14. Chapter 14
I stood surrounded by swirling fog, its cold tendrils caressing my skin and sending shivers down my spine. As a whispering breeze parted the grey curtain, I caught glimpses of a weathered path, its paving cracked and overgrown. I swayed, unsteady, and nearly collapsed before Alaric caught me. His arm circled my waist, steadying me as my strength faded.
‘Ani, lean on me,’ he murmured, lowering me to the ground when my knees gave way.
The stone beneath us was ancient, its worn surface cloaked in a thick layer of moss, and when I looked up, the mists withdrew completely, exposing a structure in the distance.
It wasn’t what I’d expected. I had assumed there would be a magnificent temple worthy of a goddess. Instead, what stood in front of me was a monolithic black wall, its edges disappearing into the fog, glowing blue inscriptions scribbled over the surface.
I raised my hand to wipe the condensation beading on my forehead, wincing as pain flared in my shoulder. At least the bleeding had slowed.
‘Gods, Annika,’ Ari said, kneeling beside me, his gaze flicking over my wounds. ‘You fought like a demon—let me try to heal some of it. I’ve never been so proud ... and so terrified, helplessly watching you as you tore through those fae warriors and made them bleed.’
‘They weren’t the only ones bleeding,’ I muttered, gritting my teeth as I tried to ignore the aches and stinging cuts scattered across my body. But my shoulder refused to be ignored. I could barely lift my arm. ‘If you insist on using your magic, can you fix this? I’ll manage better with both arms working.’
‘Of course, Domina.’ There was a concerning rasp in Alaric’s voice, but his adoring tone made me smile.
I sighed when he placed his hands on my shoulder, warmth spreading from his fingertips. Within moments, I could breathe easier and even move my arm, but as soon as he drew the sigil, he hissed, turning away to hide his expression.
‘What’s wrong?’ I asked.
‘The damn icta—it’s affecting my magic. I’m so sorry, Ani. That’s all I can do.’
‘No matter.’ Rising to my feet, I gestured towards the structure. ‘I think that’s where we’re meant to go.’
We walked for a while before stopping in front of a smooth, dark door made of a heavy metal I didn’t recognise. It looked out of place, gleaming from the condensation covering its surface, distorting our reflections.
‘Should we knock?’ I asked quietly, but Alaric shook his head. ‘Well, then. Here’s hoping she doesn’t keep guard dogs,’ I muttered, pushing the door open.
To my surprise, it yielded easily, swinging silently inwards to reveal a corridor veiled in darkness. Only the faint glow from outside lit the entrance, fading quickly as the door shut behind us.
‘Any advice?’ I asked, summoning a soft orb of light in my palm. ‘Or ... restrictions? I don’t want to offend the Dark Mother.’
Alaric shook his head, his lips pressed into the thin line that usually meant he was in pain. ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘Those who returned never spoke of it.’
‘Of course not, because why make it easier for the empress’ next unlucky victim?’ I snapped, not bothering to hide my sarcasm.
The temple felt like a place meant to draw out people’s fears. The darkness pressed in, almost tangible, swallowing everything beyond a few feet ahead of us. The light I’d created offered little comfort. It gave us no advantage, instead making us a target, but I kept it going because its faint glow made me feel less alone.
Then the voices began.
A chorus of whispers echoed through the darkness, rising and falling like a haunting tide. They pleaded for release, promised power and glory, offered me the world if I would only leave the door open long enough for them to escape.
I froze, clutching Ari’s hand. ‘I don’t like this,’ I whispered. ‘The whispers ...’
‘Don’t listen to the dead, Domina.’ Alaric turned me to face him, his hands cradling my face. ‘Don’t let them in. The dead will linger if you allow them.’
‘Is there a way to silence them?’
He shook his head, and I shuddered. ‘Fine. I can handle this. I—oh, fuck!’
Something small and furry ran over my foot, sending a jolt of panic through me. I leapt onto Ari, wrapping my legs around his waist.
‘It was a rat, my love,’ he said, his chuckle rumbling against my chest.
I shuddered again, gesturing for him to put me down. ‘Whatever it was, you won’t say a word about it to Orm or Vahin. It never happened.’
His grin softened the harsh lines of his exhaustion, though the dark circles under his eyes betrayed how much the icta was draining him, and as much as I wanted to enjoy the fleeting moment of levity, I couldn’t ignore the weight of our task pressing down on us. If the Dark Mother had sent a creature to hurry us along, I wasn’t about to wait for her to send something worse.
I took the lead, trailing my fingers over the wall while we made our way into the gloom. After what felt like hours, we encountered the first fork in our path. I felt something niggle at the back of my mind and let the feeling draw me to the right.
At the second fork, I hesitated, realising the feeling from earlier had been the voices, their whispers now louder and telling me to turn left this time. But when I glanced at Alaric to ask his opinion, I gasped. My companion was swaying, sweat pouring from his skin. I didn’t know what to do, so I took a chance, listening to the whispered advice and turned into a small chamber.
‘I think we’re lost,’ I said as Ari placed his hand on my shoulder with much more weight than I would expect from a casual touch.
‘Just keep going, Domina. We don’t have a choice,’ he replied, leaning heavily on me.
‘Ari . . .’ I whispered, touching his face. Even if I couldn’t see well in the darkness, I could feel the heat of his fever. ‘How long do we have? Can I do anything? Tell me how I can help!’
‘You can’t, my love. My time was up the moment I took the poison. It’s simply coming to an end now we’ve entered the temple,’ he said, pressing his back to the wall before sliding down to sit. I sat next to him, shivering, my penitential clothes providing little warmth.
The echo of dripping water lent the place an oddly soothing atmosphere. Fatigue from the day’s struggles flooded through me, and even though I knew we had to continue, I closed my eyes. I just needed to catch my breath before we resumed our search.
‘ Wake up! You’ll die if you fall asleep ... Don’t sleep ... ’The whispers battered at my mind so insistently that they jolted me awake and something crunched under my foot. I released my light, directing it upwards, and what it revealed carved itself into my mind.
Skeletons littered the floor, their flesh turned to dust long ago—though some golden and silver jewellery remained sadly draped over the bones. From the shape of the skulls, I could tell they had been fae; likely dark fae, given where we were. I blinked once, twice, before the realisation hit me.
The voices. They were their spirits. Why am I hearing ghosts?
I jumped to my feet, tugging Alaric up with me. His head lolled, and for a moment, he looked at me with glossy, unfocused eyes, but I kept jerking his arm until he stood up.
‘We need to go,’ I hissed, throwing his arm over my shoulder. ‘Come on, don’t make me drag you.’ Nodding towards the strange crypt, I said, ‘Thank you for the warning. May you find peace,’ before bowing as best as I could in respect to those whose warning saved us from their fate.
We left the chamber, and the voices fell silent for a few seconds, almost as if in surprise. The silence was a relief, but the cacophony quickly returned as we carried on.
Dizzy from the ghastly incident, I walked further along the corridor, avoiding turns where the voices grew more substantial. They may have helped me once, but I knew that if I followed them, I’d just find another dead grotto where I could not resist eternal slumber.
I didn’t know how long we’d walked for, but as time passed, it wasn’t only Ari whose feet dragged as we moved forward. We couldn’t keep going like that, so I finally stopped, letting a short sob escape my lips.
‘It’s hopeless, it’s so fucking hopeless,’ I muttered, fighting my panic. What sense was there in continuing if there was no way out? My muscles were spasming from exhaustion, my thoughts were muddled, and my fae was dying. The only feelings I had left were hopelessness and rage.
So, in desperation, I chose rage.
‘Are you enjoying this?’ I screamed, uncaring of if I angered the Dark Mother. ‘Stripping us of hope before we end up like those dusty bones? Do you honestly think I’ll let him die while I do nothing ? You foolish, hateful goddess—I’ll destroy everything here to save him! I’ll fucking burn the world for him, so come out and face me. Face me or see just what I’m capable of!’
My voice echoed, multiplying as it spread. I was beyond caring. I would welcome the chance to fight, would welcome anything to break out of the endless, exhausting corridors. If I had to die, I would take this dismal prison down with me. Yet, as I stood there, panting hard, nothing emerged from the darkness.
‘Annika, don’t temp fate,’ Alaric whispered, but I only huffed, turning back to him and cradling his cheek.
‘Fate can kiss my bruised arse. I don’t care what she thinks. I can fight my enemies, but if I have to take one more step in this endless maze while you’re fading, I will burn it down, even if it’s the last thing I do.’
I exhaled slowly, letting my anger fuel me, even as weariness threatened to pull me under. Then I felt it—a tug on my spirit ... then another. Whether it was from my outburst or just my desperate imagination, I didn’t care. It was something to hold onto. Clinging to the lifeline like a drowning sailor, I closed my eyes and let the feeling guide me forward.
The corridor soon felt different, and my worries subsided with each step. At some point, the floor became soft, even springy, as if I were walking on moss or a plush carpet. The surrounding air grew colder, and I even felt a breeze on my cheek. But I didn’t allow my hopes to grow.
Is this an illusion? Was the whole journey just a massive hallucination? I asked myself, huffing in annoyance at my limited knowledge of order magic. If it was a trick, I’d walked into it like a cheerful toddler, unaware of the danger.
The breeze grew stronger, the chill seeping into my bones. I squeezed my eyes shut against the unnerving sensation of walking on a giant sponge, refusing to give in to the mounting unease. Then, with a rush of air and an ominous snap , something lunged at us.
‘Fuck!’ I shouted, grabbing Alaric and dragging us to the ground just in time to dodge a massive set of snapping mandibles. My heart thundered as I realised the ground wasn’t ground at all—we were standing on a spiderweb.
The silken strands, thick as my thighs, stretched in all directions, intertwined with finer threads to form a dense, silvery carpet.
And there, in the centre, was our host.
I still had my sword, but I needed more than that if I hoped to kill the monstrosity. However, after from its initial attack, it simply stood there, motionless. I didn’t sense any corrupted magic, and once I recovered from my shock, I noticed it looked like an overgrown huntsman spider. My instincts were screaming at me that it was the guardian of the temple.
The spider’s eight eyes followed my every move, the eerie sense of being studied making me shiver. It was the size of a carriage, its pale white body covered in strange markings that looked like ancient runes, with two sets of jaws and clawed front legs.
I’m undoubtedly excelling as a battle mage—casually strolling over a spiderweb while its creator eyes me like a plump snack that has delivered itself to its open mouth, I thought.
The beast clattered its fangs as a small sigh of exasperation escaped my lips.
Alaric groaned beside me, his face ashen and his golden eyes dull and unseeing of the horror that lay before us as he fought to stay upright. I couldn’t decide which was worse: being devoured by an overgrown arachnid or watching my love fade away while we hopelessly wandered.
I was about to surrender, to spend what little time we had left holding Ari close, when a glimmer of light caught my eye.
A doorway.
Beyond the spider, the dark entrance gleamed, its edges outlined in warm, inviting light.
That had to be it.
My back straightened. I didn’t care what price I had to pay. I was going to drag Alaric to safety.
‘Look,’ I said to the spider, ‘if you can understand me, I want you to know I need to see your mistress. I didn’t come here to cause problems, and I don’t want to hurt you. But if you try to stop me, I will burn you, your web, and this entire maze. I’m tired, scared, and at the end of my patience. I’ve hurt enough people today to make my guilt ride my conscience to my last breath, so if we can resolve this without fighting, I’ll be forever grateful. So please , oh big and spindly one, let me pass.’
I executed a lopsided bow, worrying when Alaric shifted slightly, but his words were marked by his usual mischief when he spoke.
‘Are you trying to charm the spider out of its dinner?’ he asked, and I felt a hint of a smile where his cheek pressed against my neck.
‘If it works, I swear I’ll never kill any of its smaller cousins ever again. Let’s go now, one last effort.’
We stumbled forward, each step cautious on the taut webbing. We were trying to be careful, but Ari and I were spent. The spider’s fangs clicked, the vibrations of our movements no doubt registering on its sensitive strands. But it didn’t attack.
Whether it was my speech or something else, I didn’t know. I kept talking, babbling on about my life, how grateful I was it let us pass, and how magnificent it appeared. It didn’t react, simply tracked us, more interested in observing us than sinking its fangs into our bodies.
Finally, we reached the webbed bridge that led to the doorway. ‘Good boy ... or girl,’ I murmured, balancing on the final strand. ‘Give me a moment, and I’ll be out of your web.’ As if it only then noticed we were going to leave, the spider hissed, but we were already beyond its reach.
With one last step, the light engulfed us, blinding and overwhelming.
We were safe. Or as safe as one could be in the Dark Mother’s Temple.