Chapter 6: Going back

"So why did the Ancients choose a mortal like me for this job?" Erica asked.

"The last of the Ancients have either been destroyed," the priest explained, "like the Oracles, the previous Guardians, or for one reason or another can no longer access many of the worlds. Some of them have become dormant and others have responsibilities that keep them occupied elsewhere. Often when powerful immortals travel through dimensions the worlds themselves and their inhabitants are altered just by their presence, but a mortal with immortal powers can have more control over the changes they make. The Oracles foretold that a child of humanity should be the next to take control, especially because someone who understands mortality would also understand the value in safeguarding it. Any normal mortal would be killed by the power you have been given already, let alone that which you have yet to access, so they had to choose a mortal with special qualities. A potential slayer is already subtly linked to the world of demons, as ancient demon spirits were used to create them."

"And when am I going to get the rest of the power?"

"When you are deemed ready." The head priest interrupted. "That is enough for now."

"Thank you, sir," Erica muttered under her breath.

"Send her home," he ordered the priest, then walked away.

Erica was slowly shaking her head at him as he walked away. "What an asshole." She muttered, but she turned to the other priest with a smile. "Thank you for your time," she said politely, while gathering up her things.

The priest nodded. "You will need to leave the temple, as the relic you healed will prevent you from creating any portal in here that does not lead to the prison realm. I will take you."

He walked ahead of her toward the soul curtains and to the farthest wall. He took her hand and laid his other hand on the wall. They felt a gentle tugging, and then they stood in the shaded grove.

He turned and inclined his head to her. "When you return, come directly through to find me."

"Thank you," she said, as he touched the stone and disappeared again, leaving her alone in the grove.

She pulled out her water bottle and conjured another portal with the last of the water. She was secretly relieved to be out of the temple, because the constant background buzzing of the powerful magic within it had been starting to make her light-headed.

She stepped forward and then immediately tried to step back. She could smell smoke, oil and if darkness had its own scent then she could smell that too. She felt the wrongness coming from the portal and she tried to force herself away from its pull. Shimmering tendrils stretched forward from the portal to wrap around her and yank her through. She gave a short shriek but no one could help her.

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It was completely dark where she landed, and Erica held herself still until the nausea passed. It had been some time since a portal had gone wrong like this, and she was sure that it wasn't her fault this time. Someone or something had interfered. She didn't need her mirror to tell her that she was not in her home realm. She also knew that she wasn't in Hegira or the prison realm. When she'd healed the relic she had caught a taste of what the realm's energies felt like, and this wasn't it. As she was supposed to, she was developing an extra sense about the realms she had been to, so that she could recognise them.

She was on her side and holding herself up off the floor with her hands, so she could feel rough concrete beneath her. She pushed back until she was sitting up. She looked up and around, but unfortunately even a Slayer only possesses limited night vision. She felt around for her shoulder-bag , her crossbow and her short sword, but they were gone. She could hear walking above her; someone who was light and wearing heels.

She was blinded as someone struck a match and put it to a lamp, and she shielded her eyes as they adjusted to the dim light. She was in a three-metre (just under ten ft) deep pit that had metal bars crisscrossing over the opening above her. There was a design drawn in blood on the concrete beneath her. As her vision cleared she saw a slim blonde woman standing at the edge of the pit, holding the lamp.

At first she thought it was Eve, but as she stared she realised it was a different blonde. Still, she knew she was in the same realm she'd sent Eve to. Her mistake.

She got up and waited for the woman to say something, but she just smiled unkindly and stepped back out of sight. Erica moved to the edge of the pit and felt along the walls. It was smooth rock without any handholds, though she hadn't really expected any.

She thought she could hear muffled chanting, and the pattern below her began to gently glow. Erica felt a stinging in her palms. A tiny hole, like a pinprick, was in the middle of each of her hands, and slowly drops of blood began to well up. She pressed her hands together but gradually the blood trickled down her wrists and dripped to the floor. The design wavered as the blood sank into it, and Erica realised that it was drawing the blood from her. She was unlikely to bleed to death at this rate, but her tiny wounds weren't closing either.

In the next room within the warehouse Darla walked toward a large stone bowl set upon a matching pedestal, engraved in bronze designs that spelt out an ancient incantation. There were lit candles placed all around the room, and the smell of incense and oils was heavy in the air.

The shaman beside her stopped chanting, but the sounds of the spell continued to echo on without him. He nodded his head respectfully to Darla. "It is done," he said. They both watched as blood started to well up from apparently nowhere in the bowl.

"How long can she 'donate' like this?" Darla asked.

"That depends," the shaman answered, "if you feed her and don't allow her to injure herself, then she'll last for a human lifespan. If you intend to keep her here that long, then the enchantment will need monthly strengthening. You'll know where to find me if that is your decision."

"Good." Darla said. "You can go now." The shaman nodded again and moved away. Darla looked back at the bowl and smiled greedily.

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Lilah smiled and hung up the phone she'd been using. "She's there, and Darla's in place. Are you ready?" she asked Eve.

"Of course," Eve replied with a sneaky smile. She opened up a box on the table and pulled out a woven necklace made with strands of reddish brown hair that looked suspiciously like Erica's, as well as having beads and tiny engraved stones attached to it. She tied it around her neck and covered her face with her hands. When she removed them it was Erica's face that smiled at Lilah, and slowly her blonde hair changed to match the Guardian's.

"Good," Lilah remarked. "I think you need to go pay your ex-employer and your ex-boyfriend a visit."

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