, is there anything else you would like?”
“I’m good,” I said, gripping the hilt of Clarent so tightly, it hurt. I didn’t have time for this. If I was here, my girls could be in trouble. “Say your piece, your highness.”
“Nadine is fine.” She smiled again before sitting back in her chair and drumming the delicate red-nailed fingers of her right hand on the scarred wooden table. “And your name is?”
“Arthur,” I said, taking a deep breath and urging myself to calm down. This woman looked like she could rip me limb from limb, and while part of me wanted to either fight or flee, I owed it to my girls to find out what she wanted. If I did, maybe I could use it to my advantage. After all, she had an impressive list of titles. Those had to mean something.
“Well, Arthur, here’s the thing. My Empress desires the land that you protect with that sword of yours.” She snorted. “I’m not quite sure what she sees in Hell, but alas, it is not my place to question, only to do. She has grown tired with our current rate of acquisition, so now I have come to take control of the border armies.” She licked her lips. “Do you understand?”
“I understand, but I’m not sure why you’re telling me this, Nadine,” I said, meeting her eyes. It was like trying to stare down a black hole, and I felt the chill of her gaze all the way in my soul.
“I want you to leave. Just go back home and forget all about Hell. If you do, every desire you wish for will be granted.” Her lips quirked into a sly smile. “And I do mean every wish. You could return to your land a god among men. You could have women, power, fame. Anything you want would be yours. You just need to leave.” She gestured to our left, and a blue door of shimmering energy appeared. “Just walk through that door.”
“And if I refuse?” I said, turning my gaze back to Nadine. It was strange because her offer wasn’t even remotely tempting. Back home I was nothing but here? Here I was someone, and what’s more, I was doing work I liked and protecting people I cared about. I couldn’t just abandon them. Not for anything.
“Then my armies will kill you and put your head on a pike. We will carry it before our armies as we march across all of Heaven and Hell and take them for our own.” She smiled. “But the choice is yours.”
“I’ll stop you long before it gets that far.” I stood then, nodding to her as I gripped Clarent. “’Sides, you wouldn’t make that argument if you weren’t worried about me stopping you.” I took a deep breath. “Send me back, Nadine.”
“And if I do not?” she stood then though she didn’t make any aggressive move toward me. “Will you attack me, then?” she shook her head. “You cannot defeat me. Now or ever. Not in this life or the next.” She held out four fingers. “Do you know what this is, Arthur?”
“Four fingers?” I said, narrowing my eyes at her. I was fairly certain she’d beat me in a fight, but that didn’t mean I’d go down without even swinging.
“I have killed four Builders myself,” she said, and her grin widened to Cheshire cat proportions. “Hundreds more have fallen since the time of man begun. You are not special. No. You are just the next in a long line of failures.” She took a step toward me, trailing her fingers along the table and gouging up the wood. “Go through the blue door, Arthur. Save yourself. I’ll even let you keep that pretty sword.”
“You’re lying,” I said, shaking my head, but something about her words made me think she wasn’t. No. Her tone was too cold and dispassionate, her eyes too calculating. And what’s more, there was knowledge in them, dark, horrible knowledge. Most o
f all though? Most of all there was truth in everything she did. It radiated off of her, and that was enough to make my knees shake.
“I am not.” She shrugged. “Do not believe me then.” She flicked her hand, and a shimmering red door appeared. “Go find your friends as they wander the Graveyard of Statues. Bring them back to your pitiful town. It matters so little as to be without consequence.” She leaned in close to me, the movement so swift I didn’t even see her move until she was practically on top of me.
The smell of her hit my nose, the mingling scents of blood and sex, and as I took an involuntary step backward, she seized my arm. Warmth radiated through my flesh, washing over me like warm bathwater.
I took a deep breath, trying to ignore her scent. “Do you really think I’ll abandon my friends just because you threaten me?”
“You’d be surprised how many have,” she whispered, her words hot on my lips as she spoke. “Many have. Many have not.” Her lips brushed against mine. “And neither choice has mattered one bit, Arthur. Not one bit.” Her tongue flicked out then and tasted my lips. “But I always welcome the chance to be surprised.”
She vanished so completely and suddenly that it took me a second to realize she was gone. I blinked, staring at my surroundings for a second before they began to melt like an army man in the sun.
“Make your choice, Arthur.” Her words were a whisper on the wind as the two doors blazed in front of me. As I stared at them, I knew I could leave and go back to my life. I also knew Nadine would make good on her promise. I could ask for anything, and it would be mine.
I also knew that back home I was nothing, and I wanted to be something. And I had to earn that with blood, sweat, and tears. Not cowardice.
“You already knew what it would be,” I said as the wildflowers melted into puddles of brightly colored wax and bloody rain began to pour from the sky, drenching me to the bones in the span of a second.
I waited a moment longer for a response, but when there was none, I stepped through the red door. If I said it hurt less than before, would you believe me?
25
Sheila was already talking to me as I appeared in the Graveyard of Statues that Nadine had spoken of, and I immediately knew why it was called that. It looked every bit like a weed-choked graveyard, only instead of markers, statues of warriors felled in gruesome ways littered the ground in ever expanding circles. They extended outward from an immense statue in the center, a woman who looked remarkably like sin itself.
She was clothed in scarlet chainmail that looked more like a macabre wedding dress than anything. She raised a bloody trident overhead while a severed head dangled from her other outstretched fist. Through all this, her face was serene like the goddess of death herself, just coming to bring about what was always inevitable.
“What do you want to do, boss?” Sheila repeated, and this time she glanced over her shoulder at me, her face expectant.
It was weird because I’d been with Nadine just a moment ago. Had they not noticed?
“Wait, you’re not going to ask where I was?” I said, gripping Clarent a little tighter. Blue light trailed across the edge like a dying glow stick, but it was more than enough to beat back some of the shadows closest to us.
“What do you mean?” she replied, confusion spilling across her features. “We just stepped through the void and ended up here, wherever here is anyway.”
I took a deep breath and was about to tell her where I’d been when I decided it wasn’t worth wasting time on now. We could talk about it when we weren’t in this godforsaken place. “Never mind.” I pointed toward the statue in the center. “Who is that?”
“I have no idea,” Sheila said, shaking her head at me. The other mumbled similar responses.
“Great,” I said, taking a deep breath. I had a pretty good idea who it was supposed to be. I was willing to bet it was the Empress herself. As that thought rattled around in my brain, I knew it to be true.
“All these people look like our warriors,” Crystal said, taking a step toward the closest statue. It had so much detail that if it hadn’t all been the same monochromatic gray stone, I’d have thought it was real. The woman in question had a sword and shield raised like she was bracing herself for a blow that never came. Her face was locked in stalwart determination. She looked brave, fearless.
“Could this be?” Sally said, moving beside Crystal and laying a hand on the statue.
As she did, the wind howled through the graveyard, kicking up blackened earth and rustling the dead brush. I shivered as the wind prickled my skin, but not from the chill of it. No, there was something about it that unnerved me. It spoke of death and the void. Of nothingness. Of what would be after the end of all things and what must have been before creation was spoken into being.
“Could it be what?” I asked, moving toward her.
“The Graveyard of Statues?” Sally swallowed as she turned her eyes to me. “I’d heard about it, but not thought it real.”
“I think you’re right,” I said, nodding to her, “but why does that matter?”
“It is said that those who enter the Graveyard of Statues never return. That they are cast into stone and forced to wait for eternity in suffering silence.” Sally turned her eyes to me. “If that is where we are, we must flee. Quickly.”
“How?” I said, turning in a slow circle. “I don’t see a way back.” I pointed past them toward where we come which was just miles and miles of statues spread out in ever extending arcs.
“Well, we’d better find one,” Sheila said, tightening her grip on her spear. “I’d just assumed we’d be able to cross back through the border, but clearly…”
“Clearly, we shouldn’t have assumed,” I finished, nodding at the big guard. “Still, we didn’t come here just to run away. We came here to kill us some beholders.” I nodded to her. “Let’s head toward the statue of the Empress. Maybe we can get a lay of the land then.”
“Wait, why did you call her the Empress?” Sally said as we began to move forward, one slow step at a time. The guards surrounding me had their weapons ready in tense hands, and I knew the moment something happened, they’d be ready. I just hoped it wouldn’t be poisoned darts to the face.
“No reason,” I said, dismissing her question as we moved past a trio of statues that were standing back to back to back in a triangular formation like they were waiting to attack an unseen foe. In fact, that’s how all the warriors were. None were cowering or afraid. No. All of them looked like they were ready for a battle that would never come. What’s more, all of their equipment looked like it had been exceptional.
Even made from stone, it looked like it was more than a match for the best stuff Sam could make based on what I’d seen of her Skill Tree. No. Nearly everyone here was decked out in top tier stuff, and if I believed what Sally said, it hadn’t mattered. These warriors had stepped into this void and been turned to stone.
A shiver went through me. What if I’d just led all my people to a horrible end?
No.
I shook off that thought. If it was true, Nadine would have never made me the offer. She may have said it hadn’t mattered in the past, and maybe it hadn’t, but the important point was that she’d made the offer. If she’d made the offer, it meant I could do something to stop all this, maybe even reverse the tides of war. It sounded like a longshot as we passed the statues, but at the same time, I knew it had to be true. Otherwise, I’d just be dead.
Which was also weird in and of itself. Why wasn’t I dead? Why hadn’t Nadine just killed me? She’d clearly been powerful, and I was just a guy with a cool sword. It was definitely something to figure out but not right now. No. I needed to focus on this place.
“I’m starting to think something turned all these warriors to stone,” I said, looking around once more. “Only I don’t see anything. Do you guys?”
“Hmm…” Crystal said, reaching into one of her pouches and pulling out a pair of lime-green sunglasses. She slipped them out bef
ore settling them on her face and looked around. “Fuck.”
“What?” I asked, right before she flung her hand out, throwing a handful of caltrops across the ground to our left.
“Run! Now!” she cried, shoving me forward and to the right. As she did, the caltrops exploded into scintillating shards as the vines ripped up, ensnaring a once invisible beholder and dragging it to the earth. As it screamed and fought against the trap, Crystal shoved me behind Sheila. “Keep him safe.”
Sheila nodded as Agatha burst forward, her wings beating the air to give her more height and speed. She landed atop the creature in one lithe movement and jammed her two swords into its flesh. It screamed in protest as the effects of Blinding Blade rippled out of the guard, causing everyone else to speed up.
Crystal unloaded her guns into the thing’s screaming maw, the bullets punching into the tender bits inside its gullet. It roared, sending blasts of flame and ice crashing into the statues around us. Instead of blowing the statues to smithereens, the magic seemed to slough off of them.
“Crystal, are there more coming?” I asked as Sally whipped her hand out, hasting Agatha as the guard continued to pound away at the beholder, causing it to focus on trying to throw her off like a bucking bronco. With the caltrops holding it in place, it couldn’t get all the force it needed to upend Agatha.
“Yes, but none are that close.” She pointed into the distance. “There’s three more that way and five more way down to our left.”
“That’s a lot,” I said, swallowing hard as I turned my gaze to Sally. “You think your bombs will work?”
“Who’s to say?” the healer said as she dug one out. It was a small contraption and had been made from bits of leftover Dark Blood woven into a Demon Horn. “But I’d rather find out before we’re faced with five monsters.
“Everyone fan out. Crystal, your job is to make the beholders visible before they sneak up on us, okay?” I nodded to Sally. “Do your thing. Agatha, get off it before you get blown up.”
The Builder's Sword (The Legendary Builder Book 1) Page 15