Book 9 Chapter 21

Joan stumbled and hit the ground. She couldn’t see anything and for a moment she wondered if the shadow armor had closed off the eye holes. She then realized that she was just in someplace incredibly dark. She summoned her sword to her hand.

Something struck her side and sent her sprawling, but fortunately the armor held. Then a second blow hit her. A third. A fourth. She tried swinging with her sword, but she was hit again and sent rolling on the ground.

Joan tried to curl up and protect herself, but the attacks kept coming. She just needed a second. It didn’t hurt, but it was so disorienting she couldn’t focus at all.

Then she realized what she had to do. She activated her bracer and a barrier of flame sprung up around her, driving her attackers back.

Dozens of them. She looked up at the horde of shades, their claws pounding on the edges of the flaming barrier, unable to get closer but desperately trying to get at her. They seemed to be countless, especially with the way they kept fading in and out of the light, all but disappearing when they got too close.

But they couldn’t break through the barrier. She had time. She gave a soft, relieved sigh before trying to gingerly get to her feet, only to drop back down a moment later. “Owie,” she whispered. Right. She’d come through a portal, where was it? Unfortunately, the barrier only gave a little light, just enough for her to see how surrounded she was. It wasn’t allowing her to see the barrier. Or maybe there were so many shades that they were covering it.

Then she saw the man stepping out from the shadows, his staff in hand. She still couldn’t see the portal, but it seemed it was over there. Somewhere. She held out her right hand and her sword appeared in it.

He stared at her. She stared back. The shades pounded on the barrier but it showed no signs of collapsing.

“So,” Joan said. “You brought me here. Why?”

The man stared at her before lifting his staff into the air and bringing it back down. The shades froze in place, time stopping once again. She stared for a moment, her eyes narrowed. The spell went off, so why wasn’t--

Joan could just barely make out a doorway through the barrier and the surrounding frozen shades. But she’d seen one enough times to know what it was. More importantly, now it was glowing. “A doorway to the Realm of the Gods,” she said softly.

“I knew it,” the man said. “You’ve been through the gateway, haven’t you?”

“Well… once or twice,” Joan said, her eyes narrowing on him again. “Who are you?”

“The more important question is who are you,” he said. “You can move, even when I have stopped time. The djinn is still alive, so you could not have used her wish to allow such.”

“Wait, WHAT?” Joan asked. “THAT’S what you want Ifrit for? To get you into the door? Wait, can a djinn’s wish do that?”

The man lifted the staff again, bringing it down to the ground. Time resumed and the shades pounded on her barrier again. However, he lifted a hand and they pulled back. “You are the Guide, aren’t you?”

Joan blinked a few times and just stared at him. He thought she was Penthe? Oh, this was too good. “Yes,” she said slowly.

“You desire to save the djinn?” he asked.

“I wouldn’t be here otherwise,” Joan said.

“Then-- our-- dem-- ands are simple,” he said. “Go through the gate and bring the key to the silver prison.”

“What?” Joan asked, cocking her head to the side slightly. Once again, it was like time had stopped a few times there. Flickering in and out for a few seconds. But unlike when he used the staff, he’d been stopped as well.

The man then motioned towards the right. The shades parted, allowing her to see into the room.

A room she recognized so well. A room she had known for so, so long. The very reason they’d come here to begin with. The room itself held six silver pillars, suspending the roof above. There were many other chambers that entered and left it, though most of them had long since collapsed. But from here, she could also see the final doorway. A massive door that glimmered like it was made of jewels, with a row of silver bars blocking it. Joan stared for a moment before sighing. She knew exactly what was behind that door.

A long dead ‘god’. Dead for centuries, at least. “Uh huh,” Joan said. Well, they were going to be pissed. But hardly her problem. “And whatever’s behind that door will open that gate?”

She didn’t receive an answer. She glanced over and, once again, he was frozen in place.

Joan sighed and stared at him. Time had stopped again. Really? This time it lasted a few minutes. Finally, things started moving again. “Uh huh. And whatever’s behind that door will open that gate?”

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“Indeed, Guide,” the man said. “Do this and we’ll let you free once more.”

Joan cocked an eye and glanced around. “I… don’t think you can stop me. Actually…” She moved a little closer and he backed away. “In fact, I’m pretty sure you can’t break this barrier.”

The portal didn’t seem to be there, though. Had he collapsed it behind himself? Did he really leave that other person up there? “You’ll never make it out of these tunnels,” the man said calmly.

“I’m very good at getting out of places I don’t want to be,” Joan said. “And places I want to be. And into. I go a lot of places.”

“You make jokes?” the man asked. “You’re every bit as confident as they say.”

“They say?” Joan asked. “Who’s they?” She found the idea of Penthe talking like this to be hilarious. She’d always seemed so angry and vicious before, never struck her as the snarky one. “Well?”

“That’s no matter,” he said. “You wish to keep the djinn safe, do you not?”

“I have a Chosen,” Joan said. “You know I have a Chosen. And you keep losing shades over it.”

She could barely make out the twitching of the man’s eyes through the barrier. She was aggravating him. Good. “We’ll get her eventually.”

“I mean, I could probably kill you here,” Joan said. “And once I get out of here, we’re going to know exactly where your base is.”

The man opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. She could see the moment that the realization hit him that he had basically just given away his base. Sure, she was on the way to finding it anyway, but it had to feel pretty dumb just giving it up like that. She wondered if time had stopped for a few minutes, but finally he cleared his throat. “You’ll never make it out of here alive. We’ll collapse these tunnels on you if we have to. I don’t know how strong that barrier of yours is, but it can’t survive that.”

“Ehhhhh,” Joan said with a shrug. “You’d be surprised. It survives a lot more than I’d expect it to.” She glanced towards the other room. The silver bars. She knew what was behind them, so it cost her nothing. But he didn’t know that. “So, who are you anyway?”

“You may call me the Lord of Venom,” he said.

Joan couldn’t help but laugh at that, a hand quickly moving to her mouth. But with the helmet and gauntlets on, she couldn’t even do that. “I am NOT calling you that. I’ll call you… Vee.”

“You smart mouthed little--”

“Child you need?” Joan asked in a playful, obnoxious tone.

Even through the barrier she could see the frustration and anger growing in his tone. “I haven’t spent the last decade searching for this doorway and the djinn so I could be mocked by a tiny child! Guide or not! You will gather the key or you will die!” he yelled, the fury in his voice growing.

“And now you’re pissed,” Joan said. “So, you’re the boss of Scorpion’s Venom? I really expected more. Come on, you can offer me something.”

“I offer you your life!” he yelled, the fury evident in his voice.

“Yeah, that’s not worth much,” Joan said, rolling her eyes. “Considering the people who want me dead, I already spend most of my time keeping myself alive. Tell you what. I’ll do it… for your staff.”

“What?” he asked, pulling his staff away from her. “No.”

“You want me to open that for you, don’t you?” Joan asked. “Is the staff really more valuable to you than opening that door?”

There were a few minutes of silence and if not for the shades moving around she would have been sure that time had stopped again. Finally, grudgingly, he threw the staff away. It bounced off the gate. “Very well. Your lust for magic is as insatiable as they say.”

“Actually, this is just me being petty,” Joan said with a shrug. “Be back in a second. Or… well. However long it takes me. Also, keep the shades back. If they attack me, the deals off.”

Joan took a slow, deep breath before she held out her right hand and formed a small orb of light. It promptly went out. She tried again and this time it made her hands tingle. “Seriously?” She really wished she had some idea what this weird armor was.

“Is there a problem?” Vee asked.

“No, I’m fine,” Joan said before gulping and forming a small ball of fire in her palm. She placed it against her sword and it started to burn with the blue flame. She then let the barrier down. Fortunately, the shades didn’t make a move towards her. Slowly she walked towards the gateway. She kicked up the staff, catching it in her left hand and stuck her tongue out at the man. He couldn’t see it behind the helmet, but it made her feel better. The staff tingled in her hand a little bit, but she had no idea what it was supposed to do. She tapped it on the ground, but time didn’t stop.

Joan shrugged and walked to the door, pushing a hand against it. Time stopped one last time and the door disappeared, revealing the stone hallway beyond.

The smell of dirt and grass flooded her nostrils, making her pause for a second. Slowly she started walking into the hallway, laying the staff against the wall. “Hello?” she called out.

Torches lining the stone hall began to come alive, filling it with dim light.

Then the sound of loud, steady thumping began to come down the hall, making her pause for a moment. Then she shoved those thoughts away. Could Ifrit’s wish truly have allowed Francis to come through the gate? If that was truly what happened…

Then anything he ran into she could handle. It would have been useful to know something like that would have let the Hero go through the gates.

Or maybe not. She paused and thought about it. Would she have been willing to sacrifice Ifrit’s life to get into the Realm of the Gods?

If it had been the only way to save the world… she would have.

By the gods she was so thankful she’d likely never have to make those choices again. Just thinking about it made her want to curl up into a ball of self loathing. Whatever that thumping was it couldn’t be worse than she was.