by L Ward
“Nothing. Let’s go,” Nath said, nodding to the set of double doors leading deeper into the HQ.
Will was adamant that he go first when entering any rooms. Evan didn’t want to think about Will, a man born into aristocracy, viewing himself more expendable than himself. It made him feel like a fraud, but he was now a prince and neither princes nor kings could stand in the direct firing line.
Will walked with purpose, fist raised like a medieval torch, radiating confidence like a god. Dark corridors passed, the atmosphere hummed, and through several archways they found many more smaller rifts marked with coordinates.
“These are coordinates to a potion club in Manchester,” said Evan. “It’s quite popular, a lot of the customers in Dad’s shop go. You can have all kinds of experiences.”
Will raised an eyebrow.
Nath appeared surprised. A smile cocked the left corner of his mouth. “What kinds of experiences?”
“It’s kind of a night club for stoners. Most people just drink colourful stuff and trip a little, or they take things for costumes to change their skin colour or grow full body fur, horns, or whatever they like,” said Evan.
“And to think some people become hairy by choice,” Nath said with a smirk “Have you ever been?”
Will was grinning in a way that made Evan uncomfortable.
“Yeah I went with my sister once but I didn't take anything,” he said, heat crawling up his neck.
“I can’t imagine how our parents would react if we said we wanted to go,” said Will, smirking at Nath.
Nath laughed and said, “not well, we’d be locked up for all eternity, but it sounds like a lot of fun.”
Evan couldn’t stop his smile. Will wrinkled his nose distastefully.
They pressed on down the corridor until they were met with footsteps up ahead.
Evan just about died. He felt Will freeze; the fire extinguished as the slow footsteps tapped closer. Nath pulled them into the first door and they scurried behind- thank the gods- a pile of storage crates glittering with thousands of diamonds. He’d never seen so many and doubted even Will owned this many. He glanced at the billionaire and almost laughed. Will had more money than God, of course he owned more diamonds, and if he didn’t, he could have them shipped to the palace by morning.
“Be prepared,” Nath whispered, moonlight glittered over his knuckles.
Will held fire in both hands like a human torch.
Chapter 14
The door opened and a cluster of people in dark robes appeared, scuttling to the other side of the room. Evan dared risk a peek and saw a group of warlocks examining strange canisters.
“This is the batch. They’ll be sent immediately to the palace,” said a man in navy hooded robes.
“Good. Check the numbers, Undermouth won’t take any mixed batches again,” said a woman in maroon.
“We can send them in a container with the rebels,” said a male warlock, dressed in robes of forest green.
The trio exchanged glances.
“What’s left of them anyway…” the navy warlock muttered.
The woman laughed.
Tiny glimpses of red cut the air. Will shot Nath a look of warning.
“Devil’s ass, what in the name of Saturn is that smell?” the green warlock covered his mouth with a pale hand.
“Stinks like one of those god-awful werewolves has been running around up here again,” she said.
“Now, now, Elmina, let’s not worry about him, he’s likely gone through a rift. It happens occasionally.”
She reached out a hand and a dozen black containers rose into the air.
The boys sank low as the warlocks turned and formed a line out of the room.
Evan caught a glimpse of a container, the words: Moonlight 29.5 engraved on it. The door clicked softly shut and everyone exhaled with relief. He told them what he’d seen.
“That sounds like encapsulated full-moon light,” Nath breathed, eyes huge and glittering. “This must be for their werewolf experiments. Why else would they need it?”
“I didn’t know you could steal the moon’s reflection,” Evan said, rubbing his temples.
Nath’s smile was a beautiful thing. “You can hold it in capsules but only until the next full-moon, then it’ll vanish. If it’s not held in shadow glass it’ll be gone the moment the new moon disappears.”
“And if they’re using it on werewolves they want to engineer…” Will trailed off.
Nath swallowed. “It won’t activate the curse, but it can worsen symptoms of lycanthropy, some go mad beneath it.”
So that’s why the wolves were so aggressive. They were being tortured to insanity. “That’s sick,” said Evan.
“This place is full of black magic,” said Nath, surveying the rough stone walls. “No wonder they store the moonlight here, the energies will keep it alive.”
“We need to move or we’ll get caught. I can hear people moving below,” said Will.
The corridor was cold; the right turn took them to an empty chamber, and the left a door that opened to a staircase that fell into blackness.
“Is this for real?” Evan’s stomach twisted.
“It couldn’t look much worse really,” Nath said with a side of smiles. He peered into the darkness and a hollow echo sang back. “As far as I can tell, it’s all clear.”
“I’ll go first, tell us if you sense anything,” said Will. His fist was ablaze and the cinders crackled delightfully. Fire was an oddly comforting friend.
They descended the stairs for what felt like an hour. Down, down into the pit of nothingness. Anxiety drummed like a wasp nest in Evan’s chest and the magical atmosphere quivered in its wake.
Thousands of miles below, a torch burned. They drew closer and cinnabar light spilled through an enormous black iron gate, a plaque in the wall beside it read: The Dungeons. They braved the mystery and hollowness echoed back. The humming grew louder as they passed archways and doors leading to empty windowless rooms and storage. They took a right, right, straight on and found a large door with CAGES stamped into the wood.
“Lovely,” said Evan.
Will threw open the door and was met with a draft and utter silence. Cells lined the walls every few feet, freezing cold and empty. Evan peered around a corner and the sight before him had his heart in his throat.
“Mr Daniels?”
The man was emaciated, filthy and, of course, shoeless. He was slumped against the rocky black wall, bruised and marred from curses. His body was a wreck but his eyes were wide and alive, whites flashing.
“Your Majesty,” said Mr Daniels, flashing a toothy grin and turning to Evan. “And of course the Wolf King’s mate who still won’t call me Uncle.”
Evan stared. His smile wasn’t sinister, but it was sure as hell creepy.
“What are you doing here?” Will asked.
His smile turned grim and grave as an open tomb. “They captured the regiment just across the border. A rift was opening, and by the time we tried to run, they swarmed us, killed half the soldiers and took me and a couple of your comrades.”
Evan’s heart was a sinking ship and he almost went down with it. Those poor, innocent souls returning to the gods for trying to protect them. He felt sick; his hands were shaking. If they hadn’t had been separated he could’ve healed them, or shielded them and they might not be dead now. No. There was no use looking at it that way. If he’d been with the comrades he wouldn’t have been able to protect his husband and all of them may be dead.
“What about Gerard Starstone?” Nath said, wearing a curious frown.
Evan glanced at Will; his handsome face was passive. If he thought his own dad had been taken or murdered by dark warlocks he’d at least look upset.
Mr Daniels rubbed his creased, brown forehead. “I don’t know what happened. We crossed the border, and the next thing we knew they were on us. He wasn’t with the dead and he wasn’t with us.”
Nath and Evan exchanged concerned looks. The
King’s eyes screamed what the fuck?
Will face hardened to granite. “So where the hell is he?”
“Hopefully somewhere safe, far away from this place,” he gestured around the cell with a pile of straw and a piss bucket.
Nath examined the cage bars. They weren’t even enchanted.
“They keep prisoners weak, they don’t even need magical prisons,” said Mr Daniels.
A thought stuck Evan silly. “You’re the person who was to help them make the crossing. So that means—”
“I’m a werewolf,” he grinned toothily.
All this time. No wonder he’d had such weird mood swings in the classroom and overreacted to the slightest thing. He was hypersensitive, not because he was unstable, but because he was a lycanthrope. “Did your dad know?” he turned quickly to Nath.
The King was smiling wolfishly. “He wanted to put my endless begging to the test and he happened to know Mr Daniels before he became a werewolf. He was an agent responsible for border control.”
Evan laughed, shaking his head.
“Where are the others?” asked Nath.
Mr Daniels pointed down the corridor. “They dragged them down there, I don’t know what happened to them after that, but listen—”
A faraway door clanged shut.
Evan nearly shat himself.
“I’ll keep them busy long as I can, get yourselves hidden or out of this place. No good will come to you if you stay here any longer,” Mr Daniels whispered.
Nath seized his hand and they were legging it down the corridor. Empty cells and crates flashed past, torches hissed and popped, spitting embers like venom. They bypassed a door and discovered three full cells.
“Who’s there?” said Narelia.
“Us,” Nath replied.
She was pale but looked otherwise in good health, hands clasping the iron bars. “Dwarven forged.”
Evan picked the lock under Will’s penetrative gaze. He sighed. “I learned to do this picking the lock off the pantry when I was fifteen.”
“Explains a lot,” said Will.
“Enough of that,” said Nath.
“Mum only put it on because my little brother would get up in the night and eat loads of sweets and chocolate and end up puking,” said Evan.
Narelia was free and smiling. “Officer Callum is injured,” she said, and lead them further down the corridor.
“We need to hurry,” said Nath.
The insistent pressure of warlocks closing in made Evan’s shoulders tense and his heart jackhammer his ribs and lungs. He swept into the cell, hands aloft; golden rays pouring into Officer Callum’s broken leg. He was on his feet in moments, Will helped him out and they took to the last cell. A man in his thirties with a redheaded bun stepped out. Evan recognised him as one of the few surviving soldiers, but couldn’t remember his name.
Footsteps clanged down the stone corridor heading straight for the door so they took off through the next and found themselves in a domed room with a high ceiling that was full of crates labeled tools.
“Hands,” said Nath.
Evan took his hand and everyone was sucked from their feet to the dark ceiling and plunged into blackness. The feeling of zero gravity made Evan think of helium balloons.
“Shh…” the King breathed.
The door below opened and several sets of footsteps came in.
“Search the crates,” Elmina instructed.
Evan heard the rustling and cracking of crates like rodent bones. He held his breath.
“Nothing,” said a man.
Silence.
“Looks like some idiot left their cages unlocked,” she spat viciously. “Fools!”
“They can’t have gone far, they’ve been without food, water or light since yesterday,” said an elderly warlock dressed in bright blue robes.
“Then get upstairs and find them,” Elmina jabbed a red-tipped finger at the door. “The smell of that wolf is getting everywhere. Whoever’s been feeding it go and change your robes,” she said coldly.
They left but Nathaniel waited before letting them down. “We need to shut down that rift generator and get out of this place,” he said. “But first we rescue Mr Daniels.”
They tip-toed the whole way to the first corridor, chests tight and sweat creating a constellation on Evan’s forehead. Any moment he expected a warlock to swoop in out of nowhere, all glittering eyes and false smiles, and kill them. He felt a chilly breeze brush his knees as Narelia silenced their footsteps. The torches had gone out and they tip-toed in total darkness, too afraid to ignite a hand until they approached the first cage.
Mr Daniels was gone.
“Do you have any idea where they’ve taken him?” said Nath, turning to the three rescued soldiers.
“Not sure, we haven’t left the cells,” said Narelia. “But they did mention a shipment of cargo earlier, including living specimens.”
“They captured us, brought us here, beat us and cursed us but we didn’t give them anything. We feigned ignorance and said we were patrol officers,” said Officer Jacobs.
Nath’s face washed with sympathy.
“He’s a werewolf. They must be shipping him with the moonlight,” said Evan, realisation was an explosion of fireworks before his eyes.
“We need to get out of here,” Will warned.
They ascended the god-awful staircase onto the cold battlement. There was no sign of life as they made their way back to square one and through the rooms littered with rifts, swirling like living paintings and mysterious fortunes.
“Mother of the gods!” gasped Officer Callum.
“This is the room,” said Nathaniel. The rift hummed with such power their teeth chattered and Evan felt dizzy. Everything sparkled and he was getting a little high, skin twinkling like golden glitter.
“Where’s the astral beam?” Will asked.
“There!” said Nath, pointing to a brilliant opalescent light striking the center of the rift like the holy grail of the universe. An enormous amethyst was wedged in the ceiling sparkling with the promise of a million secrets and lies.
Narelia gasped. “I’ve never seen anything like it!”
“By the gods!” said Officer Callum.
“Take a good look because I’m about to destroy it,” said Nath. He raised a moon-kissed fist toward the amethyst.
“Someone’s coming, prepare yourselves,” said Will, igniting his fists.
Evan’s stomach dropped out of his ass and bounced into the rift. A current of air rushed around them and the temperature began to rise. Magic pooled in his belly and burst; beneath his clothes his skin was shining.
The door burst open.
“HALT! BREACH!” A large warlock in a black guard’s robes burst in, brandishing a short sapphire-tipped staff. More guards appeared behind him. His eyes met Nath's and recognition struck him pale. “THE KING!”
Nath swung his fist toward them and moonlight slashed their chests sending them crashing to the floor. He whirled on his heels and charged the starlight gliding over his fingers, bringing both palms together in a shockwave which struck an enormous black sapphire embedded in the wall.
Evan summoned his magic in waves of protection and watched it melt like a boiled sweet. The rift rumbled and the ground rocked.
The warlocks screamed and curses struck the ground and walls around them.
Officer Jacobs summoned crates throwing them in front of the them in a barricade. Wood splintered, remains of vials and glass heaved all over the floor.
Will stole a torch’s fire and threw it at an oncoming warlock. He dodged and it burst into flames over the wooden crates. A wall of fire rushed between them and the warlocks. The atmosphere danced groovily with the rising temperature.
Evan thrust out his magic and knocked out a guard grappling with Narelia. He turned, pushing through the dense purple smoke billowing out of the rift, searching for enemies.
“Get them! Stop him!” Came the shouts.
Footsteps were
drowned by the curses and the chamber shook violently. He felt A hand seize his arm and intangible words rang through the uproar of their comrades battling the warlocks. A bright purple curse narrowly missed his ear, the heat grazing his skin in what he was certain would’ve severed the whole thing off.
Will summoned the fires of hell, roaring over their heads in a fearsome draconic blaze. All that beauty and destruction was mesmerising.
“He mocks the city he lost!” a warlock roared with laughter. “Long live the Wolf King!”
“NO! Let him die and our master will claim the human throne without contest!” Elmina screeched. Her arms blazed purple and blue, she threw up her hands and flamethrowers shot toward them piercing the heart of Will’s dragon, vanquishing it to smoke.
Will reached out, fingers curling and twisting like he was ripping out a heart. Her flames curved and struck the wall with enough force to crack the stone. The gems began to fall like asteroids to earth; screams erupted. Dust and magic clouded the air and static made it impossible to focus. The magic was overwhelming. Evan’s head spun and he gasped for air.
“The rift is going to die and when it does it’ll explode and take the others with it!” Nath screamed. “Jump!”
It was like a tornado of silver. Lightning burst from the rift in blinding sparks, showering them in hot ash and blocking the warlocks from reaching them. Evan’s scream died in his throat and heat flared up his back, stifling and deadly.
Someone shrieked behind him as the rocks began to fall.
Nath’s hand grasped his own and he was pulled forward with enough force to suck the air from his lungs. Another explosion rocked the building, the light grew brighter and for a split second he thought he saw Heaven before they plunged into the rift. Every fiber of his being screamed with panic, magic roared in his ears, beating its furious fists on his brain; his eardrums; his heart. His palms were drenched but he clung on for dear life, willing this to end.
A kaleidoscope of light and colour exploded in a barrage of wonder. Landmarks and hills flashed by in glimmers and the pressure in his head was unbearable. Just when he thought he couldn’t take much more, they struck a veil of heavenly light and cold night air stole his breath away. “We’re out!” he screamed to freedom.