Arc 3: Chapter 45

  Chattering in the Dark

  Ash's eyes opened to a rose-pink sky. Long ribbons of cerulean and emerald stretched across it in slow, horizontal bands. Where they crossed, the colors bled teal, layered like stained glass. Around him, thin sheets of alabaster marble drifted and canted into the haze's slow currents alongside broad obsidian platforms and ebony slabs.

  Scattered among the floating stone, cottages with tall gabled roofs hung in the open air, held aloft by massive iron chains that disappeared upward into the void.

  In the far distance, the colossal hourglass dominated the sky. Ash pressed his right palm into the damp dirt and pushed himself up to his feet.

  *Reynard mentioned a sand-glass. Someone stole the anchor binding this place to the real world.*

  Golden sand choked the interior from top to bottom, frozen in place, a solid block of shimmering yellow that no longer flowed.

  *Could that be it?*

  Deep in the lower chamber, hundreds of porcelain dolls were wedged together, their limbs tangled, porcelain faces crushed against one another, mouths open in silent screams beneath the weight of the sand.

  A cold wind swept across Ash's face. Limestone towers rose on both sides, their bases crowded with groves of silver-barked trees and violet leaves. Between them, a pale gravel path ran from his feet and disappeared into the distance.

  At the end of the path, a rusted iron gate marked the boundary. Spiked bars caught faint glints of rose-pink light. Beyond the gate, the gravel gave way to bare dirt carpeted with fallen leaves. The trees grew thicker, their silver bark darkening to gray, their violet leaves fading. Loose leaves floated down in ones and twos, landing without a sound on the dirt.

  On the carpet of fallen leaves, a three-story house of gray masonry and dark timber emerged, its outline blurred by thick mist pressing in from all sides. A stout oak door stood at the center of the lower wall, set with a knocker shaped like a clenched fist. The upper windows were dark, their glass swelling and receding as if the house struggled to breathe.

  *This house feels wrong*

  Ash spotted a faint wisp of white drifting upward nearby. Anna lay with her cheek pressed to the soil. Breath curled from her lips, the vapor hanging for a second before it melted into the sky. Her rapier rested beside her, hilt angled toward her open hand.

  His gaze followed the limestone tower rising beside her. Near its base, Pell lay sprawled across the gravel, his right hand twitching. Several feet away, Voss lay on his side, a bead of moisture rolling from his temple into his collar. Shadows from the violet leaves moved across them in slow patterns.

  "I'm here," Vera called. A soft sound threaded through the quiet, drawing Ash's attention. He pivoted, scanning the gloom beneath the trees.

  She stood partly concealed in violet shadow among the silver trunks. Her face was half-lit as she met his eyes for a moment, then turned back to the distant house.

  *Her voice sounds different. Too clear.*

  A silhouette flickered at the rusted iron gate. Ash's gaze snapped toward the far end of the gravel path. Orin's hands slid along the bars as he pressed closer, fingers tracing the spiked tops.

  *What's he doing?*

  Rot stung Ash's nose, dragging his attention away from Orin and the gate. When he turned, his eyes snapped to flagstone steps sloping down into a yawning black void, the descent dissolving into blackness that spread wide on either side.

  *An endless staircase.*

  "What is that?" Anna emerged from the darkness at his side and moved in close, fingers grazing his hand as she took her place beside him. Shoulder to shoulder, she looked down into the stairwell.

  "Another trial. Stairs or the house." Ash said.

  "Another one? Seriously." Anna brushed dirt from her cheek, eyes fixed on the stairs. "Don't tell me we're stuck here forever." She glanced back at the house, her voice picking up speed. "And what is this place supposed to be? How many more of these until it finally gets us, all of us?" Her words tumbled out in a rush, each question chasing the next.

  "Anna," Ash reached out, resting his hand on her shoulder. He leaned in until their eyes met. "Are you alright?"

  A soft smile touched her lips. "I'm fine. I think. You?" she asked.

  He straightened, eyes steady on her. "I'm alright. But, Anna, I suspect these trials are pulling from our memories. When we faced the monkeys, Orin mentioned his sister's toy. On the platform, Rowan talked about gambling."

  Anna gestured with her thumb toward the house. "So this place is from one of us?"

  "Yes." He paused. "Your house?"

  "Never seen it." Anna shook her head as she looked toward the building one more time. "Is it yours?"

  "Not mine either," he said.

  Orin's movement caught Ash's eye near the gate. Several folded papers tumbled from his coat and landed face-up in the dirt. He scooped them up in a rush, crumpling the edges between his fingers as he stuffed them back into his coat.

  Anna tipped forward, closing the space between them. "Ash?" Strands of hair slipped forward, her eyes steady on his. The warmth of her breath brushed his face. "Hey—something wrong?"

  Silence held for a beat. "It’s nothing," Ash said. Anna's eyes flicked toward Orin by the gate, then back. "The woman. The twelve in black armor. Do they mean anything to you?"

  A ragged rabbit spun close. Ash reached out and closed his hand around the soft, worn body.

  "I studied our archives growing up," he said, turning the toy over in his palm. "Every text we have ended with the Founder's death. Peace, they said. The queen wasn’t in any of them. Neither were the twelve knights."

  "When we get out, we should look into this properly. Figure out what actually happened," Anna said. Her hands drifted to the rabbit. She took it from Ash and rolled it between her palms. The seams frayed, shedding pale threads that faded into the air until nothing remained.

  A blast of air erupted from the blackness, reeking of spoiled meat and wet decay, and slammed into the space between him and Anna. Ash threw up an arm to shield his face as the pressure drove into his chest.

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  Anna gagged and turned her head away from the rising draft. "Ugh. What is this?" She pressed her forearm against her nose and took a sharp step back from the edge.

  "These stairs reek of decay. Ash. Let's take the house."

  Anna left his side and stepped onto the gravel path, heading toward the house.

  "Pell? Voss? Are you two alright?" Vera's voice drew Ash's focus from the staircase. He turned toward the trees and saw her gripping Pell’s right hand, hauling him up until he stood. Voss stood a few paces away from them, his gaze fixed on the house in the distance.

  Vera's gaze dropped to the gravel. "Did you see her? The queen?" Her voice caught. "I tried to move, but I couldn't." She pressed her palm to her chest, breath shallow. "My body just... stopped."

  Pell nodded. "Same. Ash and Anna stayed calm through all of that." He swallowed. "Made me feel useless."

  Voss walked over and crossed his arms. "Anna didn't even flinch. Just demanded, 'Stop dancing around,' as Reynard owed her an explanation."

  "Now it looks like we're trapped in something else." Vera turned and gestured toward the end of the gravel path. "That house. It has to be part of it."

  "Anna's already there," Voss said. "Let's join her."

  Vera, Pell, and Voss stepped away from the tower base and followed Anna's tracks through violet leaves scattered across the gravel. After a dozen steps, Voss looked back and nodded toward the stairs. "Ash? Coming?"

  Ash's gaze lingered on the flagstone descent for a heartbeat.

  *The house is bait. But descending blind into darkness won't improve our odds either.*

  His boots found the gravel path and carried him toward the group ahead.

  A sharp clatter burst from the stairwell, a tangled rush of clicking and scraping that rolled up the steps. The sound of joints twisting and claws dragging over stone echoed into the open air, climbing toward him

  "Hold on." Pell looked at the others. "This is the same noise. On the platform, when Rowan..."

  Ash's hand dropped to the dagger, fingers pressing against the worn leather as he kept his eyes fixed on the stairwell. A massive shadow detached from the dark below, gliding away from the steps and melting into the stand of silver-barked trees.

  From the shadows near the house, Anna burst into view, boots scattering gravel as she skidded to a stop beside the group. Her breath came quick as she planted herself at Ash's side.

  The clicking faded until Ash heard only the beat of his own heart. Rot thickened in the air as the trees shivered, their branches swaying overhead.

  "Ash. Look at the trees." Anna unsheathed her rapier, holding it low as she stepped closer to the treeline.

  A sharp crunch of leaves sounded behind Ash's shoulder.

  He pivoted on the gravel and lunged toward the noise. His right palm struck a throat and drove the figure into the ground, hand locking tight as he raised his left hand. Black flames burst from his left palm, engulfing his fingers until the air shimmered with heat.

  A hoarse, broken gasp forced its way out from the figure below. "A—Ash… s-stop… I…it's—me… Orin…"

  "Let him go!" Pell shouted. "What are you doing?"

  Ash leaned closer, black fire flickering in his palm as it cast a harsh glow across Orin's face. "Speak. Why were you trying to place a slave mark on me?"

  "I... have... no idea... what you're... talking about—" Orin's voice broke into a raw cough. He tried to force out the words, each one staggering beneath Ash's grip.

  Ash's left hand shot down and seized Orin's right wrist. Orin shrieked as black fire raced over his hand and up his arm. The reek of burning flesh filled the air. His wrist jerked, and his fingers flew open.

  Four small squares of parchment slipped free and fell to the ground. For an instant, dark circular sigils flashed across them. Then black flames swept over the slips, and the papers curled, blackened, and crumbled to cinders in the ground.

  "Slave sigils." Voss's voice went flat. "You tried to mark him?"

  "Wait. Please." Vera's voice shook. "Let him speak. I need to know why."

  Ash released his hold, and air rushed into Orin's lungs. Before Orin could recover, Anna grabbed his collar and yanked him to his feet. "One wrong step and you're done."

  A tremor ran through his burned hand, the skin raw and blistered.

  "You're corrupted." He coughed, sucking air. "Everyone sees it. Dark mages are walking rot. Marking you is righteous, and it pays well enough to..." His eyes snapped to the house. His face went white. "That house. I know that house. The witch lived there. She's going to sacrifice us for what happened in..."

  Movement flashed at the edge of Ash's vision.

  A tail whipped across the gravel path.

  It struck Orin through the middle and tore him off his feet. Orin screamed as he hit the gravel and skidded hard while the tail dragged him across the path, then snapped up and flung him toward the stairwell.

  A massive shadow swept across the gravel, swallowing Ash's boots and spreading toward the others.

  He looked up.

  A towering tangle of human torsos and hand-shaped legs clung to the tower above them.

  The others froze around Ash, trembling as they stared at the creature.

  The trees stilled. Ash's heart slammed once, twice. The creature drove toward him.

  Ash slammed his boot into the gravel. The earth lurched beneath him, and a shockwave blasted outward. Anna, Voss, Vera, and Pell were swept clear of the creature's path, tumbling through the air. A shimmer of energy wrapped around them and slowed their fall before they hit the ground.

  He snapped his left hand up. Plates of dark energy rushed into the air in front of him. The murk bled into violet as the plates locked together, forming a massive interlocking hexagonal pattern.

  The violet hexagons pulsed with light.

  A roar of snapping bark ripped through the trees. The creature dropped, its segmented body thrashing as it tore through the silver trunks, branches breaking behind it. Blank porcelain faces stared from the twisted torsos hanging along its body, catching the light as it plunged toward Ash. The air pressed hard against his eyes with the force of its descent.

  Ash braced his boots against the gravel and shoved the plates upward, cutting across the creature's descending path. The creature struck the barrier with the force of a falling boulder. An explosion of sharp clicks and cracks burst from the porcelain faces, mouths opening and snapping shut in a frantic, disjointed rhythm. Violet light flared at the point of impact, and the shock slammed into Ash's shoulders.

  His arms trembled, and a pained shout tore from his throat before he forced himself to hold the line. Then the hexagonal plates fractured. Violet light screamed through the cracks as the shield detonated and hurled him sideways through the air. He spun and slammed into the base of a thick tree.

  The collision threw the monster's dive into a high rolling arc toward the sky. Momentum carried its front segments onward. Silver bark peeled and shattered as the creature crashed through the trees, crushing timber into the dirt and spraying soil across the path. Dust and broken branches swallowed its shape. The air filled with the scent of pulverized wood and ozone.

  The world blurred. Ash steadied himself, and his sight returned. His gaze settled on the impact site, but the creature was nowhere in sight.

  A wall of debris billowed through the trees and filled the air.

  "Ash, are you ok?" Anna called.

  The violet smoke from the energy plates mixed with the dust, clouding Ash's view of her. He searched through the swirling leaves until her outline took shape in the haze.

  A dark shadow lengthened against the gray masonry of the tower. Ash stared at the shape as it uncoiled from the wall, hovering directly over Anna's head. Its head split open. Human hands emerged from the dark interior, fingers slowly uncurling one by one. The maw gaped wider, fingers twitching as they crept down, inch by inch, toward Anna's neck.

  Ash sprinted toward Anna. The gap between them vanished with every stride.

  A sudden splash of warm moisture hit Anna's head. The liquid seeped through her hair and pooled against her scalp. It ran down her forehead, sticking to her eyelashes and blurring her vision.

  Black, oily liquid spread across her skin and gathered in her eyes. She scrubbed at her face. Through the rising dust and stinging wetness, Ash's scream barely reached her, muffled and broken by the chaos. "Get... out... of the way!" The words came in fragments from the gravel path. She squinted through the oily film as the shadow over her deepened.

  She tilted her head back. Rotten breath rolled down in thick pulses, washing over her nose and mouth.

  A massive fleshy maw hung inches above Anna's face, lips parted wide, saliva dripping in slow strings that landed warm on her forehead. The interior glistened wet and black as pale human hands pushed out from deep in its throat, fingers twitching and nails scraping along the slick walls as they clawed forward.

  Her heart slammed against her sternum, each beat sharp and painful.

  The black throat spread across her vision, devouring the gray masonry and the rose-pink sky until the world shrank to the gaping maw. Darkness pressed in from all sides. Anna stood alone. Twitching hands crawled from the dark and stretched toward her face.

  A fissure split the darkness. A rough palm burst through the crack and slammed into her shoulder, shattering the void. The blow hurled her sideways onto the damp dirt.

  Anna gasped for air as a dozen pale hands shot out and clamped around Ash's chest.

  The creature whipped around and surged toward the flagstone stairs, dragging Ash away with it.

  Anna stood, unable to move as the last trace of him vanished into the dark mouth of the stairwell.

  "AAAASH!"