Chapter Eight
Nina
Istood in ten inches of water, and the glassy surface reflected the red sky above.
I was still in Hell, but somewhere new. The world around me had solidified into a city – or what was left of one.
Crumbling stone structures, partially submerged, pointed skyward like skeletal beings.
I spied a twisting stone path floating on the water’s surface, weaving among the ruins like a snake.
It seemed like my only way forward through the drowned city.
I waded through the water, getting deeper with every stride, until it almost touched my waist, the soft sploshing the only sound around me.
My skirts were heavy and soaked through, and I could feel the chill growing in my bones.
I reached the path and climbed onto it, my breath coming in cold, short gasps.
The water was murky, tinged green and brown, like mould and decay. I swallowed, treading lightly along the path. I glanced down and froze. Below the surface, slitted eyes stared up at me, unblinking and inhuman.
My heartbeat faltered. I stumbled back, my pulse racing, and I nearly lost footing on the slippery stone. I hoped it was all in my mind, but then the thing’s body shifted, pale and serpentine.
Further out in the water, another shape glided beneath the surface. And then another, and another. The water stirred as more creatures appeared, with slitted black eyes and hollow, gaunt faces.
I pressed forward, ignoring the creatures, keeping my stride steady and quick. But the water stirred again, more violently, and one rose upwards, its head breaking the surface.
Water cascaded down a face that was both beautiful and grotesquely wrong.
Slitted pupils locked onto me, the yellow-green of its eyes glinting.
Its long black hair clung to its face, framing sunken, wrinkled features and a wide, rubbery mouth that stretched open to reveal rows of large, pointed teeth.
My stomach churned, and then the creature released a sound. It was half-song, half-growl, and it vibrated in my bones.
The sound was beautiful. Mesmerising. But beneath it, there were other voices, hurried and insistent.
“Leave, or fall,” the whispers urged.
This time, I listened to their warning.
My body reacted before my mind could catch up, and I bolted down the twisting, floating path.
The water beneath me churned, splashes and ripples breaking the illusion of calm.
I didn’t dare look back, but I could hear them, that wet slap of bodies moving in the water, the low, guttural sounds of their hunt.
The path wound between the skeletal ruins, and I skidded as I rounded a corner, my boots barely keeping their grip. Ahead, a building loomed, unlike the others. Its walls were made of bone, pale and gleaming under the red sky, and its roof jutted upward like the ribcage of some long-dead beast.
The path guided me towards the bone structure, its uneven surface shifting with every step. My lungs burned as the creatures’ guttural crooning grew louder.
The yawning entrance was dark and cold, but it provided shelter from the water and strange creatures.
The path jerked upward into a steep incline, and I scrambled up, throwing myself towards the doorway. Behind me, the water erupted in a violent spray as one of the creatures lunged, its hand clawed and webbed, swiping just short of my heel.
I dove into the building, collapsing onto the cold floor. The sounds outside grew muffled as though the building itself had swallowed them. I just lay there, panting, my hands trembling as I stared back at the entrance.
They didn’t follow me in.
But their eyes. Those unblinking eyes. I knew they were still out there, watching. Waiting.
I scanned the space, my breath unsteady. The ivory bone-like walls stretched high above me, and the floor was smooth but uneven, pocked with grooves and fissures.
“Survived the sirens, then.”
The voice was detached, slicing through the silence. I twisted sharply, my heart beating wildly, to find a woman standing at the top of a staircase. Behind her, I could see corridors lit by glowing lanterns. Her arms were crossed, her stance guarded, and her piercing gaze locked onto me.
She was tall and lean, her chestnut shoulder-length hair sleek with no strand out of place.
This was Selene; I’d seen her odds in the Betting Hall.
She didn’t move closer, didn’t offer her name – she simply stood there, assessing me as though I were something she might dissect.
Another pleasant soul in Hell.
Not.
“Those were sirens?”
Her gaze flicked to the water outside, still visible through the arched entrance. “They like to pull people under,” Selene said, her tone almost bored. “Especially the ones who hesitate.”
“Well, I can’t swim,” I said. “I’m much better on land.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You’ll find Dimitri,” she said, almost spitting out the words, “that way.” Her slender finger pointed to the bone-coloured stairs that descended into shadows.
I swayed on my feet, the motion taking the pressure off my hip. Selene glanced down at my feet but said nothing.
“Who’s Dimitri?” I asked.
“Stay out of my way,” she called over her shoulder and strode down the corridor.
I knew better than to follow. She wasn’t an ally. And as much as I wanted answers, I knew she wouldn’t give me any. We were competitors in The Cycle, and maybe she didn’t know much more than I did.
The staircase spiralled downward, carved from the same bone-like material as the walls. I hesitated at the top, peering into the shadowy space below.
Those whispers returned, brushing against my ears.
“Nina,” they called. “Nina, Nina, Nina.”
In some strange way, they were almost comforting.
Have you got something to tell me? I asked them.
“We are what remains.”
I sighed and descended deeper into Fear, each step creaking under my weight, though the stairs felt solid. A thick and stagnant reek became stronger the further I went, as though the air hadn’t been disturbed in centuries.
The staircase opened into a long, wide tunnel. Small iron brackets hung from the ivory walls, each bearing a torch with a flickering flame. Cells lined the sides, the warped ancient bars covered in rust and grime. Inside them, entities stirred, groaning, murmuring and wailing.
Is this a dungeon?
I stepped closer to one of the cells, unable to stop myself from peering inside. The darkness shifted. A hunched monstrosity with twisted limbs and blazing eyes moved quickly, lurching towards the bars with a throaty snarl.
I shot back, and my instincts kicked in. I ran down the tunnel, but it stretched on endlessly, so I found myself navigating through a torrent of despair and mania.
Is this the test? I wondered, my thoughts spiralling.
Was surviving the sirens not enough?
At last, I came upon a flight of steps, and my knees almost buckled.
I shuffled down, pulling my skirt up to avoid tripping, and passed through a low mouth into a vast cavern.
The torchlight died, and the air tasted of iron.
The chamber held an enormous pool of water.
Beneath its surface, the damned writhed; faces flashed with pain, mouths opening on silent screams, then stillness. They were drowning, again and again.
“Failure,” a voice hissed from the shadows. “You will never win The Cycle.”
Fear clenched every joint. A small, reckless part of me wanted to slip into the pool with the damned to shut out the noise. I battled my terror, taking ragged breaths until a symphony of other voices entered my mind. These were not filled with rage. They were soft and welcoming.
“Nina . . . push the fear from your mind.”
Images invaded my thoughts. I couldn’t tell if they were memories or dreams. I stood alone, bathed in blood, carrying bundles of coins strapped around my waist. Tobias was curled up in a ball, weeping. The dead surrounded us, both our neighbours and our enemies.
What exactly did the whispers want from me? Cosy, fuzzy feelings about violence and mass murder? Not today.
I sighed and eased along a narrow ledge that encircled the pool, crossed a short bridge, and eventually reached an elevated platform in the centre. My stomach dropped. From that height, I could see the faces trapped beneath the water. An icy chill sank into my bones.
Apparently, I still come with a skeleton in Hell. Lucky me.
I wondered if the Demon of Fear had anchored souls for fun or retribution. If it were punishment, I couldn’t think of anything worse than a continuous cycle of suffocation.
“Your brother is lost,” the voice that was not welcoming hissed again. “You have failed him now, just like you failed him as a mortal child.”
I tried to relax my breathing. I could not succumb to Fear. So, I pictured Tobias’s carefree grin and recalled his infectious laughter. Before he was consumed by darkness, he was the most delightful person in the room.
A cold wind drove chills down my spine, and I looked up to see a creature writhing from the pitch-black void above. It was a sea monster made for air: a huge, scaled body with fins that functioned as wings. Its mouth opened in a tremor, displaying rows of magnificent teeth.
A flying fish with a face full of knives.
And it was boring down at predatory speed.
I threw myself flat to the floor. The beast hurtled by, the wind crashing at me, but it missed.
The creature wailed. “You are worthy of annihilation.”
I backed up to the platform’s edge and looked over my shoulder at the drowning souls. The flying monster circled the emptiness above before it advanced again, latching onto me with huge bronze eyes.
“Morgana,” came a man’s raspy voice. “You are doing a very good job of terrifying the Champion.”
The thing thrashed past me before hurtling up to the void once more.
“Thank you, master.” Its voice was full of acid.
I twisted around to see the figure at the entrance. There was no mistaking what he was – a powerful, unsettling demon.