Hidden Runes

by G. Bailey

  “Then you don’t know me at all. I never kill anyone that hasn't tried to kill me first. Maybe you should get your facts straight before trying to attack me again, Trex,” I say with a smirk as his eyes widen in disbelief. Of course, he would never believe that his precious, stuck-up race would send their soldiers to kill me. I chuckle, moving the dagger away and climbing off of him as I hear footsteps. Connor walks in, covered in black slime and stops in his tracks as he stares at us. Even covered in disgusting-smelling crap, he looks hotter than he should.

  “We have a big fucking problem, so stop flirting, and get the hell outside to help,” he shouts and then walks straight back out. I run and grab my weapons and my bow before running out of the cave. The sight that greets me stops me in my tracks; Azi, Connor, and Nix fighting with massive, green, disgusting-looking creatures. They are dripping with black slime looking stuff. The only part of them describable is their black eyes and long mouths full of spikes instead of teeth.

  “What the hell are those?” Trex asks in shock.

  “Get back!” I shout at the guys as I pull my sleeve up and call my blue rune. Once Connor, Azi, and Nix are at my side, I make a wall of holy fire, which burns out when the creatures run at it.

  “Azi, have you ever seen anything like that?” I ask him in shock, and he shakes his head, running his hands through his hair.

  “No, but I don’t want to stick around to make more explode. They stink,” Azi says, and I just now notice that all of them are covered in the green slime. And they stink.

  “I found a trail, this way,” Nix points to our right to a small path through the caves that leads up the mountains by the looks of it.

  “Brilliant, let’s go,” I say, looking back at the creatures once more before returning to the cave, packing up and then hitting the trail.

  Seventeen

  Evie

  “We are getting close to the gate for the next level,” Azi tells us as we continue to climb. I stop, needing a break like everyone else seems to as I look back at them. We have been climbing straight uphill for over five hours, with the freezing cold wind and harsh snow. Every part of me is freezing, and thank god for the thermal gloves I am wearing, or I’m sure I would have lost my fingers already.

  “Time for a drink,” I say, holding my hand up so they all stop. I lean against a slab of rock, pulling my drink bottle out of my bag, only to see that it’s frozen solid.

  “Fuck,” I mutter, struggling to even get the bottle’s lid off. Two hands cover mine on the bottle, gently warming up slowly. Azi doesn’t say a word as he defrosts the bottle and steps away.

  “Thanks,” I nod at him and he smiles in response, almost sadly.

  “Dude, I could use some help with that trick,” Connor says, and Azi just scowls at him, walking away a little. “Asshole.”

  I drink half my water with a smile and then walk over to Connor, handing him my bottle.

  “That’s yours,” he insists, and I push it at him.

  “I don’t need anymore,” I say, and walk back to my spot, leaning against the slab of rock. I quickly scarf down a breakfast bar out of my bag and wait for the others before we start walking again. The end of the path finally comes into view, revealing a massive cavern.

  “The gate,” Azi shouts, but his voice is lost in the wind. I pause when a burning scent hits me, and I hold my hand up to make the others stop as I slide a dagger out of my belt.

  “What?” Connor asks, and I look back at them for a second, placing my finger on my lips. I’ve only smelt that kind of burning once, and if one of those demons is around, we are in deep shit. I keep my footsteps as silent and light as I can as I run to the edge of the path, hiding behind the rocks. The others do the same, staying close to the rocks as I edge my head around. Peering around the rock, I see the very type of demon I never wanted to see again, along with two of its friends, standing at the cave entrance, just hidden from view by the rocks. Gragnog demons. Gragnog demons have bodies similar to ours, but they are constantly on fire, and their hands are two long, sharp bones instead of hands. They have one eye on their head, and a mouth full of sharp teeth, but their appearance isn’t the worst thing about them. They feed on burning–burning humans mainly. One touch of their fire against your skin makes you feel like you’re dying, and it makes them feel like they’ve had an energy drink.

  “Shit,” I whisper as I lean back and look at the others.

  “What?” Azi demands.

  “Gragnog demons. One adult and two teen ones by the looks of them. They are waiting, most likely for us,” I snap out, glaring at the Protectors because this is clearly all their fault.

  “We will have to go around,” Nix states.

  “We don’t have time for that. We need to get to the next layer, not travel around the fucking mountain. It’s three against five, we can do this,” Trex says, and steps out before I can grab him.

  “You are a complete fucking idiot,” I hiss, as the demons turn to us.

  “Maybe,” he grins. “Let’s see how deadly the legendary assassin is, huh?”

  I don’t have time to reply to the idiot as the demons run at us, and I throw my dagger straight at the biggest one. He has his eye locked on me as the dagger hits his chest, and it doesn’t even seem to faze him. One of the younger ones goes for Connor and Trex, and Nix is left with the other. I go to fight the big demon when Azi jumps in front of me.

  “New plan, get in the cave and dive into the water!” Azi shouts, grabbing one of the demons, and holding him in the air. Azi somehow manages to keep control of the older one by holding the demon’s sharp hands behind his back. I run to the younger demon fighting Nix, burning his chest as he pushes him against a rock with one of his dagger arms. I lean around the demon, grabbing Nix’s fallen sword from the ground. I grab the demon’s shoulder, ignoring the heat burning my gloves. I hastily swing the sword hard across his neck, cutting off its head, and it falls to the ground with a bounce. Gross.

  “Nihil!” the demon Azi is holding screams as his friend dies. I lock eyes with Azi while the demon continues its struggle to get free.

  “Run, I will portal to find you!” Azi demands, and I turn around, grabbing Nix’s arm and pulling him towards the cave entrance. I see Connor and Trex finish off their demon, before running after us. The cave entrance is tiny, with a ledge that overlooks a very fast-paced and deep-looking river. The river has a waterfall at the other end; it appears to be a large one, by the looks of it.

  “Fuck it,” I grumble, running to the ledge and jumping off the cliff into the freezing-cold water.

  Eighteen

  Evie

  I gasp for air as my head bursts out of the water, and into the cold air that feels like it burns my lungs. The river pulls me too fast down it, way too fast for me to be able to swim or control where I’m going. The current pushes me around as I try to look for anything to grab onto. My head goes under again with the strength of the current, and I try to move my arms to get my head above the water again when my arm hits something, cutting me, and I feel pain reel through my arm as I feel a snap. I struggle in the river, more water filling my lungs as I try to swim up. An arm hooks around my waist suddenly, pulling me up, and I gasp again, finally able to suck in air.

  “Hold on to me, love. I got you,” Nix’s voice says next to my ear, his warm breath relaxing me. I turn in his arms, seeing a yellow vest jacket that is full of air on his chest, holding him above the water. I wrap my legs around his waist, and use my hands to grip on his bag straps on his shoulders as the river rushes us towards the waterfall. My arm stings with the pain from the movement, but I don’t have time to think about it as I stare at him. There isn’t anything to grab hold of, or anyone around us either. Where are Trex and Connor?

  “Thanks,” I mumble to him, and he rests his forehead against mine. I give him a confused look, which he only grins at as water splashes against us.

  “We are about to fall off a waterfall and likely die. I want to hold the hott
est girl in the world before that happens. It will give me a good memory to die with,” he explains with a cheeky grin.

  “Charmer,” I mutter with a laugh, and then I lean forward, pressing my lips to his cold ones. He groans, kissing me back fervently. The kiss seems like a goodbye, a sweet seductive one, and he moves away only seconds before we fall off the edge of the waterfall. I have to let go, only seeing his green eyes blaze as he reaches for me, but the water takes me instead.

  ***

  Coughing as I come to, I slowly blink my eyes open and try to get my bearings. I can see nothing but the top of a cave, which has gaps that light the interior, and only hear rushing water in the distance. I can feel I'm lying on little wet rocks, the gravel sticks to my fingers as I sit up. I cry out when I put weight on my left arm to push myself up, and remember hurting it in the river. I look around, seeing the waterfall and nothing other than the beach I am on. Where are the Protectors?

  “Are you hurt?” Trex’s gruff voice comes from behind me, and I turn around to see him picking himself up off the ground. I spot Connor on the ground near us, but Trex spots him, too, and goes over to wake him.

  “I’m fine, nothing I can’t heal myself,” I reply, slowly pulling up my sleeve to show my white rune.

  “Good, get on with it. I’m going to wake Connor up, and find Nix. He can’t be far,” Trex tells me firmly. I don’t argue with him, knowing I need to fix my arm to be able to fight and get us to the gate. I call my rune, feeling the power slam into my arm, slowly healing it. My wrist snaps back into place, and I bite back a scream.

  “Blue, shit, I wish I had my rune powers to do that for you,” Connor says, hurriedly coming to my side. I give him a tight smile of appreciation as I finish healing my arm. Cutting off my power, I fall back on my butt, completely worn out as Connor offers me a hand once I get my breath back, and I get up, looking around. I can see the yellow light of the gate behind us, just beyond these rocks and the small stream of water that flows towards it.

  “We need to follow the stream and get to the gate,” I point at it with my newly mended arm, and Connor looks at where I’m pointing.

  “I think we should dry off first and take a break,” Connor replies, giving me a worried look like he thinks I need to rest like I’m a weak girl or something.

  “No, I want to get to the next level. There have been way too many things looking and waiting for us on this level of Hell. I’m ready to leave,” I tell him firmly.

  “It’s a good plan,” Trex says from my right, and I frown at him as he walks over with Nix at his side.

  “You’re agreeing with me? Seriously?” I ask with a laugh that surprises even me.

  “Don’t count on it happening often, but this time, yes,” he says as he crosses his arms. Nix pushes his hair off his face, revealing the long cut on his cheek that is still bleeding.

  “Grab the bags and weapons. I’m going to heal Nix’s face,” I tell them, and they nod, doing as I ask. Nix smirks as I place my hand on his face, covering the cut.

  “You just wanted to touch me again, didn’t you?” Nix asks, and I shake my head.

  “Shut up, and stay still,” I mutter to him with a small smile, and call my white rune by simply closing my eyes this time. I don’t need to touch it, I still have some of the power connected to me.

  “I made you smile, that’s enough for me, love,” he states, and I open my eyes to see him staring down at me with a smile of his own. He has a really sexy smile, too, and the memory of his lips on mine makes me want to test kissing him again.

  “Your cheek is healed,” I say, clearing my throat and stepping back. I look over at Trex and Connor talking quietly and then over to the stream of water.

  “We are ready,” I say.

  “What about the demon?” Trex asks.

  “Azi will portal to the gate, he knows that’s where we will be heading,” I tell them, and walk ahead, knowing they will follow. I walk along the stream quietly for a while, drinking some of the water from my bag and eating another breakfast bar and some crisps from my bag. Unfortunately, only one bag of crisps survived the journey. The rest are too wet to eat. Trex catches up to me, walking by my side while the others stay behind us. I shoot him a questioning look.

  “I’m sorry,” Trex bites out, looking like it was difficult for him to say.

  “What for?” I ask.

  “For not listening to you and running out to those demons. It was stupid, and my mother taught me to say sorry for doing stupid shit. So, here I am,” he admits with a shrug, and it’s the first time that I don’t find Trex to be a total asshole. Colour me shocked.

  “Apology accepted. I expect you back to your dickhead self any time now,” I say, making him laugh. He has one of those deep, sexy chuckles that could get any girl into bed, and I find that I want to hear it more.

  “Sure.”

  “What are the princesses like, then? What’s your fiancé like?” I ask, curious about who we are going after. Plus, I need to remind myself that he is going to be married.

  “They are triplets, Emily, Esther, and my fiancé, Erica,” he explains, walking around a large rock as I go the other way, and we meet back on the other side. “Erica has black hair, blue eyes, and she is sweet . . . like her sisters are, too. That’s why we have a trial coming up to decide a new queen. It’s a fair way to choose a queen without just choosing the eldest like most do. Their mother died while we were under attack by demons, and our king died a few years later because of a great injury he got when he defended the children from another attack.”

  “So, there are no other royals?” I ask.

  “They are all we have left of the royal family, and we need them. Every race has its strongest, and the royals are the strongest of our blood.”

  “Wait, did you just describe your fiancé as ‘sweet’?” I ask, taking in all of his history lesson. Of all the words I expected him to call his fiancé, “sweet” wasn’t it. I notice how he talks about the royal family’s past, rather than saying nice things about the woman he is meant to be in love with.

  “Yes, ‘sweet’,” he replies, “Why, what’s wrong with sweet?”

  “I just didn’t think sweet would be your type, that’s all,” I shrug.

  “What do you think my type is then?” he asks.

  “Not sweet, that’s for sure,” I say with a slight chuckle, and pause, seeing the gate and Azi a few feet in front of us. He walks over, and when he gets closer, I start to see that he doesn’t look happy.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask, walking to his side.

  “Come and see for yourself,” he nods his head behind him, and I run up the little hill, then abruptly stop.

  “Crap,” I mutter, seeing the massive gap between us and the gate on the other side. There is a rock in the middle, which I think I could jump to, and the wooden bridge is hanging down the side of it. There’s a river underneath, and parts of the cliff are falling into it. Someone definitely doesn’t want us following them to Hell, that’s for sure.

  “I found a bridge across, about three miles that way, but I can’t portal for a bit. I’ve used up too much energy,” he points to the left as he explains. Three miles? That will take ages. “I’m going to tell the others,” Azi says and walks over to Trex and Nix who are sitting near the stream, sifting through their bags. Connor comes to my side, and something in his eyes makes me think he knows I’m going to do something a little bit insane.

  “Want to do something crazy?” I ask Connor, who frowns at me, as I keep an eye on the others.

  “Like what?” he enquires.

  “Jumping onto that rock, and then to the other side,” I whisper, and he shakes his head. He's not quick enough to stop me as I run and jump, slamming into the edge of the rock, and using what’s left of the wooden bridge to pull myself up.

  “Now or never, Connor!” I shout, seeing Azi and the others looking around and spotting where I am. Connor shakes his head, stepping back for a running start before leaping
at the last second. He lands pretty much in the same space I did. I grab his hand, pulling him up as the others get to the edge of the cliff and see what we have done. I ignore them and look over at the other side of the cliff, right by the gate.

  “Don’t you do it, Vi. I swear to the damn devil I will spank your ass if you do,” Azi shouts at me from the other side. Ignoring him, I unclip my daggers from my belt and hold them at my sides. If anything, the idea of him trying to spank me just makes me want to jump more.

  “Connor, fucking stop her!” Trex shouts from where he is standing next to Azi, and I look up at Connor. He is dripping with water like me, but it sticks to his leather outfit, making his gold hair stick around his face. His gold eyes are ablaze with mischief as he grins at me.

  “Let’s have some fun,” I wink at him, and he laughs lifting his two daggers in the air and twirling them.

  “Ladies first,” he waves a hand towards the massive cliff that is crumbling before us, but it’s the only way to get where we want to go quickly.

  “I’m no lady,” I laugh, but rush forward. I run fast towards the cliff and jump, lifting my hands gripping the daggers in the air and slamming them into the soft rock wall. I slide down a bit, but manage to save it. Well, save myself.

  “You are both fucking crazy!” I hear Trex shout, just as Connor lands next to me.

  “All the best people are! Good luck on the long way around boys!” I shout back and pull one of my daggers out, lifting it up, and slamming it into the soft rock above my head and continue like that, pulling myself up. I think I like being crazy.

  Nineteen

  Evie

  I wave once more at the guys, seeing their annoyance, but fortunately not able to hear what they are shouting at us. Connor nods his head towards the gate, making me look away from the guys. The gate is literally a huge gold door that glows. There is a line of souls being led into it like they can’t go anywhere else, because it is said there’s a draw to this layer of Hell for souls like them. They hear a song or something. The souls that are not meant to be in Hell for long have to come here. They will be reborn, which is lucky for them. I doubt my soul will be.