“The dome,” Sandu said. “We were there. Going down that pathway. It is very narrow in places, so only one could go at a time. Justice insisted that he go first. We knew there was much danger. A portal had been opened somehow. We’d been fighting a losing battle for some time, trying to keep humans safe from the demons coming through.”
Adalasia could see the images pouring into his mind as he looked at the tall, arched dome that looked a little like a cathedral entryway. She thought that was a tiny bit sacrilegious. How could demons be using such a beautiful archway as a portal to another realm?
“We couldn’t stop the attacks on the farms or the animals,” Sandu said, rubbing at his temples. “Between the encounters with demons and the undead, we were always wounded and in need of blood. We had no help. My father sent the call out for Justice, even though he knew he shouldn’t. He knew Justice was too close to the end. He was asking the impossible of him, and any battle could push him over the edge. He would never have done so, but we were desperate. Too many humans were dying and we could not save them.”
Adalasia started into the cave, but Sandu stepped in front of her. “This place is compromised again, ewal emninumam. We sealed the portal so they could never use this one to come through, but they have managed to reopen it.”
Adalasia shook her head. “It is compromised,” she agreed. “But it is not opened. There are places where they have battered it and worn it thin. Demons have slipped through. This is the gate my family, the Ravasio family, was tasked to guard. I know it is. I feel it. The moment I set one foot inside this cave, I knew this was the true path. There should have been guards in place to keep any demons from finding their way out.”
The guardians and Tiberiu remained silent, their senses flaring out, scanning continuously, looking for the faintest hint of a threat as they made their way deeper into the cave system. The tunnel turned sharply and descended steeply as the chambers widened, flowing from one room to the next.
Adalasia rubbed at the goose bumps on her arms. It wasn’t cold. If anything, it was growing warmer. The prickly sensation was getting worse. The hair on the back of her neck actually hurt, as if each individual hair was sensitive at the root and growing more so with every step. She found herself placing her hand on her sword.
Sandu, I need room.
Simultaneously, the guardians, Tiberiu and Sandu stopped moving. The guardians simply disappeared, as if they’d never been. She knew they’d dissolved into tiny molecules and were still close. She felt them in her mind, but they were moving through the cave, searching for a very real threat. Tiberiu and Sandu kept her between them but distanced themselves from her, giving her the space she needed to fight if need be.
Adalasia pulled the sword from the scabbard, and colors burst from the blade to soar to the ceiling, illuminating the walls and throwing light into every corner. At once, there was a furtive, rustling sound, the scampering of dozens of feet or hands in the dried debris on the cave floor. For just a few moments, red and yellow eyes glinted at them from all around the chamber, and then the creatures managed to hide themselves in crevices in the rock walls.
“Don’t get close to the walls,” Adalasia cautioned. “You saw the damage to the dog. These are the creatures that eviscerated the cattle and tried to do the same to the dog. This is part of Nera’s army. Her soldiers sent to wear us down.”
“Yes,” Sandu said. “I remember now. They were everywhere. Every farm. Night after night. The senseless destruction. The mutilations.”
I will destroy them, but you have to be in the next chamber. Both of you. All of you. I will follow, and when I do, Sandu, seal this chamber off quickly so none can escape.
Using their common telepathic link, she showed them the tiny white globe that was really a bomb of light. It will suck all air out of the chamber. You can’t use fire against them. They bathe in fire.
Justice taught us that. We can incinerate them with lightning, Sandu recalled, but that’s useless in these caves.
Adalasia backed to the entrance of the next chamber, keeping the sword high so the colors bounced off the ceiling and continued to illuminate the walls, making it impossible for any of the creatures to brave the light and attack. Everyone out?
Yes, and the other entrance is sealed. Once you step back, I will seal this one, Sandu assured her.
Adalasia didn’t wait. She tossed the globe high into the air, right into the center of the room, and stepped quickly back into the next chamber. Sandu slammed a transparent seal in the entrance. They watched as the globe spun, throwing colors throughout the cave. Suddenly, it stopped in midair, the sides opening with audible hissing. Then there was an abrupt stillness, and the chamber was filled with a hundred creatures rushing toward the archways. They looked like strange orange-and-yellow crabs but with legs and arms, their feet and hands claws. Their mouths were filled with double rows of pointed, serrated teeth. They stood approximately a foot high but scuttled across the floor on all fours.