Dark World (Book I in the Dark World Trilogy) (6 page)

He finished the last bit of the snake
and wiped his hands on his leather loincloth. It was then that an
ominous song rang out from above. As he looked up, he observed a
wraith phoenix soaring overhead. Cloaked in ebon mist, the large
bird drifted upon the sweltering breeze. Careful to navigate around
the massive stalactites dangling like fangs in an open mouth, it
dove and paraded hundreds of feet above Kane’s head.

He looked away from the bird. It
reminded him of two painful aspects of his existence: One, he could
no longer fly, and two, few creatures in Dark World still possessed
their souls. Only a handful of beings existed with their essence
intact. The rest were victims of the shades’ lustful greed for
power and soul satiation. Once a shade devoured the spirit of
another, the victim was destined to wander the world as nothing
more than a phantom. The ghostly phoenix was but the shell of its
former self, an apparition.

His gaze panned the length of the rocky
skyline. Through the haze of ash and darkness, the demon dreamed of
a place he’d never been: the Surface. Before the great chasm was
sealed, his ancestors could travel to the Surface at leisure, but
now, there was simply no access.

No escape.

Just as he’d done a thousand times
before, the demon wondered what the sky looked like. A bitterness
wound tight around his heart as he again reflected on the
humans.

Their freedom, their open
sky, and especially their stars…do they realize what treasures they
possess?

An entire world existed beneath their
feet—and they had no idea. A land of magic, power and darkness all
dwelt within the heart of a hollow earth.

Kane’s sight blurred in the midst of
his embittered loathing.

Now we are the
slaves.

He glanced again at the soulless
phoenix weaving below the sky of solid rock and around an enormous
column of stone that stretched from ground to ceiling. Scattered
throughout Dark World, the gargantuan pillars seemed to bear the
load of the Surface upon their backs. Like selfless giants
balancing the weight of the world on their shoulders.

Kane’s eyes shifted from the bird and
frowned when he recognized something emerging from between the
icicles of stone.

Is that,
he wondered, narrowing his
gaze,
a
black cocoon?

That could only mean one thing: a shade
was being born.

Where are the others?
His eyes darted over
the width of the forever night sky
. Shades are always born in
threes!

Searching for the other two cocoons, he
fought back a gasp when they were nowhere to be found.

“
If it’s a female and she’s
born alone, that means she’s the…good gods!” he uttered with
disbelief.

Quickly gathering his pack, he jumped
from the rock and began sprinting across the fractured landscape.
Ferocity pulsed through his blood. His hooves pounded upon the
barren terrain in rhythm with his angry heart.

I must get to it before it
hatches!!

He also needed to kill it before it was
retrieved by the guards. Dutifully patrolling the borders, the
Queen’s guards were to collect any newborn shades—and destroy any
free-roaming demons.

He locked his sights on the writhing
black pod forming between the rocky stalactites and pushed himself
to run harder. With his wings disabled by the shackles, they
flailed uselessly behind him.

I could get there so much
faster if I could fly!

He wasn’t convinced his wings would
even work considering how long he’d been imprisoned within the
shackles. An unwelcome pain seared in his chest. He wished he
couldn’t remember how it felt to fly. It would be so much easier to
endure the inability if he didn’t remember soaring through the
atmosphere.

He grunted, pushing his large body to
run faster. Kane glanced around to ensure no guards were manning
the area. If he were caught, if Malus knew he was still alive, the
entire realm would suffer for it, even worse than they already
were.

The cocoon was nearly ripe, ready to
birth its evil offspring. A female figure writhed within, the
silken black shell thin enough to be translucent. Kane reached back
and slid his sword from its sheath. The scarlet light from remote
tributaries of molten rock reflected off the black diamond blade,
making it look angry and ready to fight.

As he arrived at the rocks just beneath
the pod, he scanned the terrain. Thankfully, the cocoon was forming
at a low point on the sky’s roof. He could scale the large rocks
just beneath it and slay her as she dropped. If she made it to the
surface, he might not be able to kill her before she killed
him.

She’s going to be
hungry…very hungry.

He shuddered, shrugging off the notion
of being the shade’s first meal. Kane squinted, estimating how high
the cocoon was.

A hundred feet or
so.

Most often, shade cocoons nestled into
nooks within the rock canopy, several hundreds of feet above
ground, and could barely be seen with the naked eye.

I must be crazy attempting this
alone.

A knot twisted in his stomach as he
realized the gravity of the situation. A male shade against a demon
was a pretty even fight. A female shade was different. Granted,
shades usually didn’t develop their powers until they were a few
weeks old, but a female was superior, both physically and
magically.

This is not a good
idea.

Determined, he raced to the top of the
rocks and watched with disgusted fascination as the pod cracked
open, discharging glossy, white pus. Slowly unfolding its onyx
petals, the cocoon bloomed like a flowering lotus, preparing to
unveil its dark butterfly. Now fully open, it released its hold on
the rocks and began to fall. The black star spun gently as though
dancing with the breeze, cradling its deadly cargo upon
it.

Kane bared his fangs, declaring war on
the newborn shade. So many demons had been slaughtered or forced
into slavery. He was going to make the shades pay—and he was going
to start with this one.

Untamed

A hot, dry wind licked her bare skin.
Stray tendrils of her long hair tickled her face and shoulders.
Free from the earthy tomb, she lay in the open air, sensing herself
falling like a feather rocking on a breeze.

She tensed the muscles in her arms and
legs, smiling as she realized the paralysis had worn off. Though
she was certain she could open her eyes now, she was hesitant. The
atmosphere was hot—very hot.

Have I gone to
Hell?

Not knowing how or why, she recalled
being physically harmed, but upon bringing her hand to her chest
and slowly caressing the spot where she’d been stabbed, she
discovered that the hole was gone. The emblem carved into her
forehead had also vanished. She had been healed somehow.

Was it just a dream? Is this
all a dream?

She struggled to retain the memories of
her former self. She even fought to remember her name. Everything
was different. She was different. It was terrifying and
exhilarating all at once.

Her body hummed with energy, a powerful
source of something she couldn’t identify—but enjoyed. It was the
hunger that frightened her, an aching need that started at her lips
and snaked its way to the pit of her stomach. She’d tried to name
it, this excruciating desire.

Is it…blood?

The vision of a stereotypical vampire
flashed through her mind, a pale, bloodthirsty fiend with red eyes,
fangs, and a black cape. She shook off the image knowing it wasn’t
blood she lusted for—it was something far more precious.

Balanced atop a rocky mound, Kane eyed
the descending pod with revulsion. He gripped his sword with both
hands, muscles rippling beneath his ebony skin, and
waited.

Just a little
closer…

Indigo eyes blazing, he prepared to
bring the wrath. He raised his weapon. The pod only inches from the
ground.

“
Kane!” a voice shouted from
behind him.

He turned to see who had summoned him.
As he recognized Legion’s tracker, Deme, his emotion shifted from
rage—to one of concern. Chest heaving and sweat glistening as it
ran over her ruby skin, her yellow eyes were fierce with
urgency.

He gave a longing look to the falling
pod and quickly made the decision to tend to Deme first. She had to
have tracked him for many days and would only do so if it were
imperative.

“
What is it?” he asked,
keeping his Baritone voice hushed as he clamored down the stony
slope.

She held back the sides of her long,
black cloak and knelt, bowing her head. “We had a breach of
security, sir. A shade.”

Kane fell back onto a rock and sat
heavily. A breach? There hadn’t been an intruder within the palace
since Legion occupied it. How could a shade have even entered, let
alone discovered its secret location?

The newborn shade momentarily
forgotten, he held his head in his hands and quietly asked, “The
scroll?”

Deme stiffened. “It’s gone—the banshees
have reported theirs stolen as well.”

A shadow of hopelessness cast over
him.

“
Malus must have discovered that
only shades can touch the pages of the Devil’s Bible,” he surmised,
cringing at his father’s lack of foresight. “Did anyone see this
shade?”

“
No, sir.”

“
Was anyone
hurt?”

She shook her head.

He must be very good,
Kane thought,
to break through
our enchantments and sneak by security.

His heart suddenly weighed a ton. Kane
wished his father was still alive, he’d know what to do. He tried
to think like his father. He tried to think like the
King.

“
If Malus acquires all six
scrolls, she will gain access to the Surface and turn all the
humans to shades,” he uttered.

Not that he cared much for the demise
of the human race, but having over seven billion shades roaming the
world left his meager city of five thousand demons at an even
lesser advantage than they already were.

She nodded, pushing her long, black
hair off her shoulders as she stood. “Yes, the demons will be
extinct—unless you believe in miracles.”

An epiphany graced his thoughts, his
gaze drifting to the descending dark angel. “I just
might.”

She smelled it before her back even
touched the ground. A delicious overwhelming scent that lit a fire
within. Though the atmosphere was saturated with the stench of
charcoal and ash, her mouth watered and body ached for a taste of
this unknown desire.

Her eyes flew open to reveal a
completely new world.

Where the hell is the
sky?

Above her, a rocky roof extended as far
as the eye could see. As though snarling at her, the entirety of
the sky was a ceiling of pointed rocks. It reminded her of an
enormous cave with no walls. She shifted her eyes from left to
right, taking note of the hazy red atmosphere and cringed as she
realized she may have indeed descended into the realm described by
religion. Strangely, she wasn’t frightened. She expected to be
afraid. This was what everyone in the world feared? Wasn’t this the
place no one wanted to go?

In the distance, constant explosions
could be heard from volcanic eruptions spewing scalding lava and
pouring it down the mountainside like a flaming waterfall—yet it
was strangely soothing.

How did I get
here?

The memories of her past life were
fading like stars trapped in a sunrise. Her recollection still
existed, only now it lived in twilight reality stuck between
imagination and consciousness.

Once more, the succulent fragrance
wafted under her nose. An aroma with such allure, she couldn’t stop
herself from growling with desire for it. She bared her teeth as
she sprang from a horizontal position and found herself face to
face—with dinner.

"Be very careful,” Kane
cautioned.

“
Good gods Kane, it’s a
newborn!” Deme hissed when she saw the shade rise up from the open
cocoon.

“
Yes,” he whispered. “And
she’s hungry.”

Her black lips parted, snarling as she
exposed the full length of her fangs. Luminous white eyes shining
like stars and silver hair undulating to Dark World’s infernal
breath, she glowered at the two demons.

“
Do you happen to have a
mask on you?” Kane inquired quietly, keeping his eyes locked on the
shade who was now crouching into attack position.

“
Yes,” Deme replied, a line
of sweat forming along her hairline.

As she slowly reached into a pouch on
her hip, Kane was keenly aware of the shade watching their every
motion.

“
Hurry,” he insisted, noting
the shade shift her attention to the tracker. He switched his sword
from hand to hand and sliced a figure-eight pattern into the air,
successfully diverting the newborn’s focus.