Stephanie Rowe - Darkness Unleashed (19 page)

She closed her eyes, realizing he meant it. His commitment to Dante's Order was insurmountable. He would never choose a path that would result in his death. Ever. He would only choose one he was sure would work. So…yeah. She had to go with it, then. He was the one who knew what the creatures were, and he knew how her cloaking worked. If he thought it would suffice, she would have to have faith in him.

She let out her breath, tightened her hold on him, and then called to the darkness that surrounded them.

Death rose swiftly to meet her, sweeping through her cells like the old friend it was. It mingled with her body, her spirit and her scent until she was simply a miasma of all the creatures and people who had died in this pit. There were so many, a virtual flood, that it was easy for her to harness all the energy and cloak each member of their team.

As she watched, each of them, including the horse, became swathed in death. They appeared to vanish, swallowed up by the energy she'd summoned. Even she couldn't see them.

Damn.
Thano's voice was filled with admiration.
That's impressive. Why didn't you give me this skill instead of some lame ass violet fire?

I didn't give you the fire, Thano. Violet isn't my color. You got that somewhere else.
His legs, yes, that was her. The violet flame? Not her.

She felt his surprise, but before he could pursue further questions, she felt Ryland tense his body. Oh, God, he was really going to jump across that thing? He moved backward swiftly to get a running start, and she could only guess that the others were doing the same. Due to her cloaking of them, she couldn't hear or see them, and the only way she knew Ryland was there was because she could feel him against her.

Maybe he'd wanted to carry her so they wouldn't lose each other.

Right now, she felt okay with that. This was not her territory. It was Ryland's. As much as she was all about the independent woman thing, in this moment, she was supremely grateful to have Ryland on her side.

His voice again whispered in her ear. "Hang on, angel. And don't forget to keep us hidden."

Nodding her agreement, she tightened her grip around him, and then he launched himself forward. Every muscle in his body strained as he raced toward the edge of the cliff. Faster and faster. Gaining speed. His arms pumping now as he ran, his body absolutely silent in its approach. She squeezed her eyes shut, focusing all her energy onto the shield she'd called to protect them, swirling it around them all like a living, moving fabric that wove in and out of their existence.

Ryland hit the edge of the cliff and launched them into the air. The wind whipped past them, and she heard a faint, high-pitched wailing as they entered the airspace. A creature slammed into her back, and she almost screamed, then Ryland knocked it away with his machete. The wailing suddenly amped up in intensity, the wind rushing around them as the creatures swarmed, trying to find them. Another hit her back, and then her shoulder, teeth tearing through her flesh.

Around her, she heard the thuds and slashes as Thano and Zach cleared their own path through the creatures. The wailing was frenzied and angry now as the creatures tried to track them, to find the enemies that dared intrude in their space.

"Come on," Ryland shouted. "Keep the shields up!"

Catherine focused harder, but each time something hit her, her concentration wavered. Something latched onto her cheek and she yelped, her eyes jerking open. Then she almost screamed when she saw what was around them. The air was almost impenetrable with discs shooting everywhere, closing down on them, swirling madly as they fought to find them. Dear God, they would eat them alive in a second!

"Focus, Cat! Focus!"

She saw Thano flicker into sight, and the wailing erupted into a crescendo of triumph as they all raced toward him. "Oh, God!" She immediately called more of the spirits to him. At her summons, dozens of shadows of death zoomed out of the depths of the crevasse and wrapped themselves around Thano. He disappeared a split second before the masses descended upon him. There was a roar of frustrated outrage from their pursuers, and a screech of victory as some of them found him anyway.

Apollo squealed in outrage, and she knew she hadn't done enough—

Then they hit the ground on the other side of the crevasse, landing with a faint thud that even Ryland couldn't mask. There were two more impacts as Apollo and Zach landed, and the air filled with the irate screams of the creatures who had been thwarted. They'd done it! Elation leapt through her, and she couldn't keep the grin off her face.

"Keep us shielded," Ryland shouted. "Check in!"

"Good!" Thano reported.

"Here," came Zach's tight reply.

"Then let's go. Straight south. Uncloak my weapon, but that's it," he ordered her as he broke into a run.

Fighting hard to keep her concentration, Catherine did as instructed. Immediately Ryland's machete appeared, and she sensed Thano and Zach lock onto it as their guide, following the steel blade through the woods. Together they all ran, hurling their bodies through what was now thick jungle. Ryland sliced at the underbrush as they sped along, clearing the way for them.

Around them, the forest seemed to erupt in a cacophony of noise, creatures who had been awoken by the screams of the sentries. Wings flapped. Low growls filled the night. The screeches of creatures that she didn't want to meet. Shadows undulated, looming over their pathway like a canopy of doom. Even the earth quivered beneath their feet, dark and threatening. But nothing struck them, nothing found them. Their disguise was still holding.

Onward they ran, not taking the time to fight. Instead, they took advantage of how fast they were moving and the freedom that Catherine had given them to navigate unseen.

Catherine gripped Ryland tightly, struggling to hold onto their camouflage, but the spirits she'd called were waning as they got farther away from the chasm. "I can't hold it much longer," she said.

"Almost there," Ryland said. "Stay with it."

She fought for mental clarity, calling to the part of her that flowed with such relentless force, asking it for help, but her grip on the spirits continued to fade. Ryland's shoulder came into view, and Catherine closed her eyes, concentrating even more fiercely, searching the ground around them for more deaths to utilize. She found one, maybe two, but that was it. Most things that had tried to invade the nether-realm had died in that chasm and never made it this far.

"Through here!" Ryland yelled as he cut hard to the right. Something hard banged into Catherine's shoulder, and she looked up to see they were racing through a narrow crack in a rock cliff. Barely two feet wide, Ryland had turned them at an angle to fit through. The rock stretched for a hundred yards above their head, blocking the sunlight.

Then they burst past the end, skidded down a grassy slope and then came to a stop in a clearing.

Beside them appeared Zach, now fully visible. Lacerations slashed across his face, and his clothes were shredded. Apollo suddenly came into view beside him, with Thano still astride. Astoundingly, the horse was untouched, his sleek black coat glistening even in the murky atmosphere, but, like Zach, Thano was also bleeding from assorted wounds.

She looked at Ryland, and saw minor cuts on his face and neck. But he wasn't looking at her. He was looking past her, his gaze intense.

Catherine whipped around in his arms.

They were at the base of a large, stone pyramid that looked like it had been built thousands of years ago. Moss cascaded down its mottled sides. Pyres of orange flames roared at six precise locations in the rock. The top of the pyramid stretched more than a hundred feet above them, and the base was equally as wide.

At the bottom of the pyramid were two ancient, crumbling pillars framing a doorway that opened into a pitch-black nothingness. Her breath caught in awe at the scene that was so similar to the one sketched on her map. "That's it, isn't it? The entrance to the nether-realm?"

"Yeah." But he didn't move, and she could feel his body trembling. His chest was searing hot against hers, and she suddenly felt something move beneath his skin, where the creature was painted on his chest.

"Is it coming to life?" she whispered.

"Of course it is."

She started to reach for his shirt to check it, but he stayed her hand with two words. "Not yet." His voice was so tense that it sent chills rushing through her.

And then she heard it. The sound of a rock tumbling down the front of the pyramid. She turned to watch as a two-foot wide pure-black stone bounced over the rocky surface, moving slowly, too slowly, as if gravity had no pull on it. The solitary stone bounced past the frame of the doorway and rolled to a stop in the middle of the opening. Purple and black smoke began to leak from it, thicker and thicker as it filled the air.

"What the hell's that?" Zach asked, his sai clenched in his fist. "Do we kill it?"

"I have no idea." Ryland shifted her behind him, setting her down on the dirt. "I've never seen it before." He called out his other machete and stood ready. The three warriors were armed, waiting to see what was coming next to keep them from the goal that was so close.

* * *

Ryland was viscerally aware of Catherine behind him as the smoke enveloped the opening of the entrance to the nether-realm. He knew that threats could also be coming from behind them at any time. He couldn't protect her from all sides. They had to keep going. They couldn't stand there.

But shit. He had no idea what the hell was in front of them.

His chest was burning, like a hot poker was being dragged across his flesh. It wasn't good. Wasn't good at all, but they couldn't go backwards. There was no safe path—

"Holy crap," Zach breathed. "It's
men
."

As he spoke, the smoke cleared, revealing five massive warriors blocking the entrance. All of them were wearing black cloaks with hoods that covered their faces. Their chests were bare, streaked with intricate black markings Ryland didn't recognize, their legs clad in the black fur of a dreisen tiger, one of the beasts of the underworld. Their calves and feet were bare, as if they were connecting with the very earth itself.

Their arms were folded across their chests, feet braced wide in a battle position. Visible in the dim light filtering from the sun were thick, black brands on their forearms. Brands that looked all too familiar.

"They're Calydons," Catherine whispered in awe.

Yeah, they were Calydons, but they weren't ordinary ones. There was no mistaking the enormity of power emanating from them. It was a deep, penetrating force that, to his knowledge, belonged to only nine warriors.

"Not just Calydons," Zach said. "They're Order of the Blade."

"Impossible," Thano said, while Apollo shifted restlessly. "We're the only ones left."

But apparently, they weren't.

Friend or foe?

As Ryland heard a low rumble behind him, signaling the approach of a nether-realm creature he didn't want to deal with, he knew it was time to find out.

* * *

Ryland didn't lower his machetes as he spoke aloud to the five warriors guarding the entrance. "We need to access the nether-realm," he announced, not bothering to introduce himself. The warriors before him would recognize his team as Order just as easily as he had identified them.

The warrior in the center took a step forward, distancing himself from the others. His face was shrouded by the hood, but Ryland felt his eyes burning down on them.
You are Order.
The voice was deep and hostile, flooding Ryland's mind without invitation.

As are you,
he replied, thrusting his own thoughts with equal force. Even as he spoke, he reached behind him and took Catherine's wrist. He pulled her tight behind him, making it clear to the cloaked men that she was under his protection. Thankfully, she did not resist.

You should not exist,
the warrior said.

I was thinking the same thing,
Ryland replied. He touched the minds of his teammates, channeling his telepathy away from the cloaked Calydon.
Be ready for them to strike. I don't trust casual conversation.

Thano and Zach acknowledged his warning, and he felt their readiness. Three against five were usually easy odds for the Order, but the men before them carried the same power they did.
Grant us passage,
Ryland said.
We are not here to harm.

Because you are Order, we grant you freedom to leave,
the cloaked warrior said.
Leave now, warriors.

Ryland swore under his breath.
Our leader is trapped in the nether-realm. We will not abandon him.
If these men were truly Order, that would be all the explanation they would need to step back and allow Ryland and the others to pass—

There was a boom that shook the very earth, and the night flashed with an explosion so bright that it blinded Ryland for a split second. The power that rushed him was too familiar, and he swore, knowing that the cloaked warriors had just called out their weapons. "They're coming for us!"

Still blinded by the light, Ryland channeled his preternatural senses, focusing on the ripple of energy around him to track his assailants. He swung hard with his machete, and a sword crashed into his blade as his vision returned in time to see two warriors closing in on him. "Shit!" He barely sidestepped another blow, and then they were on them, fighting with brutal force. They were effortless in their movements, so graceful it was as if they weren't even truly human. As they fought, their black cloaks never budged, still hiding their faces, making it feel like he was being attacked by the grim reaper itself.

"Catherine," he yelled. "Get to the entrance!"

"Okay!" She didn't hesitate, and she raced past him, darting across the open area as the warriors engaged his team, clearly trusting him and his team to protect her as she ran. There was a roar of fury as the one Ryland was fighting noticed her. The male broke contact to run her down.