Rival Demons (26 page)

Jackson bowed his head in gratitude. "Thank
you," he said. "May I see the gemstones your father collected?"

The man nodded toward his daughter and she
stepped away from the table, returning a few moments later with a
large box. She laid it on the table between us.

"This is a complete collection of the best
quality of every colored gemstone that exists in the shadow world,"
the man said. He opened the top of the box and presented its
contents one at a time, laying them out on the table.

Blue, red, green, white, orange, purple and
yellow. Seven distinct stones.

But the witch's journal had only mentioned six.
I wondered why the Order never used the orange stones.

"Are some of these more rare than others?" I
asked. I picked up the blue stone. It was exactly the same color as
the stone in my mother's necklace. Almost sapphire, but not quite
as dark. Almost topaz, but not as light. Somewhere in between.

"Oh yes," the man said. "Like the one you're
holding in your hand. You can find them here in the Northern
Kingdom if you're lucky, but most of the blue stones come from the
south. Of course, trade between the borders is forbidden, so you
don't see many of the blue stones here on this side."

I sucked in a shaky breath. The blue stones were
in the south.

"How much do you know about the magical
properties of these stones?" Jackson asked.

The man picked up the purple stone and stared at
it as if the stone had the answer he was looking for. "Gemstones
absorb magic easily, holding onto specific types of energy. That's
why we use them so often for sources of light or
communication."

"What if I wanted to take one of these stones to
the place where it would be at its most powerful?" Jackson asked.
"Is there a place where they would have extra power?"

I held my breath, hoping this man had an
answer.

The man thought for a moment, scratching the
side of his temple. "My father used to speak of a mine," he said.
"A quarry in a way. A collection of same-colored stones where each
one's power amplified the rest. That might be the kind of place
you're talking about."

Jackson's eyes met mine for a split second, and
I could see the excitement burning there.

"Do you know where we could find a place like
that?" I asked. "A quarry?"

The man shook his head and shrugged. "I'm not
certain," he said. "Supposedly there's one for each gemstone
somewhere in the world."

"What about the blue stones in particular?"
Jackson asked.

"If such a place exists, it would be in the
Southern Kingdom," the man said. He rose from his seat, holding up
his finger as if he'd just remembered something. He came back with
an old ledger. He opened it and ran his finger down the page until
he found the entry he'd been searching for. "Ah," he said. "Here.
Back in the days before the borders closed, my father used to have
a friend on the other side who knew a lot about these stones. They
used to trade back and forth, comparing color and clarity. I have
no idea if this friend is still alive or if you'd be able to find
him, but it's better than nothing. Still, I don't recommend trying
to cross through the borderlands."

"Why not?" I asked.

"The borderlands are extremely dangerous,"
the man said. "No magic can be cast there and there are tales of
giant monsters that guard the path to the south. Besides, if the
Southern King discovers a northerner on his land, he will show no
mercy."

Outside it had begun to rain. I could hear it
pounding against the roof of the small house. I had so many
questions about how this rivalry between the demons of the north
and south had gotten started, but it was late and we'd already
asked so much of this man and his daughter.

"Thank you for all your help," I said. "We
sincerely appreciate it."

The daughter turned to me, her eyes full of
questions. "Tell me, what is a young human girl like you doing here
in our world? It's very rare for us to see a human here."

"I'm here looking for answers," I said.

"About what?" she asked.

I paused. I didn't want to get into a discussion
about the Order. Andros had said we should be careful to put our
trust in anyone. "Answers about who I am," I said instead. "About
how to become something different."

The girl seemed to accept my answer. She nodded
and placed the stones back into the box. When she stood, we all
stood with her. I gathered my things and strapped my backpack onto
my back.

"No," the old man said. "Please stay with us for
the night. We don't have more to offer than a couple of blankets
and a hard floor, but it's better than being out in the elements on
a night light this."

"Thank you," Jackson said. "We would appreciate
a place to sleep, and we'll be out of your way first thing in the
morning."

"No bother," the man said.

After he and his daughter had moved into the
back rooms to sleep, Jackson and I fixed our beds on the floor of
the main room. In hushed whispers, we discussed what the man had
said about the stones.

"What do you think we should do?" Jackson asked,
his eyes meeting mine in the darkness.

"We should go south," I said.

He nodded, kissed my cheek, then turned over to
sleep. I cuddled up next to him, but kept my eyes wide open. We
were already in danger. Was going to the Southern Kingdom really
the best idea? And yet I hadn't hesitated when he asked me what we
should do. It was really the only logical choice. We'd come this
far and risked this much to stop now.

Hours later, sleep finally found me, bringing
dreams of borderland monsters and rival demons.

We woke up just before dawn, left a note to say
thank you, and stole out of town before most of the residents were
awake. It took us a couple of hours before we reached the edge of
the borderlands. A thick forest spread out in front of us. The
trees here were strange, almost as if they were made of a dark
crystal. Their branches were free of leaves and twisted around in
knots and points.

Jackson stopped to pull his sword from his
pack.

"What kind of monsters do you think we might
face?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," Jackson said. "Ever since I was
young, I've heard stories of demons who got too close to the
border's edge and were never heard from again."

His face drained of color. He was truly spooked
by this. I suddenly felt a lot less confident about my decision to
come this way.

My heart pounded, but I knew we had to press on.
The forest looked dark, but it was nothing like the Obsidian Forest
we'd had to pass through on our way to the Underground. I hated to
think about what monsters we might fight lurking in the shadows,
but we had no choice but to face it.

"You ready?" Jackson asked.

I nodded. "Just keep your eyes open. You'll be
able to see a lot better than I will in there."

We stepped into the shadows under the canopy of
trees, taking our steps slow and deliberate. Every muscle in my
body tensed, ready to fight if something pounced on us from the
darkness.

Every strange noise or whisper of movement sent
my heart into cardiac arrest. I could swear I heard someone walking
behind us, but when I turned, there were only shadows.

Above us, strange birds with long black feathers
cawed and screeched. I expected one of them to descend on us and
try to peck our eyes out at any moment.

Something slithered on the ground in front of my
feet. I let out a terrified scream that echoed off the glass-like
trees, but when Jackson came running, he reassured me that the
snake wasn't poisonous in any way.

"This place has me totally creeped out," I
said.

"Let's just keep moving," he said. "Stay
close."

We walked, taking each step with care. Our
senses were on high alert, our legs ready to run if we came upon
trouble. And when we emerged from the glass forest hours later, I
nearly fell to the ground with relief. Somehow, we'd safely made it
to the other side.

The forest lay at our backs and a grassy
swamplands stretched out before us. In the far distance, the sun
reflected off a wall of silver metal that marked the official
entrance to the Southern Kingdom.

"Be careful where you step," Jackson said. "Try
to stay on the solid patches."

I let him lead the way through the maze of
swamp. I tried my best to keep to the grass, but the pathways were
extremely narrow and squishy. I felt like a tight-rope walker.

A noise off to the right surprised me, causing
me to lose my balance. I tried to reach out for Jackson's arm, but
he was too far ahead. I lost my footing and fell into the dark
green water of the swamp. Immediately, I felt some kind of strong
undercurrent pulling me under. I sank like a stone, flailing around
to find something, anything I could hold onto.

Jackson's hand found mine and he lifted me with
ease, depositing me on a narrow strip of grassy land.

"Are you alright?"

I breathed in and out, trying to slow my racing
heartbeat. "I'm fine," I said. "But something under there was
pulling me down."

So far, we hadn't seen any real monsters, but
now more than ever, I was wound as tight as a spring.

I walked more slowly through the swamp, holding
onto Jackson's hand and never taking my eyes off my feet.

A splash behind us nearly sent me off-balance
again, but Jackson reached out to steady me just in time.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I don't know," I said. "But I've had this
feeling all day that we were being followed."

"What? Why didn't you say something?" he
asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know, I thought I was being
over-dramatic."

In the water just a few feet away, something
pushed itself frantically toward the surface, yelling out in fear.
Jackson left me where I stood and ran to see what had fallen into
the swamp water.

"Oh my god," he said.

"What is it?" I asked.

He didn't answer. Instead, he crouched down and
reached deep into the water, pulling something out with all of his
strength. I carefully made my way toward him, fear gripping my
chest.

I gasped as the figure in the water came into
view. The little boy from the abandoned village!

Jackson set him onto the grass and the boy
scrambled close and held tight to his legs, as if his life depended
on it. And in a place like this, it just might have.

When the child caught his breath and had stopped
shaking, I leaned down and caught his eye. "Have you been following
us all this way?"

The boy lowered his head, then nodded
slowly.

I closed my eyes and let out a sigh of relief.
"I thought you were a hunter or something," I said.

The boy shook his head violently, and I laughed.
"I know you're not now," I said. "But you shouldn't sneak up on
people like that. You scared me to death."

Jackson laughed, some of the tension of the
day's journey relaxing his shoulders. "I cant' believe this," he
said. "My whole life people have warned me of the extreme dangers
of the borderlands. And look, the scariest thing out here is a
child."

I smiled. He had a point.

I lifted my hand to shield my eyes from the sun.
I turned around and looked out over the swamp. Other than the water
itself, there didn't seem to be any other dangers here. No monsters
or poisonous gases. No soldiers waiting to take us to the dungeons.
How had everyone in the north been so wrong about this place?

It made me wonder what other lies had been told
about the Southern Kingdom.

"The part about the wall was true at least," he
said after the three of us had safely crossed over the swamp. "Of
course, to hear most people tell it, the wall is guarded by a
thousand demons."

"What is this made out of anyway?" I asked,
staring up at the bright silver metal.

"Remember the rare type of silver the Order used
to create the ritual daggers?" Jackson said.

"The kind that's strong enough to kill shadow
demons?" I asked.

"That's the one."

"That's what this is made of?" I asked.

"Yes," he said. "It's mined here in the Southern
Kingdom and is one of the strongest, most indestructible types of
metal there is."

"How do we get around it?"

"Normally, we would just fly over the top," he
said. "But I really don't want to use my magic, not even for a
second."

I understood his fear. We had no idea just who
or what might be tracking us. Hunters. Witches. The king's guards.
We needed to stay as under the radar as possible.

Jackson pulled a drawing from his pocket. "Last
night, the old man drew this map for us," he said. "He said he
remembered his father talking about the gem dealer being located in
a medium-sized city just past the Eastern gate."

He looked down the length of the stone wall and
pointed to his left. "If we walk a couple miles this way, we should
get the East gate pretty easily."

"You don't think it will be guarded?" I
asked.

"I'm not sure," he said. "I guess we'll find out
soon enough."

The walk to the gate only took us an hour.
Jackson carried the boy on his shoulders most of the way. To be
careful, we stayed back from the gate and watched for a while,
making sure there were no patrolling guards or anyone there to keep
northerners out. After another hour with no activity in sight, we
decided to risk it and walk straight through the gate.

Excitement created butterflies in my stomach. We
were so close now to another clue. If we could somehow locate the
gem dealer, he would surely know where to find the concentration of
blue stones.