by Nia Night
Just as I was about to leave the den and attempt the impossible, a small groan sounded from behind me. I turned back to see that the Angel had opened his eyes.
He groaned again, a little louder this time.
“I know you don’t want to stay here alone,” I said, noting the alarm in his gaze, “but you were stung more times than I realized and I need to move now if I want to use the advantage of darkness. I’ll come back for you after I get the child. You should be fine here. I told you, I survived the night in the exact same manner back in my junior year. Just stay calm and quiet. I’ll go do the heavy lifting and be back before you know it.”
I tried for a smile, the last statement meant as a joke to lighten the mood. It didn’t work. Kieran looked even more alarmed now than he had when he’d first been stung.
“I promise,” I said, “I will come back for you.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized that this was the first time I’d ever made such a promise that wasn’t to the Sisterhood. As a Sister, my word was my bond, and those that I’d just spoken had the potential to get me killed. What if coming back meant risking myself and the child? What if I never made it out of the Academy?
I pushed those thoughts away quickly, knowing they led down a path I had no business treading at the moment.
Kieran’s body jerked a little, his mouth twitching as he tried to speak but could not. The strain on his face was visible, but after a few more groans and twitches, it was clear that he could not communicate just yet.
This only solidified the decision to go in without him.
“I’ll be back,” I said again, as if by repeating the words I could somehow make them true.
Then I ducked out of the den and headed toward the Academy.
23
The gate was formidable, standing as tall as a Giant’s head and as thick as the hide of a boar from the wood. But there were ways in, little chinks in the armor that could be found if one just knew where to look.
It was to one of these places that I went now, a fissure in the wall that Abri, Sai, and I had used on many occasions in our youths when we needed to escape the Academy and let our hair down for a few hours.
Of course, these excursions always came with the possibility of being caught by one of the Sisters, and accepting the punishment that went along with that, but when one spends entire days, months, and years, doing nothing but learning how to kill, such risks often seem worth it.
I moved with as much stealth as was possible, grateful for the blanket of darkness, highly aware of the Sisters who patrolled the walls at all hours. When I made it to the opening, I wasn’t ready for the wash of memories and emotions that flooded over me, pastimes coming back in a wave. How many times had I passed through this fissure? How many times had I thought about one day passing beyond this wall and never coming back?
More than I could count. Slipping through the stones, I shimmied forward sideways, my body just narrow enough to fit. The stones scraped at my clothing, my hair, snagging on my Calidi chain before allowing me access through.
Once I was on the other side, I was again taken by the feelings. If there was one thing a Sister was taught to repress, it was feelings and emotions, but there was no training in all the realms that could have prepared me for the nostalgia that overcame me as I stared up at the pointed and arched roof of the Academy’s main building.
Floodlights swept over the location of the wall where I was, and I ducked back into the fissure just in time to avoid being swept over by them. Once they passed, I gathered my courage and stepped back out again, checking my surroundings for the patrol.
Every instinct in me insisted that I was making the wrong move, that I was betraying the only thing in my life I’d ever sworn loyalty to, and that even though I’d thought I’d crossed the point of no return before, I was actually only crossing it just now.
Still, I pushed onward, closer to the main building, with its dark and towering walls. Demon Gargoyles sat along the front of the place, hanging over the rim of the roof with snarling faces and stone claws. There were five of them, and they each had their own names.
The one positioned farthest to the west was Suri, the Demon Goddess of Earth. Beside Suri was Devas, Demon Goddess of Fire, and my matron Goddess. To the east was Aarav, Demon God of Air. The one beside that was Omari, Demon God of Water.
Then there was Asriel. The Demon God of Darkness.
One could not enter the main building of the Academy without passing under the cold, watchful eyes of the gargoyle gods. As I gazed upon them now, the nostalgia was mingled with a good dose of fear. I could still remember the first time I’d set eyes on them as a young girl, the way they’d made my stomach churn as they stared back at me.
I dipped behind one of the walls as the floodlights swung back, kind of amazed that I hadn’t been discovered already. I knew there were Sisters along the wall and atop the roof and on the grounds.
I nearly choked on my own air when a side door swung open and two girls who could not be older than thirteen snuck out. They had large grins on their faces as they scanned the surroundings, saw that all was clear, and headed toward the same fissure in the wall that I had come through.
More flashbacks from my youth attempted to overcome me, but I ignored them by catching the door the two girls had emerged from before it could close again. I bit down on my lip when I thought that it was almost as though the Fates wanted me to break in.
Without more thought to it, I slipped inside.
The sounds and smells of the Academy struck me first. The thick stone walls were never great for insulation, and the air inside was always damp and chill. From the kitchens, I could smell the same bland beef stew I’d eaten more times than I could count, could hear the shout of a Sister making some unlucky platoon run drills in the middle of the night.
I ignored the pounding of my heart as I stuck my head around the corner and checked for people. I took comfort in reminding myself that I knew this place like the back of my hand, had spent all of my formative years roaming these halls and passages. If I were going to stash a child in the Academy, where would I put her?
The lower level, no doubt. The part of the place that the students unlovingly referred to as the Dungeon.
Holding my breath, I started down the hall toward the entrance to the Dungeon. There were three entrances I knew of, and the one closest to me would be the ideal candidate if not for its proximity to the Warden’s office. I swore Warden Valda could hear a rule being broken from across Academy grounds, and thought it best to avoid her as much as possible for the duration of this excursion.
The second entrance to the lower levels could be reached in ten minutes if I could get there unstopped. I decided on this one and moved as swiftly as my boots could carry me.
Luckily, if any of the students saw me, they would likely just think I was a Sister who was here on some sort of business. Despite my recent decision to go AWOL, I was still technically a Sister, and every bit of me looked the part.
If I ran into one of the other Sisters, however, depending on who they were and what they knew about me and my recent actions, this thing could go south real fast.
As though Lady Luck was eager to extend a hand, I only passed one small group of students on my way to the Dungeon. My jaw clenched as I strode past them, but they simply bowed in respect and let me continue on my way, as they would do in the presence of any Sister. When breaking in somewhere, it was always important to move with purpose, as though you were absolutely supposed to be there.
I released a breath as I reached the entrance to the lower level, glancing around me to make sure I was still alone. Telling myself that it was too late to turn back, I pushed open the heavy wooden door, cringing as a rush of cool air met me from the inside.
It smelled of mildew and iron, like wet walls and blood. Sisters were known mostly for our abilities of dispatching Marks, but when interrogations took place, the Dungeon was where they went down.
> I focused on my ears, but no sound floated up the dark staircase leading down, only that silent whisper of cool air. Allowing the door to swing shut behind me, I started down.
The darkness enveloped me, wrapping me in a cold blanket. I blinked, trying to let my eyes adjust, careful where I placed my feet. Ahead, there was a small flicker of light, a torch affixed to the wall, showing me the way.
My heart hammered. How long had it been since I’d been really and truly nervous? How many lives had I taken without batting an eye? How many dangerous situations had I put myself in without a second thought? Being here was not like all those situations. Being here was not like any other experience in all the realms.
I pushed onward. Find the child. Get the fuck out. That was the mission. And a Sister always completed her missions.
The staircase seemed to extend into the depths of the ten hells for the amount of time I descended, the air growing cooler with each step, until I was sure my breath hung before me. The passage it let into was narrow, shadows dancing along the stone walls with the flickering of that single torch.
I’d only ever been down here twice when I’d lived at the Academy, and both times had given me nightmares for weeks thereafter. Both times, it had been like stepping into another realm, where time worked differently, and entire lifetimes could pass in the blink of an eye.
Find the child, get the fuck out, I reminded myself.
The walls gave way to barred cells, and though I could see nothing for the shadows dwelling within, I could feel the presence of whatever creatures were held captive. The hair on my arms and neck stood on end, but I kept my back straight, my chin up. A Sister never showed fear, because a Sister did not know fear.
But there was nothing I could do to stop the shiver that worked its way up my spine. Nothing I could do to slow the hammering of my heart.
In the cell on my right something slammed against the bars, making a metallic clang that echoed down the hallway. I didn’t jump, because such impulses had been beaten out of me long ago, but my heart skipped a beat as I stared into the slanted eyes of the creature on the other side.
Scaly skin and drooping features, teeth as sharp as a shark’s. A forked tongue snaked out over cracked lips, and webbed fingers reached out as if to grab.
I hurried on my way, swallowing hard and summoning some of my fire magic to chase away the chill that had settled in my bones.
The passage branched at the end, and I stood for only a moment to consider the direction. If I went right, that would take me to another row of barred cells, but if I went left, there would be a room without bars, but instead, a steel door. This room would be even more impenetrable, a place where only the most precious or dangerous of creatures would be kept.
Like, say, a child with the ability to impact the fate of the world.
I steered left, trying to keep a lid on the anticipation growing within me. Could it really be so easy? Could I really get in and out without so much as a scuffle?
I got the answer soon enough, right as I reached the room with the steel door, and peered through the thin slot to see that the child—Vida—was indeed locked inside.
“Iliana,” said a voice I could never forget, not if I lived for a millennia.
My back stiffened and my cold heart stopped dead in my chest as the owner stepped out of the shadows.
“Welcome home, my dear,” said the Warden.
There was a flash of blinding pain, and then the world went dark.
24
I awoke to a dry mouth and pounding head.
I tried to shift my hand to rub my neck, but found that I could not. Peeling my eyes open with enormous effort, I tasted blood on my tongue, struggling against restraints that held my arms hostage.
Panic tried to settle in as recent events returned to me, but I shoved it away in the manner I’d been taught, stopping the poisonous thoughts before they could take root.
My surroundings slowly came into focus. I was in a room with no windows—four stone walls, a low ceiling, and a concrete floor. And I was tied to the wall. No, I was chained to the wall, as ropes would not have been able to hold me for long.
I knew instantly that I was not alone, and also who was my company.
The Warden.
Her grin flashed in the shadows, straight white teeth and fine features, ears pointed at the tips. Warden Valda had always been beautiful, but there was a sinister quality behind her blue eyes that made most tremble. She wore the all black of a Sister, form fitting pants with concealed pockets down the sides of the thighs, where various weapons were no doubt stored, and a black jacket with the Academy’s insignia on the right shoulder as the only decoration. Two curved seraphs that crossed like quarter moons.
My jaw clenched as the realization that I was totally fucked washed over me, that I had failed in my mission and would likely never see the outside of this cell.
Of all the ways I’d thought I’d die, this had not been one of them.
But pain would proceed death, because pain was all that Warden Valda dealt in. She’d made an art out of it. Darkness was her Demon affinity, the rarest and most powerful of the five, especially among females. But it had a way of making the user particularly cruel, even for one of our kind.
Fear rose up in me, heating my cheeks and making my jaw clench. I met the Warden’s stare; she would have been offended had I not, as she had played a large role in my training, in all of our training. If the Academy was the body that made normal Halfling Demons into Sisters, the Warden was the brain powering the apparatus.
She moved further into the small room, closer to me, footsteps as silent as a panther. When she was not moving, she held utterly still. A serpent poised to strike. Behind her full, pink lips, her big blue eyes and fine features, a monster lie in wait.
Warden Valda was one of the oldest Sisters, had lived for over three hundred years, had seen more than I likely ever would. But time on the earth had not made her kinder, had only served to cast whatever vessel lie in her chest into the most impenetrable of stone.
She came to a stop a foot in front of me, still out of reach thanks to the chains binding my wrists and ankles to the wall. She clucked her tongue, straight teeth flashing.
Utterly still, save for a slight tilt to her head as those blue eyes studied me. Her fire red hair hung over her shoulders in soft waves, a stark contrast to her fair skin and black attire.
“Of all the students I’ve had over the years who have betrayed me, you’ve surprised me most of all, Iliana,” said the Warden. “Of course, there have not been many who’ve dared to do so, but if I’d been ask to guess who might become a traitor, your name would’ve been close to the last on the list.”
I was careful not to blink, could nearly see my own reflection in the pools of her sapphire eyes. I said nothing. She knew I would not. She’d expect no less.
Her voice was soft, the purr of a feline with a mouse between her paws. A voice that could condemn and seduce in the same sentence.
“When you came to me,” she continued, “you were a weak little girl. An orphan with no prospects, no loved ones. Much like most of the other girls who find themselves at my doorstep.”
I held as still as she, maintaining the gaze as my stomach curled into knots, the muscle in my jaw working.
Her head tilted just so in the other direction, her eyes scanning every line of my face, nose flaring slightly as she took in my scent. There was nothing I could do to mask the fear lingering there.
“I almost turned you away, you know? The way you were blubbering in my office.” The Warden’s lips twisted in disgust. “Almost sent you into the wood to be eaten by the wolves…. Do you remember that day, Iliana? The day you came here?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied, the response knee-jerk, automatic.
She smirked. “Do you remember what I told you that day? The promise you were made to give as a condition of remaining at the Academy?”
My nails bit into my palms, but I remained
otherwise unmoved. “I swore the oath of allegiance to the Sisterhood,” I replied, “with the understanding that death would follow a betrayal of that oath.”
Her tongue ran out over her lips. She leaned in a bit closer. My nose filled with the sweet lavender scent of her, a juxtaposition to the dark nature of her soul.
“And the day you graduated,” she added, “I assume you also recall that?”
“Yes, ma’am. Proudest moment of my life.”
I could not stop the words from pouring out of me, even though I understood well that each one was a testament of my condemnation. When the Warden asked, you answered. It was a lesson many Sisters learned the hard way, but all indeed learned.
“You took an oath that day as well, Iliana. An honor most who enter the Academy never live to receive.”
I held my tongue. It was true. Of all the students who passed through the Academy’s doors, less than a third made it through the years to graduation, earning the honor of stepping beyond the Academy’s walls once more.
“You broke that oath, Iliana. Do you deny it?”
I drew a short breath. Holding her gaze took every ounce of courage I had. Many a lesser persons had drowned in those sapphire pools. “No, ma’am,” I said. “I do not deny it.”
“There are words written on the walls of my office,” the Warden continued as the steel door to the room opened, and a cart with a metal tray atop it was wheeled in by a young female who was likely a first or second year student. She left the cart beside the Warden and quickly escaped. The door clanged shut behind her.
The Warden’s eyes left me for a moment to study the contents atop the cart. I told myself not to look, demanded that I remain focused, but my gaze drifted down anyway. The Warden’s nostrils flared, no doubt taking in the renewed fear in my scent.