“AHHH!” I screamed, louder this time and despite the pain, anger flooded my system until my next action became a blur of real time. I felt my body rising up and just as I threw myself at the man, I jerked my bounds hands up with enough force that the arrow shot out from my sleeve. I caught it just at the right moment and drove it into the man’s shoulder as my body’s weight propelled into him. We both went down, crashing to the floor and I lifted my head to see that both my hands were still wrapped around the arrow that was now half embedded in the howling man’s flesh.
I then felt myself being pulled from the bloody man and set back on my feet by Dariush. He looked down at the damage I had caused, raised an eyebrow and said,
“One of your claws I presume?”
“Damn straight! Just be thankful,” I said pausing to push my hair from my face, which wasn’t easy with hands still bound.
“Why?” he asked as I walked past him to reach for the blade my attacker had dropped to the floor. I picked it up awkwardly and replied,
“Because it was meant for you.” This made him roar with laughter and I had to admit, it was a nice sound.
“Now cut me loose,” I ordered him, passing him the weapon, one I was surprised he took from me to do as I asked. He sliced through the rope without a word of protest. But then what was even more surprising was when he handed it back to me and said,
“Use it, for I fear you might need it,” he said hearing now what I had, more soldiers approaching.
“Well I guess you found your traitor,” I commented dryly looking down at the bleeding man.
“Indeed, one I will come back to finish off later, but for now, we must hurry to the gate before more Scythians reach us.”
“The gate?” I questioned thinking this didn’t sound good but saying that, then neither did the sound of what now looked to be a small army of men heading our way.
Of course, Dariush only confirmed my fears when he replied…
“The Black Gate.”
Chapter 24
Black Gate
Dariush and I ran towards some of the largest rocks that jutted out of the earth like giant hands reaching for the stars. It sounded like the small army was closing in behind us at speed and strangely there also sounded like fighting had broken out amongst the ranks. I tried to look behind me but Dariush grabbed me and pulled me in between a small gap in the boulders out of view. Then he faced the rock as he had done with the wall back in the palace. I didn’t think it was the best place to hide as it wouldn’t have taken a genius to figure out where we were but this was where I was wrong.
“I have to say, I am really starting to appreciate your unique set of skills…well after you kidnapped me of course,” I said adding this last part when he gave me a questioning arch of one eyebrow just as his eyes started to change again. This time they started to seep into stone grey the same as the rock in front of us and like the sandstone wall, it started to liquefy.
“Will this work in time?” I asked in hushed tones after looking back over my shoulder at the sound of some sort of general issuing orders to look around the area for us.
“It will if you silence your tongue long enough to let me concentrate,” he informed me irritably.
“Oh, right, sorry…shutting up now,” I said biting my bottom lip to stop from asking any more annoying questions. I heard him groan as if this was all very taxing on his nerves before he went back to doing his…well I didn’t really know what to call it other than, eye changing, stone melting, portal mojo. Which was what it looked like right now as the rock started to become like dark smelted silver being stirred against the stone. It spun around and the effect was a dizzying one. Looking at him now, it seemed the power of it was mirrored there, giving new depth to his eyes.
“Blood my King, on the rocks!” I heard someone shout and then just as Dariush ran his fingers along the cut on my head I sucked in a sharp breath at the sting.
“Oww, that hurt!” I shouted without thinking about trying to keep quiet but then he grabbed my arm and I didn’t know why until I heard his voice…
His desperate voice, calling for me.
“KEIRA! Where are you?!” As soon as I heard it I knew Dariush had tricked me into believing the army after us was the same as those that had attacked us. I screamed out just as I was pulled into the portal, reaching out a hand just as his figure came into view.
“DRAVEN, I’M HERE!” My last sight was his hopeful face quickly change into one of sheer devastation at finally finding me, only to lose me just as quickly. I felt myself surrounded by darkness and I reached out, fumbling my way in the drowning shadows that felt as though they were trying to consume me. I was trying everything to reach him but no matter how much I tried to swim through the dark, an invisible force pushed me further back into the abyss. Finally, I felt a hand reach for me but unfortunately it wasn’t the one I wanted it to be.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed!?” Dariush’s harsh voice snarled down at me as I fell backwards, but this time at least he caught me before I found myself even more broken than I already felt.
“He was right there! You could have let me go! I want to go back!” I shouted, only when I turned the portal was gone and in its place was the rock face we had travelled through. I ripped myself from his hold and pounded on the wall but little good it did me other than bruising the sides of my fists.
“You can’t go back!” he growled at me and I whipped round to face him and bellowed,
“You lied! You made me believe it was more of the others chasing us!” I accused and he simply shrugged his shoulders and admitted,
“My only task is to get you to the King, which means taking you from another… and I did not lie, for the Scythians were behind us but were swiftly killed by Arsaces and his men.” Hearing this I gave him my best ‘I will kill you in your sleep’ glare, one he didn’t take seriously or if he did, he didn’t look worried. And another thing, I couldn’t help but notice how he had said, ‘the King’ instead of ‘his King’ as surely that had to mean something.
“Now come on, we must reach the Black Gate before the river rises.” I frowned unsure of what he meant and only now taking in my new surroundings. We looked to be in a massive cave and when I started to follow him, I saw the vast network of walkways that had been cut into the rock. This is when things started to fit into place.
“I have been here before,” I muttered frowning and now, minus all the Gorgon leeches, I had to say it looked far safer. That said it still looked creepy, just with less teeth and the sound of screaming for my life echoing off the coarse stone walls.
“Yes, so I heard,” he replied coolly as if he had read it in some weekly newspaper or something. I could just imagine the headlines now, ‘Time travelling Concubine saved by moody Vampire assassin from Demonic horde’. Jesus, I think I even preferred it back in the spa from Hell, also named Draven’s ‘Slut Harem’. Okay so it wasn’t really full of sluts, but as a jealous wife faced with a room full of her husband’s wannabe bed buddies, then yeah, it totally was named his ‘Slut Harem’.
“So, I have to ask as I am not sure whether you also heard about the Demonic horde that also play house down here, along with some scary ass dudes that play prison guards with them.” I said looking around nervously and hating the way my eyes played tricks on me.
“Scary ass dudes?” he repeated the words questioningly, words that were obviously utterly foreign to him. I felt like smacking my forehead and muttered,
“Get a grip future girl, they don’t do slang yet…Scary men that want to kill me and eat me, and not necessarily in that order,” I corrected.
“Nothing is down here, so you have nothing to fear,” he told me and I scoffed a laugh.
“I beg to differ on that one,” I said receiving a vacant look as he didn’t understand me once again. Jeez, it was easier dealing with Ranka!
“I disagree…someone must be here, or did the torches light themselves?” I said nodding to the long row of
flaming lights that lit our walkway, one I was currently walking along practically hugging the rock face. You would have thought after dating someone with wings and going through the amount of shit I had been through the last few years, that I would have been used to it by now. But no, that edge was still screaming danger to me and trying to convince the irrational side of my brain to jump off it.
“Since the death of Pertinax, all under his rule perished along with him, so as I said, you have nothing to fear…and it was I that lit the torches,” he said adding this last part when I was about to speak again, beating me to my repeated question.
“Oh.” I muttered making him smirk as if he had won a round or something.
“So where is it, this gate you’re taking us to?” I asked making him release a frustrated sigh.
“Do you always ask so many questions?” he complained.
“Yes, but I will let you know if I am ever in a situation where I don’t need to know important shit about myself, like where the hell you are taking me!” I snapped getting tired of this being kept in the dark bullshit. Again, this outburst granted me another sideways glance as if he was trying to silently figure out how to deal with me.
“All will be revealed in…”
“In time, yeah, yeah, so they tell me but just so you know, time isn’t really on my side at the moment,” I told him and for once, I was the one who sounded cryptic.
After this we continued to walk on in silence and I only complained when the side of the stone walkway started to narrow.
“I don’t like heights,” I told him when he glanced my way over his shoulder.
“Give me your hand,” he said stopping and holding out his hand for me to take. I looked at it as though he was luring me into a false sense of security or something, prompting him to tell me,
“I will not let you fall.” So, after looking down to what could be my death and at the very moment was one of my worst nightmares, I looked at the only possible safe option I had left open to me. I took his hand and let him lead me slowly on, pulling me to his side, close to the wall and putting a barrier between me and the edge.
“Thank you,” I whispered softly and at first, he looked as though he didn’t know what to do my thanks but then decided to go with a simple bow of his head in acknowledgement.
“How are your injuries?” he asked me as if being this close to me just reminded him of the fact I had been bleeding. I reached up and touched the tender side of my head and I felt the dried crusted blood matted into my hair. Well at least the bleeding had stopped, the headache however was a different story.
“I’m sure I will live,” I told him making him huff out a laugh.
“I have a feeling that it would take a lot to keep you down for long,” he said and this time I laughed thinking about all I had been through in my own past. I had been stabbed, sliced, punched, kicked, pushed, drowned, starved, bitten, scratched, sold, poisoned, branded, gone to Hell and back and nearly burned alive… and that’s not even including how many times I had been bloody kidnapped!
“What makes you think that?” I asked smirking as he, like most people, had no idea of any of it.
“You have a strong will to survive. I can see it, for most in your position would not have fought but ran away in fear. Yet you found the only weapon available to you and used it when it was needed…I respect that,” he told me and this time that respect he spoke of was easy to see.
“You respect me?” I questioned as if I hadn’t heard him right the first time and also wanting to know why.
“I admire anyone who chooses to fight for a life, whether it be their own or that of another. Even I can appreciate a mortal soul as it clings to hold onto this realm.” Wow, it seemed my kidnapper had a soft, mushy side. Now if it was just mushy enough to let me go with a handshake and a map outta here, that would be just peachy, I thought wryly. But instead of pushing my luck I just nodded, accepting what he said and continued to follow him, now hand in hand around the cavernous space.
“Through here,” he said nodding to his right before leading me through a small gap, which turned out to be a narrow tunnel that held some kind of symbolic plaque above the entrance. The tunnel didn’t look to be manmade but more like formed this way over the centuries. It was only big enough to fit one person at a time so I wondered, after the danger of me falling was long gone, why did he still hold my hand the way he did?
Maybe he thought it best to continue to keep a hold of me in case I decided to do something stupid, like run off and take my chances with getting lost in the maze of caves. Or maybe it was because he felt the need to offer me comfort, making me feel safe by making sure no harm came to me. Either way, he didn’t let go of my hand but instead let it fall behind him so we could both walk down the tunnel without losing contact.
Once we made it through to the other side, I sucked in a startled breath at what I was now faced with. The once formidable looking cave had been transformed into a thing of beauty. It opened out into what looked like a hidden temple had dropped from the sky and then swallowed up by the earth, creating a protective jagged shell to encase it.
“This…this is incredible.” I said in utter awe. It looked as if row after row of huge stalactites hanging down from the ceiling had met the gleaming floor we stood on and each one had been carved and moulded into shapes at the bottom, to create natural looking pillars half way up. In fact, if the craftmanship had been continued all the way to the top, you wouldn’t have known they weren’t originally manmade at all. The room was at least three times bigger than Draven’s Great Hall back in the palace and it was so long it was difficult to see the end without squinting.
It didn’t house anything else other than at its centre was a slightly arched stone bridge that connected to a large platform of rock. One that seemed to be attached to the rest of the cave not from the bottom, like you would have thought but from the carved stalactites above. It looked almost like a floating island of stone and not something I was looking forward to ever setting foot on. Of course, this was me we were talking about so naturally this was the way Dariush started to lead me towards.
“Uh…I don’t think I can do that.” I told him in a shaky voice, one he could easily read as fear.
“Then I will carry you across,” he said firmly and before I could utter a word of protest, I quickly found myself up in his arms heading towards the bridge.
“Oh, bloody hell!” I shrieked making him chuckle.
“I can assure you that there are places in Hell far worse than this, girl.” I rolled my eyes at him taking my cursing so literally and was half tempted to tell him that, ‘yes I know, I have had seen it first-hand thank you very much’. After all, I doubted even most demons could claim to have been inside Tartarus and lived to tell the back stabbing, cowboy saving, banshee fleeing, tale. Which is why in the end I went for the simple,
“I can imagine.”
I found myself soon gripping on for dear life, grabbing his cloak in a white knuckled death grip as he started to cross the bridge.
“Oh God, oh God, oh God.” I muttered over and over until he forced my head to his chest so I could no longer look suicidal heights in the face.
“You can breathe now, we are on the other side,” he told me softly, which added a nice comforting lure to his usually gruff, accented voice. He removed his hand from the back of my head, one he had kept there so I couldn’t look and essentially have a panic attack over. I raised my eyes and I must have looked up at him like a blinking doe after staring at the headlights too long. Not that he would know what that looked like of course, but it didn’t stop him from giving me a kind smile before nodding to what I should be looking at.
I let him go just as he placed me back on my feet and looked towards the centre of where we were now stood. The small platform was no bigger that Draven’s bathing room and was used for only one purpose…
The Black Gate.
I had to say it wasn’t how I had pictured it in my mind. I was temp
ted to ask if it still worked as it looked more like a shell of what it used to be. The half crumbling stone block arch was made from what looked like solidified lava. Black, coarse rock that was so full of tiny holes and looked so porous that it could have easily crushed to dust in your hand with only a small amount of pressure. It looked as if it had once belonged to a dilapidated castle that had been set alight and what was left was the scorched remains.
One side of the arch was thicker than the other as if it had once been attached to a great wall and the only remaining decoration was a wider keystone at the very top. It was depicting a picture of Janus, the God of doorways. I knew this, as his symbol was of a two-head man, one that faced left, the past and the other to the right… to the future, if there was such a thing left for me?
I remembered back to the first time I had set foot in his temple and all the doors that filled the space. Which had me asking the question, where were they all now in this time but more importantly, could this be the first Janus door to be created?
“Are you ready to face your fate?” Dariush asked me and I frowned thinking it strange how he knew anything about my fate, let alone asking if I was ready for it. Well, considering it felt like all I had been doing since I met Draven was stumbling blindly down its path, then what did I say to that question other than the answer I gave him,
“No, but then again, I never am, so unless you are going to let me make my own decisions and let me go, then let’s just get this shit over with,” I told him before facing the gate and like he said, with it my doomed fate.
“Very well,” he said flatly, sounding as he didn’t care for the way I answered him. Did he feel guilty for what he was about to do? I never found out as he walked past me and this time, instead of just his eyes changing, his whole body did the second he reached out and touched the empty space in between the stone frame. It was like some invisible force had just lit the fuse at the end of his veins because his fingertips sparked before black soot followed up the entirety of his skin. It was like watching Draven’s purple fire fuel his body only on Dariush it was in reverse and it was black. I watched the spark disappearing under his clothing only to re-emerge by his neck, followed quickly by what looked like dark demonic poison flooding his bloodstream. It only ended once it travelled up his face and the spark of fire found home in his eyes.
Blood of the Infinity War (Afterlife saga Book 8) Page 28