Chapter 12
MORRIGAN
Ihad almost dozed off, when a strange clicking noise made my limbs stiffen.
It wasn’t coming from inside the cave, but somewhere within the trees outside. The clicking was strange—animalistic. Like something you would hear in a nightmare.
I quickly shook Azrael awake before crouching forward and peeking through the moss. I didn’t see anyone or anything outside, but the clicking didn’t stop. Instead, it seemed to grow louder as whatever it was made its approach.
“We have to go,” I whispered, snatching Azrael into my arms. “Don’t make a sound.” And with that, we emerged from the shadows.
As we walked, more clicking began from different directions, and Azrael froze in my arms as I tiptoed through the forest. I was careful not to step on any fallen branches or dead leaves around us, but with every step, Azrael grew heavier.
I hadn’t rested, hadn’t eaten. The blood I had taken from Cain was wearing off, and I could feel the fatigue settling into my bones.
Who knew how long we had even been in that clearing before we finally woke?
I was running on nothing more than adrenaline, and even that had begun to fade as well.
Just keep pushing, I told myself, until, finally, the clicking sound faded into the background, and I slumped against a tree in relief.
“What do you think that was?” Azrael asked quietly.
I shook my head, feeling the world tilt from the dizziness suffocating my head. “Who knows what lives here…” I answered weakly. “But none of it is good. We need to find a way out—”
My words were cut short at the sound of something burning, sizzling the grass nearby.
When I turned, I found the same black substance that had followed us before.
“Shit,” I cursed, pushing off of the tree and running in the opposite direction.
As I approached a clearing ahead, I had to pause in my tracks as a single large beast jumped in front of us.
“It’s behind you!” Azrael yelled in my ear, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the monster that now crouched before me, teeth bared and ready to attack.
With one hand around Azrael, I extended the other one out in caution. “I can’t catch one fucking break,” I muttered under my breath.
The beast resembled a wolf, but was at least three times the size of one.
Its fur was white and thick, but sticky with a crimson paste that I only assumed could be blood.
With its lips curled back, revealing large fangs that stretched beyond its jaw, I could see the hunger in its icy, grey eyes.
Behind me, I felt the heat of the strange, thick mist that devoured everything it came into contact with.
Out of options, and too stubborn to give up this fight, I did the only other thing I could think to do...
I closed my eyes, searching for the fire that clung to the last ounce of will I had in me. The more I used it, the easier it became to find. Like a flame hidden deep within, all I needed to do was add fuel to it, allowing the embers to spark until I felt the buzzing of energy in my chest.
I opened my eyes as the power bloomed, spreading to my shoulders…
down my arms… As my eyes began to glow, the light illuminated the darkness around us, and the beast cocked its head to the side.
In an instant, all of the hunger vanished from his eyes.
But just as the heat reached my palms, something grabbed at my ankles.
“What—” I looked down to find that the darkness now covered my feet, but… it didn’t burn this time.
Suddenly, Azrael screamed as he was yanked from my arms.
“Azrael!”
I turned to find him, but the mist covered every inch of the ground nearby. I couldn’t see him anywhere.
“Azrael!” When I tried to move, I found that my body was stuck in its position. The darkness slowly consumed my legs, slithering up my hips and to my chest. “Azrael! Azr… Az…”
I could no longer form my words, as a heavy fatigue washed over my mind. Drunk from exhaustion, I fought until the very moment my eyes closed, then I succumbed to the darkness.
I woke slowly, my entire body feeling groggy and tired.
Wherever I was, it was clearly a lot brighter than where Azrael and I had been before. The light nearly blinded me as I sat up, rubbing my eyes. But I froze when I felt the soft, silk… sheets. I’m… laying on a… bed?
My senses sharpened quickly as I snapped my gaze to where I lay. The bed was large, covered in charcoal-colored sheets, with a thick comforter bunched over my legs. How did I get in a bed? I had to be dreaming.
I went as far as to pinch my arm, expecting to wake and be stuck in the same clearing again, cornered by the black mist and that… beast. Nothing happened. I remained in the strange room—one I had never seen before.
“Hello?” I called out, expecting someone to answer me. Someone had to have brought me here. Perhaps we were found? Maybe…
No. No one found you. You aren’t home. I didn’t know how I knew that, but I did. Whatever this was, wherever I was, it was still the Netherworld. Something about the air felt too cold, too stiff. Azrael. I need to find Azrael.
I didn’t think, nor did I care, as I raced from the room.
I paused for a moment when a strange familiarity washed over me as I stepped into the hall.
The walls were made of a dark stone, and the floor felt so cold beneath my bare feet.
They soothed the burning sensation caused by the several abrasions I had accumulated from running in the woods.
I quickly shook away the feeling and began to run—opening any door I could find and calling out his name every couple of seconds.
This was definitely a castle, but I had never seen one so empty.
My voice echoed in the dark halls, which were barely lit by the few torches that hung on the walls.
If someone did bring us here, where were they now?
Why wouldn’t they have been there when I woke?
“Azrael!” I yelled, pleading with the shadows that he would appear. I was supposed to keep him safe. It was my job. And now…
Another door appeared, and I reached for it without thinking, when it opened suddenly. Unable to stop myself, my face slammed into a hard chest, and we both tumbled forward, falling to the ground.
“Oh, gods… I’m…” I felt horrified as I realized I had landed on top of this stranger, and quickly peeled myself away.
But then a thought flashed in my mind, causing a sense of panic. Just because they brought you here, doesn’t mean they can be trusted. It only took a second to find it this time—the flame—and I kept my arms out in front of me as the man rose from the floor.
“Did you bring me here?” I asked, doing my best to keep my voice from shaking. “Where is he? Where is the boy I was with?”
The man straightened his back, keeping his eyes to the floor as he smoothed out his black shirt and pants. He stood as tall as Kaiden, with dark hair that was short on top. Something about it… Why does he seem so familiar?
“Look,” I warned, allowing the fire to slide down my arms, settling into my palms as it waited for a command. “I don’t want to hurt you. Just tell me who you are and where he is—”
“You know who I am, Morrigan.”
My breath was ripped from my lungs in a long exhale. That voice.
He finally raised his eyes to meet mine, and I got the first glimpse of his face.
One of his eyes shone a bright blue, with a lighter iridescent blue ring around his pupil.
His left eye… was white. Not completely white, but his iris was clouded over in a way that only showed its outline.
Just above his left eyebrow, a dark, black line ran through it, connecting with his eye.
The line seemed to spread like vines across the left half of his face, trailing down his neck, and disappearing beneath his shirt.
Gods… He is… beautiful… in an otherworldly kind of way.
“You’re…” I breathed out, unable to think clearly.
“Yes.”
I swallowed against the dryness in my throat. “I didn’t believe it. Even when I heard your voice… When I saw you on the bridge…”
He took a step closer, closing the distance between us. “And now?” he asked.
I didn’t lower my hands. The glow in my eyes brightened the space still keeping us apart. “I don’t…” I quickly straightened my arm out, keeping him from moving any closer. “How do I know you’re not one of those monsters out there?”
“I never claimed not to be, Morrigan.”