Dark World (Book I in the Dark World Trilogy) (32 page)

Vale’s glowing eyes shifted towards
her, a smirk playing on his lips. Irritated at his smugness, Fate
leaned back into her seat, crossing her arms over her chest with a
huff. How dare he think she was enjoying this? This was beyond
barbaric! What a terrible way to entertain themselves.

The necromancers should be
ashamed of themselves!

Though Fate tried to look away, tried
to ignore the callous acts before her, she couldn’t help but worry
about the little girl in pink.

The pack of bullies threw their
heavy, decayed bodies at her in attempts to halt her progress, but
at the very last moment, she stopped mid-stride and sprang out of
the way like a gymnast, causing her attackers to run into one
another with a putrid
smack!

Beside herself with relief, Fate
clapped eagerly, then hollered, “Yay! Good job!”

What remained of her competition fell
far behind, leaving the young zombie girl with only meters left to
run. She’d won. She would be rewarded with renewed life. A second
chance. Fate felt a twinge of jealousy fire within. She wished she
could have a second chance. Another moment on the Surface as a
human. As Scarlet. What would she do with such a gift?

A swell of cheers erupted around Fate,
the little zombie in pink was everyone’s favorite. Grinning, Fate
watched as the petite abomination ran clumsily across the finish
line, her decayed arms raised in triumph.

Fate nudged Vale’s shoulder. “So when
do they make her human again?”

His brow furrowed and he shook his
head. “Human? I never said she’d be human.”

“
But,” Fate stammered. “You
said they’d reward her by giving her life back?” Fate’s heart sank
in her chest. Had he lied?

“
They will bring her back to
life,” he explained with a cryptic twinkle lighting his eye. “She
just won’t be human.”

Second Chances

Kane made Ever swear at least a dozen
times she wouldn’t follow him to the gate of Necrosia. No matter
what. If he didn’t return by the next day, she and Arcanum were to
fly back to Legion and get help. He didn’t have a clue if the
necromancer’s were to be trusted. For all he knew, they could be
loyal to Malus. He couldn’t risk the Devil finding out about Ever,
her true heir. Malus would be unfathomably powerful if she
transferred her soul to Fate’s body, but if she knew of Ever’s
existence, and possessed her, Malus would be
unstoppable.

The dark gate loomed before him.
Necrosia lay shrouded on the other side. What awaited him there?
Who were these mysterious and elusive beings that had remained
veiled for hundreds of years? Why did they hide so?

And how was he supposed to open this
door?

“
Hello?” he hollered, his
deep voice slicing the hot, still air. Neither a breeze nor ashen
snow fell as he stood waiting. Alone.

Far from the range of volcanic
waterfalls, near pitch darkness owned the skies. Kane again wished
that Dark World harbored just an iota of the Surface’s wonders. A
moon. Stars. Something to light the way. Something to squelch the
loneliness of the dark. If not for his infrared sight, he’d be
blind. Lost in a cloaked realm that was forever a prisoner of the
night.

The stars,
he thought, lingering on the
memory of Fate in the planetarium. How she had lit up his dark
world, and he had been too afraid to tell her. Would he ever find
her? Would he get a second chance?

His head hung, he realized just how
much he wanted to see her again. Needed her.

Amidst his longing, Kane suddenly felt
eyes upon him. Someone—or something—was watching him. He yearned to
reach back and retrieve his sword, but hesitated. It wouldn’t
induce trust if he were to arm himself straight away. He would
wait. For now.

His indigo eyes scanned the
width of the wall, and while he could see no one, he could
still
feel
them watching.

Am I just being
paranoid?
Kane wondered as he started to pace alongside the
blistering river of lava that separated him from the
wall.

The eerie silence gnawed at his
stomach, taunting his warrior instinct. Something wasn’t right. The
air felt wrong. As though manipulated. Charged.

Movement caught his eye, high above
him. Two sets of eyes, swirling silver amid pools of black ink,
glared down from the ledge of the wall. Kane contemplated backing
away slowly, then decided to hold his ground. Whatever these things
were, he knew they had the upper hand.

The two beings sat statue-still upon
the wall, perched, as though scrutinizing every inch of the
uninvited stranger. Kane narrowed his eyes, focusing on the two
creatures. What were they? Were these necromancers?

The two figures suddenly took flight,
their glimmering eyes locked onto Kane as they circled the sky like
vultures. Tracking them, Kane could now determine that they were
owls. Huge, silver owls. Feathers the color of steel and rippling
like liquid metal, they continued their surveillance for several
minutes before simultaneously diving to the ground in front of
Kane. In the blink of an eye, both of the owls liquefied, their
metallic skin pooling like smelted steel, then slowly melding into
a new shape. A human shape.

Sheathed in dark blue cloaks, hands
tucked into the sleeves, the monk-like beings gazed at
Kane.

“
Hello,” Kane offered
first.

Their eyes twinkled, spinning in one
direction like a whirlpool of stars.

“
What do you want demon
prince?” one asked, his voice hollow and wary.

He knows who I
am?

Disconcerted, Kane responded, “I come
to speak with the guardian of your scroll. It is urgent in
nature.”

The two necromancers turned and gazed
into one another’s eyes as though communicating through unspoken
means, then nodded at Kane. “Very well, follow us”

They turned, leading Kane towards the
tall, dark barrier, and summoned the gate to open. A large, heavy
drawbridge lowered before them.

Kane looked back, a final glance at the
lonely desert, and hoped Ever would keep her promise.

Fate watched the activities in the
arena with intensifying curiosity. The zombie girl in the pink
dress had won the race and, according to Vale, was to be rewarded
by being brought back to life. A second chance at
existence.

Vale said she wasn’t going to be
human though. If the zombie girl wasn’t to be rewarded with the
gift of becoming human, what would she be? She intended to ask Vale
just that, but when she tried, she was abruptly silenced with an
impatient
shh
by his necromancer friend, Xia.

Fate pressed her back against her seat,
arms over her chest and teeth grinding in irritation. This
place—this city—was getting on her nerves. Maybe it was the hunger.
Since she’d arrived, she’d felt the beginnings of the ache crawling
through her system. The unicorn’s soul had only sustained her for a
few days. Less than the sphinx had. Her hunger was gaining
momentum. The monster inside was growing, demanding more. Her
humanity was being held by a thread—a thin one.

Oddly, the necromancers carried only a
weakened scent. As if their souls were smaller somehow. Quite like
the shades, empty. The demons’ scent had been mouthwatering,
impossible to ignore. Here, Fate felt no need to wear the intrusive
mask, the necromancers held no interest for her. Almost as though
they were protected from her lust. Shielded.

After the mangled bodies of the
unsuccessful zombies were cleared away, a hush fell over the crowd.
Everyone watched in awe as a large slab of what looked to be clear
block of crystal was carried onto the track. The twelve red-robed
necromancers waited patiently, the zombie girl standing quietly by
their side, while the stage was being set. Upon setting the block
of crystal ice atop four supports, the necromancers led the dead
girl by the hand and assisted her to laying. With her torn and
bloody pink dress draped over the side and short, blonde hair
defying gravity, she crossed her arms over her chest with the drama
of a vampire settling into his coffin, and closed her
eyes.

An altar,
Fate considered, feeling her
eyes widening. Everyone in the crowd carried the same expression.
Wonderment.

The twelve necromancers surrounded the
altar, their hands and faces raised to the covered sky. Low
chanting echoed through the stadium, words of magic dancing on the
air, summoning. The air churned with energy. Hummed with power.
Even from where she sat, she could sense the dark arts breathing,
coming to life.

Blue and white lightning sparked,
clawing the girl’s body from the cloudless sky. Fate noticed Xia,
her head hung and eyes closed. Glancing around, she saw that all
the necromancers in the crowd looked as though they were
meditating. As the power surged on the field below, bluish streams
of light began to flow from each of the necromancers in the
audience. Feeding the zombie girl’s broken body. Nourishing it with
life.

The energy pulsated. Grew. Began to
climax as it gathered force from the crowd. Fate’s heart raced as a
sapphire force field cocooned the girl. The twelve necromancers
spun enchantments from their lips at a furious pace. With pressure
thickening the air, Fate wasn’t sure how much more she could
take.

Then, without warning, there was an
ear-splitting crack. Releasing the breath she didn’t realize she
was holding, Fate watched as the energy field burst into a million
sparkling pieces, showering the crowd with blue glitter.

A curtain of turquoise draped the air,
veiling the field from her sight. A dense, bluish fog swarmed the
stadium, then suddenly lifted as though someone had commanded
it.

Fate hastily scanned the length of the
arena, searching for her favorite little zombie in pink. But she
was nowhere to be found. Lying on the slab, where the petite dead
girl had been only moments before, was a new, sleek, silver
body.

A necromancer.

Assumptions

The silver beings strolled ahead of
him, guiding him through the gaping mouth of the black wall. Their
bodies were lean, moving with smooth, graceful strides. They didn’t
look back. Didn’t speak.

Kane fought to disregard the knot in
his stomach, which soon proved to be an impossibility as a city
made entirely of bones came into view.

The drawbridge rose behind him, sealing
him in with the echo of a tomb. His thoughts shifted to his
daughter, waiting for him on the other side. He swallowed hard, his
heart beating too fast. Could he trust these beings? Should he? The
energy they emanated felt both calm and powerful, yet there was an
unsettling sensation buried beneath. One that Kane couldn’t
name.

He followed them down a path to the
right, his ebony hooves clicking on the odd cobbled streets. On
either side of him sat building after building comprised of
skeletal remains, forged into homes and markets. The empty eyes of
a thousand skulls gazed at him, like sightless sentinels lingering
within a city of the dead.

Poor souls
, Kane sympathized, his heart
aching with the memories of his lost father and wife. He knew their
bones were not amongst the city’s collection, but the thought of
all the people who might be missing their loved ones, possibly
hidden amongst the bony rubble, tore at his soul.

He eyed the mysterious creatures ahead
of him. Where were they taking him? Glancing around, he wondered
where the rest of the necromancer society was. The streets were
that of a ghost town. Neither a murmur nor a whisper wafted from
behind closed doors. Nothing.

It was then that a terrific explosion
ripped through the languid air, startling Kane. Blue mist radiated
from a huge building to his left. He stopped in his tracks, as did
his two ushers ahead of him. They casually glanced to their left,
noting the happening with vague interest and a smile, then
proceeded along the path.

Kane followed, though his nerves were
rightfully rattled.

It was then that hordes of people began
pouring into the center of the street, seemingly from the origin of
the blue fog. Hundreds of necromancers surrounded him, their
steely, liquid-like skin shimmering with each movement, eyes of
swirling diamonds fastened on him.

But he didn’t
see
any of them. His
sights were locked on the dozens of shades now occupying the
boulevard.

His lips curled back involuntarily.
Hand reaching for his sword, he drew it and prepared to
fight.

“
I just want to meet her,”
Fate stated to Vale and Xia as she made her way to the center of
the field where the newborn necromancer was being fawned over by
her twelve red-robed parents.

She approached the cluster,
hoping the new necromancer would be capable of speech. Memories of
her first encounters with Kane flooded back and his surprise that
Fate could speak
Attra.

How do I know their
language?
Her
mind sifted her recollections of the Surface.
Latin.
She decided with a nod, thankful
she’d studied so hard in school.
It’s very similar to Latin.