Crown of Steel (Chaos Awakens) (29 page)

Haley was regaining her feet and had drawn the knife she wore at her hip in one hand, her axe in the other. Kassa was charging the first metallic creature to enter the clearing and Little Crow popped out of existence as fast as he'd entered the clearing, vanishing before Xan's eyes as though he'd never been there at all. Xandrith could only guess that he was using one of his blade-gifted powers. He didn't particularly have time to worry about it just then. The creature of metal and flesh tore into the clearing on the attack. It didn't even hesitate as it lashed out at Kassa with a long blade it bore in its right hand. Xandrith felt more than saw the pulse of energy that crackled from the beast's left hand. Xan grabbed at the creature's life energy and pulled, drawing its power into himself. The ripple of deadly energy that had been aimed at Kassa fizzled out before it could hit her and she seemed unaffected by what remained of the attack as it washed over her. She drove her blade home through the Drayid's torso, rupturing the living carcass and sending a gush of thick, black, and oily blood pouring from the massive gash.

Another figure broke into the clearing and Xandrith immediately reached for it and grabbed at its life force.  Magical energy coursed through Xan's body demanding to be formed and released, but he knew that he didn't dare let it go in the form of an attack when what he really wanted was to open the Tesserect passage. As his companions fought for their lives, Xan forced himself to turn his back to them and the chaos erupting behind him. He needed to focus. He was going to perform a spell he'd never done before, and if he didn't get it right he could kill them all. The assassin gathered the forces he'd stolen to himself and then dove deep into the well of knowledge hidden within his mind.

Hundreds of thousands of spells and glyphs floated through his inner vision, but he knew which ones he was looking for. He'd already found them buried deep within the part of his mind that held the darkest and most forbidden magics. The spell for the Tesserect passage began to take form as the seals necessary for its binding carved themselves into Xandrith's thoughts as though they were being etched into his flesh. There were numerous variables and conditions necessary to properly craft the passage, and Xandrith didn't know what they all meant. He tried to let instinct guide his crafting, but it all seemed alien and strange.

As the final seal began to take form a terrible coldness swept through Xandrith's body. It welled up from the center of his mind and spreading out in a wave. He didn't know what caused it or why it happened, but he knew beyond any doubt that the feeling of dread that was filling him was the exact reason the Tesserect passages were forbidden magic. He was tapping something very dangerous and using it for a purpose that it was not meant for. He reached out with his right hand and touched the solid wall in front of him. It wavered as though he'd put his hand into a pool of water, and then a gray passageway formed in front of him. It looked like the hallways of a house except that all the walls, the floor, and ceiling were the same exact shade of gray with no clear markings to distinguish any surface from another. That sense of impending dread flooded through him again as Xan looked into his creation. Should he really lead the others through this place?

He looked back over his shoulder to see the others locked in a state of fearsome combat. There were four of the metal creatures in the clearing, though two of them seemed to be moving lethargically. Those must have been the ones drained by Xan's magical theft. It was clear his friends were in trouble, they were pulling back as they fought. Though the Drayid were taking hits, they weren't stopping in their constant assault. Wounds that would have killed a mortal creature were doing little to slow them down.

"Retreat, through the passage!" Xandrith yelled. They could stay and die, or chance the Tesserect passages. The options weren't ideal, but they were what they were. The fight was too heavy for anyone to simply make a break for it. Xandrith grabbed for more magical power, leaching from one of the creatures he hadn't yet tapped since that was less burdensome for him than completely draining one of the partially spent creatures. He wound the power through himself and wove it into a wall of force. With the right finesse these walls could be used to build barriers that would keep enemies at bay, but Xandrith lacked finesse. He threw his wall down between his companions and the enemies and then pushed out with all the magical force he could muster. Their attackers were thrown backwards a few feet, and Xan took the opportunity to get his friends moving.

"Let's go, through the passage!" He called again, and this time Kassa and Haley came running. Little Crow appeared a moment a later, following behind the women. The Drayid were not far behind. They'd been knocked back, but they recovered quickly. Xandrith backed through the opening of the Tesserect passage and in doing so he pushed Crow in. Crow seemed to have stopped momentarily at the entrance. As soon as they were through, Xan closed the first gate and suddenly everything was absolutely silent but for the sounds of Xan and his friends’ slight movements and breathing.

Xan turned to face the others and they were all looking at him with expressions mixed of fear, relief, and growing anxiety. Xan spoke quickly. "Walk forward down the passage and don't look back. Keep moving forward no matter what happens. If the passage turns or splits, pick a direction and keep walking. Don't stop, and don't look back. Absolutely, under no circumstances, walk back down the passage the way we've come.  Got it?"

There were nods and looks of growing concern. It was far from encouraging.

"Then move!" Xan said as he pushed Crow forward. The others began to move, walking down the strange gray corridor. There was enough room to walk two abreast comfortably and so they did. Haley and Kassa were in the lead, and Xan walked next to Crow. They'd gone nearly twenty feet when Xan caught Crow looking back over his shoulder. He smacked the young man on the arm. "Stop it."

Crow's head snapped forward. He looked troubled. "The pathway behind us keeps changing, and I think I saw something back there."

Xandrith nodded. "This place doesn't work like our world. Don't look back there anymore."

"What happens if I do?" Crow asked, a question born of either his rebellious nature or some morbid curiosity.

"I don't know, but it probably won't be pleasant." Xandrith answered.

"This reminds me of walking through the glimmer mist." Haley said softly.

Xandrith shook his head, a shiver running down his spine. He'd been trapped in the Fae mists for a long while, lost in the maze of madness and monsters that had a strong and terrible animosity for humans. He’d been lost in the mists when they had swallowed him up the night he'd split himself apart and brought Kassa back from the edge of darkness. He'd wandered through the fancy and chaos of that world for what felt like ages before he'd discovered that he could shape the paths he wanted, to some degree, with the sheer force of his magic will. The Fae world itself was a source of life and power. He'd only needed to understand that in order to take advantage of it. These shifting, grey, and seemingly lifeless corridors were something else entirely.

The Fae world had been confusing and nightmarish, but it had never seemed unnaturally malevolent. If it was hostile it was because Xandrith hadn't belonged there. The gray corridors of the Tesserect passage were different. Whatever madness Tesserect had tapped into was actively dangerous. The world of gray wasn't a natural place. It was like the web of some ancient, evil spider. The plain walls, branching corridors, and eerie sourceless sounds that erupted from the silence, all seemed as though they'd been designed to catch the unwary. The Fae mists had been a place not meant for humans to pass, but the Tesserect passages were just the opposite. They felt as though they'd been built specifically to lure humans foolish enough to allow their curiosity to draw them in. What harm could come of empty halls? To Xan it wasn't a question of whether or not someone had designed the passageways as a trap. That was only too clear. The only questions that remained were what had built the web of halls, and what was it that it wanted with those it trapped? These were questions Xan had no desire to answer.

"There are some important differences." Xan answered.

"Yeah, this place is hungry." Kassa replied, somehow articulating the unease that had been plaguing Xandrith. She was right. That was the key difference. The Tesserect passages were hungry, and Xandrith had just led a full meal directly into its gaping maw.

As if aware of the disquiet spreading amidst their group, a low rumble rolled through the gray halls. It caused the ground to shake and undulate in an unnatural way. Xandrith teetered, as did some of the others. He reached out to the nearest wall to steady himself, and then almost fell entirely when he touched the surface and felt how cold it was. Even just brushing his fingers against it for a second had sent an icy chill all the way down his arm and into his shoulder.

"Fucking hells, what was that?" Crow cursed, his hand wrapped so tightly around his sword hilt that his knuckles had gone white.

"It doesn't matter." Xan snapped. "Just keep moving. This place wants us to stop and turn around. Let's not give it what it wants."

From somewhere in their wake a deep and wavering tone growled down the passageway sounding a great deal like an animal groaning in the last minutes of its life. This went on for several seconds before it stopped and a chill breeze swept down the corridor, strong enough to rustle the fabric of Xan's shirt. The wind smelled of decay.

"This place is fucked." Crow muttered, but he had started walking forward again.

"Funny, I was going to say that
we
were fucked." Xan replied snarkly, though he wasn't particularly feeling the humor. He was keenly aware that they were in terrible danger. He hadn't necessarily saved them by opening the Tesserect passage. They may have been much better off fighting the horde of metal and flesh monsters, at least they were something that one could stand against and attempt to defeat. The gray corridors were something else entirely. They were a force unto themselves, a trap with their own set of rules. Xandrith couldn't shake the sense of dread climbing up inside of him, and he guessed the others felt much the same. Death was coming for them, and it was getting close.

Chapter 3

Gray Times

"Kassa." The voice drifted through the air, a whisper that emanated from the walls, the floor, the ceiling, the very fabric of the gray world. "Kassa, come here." They all heard it. It wasn't some illusionary voice picking away at the mind of an individual. The voice was clear for all to hear.

"Why is it only calling her?" Crow asked. He had drawn his weapon a few minutes before and refused to sheath the blade. "What the hell does it want?!" There was no illusion of calm left in his voice. Little Crow was quickly becoming completely unhinged.

Xandrith didn't have any answers for him, but if he had to guess he was fairly certain the gray halls were attempting to fracture their group. They were trying to get them to argue, split up, and run in different directions. If it divided them, they would be easier to deal with. "Just keep moving forward, Crow. We'll be out of here soon enough, and then none of this will matter."

"Kassa, you remember us, right? Kassa." The whispering voices rattled down the halls.

"I wish it would stop." Kassa spoke for the first time since the voice had started calling her name. "I'm not embarrassed to admit that it's scaring me."

Xan was scared as well. "It's scaring all of us, Kas, but you can't let it get to you. This place is just a means to an end. If we keep moving we will get through it and then we'll never need to come this way again. Remember, lots of people have passed through these passages and come out the other side just fine."

"I don't think you should have brought us here." Haley spoke, her voice strangely calm emanating from her fox mask. "This place is far more dangerous than those metal things were."

Xandrith was more than a little surprised to hear her speak out against his decision. She'd always taken his side before. "That's easy for you to say now Not-Daisy, but while were fighting out there our lives seemed less than assured." Xan felt the urge to swallow down some unnamed emotion at having Haley’s old nickname slip from his lips. The name seemed sad and somehow inappropriate now.

"You pretend to care so much for us, but you keep putting us in danger's path." Haley snapped. "If you really gave a damn for us, would you have brought us to this place?"

Xandrith couldn't even protest. The anger in her voice forced his jaw closed.

Kassa spoke instead. "We came searching for him, Haley. We chose to come here. Xandrith never asked us to join him. We're here because we are his friends. Perhaps you've forgotten that?"

Haley didn't reply, and for a moment there was silence.

"Kassa." The voice whispered through the walls again. "Kassa!" This time it came as a growling scream which made the entire group jump.

"How much further do these tunnels go?" Crow's voice shook as he spoke.

"The passage is different every time. When we exit six hours will have passed in our world, but time inside of the Tesserect passages is impossible to gauge. We just need to keep moving forward." Xan tried to sound confident in his reply, but the passages were getting to him as well.

"I should have never opened these roads." A voice spoke from behind their group and almost as one they all swung their heads to look back. A figure in red robes was walking behind them. He was an old man, his skin worn thin as though he hadn't eaten in weeks. His eyes were sunk so deep into his skull that they looked black. "They know about us now. They know and they're looking for us." His voice was a dry rattle.

Xan snapped his head away from the figure. "Everyone look forward. Ignore it. It's not real." The others turned away as well and they resumed walking forward, but the old man's footsteps didn't fall behind.

"I thought I would bring the world together, but some things weren't meant to be tampered with." He was speaking again. "Six hours. That is how long it takes to draw one living thing across the threshold of our existence and into theirs. That's why it takes six hours to go anywhere. That is exactly how long it can hold you before it has to let go, but time doesn't work the same here. Six hours."