BumperWillow growled, a long, low rumble that definitely had its beginnings deep in her chest. “What is it, Willow?”
The dog continued staring straight ahead. Dawson caught Dax’s eye. “Do you feel anything?”
Dax shook his head.
BumperWillow growled again.
Bumper senses demonkind,
Willow said.
Neither here nor there, but all around. Growing stronger, more distinct by the second.
Then the dog yipped. She took off running, reached the steps to the dais, and bounded up, scrambling to the top taking two stairs at a time.
Standing atop the dais, the dog had a better view of the vast plaza. Her ears were perked forward, her tail held stiffly upright, but she seemed confused by her inability to pinpoint the source of the sense of demonkind.
Selyn raised her head and caught Dawson’s eye. He waved to her. The air felt thick, as if it sucked at him as he started in her direction. Something was here, some horrible evil, powerful enough that voices were falling silent and everyone in the huge chamber was nervously glancing about.
His sense of unease exploded. Dawson drew his sword and raced toward Selyn. Her crystal was still sheathed, but she’d started trotting across the plaza, heading directly to him. He knew he’d feel better once he could hold her, know she was safe in his arms.
A low howl filled his head—a howl that rose to a terrible, ear-splitting crescendo. Dawson stretched his legs and ran full out, but it felt as if he raced through glue. Everything slipped into slow motion, and yet there was a clarity to his vision he’d never experienced before.
Selyn ran toward him with her arms spread wide, reaching out for him. Her eyes flashed with fear, her hair, falling free today and held back with nothing more than the simple gold band around her forehead, flowed behind her like so much black silk.
The faces of the people he passed morphed from curiosity to fear. A dark shadow flowed over all of them and enveloped everything within the plaza. Darkness and fear and the suffocating stench of demonkind.
Crying out for Selyn, her name echoing in his ears, Dawson reached for his woman.
And then everything sped up. Moving like a whirlwind of darkness, the demon king swept down between Dawson and Selyn. Solid and fully formed, the king reached for her with his many-jointed arms, grabbed her up in his disgusting embrace, and spun high overhead with Selyn clasped to his chest, spinning higher and higher, to the very top of the domed ceiling.
Selyn screamed. Dawson heard his name on her lips, felt her terror, and he leapt, reaching high with his sword for that foul creature as it stole Selyn away.
Swirling, twirling with the force of a tornado, with the roar of a freight train and a wind that shrieked throughout the huge plaza, the demon king carried Selyn higher, faster, farther.
And then, with a loud
pop!
they disappeared.
Dawson didn’t remember falling to his knees, had no idea how long he knelt there, staring at the ceiling overhead, hearing the echo of Selyn’s scream as the demon king bore her away.
“Shit.” Alton grabbed Dawson’s left arm, Dax took hold of his right, and they hauled him to his feet. Still cursing, Alton grabbed Dawson by both shoulders and shook him. “Out of it, man. There’s no time to waste. We have to find her, now. We need you with us.”
Dawson blinked and stared into those emerald green eyes, but all he could see was the fear on Selyn’s face as that creature took her. “Where?” He shook his head. “Where in the hell could he have taken her? Not to Abyss. He wouldn’t dare take her… .”
“No.” Dax turned Dawson’s arm loose. “He knows she can’t survive in Abyss. The air’s too foul for Lemurians or humans to breathe.” He stared at Dawson with eyes full of pain—full of guilt. “Daws, I’m so sorry. He’s not going to go far. He wants me. Wants this body, I think. At least the life force within. The demon king
is
me. That was my form when I was demonkind. My body. I fear he’s using Selyn as a lure to draw me close.”
Dawson had never, not once in his life, known such anger or such a devastating sense of loss. Not when his mother died, not when he’d lost his Aunt Fiona, not even when he’d felt his own life slipping away.
With an almost fatalistic determination, he pulled his sword from his scabbard. Dax and Alton backed away, and he was sure they thought he’d cracked. No, he was nowhere near losing it. There was something steadying about anger like his. Something about it that anchored him and gave everything around him a clarity he’d not expected.
Dawson raised his blade and watched the light shimmer over its many diamond-bright facets. “Find her, DemonsDeath. Tell me where the demon king has taken Selyn.”
A flash of brilliant blue shot from the blade, light so bright he would have covered his eyes had he not been afraid he might miss something.
Instead of blinding him, the light seemed to make everything even clearer. Power pulsed from the crystalline blade, through the jeweled hilt and along his arm, until he felt the power of crystal deep in his heart.
“Follow the small one.” The light pulsed, and suddenly Bumper was bathed in its brilliant glow. “Follow the small one in the form of the beast. She and her animal host will lead us to StarFire, and hence, to Selyn. But we must hurry. Go now, while our woman yet lives.”
Selyn sensed the demon king was near, but she kept her eyes tightly closed. At least she wasn’t bound, and from the weight in the scabbard on her back, she still had StarFire.
That was good. What was bad was the fact there was no sense of anyone else around—at least not anyone she wanted to contact. The demon felt like a black smear in her mind—unclean and evil—and she did her best to block him.
She lay there a while longer, muscles aching from the awkward position she’d been dumped in on the floor, before sending out another mental quest. Again, she came up blank. No sense of Dawson or Ginny, not of Alton or Eddy. No one.
Only the foul sense of the demon king, the knowledge that he watched her. That he wanted her. She repressed a shiver, forced down the gorge that rose in her throat, the visceral experience of his disgusting needs flowing over her like so much filth.
Dawson! Where are you?
The stench of sulfur grew stronger. She heard the scuff of heavy feet moving over the ground, shivered as the temperature dropped precipitously, and knew the creature stood over her, that he watched her.
There was nothing wraith-like about him now. His scales were sharp, and they’d cut her hands when he carried her away. His body had felt solid—rock hard, cold, and reptilian. The creature’s foul breath made her want to vomit, and as he drew closer to her, she felt his disgusting need.
Sensed his physical reaction to her feminine form, his glee that she was here, that she was his, that she was the lure he’d needed to draw what he truly wanted.
She willed her body not to react. Willed herself not to scream, though the terror rose in her like bile, gagging her in silent agony.
She’d been a slave for thousands of years. Had endured beatings and harassment and all sorts of terrible things. She could endure this. She would endure this. For the first time in her long life, she had something to live for. Someone to love, who loved her in return.
Whatever happened, she would survive. She had to. No matter what this creature might do to her. No matter what, Selyn fully intended to live.
Down! He’s taken her down, into the depths of the mountain!
BumperWillow barked once and raced across the plaza, heading for the nearest portal.
Dawson was right on her heels, running as fast as he could with the damned robe swirling around his legs. He had no idea who followed him, who chose to stay behind. He had DemonsDeath in his right hand and BumperWillow in his sights and her thoughts in his head.
They’d find Selyn. They had to.
He’d likely gained immortality, but life meant nothing without Selyn. The dog leapt through the first portal with Dawson right behind. He heard feet pounding the stairs behind him as he followed BumperWillow down to another level, but almost lost her when she disappeared through a portal just beyond the stairs.
Then her curly blond head poked out through the swirling light and she barked, one sharp yip that caught him in mid-stride. He turned to go through the portal and almost collided with Alton and Ginny. Eddy and Dax were right behind them, followed by Mari and Darius.
He had a veritable army with him! There was no way to express his gratitude. No time. He jumped through the portal and took off after the dog. Willow’s voice was in his head, urging him on, telling him to hurry, that they must go deeper yet, farther into the mountain, away from everything familiar.
Or was it? Within minutes they’d reached the level where Selyn had been enslaved for so long. The machines were silent, now, the hallways empty. It was like running through a ghost town filled with the spirits of the lost women from the DemonWars.
Now, even their children were gone. Many of the spirited women had found new life as the sentience within crystal swords, but what of those who hadn’t? What of the ones who’d not given birth? Who had no daughters to carry on, no crystal swords to give them a new chance at life. Where were their spirits?
Maybe they were still here. Maybe they’d be able to help. He had no idea, but Dawson called out to them, begged them to help him find Selyn.
She’s Elda’s daughter,
he said.
Elda, now DemonSlayer, was your friend. Help us save her daughter!
BumperWillow barked again and disappeared through another portal. Dawson vaguely recalled this same path. He’d followed it the day they’d gone in search of Taron. Was that where the bastard demon king had taken Selyn? To the crystal caves so far beneath the levels where the free folk lived?
It had to be. Something in crystal drew demonkind, even as it killed them. “I think I know where he’s taken her!” Dawson skidded around a corner, right behind the dog. “The caverns where Taron replicated the swords. The crystal caverns. I bet he’s got her there.”
“I’ve not been this deep before,” Alton said. “Damn! We should have brought Taron. He knows the way.”
Dawson flashed him a grin. For the first time he felt hopeful. “So do I,” he said. “So do I.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
StarFire? Can you help me? What should I do?
Selyn hadn’t moved, but she knew the demon squatted beside her. Knew by the stench of his body and his foul breath. She’d managed not to shudder when he ran one talon down the front of her robe, parting the fabric so that it gaped open, exposing her breasts.
No, she’d kept her eyes closed and her body as still as death. She would not scream. She refused to show him fear. For now, he thought her unconscious, but for how long?
Help comes.
StarFire’s soft words gave her courage. She bit back a moan.
Dawson!
It had to be Daws. Would he get here soon enough? What did this thing want with her? It was massive—at least three times the size it had been yesterday.
The way the demons behaved today finally made sense.
Somehow the demon king had stolen their life force. He’d drawn it off of the thousands of demons swarming Lemuria, and he’d taken it into himself. That had to be how he’d gained so much size and strength. How he’d managed to pick her up and take her away. But why had he chosen her? What could he possibly want with a slave?
No. Not a slave. A Paladin. A guardian of Lemuria—a powerful warrior, armed with crystal.
She had to keep reminding herself, she was a woman of value now. A woman of worth.
A woman loved by a wonderful man who was coming, even now, to save her.
She sensed the change in the air currents at the same moment the demon king let out a furious shriek, leapt to his feet, and spun away from her. Finally, Selyn risked opening her eyes. Light shimmered all around—a thousand lights reflecting from the walls and ceiling.
The crystal cave!
She was in the cave where Taron had replicated her sword and the swords for all the other women. Carefully, without moving at all, she glanced around, trying to find where her captor had gone. She spotted the ruby altar, saw a few primitive candles burning in the same sconces where Taron had set glow sticks.
It didn’t take many to light a chamber made of diamonds.
A dog barked.
The demon king shrieked again, but his voice came from the far side of the cavern. Selyn leapt to her feet and drew StarFire.
“Selyn! Selyn, where are you?”
“Here, Dawson! I’m over here!”
Dawson stood at the entrance to the cavern. She saw the shadows of others behind him—Ginny and Alton. Two she’d not met before, who she deduced must be Mari, and Darius, Dax, Eddy—and Bumper, who raced across the chamber at full tilt so intent on reaching Selyn that she ran much too close to the demon king.
The beast reached for the dog but she yipped and scrambled out of his way, tumbling head over heels in her rush to get to Selyn. Selyn knelt and hugged the wriggling, quivering dog, getting more than her share of wet, sloppy kisses.
She heard Dawson curse. Hugging Bumper to hold her still, Selyn looked up as Dawson, Dax, and Eddy attacked the demon king.
She shoved her fist against her mouth to keep from screaming as Dawson lunged for the beast, thrusting hard and fast with DemonsDeath, drawing some kind of thick, dark blood with the crystal blade. Dax and Eddy moved in on one side, Alton and Ginny on the other, all of them slashing and stabbing as the demon king howled and reached out with his four, long, multi-jointed arms.
Dawson pivoted away from the creature’s talons and raced toward Selyn, grabbed her in his arms, and held on as if he’d never let her go. She felt him shudder, sensed the fear and the anger he’d been holding inside, and she kissed him. Held his face in her hands and kissed him hard.
“Dear God, I thought I’d lost you.” He trembled from head to foot.
She held on to him even tighter. “Never,” she said. “No matter what, I will always find my way back to you.”
“Are you all right?” He tipped her chin up with his fingertip and kissed her once again.
“I am. C’mon. We have to end this. Now.”
Dawson nodded, but he kissed her once more, grabbed her hand, and they ran across the cavern, closer to the battle.
“Dax. Look!” Eddy used her sword to point at the dark puddle gathering in the dirt wherever the demon king stepped. “It’s bleeding from the wound Daws left, just like the gargoyle—it’s real now, not merely a wraith.”
“If it can bleed, it can die!” Dax lunged at the demon king and slashed rather than thrust. The unexpected move caught the beast off guard, and DemonFire cut through one of his multi-jointed arms as if it were made of butter.
The limb fell to the ground, twitching and grasping, as if it was trying to crawl away. The demon screamed and slashed at Dax, but Dax had already pivoted and spun out of reach.
Eddy cursed and jumped out of reach as the demon shifted direction, pivoted on one leg and went straight for her. Dax leapt between them, cutting and stabbing with his crystal blade, but two of the demon’s three remaining arms snaked out and snagged his shirt with long, curved talons.
Dax cursed, but he couldn’t pull free. Alton and Ginny closed in from one side, Darius and Eddy from the other. Dawson and Selyn split up, each moving to opposite sides of the demon.
Selyn stalked the demon, with StarFire in her hand and Bumper on her heels. Mari stood to one side, chanting some sort of spell with her arms held high.
Dawson watched the witch for mere seconds when something clicked. He shouted to her, “Mari, call on the spirits.” He slashed at the demon’s legs, but the creature danced away, spinning out of reach with unexpected speed and agility. The demon king still hung on to Dax with two of his arms, like a child holding a rag doll.
“The spirits, Mari,” Dawson repeated. “Artigos’s sword mentioned waiting for rebirth in Mother Crystal. He meant this cave. The warrior’s spirits are here. Call the spirits of the warrior women. They’re here. I can feel them.”
Mari nodded, and her voice rang out until the crystal walls of the cavern vibrated. The demon tried to spin faster, as if to take Dax away, but something seemed to hold him back. Alton buried his blade in the demon king’s back, and Ginny attacked with DarkFire. Flames shot from her blade whenever she connected with the beast, but instead of weakening, he seemed to grow stronger.
“Damn you!” Eddy drove forward with her blade and slashed at the demon’s legs. “He’s stealing Dax’s life force. We’ve got to stop him!”
The demon king clutched Dax against his chest, but Dax no longer struggled. Instead, he hung there, limp and lifeless.
“No!” Selyn charged the demon king at the same time that Eddy leapt to the top of the ruby altar and from there to the creature’s back. Clinging to his shoulders, she swung DemonSlayer across his throat and began to saw at the thick, corded muscle guarded by heavy scales.
Ginny stabbed frantically, burying DarkFire in his side and legs. Sparks flashed and blood flowed, but it was hard to attack without risking Dax.
Dax, who dangled helplessly in the demon king’s grasp.
Mari’s chant created an absurd, almost musical backdrop to the life and death battle, but her voice never wavered. Instead, she seemed to grow stronger. Light flashed all around, as if the crystals embedded in the cavern walls had come to life; they pulsed in time with her spell.
The room grew brighter; the pulse of life took on sound, and the beat of many hearts filled the chamber. White wraiths spilled out of the walls, bursting forth from the crystals, swirling through and over the demon king, filling the small space between the hideous creature and Dax’s body. Wherever one touched, the demon burst into boils and burned flesh, until it howled in agony, yet the white wraiths covered Dax with a protective blanket that held him apart from the demon.
Screeching, the demon king shook hard enough to dislodge Eddy. She fell to the ground with DemonSlayer clutched in her hand, rolled out of the way, and rose shakily to her feet.
The wraiths continued their graceful attack, floating over and around the demon king, slowly but surely destroying his skin and scales with nothing but their gentle touch.
Howling and wailing, he tried to spin but somehow the wraiths controlled the beast and held him to this spot. Finally, shrieking and bleeding, the demon king dropped Dax and backed away with BumperWillow snapping at his bleeding legs.
The dog avoided the blood and the gore. Selyn realized why when the demon shook its head and a drop of dark blood splashed on her arm. Her skin sizzled as if from an acid burn.
Mari’s chant continued, growing stronger, louder, and the sense of power within the crystal cavern grew. The white wraiths circled the demon king, spinning faster and faster until he was lost in a swirling blanket of glowing white light. Then, with a final, ear-splitting scream, the demon seemed to collapse in upon itself. It disappeared in a flash of light and disgustingly familiar sulfuric stench.
The white wraiths floated away, hovered for a moment overhead, and then settled on Dax where he lay immobile on the hard ground. Eddy knelt beside him, holding his hand, weeping softly.
Selyn broke free of Dawson’s grasp and ran to Eddy. “We need to use our blades. They’ll share their life force with him. I know they will. That’s how we saved Dawson.”
Eddy didn’t hesitate. She grabbed her sword and placed it over Dax’s heart. Dawson and the others pulled theirs, and all of them lay the blades across Dax. The white wraiths continued to hover, covering him with a sense of life and hope impossible to ignore.
Long moments later, his eyes fluttered and then opened. Selyn reached for Dawson’s hand and held on tightly as Dax slowly regained consciousness. Finally, he smiled at Eddy. “I bet you’re getting really tired of this, aren’t you?” He reached for her, and she tumbled into his arms, crying and laughing at the same time.
Selyn finally looked away from the two and glanced about. The white wraiths were gone. “Where are they?” She gazed in Mari’s direction. “The spirits of the warrior women. Did you see them? Where did they go?”
Mari waved her hands. “Into the crystal walls. They must be part of this cavern. Maybe that’s why Taron was sent here to replicate the swords—because the spirits that bring them to life live here.”
Dax slowly sat up with Eddy’s help. He still looked weak, but his color was returning. “They kept me alive. They were sharing their life force with me, even as the demon king was siphoning mine away.” He shook his head. “Such a feeling of goodness, as if they were everything the demon king isn’t.”
He looked at Ginny. “Is it dead this time? I saw you nail him with DarkFire.”
She shook her head. “No. I think he’d already drawn too much power—from the other demons during the night, and from you just now. He’s gone, but I have a feeling he’ll be back.”
“How can we kill him?” Mari wrapped her arms around Darius and leaned against his side. “What will destroy him for good? This fight will go on until he’s dead and gone.”
Eddy stood up and held out a hand to Dax. When he took it, she tugged him to his feet. “I think it’s going to take everything we have, a combination of magic and crystal.” She glanced around them at the crystal walls. “And maybe even the spirits of long-dead women warriors. I wish we knew for sure.” She turned to Dax. “You okay to head back?”
“I am,” he said. “Thank you. All of you. And Selyn, I’m so sorry for what happened to you.”
“Sorry? Why should you be sorry?” Selyn looked at Dax and finally just shook her head and laughed. “It’s not your fault, Dax. I’m okay. I think, after this, I can survive anything. I’m a lot tougher than I ever realized, and it’s because of all of you.”
BumperWillow barked. “And you, too, Bumper. And Willow.” She grabbed Dawson’s hand. His warm fingers wrapped around hers and she squeezed his in return. Definitely stronger than she’d ever dreamed.
Dawson held on to Selyn’s hand all the way back to the main levels of Lemuria. He wasn’t about to let her go for anything. Not yet. Her abduction was too recent, the fear he’d felt when that monster stole her away still a knife to his heart.
All he could think of was taking her back to Alton’s quarters and making love in that perfect pool, but the minute they reached the main plaza, he figured that was one dream that was going to have to be put on hold.
Artigos the Just and Artigos the younger called out to them as they slipped through the portal. Taron stood right behind the two leaders with his arms folded over his chest. His expression was impossible to read.
Alton stepped forward. “The demon king was badly wounded, but we don’t think he’s dead. He’s probably escaped back to Abyss. I’m sorry that we failed.”
His grandfather stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Alton. “You’ve not failed. You’ve returned Selyn safely and brought your comrades back unharmed. That was your goal, wasn’t it?”
Alton glanced at all of them and slowly nodded. “I guess you’re right, Grandfather.” He turned to his father and held out his hand. “I hope you’ll forgive me for the actions I ordered against you.”