It formed out of the wispy ether surrounding us and lunged straight at me. Amaya screamed, her flames fierce and bright in this place, a sharp, clean contrast against the shadows that suddenly seemed to be gathering.
Hell’s gate, I realized, was about to be opened.
I swore and swung Amaya as hard as I could. Her blade swept through the snake’s form and sent it scattering. I had no idea whether she killed it and I didn’t care. I ran forward, not worrying about whether I stayed on the path, as my gaze swept the gates. There was no evidence of the sorceress’s presence anywhere near the gates themselves, which is where, logically, one would expect a lock to be. But this was the gray fields, and logic didn’t exactly apply here. I veered to the left, off the path. Wispy hands began to tear and drag at me, as if desperate to force me into their bitter, painful darkness. I swung Amaya left and right, sending the shreds whirling away. Energy slithered across my being – a caress so light it felt like little more than sparks that hit, then disappeared.
The key was near.
I ran on, my gaze on the warm light to the side of the gates. I still couldn’t see the sorceress, but she was there, somewhere.
The shadows grew thicker, the sense of impending doom stronger. Then I saw it – a flicker that grew into a flame. A flame that became a dagger, then became something else entirely – something that shone with an intensity I’ve never seen before.>You’re a priest? The small slug mass had completed its circle and was coming at me again. They were persistent bastards, that was for sure. A Dušan appeared – Azriel’s, not mine – and grabbed it with a snap of its teeth, then flung it away. Then it whirled around me, buffeting me forward with the force of its wings. It was almost as if it were telling me to hurry, that they couldn’t contain the slug masses for much longer.
But given what Azriel had said, why wasn’t the priest doing something about them? If anything was an intruder, it was these fucking things.
Once, yes, the voice replied. I remain to protect.
The structure up ahead drew closer, clearer. It consisted of two high, soaring but simple arches that stood side by side, neither one particularly ornate. At least they didn’t appear so from this far away.
Well, you’re not doing a particularly good job of it, are you?
Up until that point, I’d felt no real malevolence from the remnant that was the priest, but the moment the words were out of my mouth, that changed. The air grew dark and thunderous, and it suddenly seemed like I was teetering on the precipice of an endless pit. And that the priest stood behind me, ready to push.
Amaya’s hissing ran through the far reaches of my thoughts, but her noise was muted, wary. It was as if she sensed the being who confronted us was not something she should ever attack or have any hope of beating.
You have no justification —
I haven’t? I cut in. Perhaps stupidly, given Azriel’s earlier warning about the remnants being able to cause great harm if they decide you’re an intruder. Then why is hell’s first portal open? And why the hell have you allowed a sorcerer bearing the second portal key to get so close to opening it?
There is no one in this place but you and me and the reaper who battles the twisted Dušan within private temple quarters.
No one here? Incredulity filled my mental tones. What the fuck do you call the shadow who runs ahead of us? And what do you call the things that chase me?
The heavy sensation of danger briefly lifted, and an odd sense of bafflement ran across the ether surrounding us. The Dušan battle something, but I cannot sense what.
I frowned. How was that even possible? He might be a remnant, but he was still of this place, these temples. The sorcerer was not, so how could she disguise not only her presence, but that of her creatures?
And if this priest couldn’t sense her presence, what chance would the reapers who guard hell’s gate have of seeing her?
The answer, I suspected, was a big fat zero.
There is magic at work, he continued. Magic that is powerful and dark. It has the taste of hell, and yet this place runs through it.
This place? What the hell did he mean by that?
And then it twigged. Lucian. Maybe he’d not only been teaching the sorceress Aedh magic, but dark magic as well. He’d been trapped on Earth for centuries after all – certainly more than long enough to become proficient at all types of magic, be it light or dark.
And maybe she was his very last throw of the dice. Maybe, if all else failed, the destruction of the place that had become his prison was part of his ultimate end game. That, and the destruction of the Raziq’s grand plans for freedom.
The shadow that was the sorceress ran through the left arch and disappeared. I swore. Time had run out. We had seconds left, if that, to stop her.
Can you stop the intruders hidden within that magic? Or, at the very least, contain them?
Here, yes. At the gates? No.
Naturally. I mean, it wouldn’t be that fucking easy now, would it?
Why not? I thought Aedh priests are the guardians of the gates?
I am not what I once was, he said, his voice so heavy it seemed to press down on me. I can contain the things that chase you, but I am no longer able to enter the portal’s sacred space.