Chapter 2

The Traitor

Matt, Neriah, Dillon, Aysher and Silos made the trip to the underworld. In the end everyone had volunteered to accompany them. Isabel had even been furious when Matt had ordered her to remain with Ethan. But at the last minute they had received word of a demon prowling in the lower reaches of the forest and had been forced to go deal with it.

Looking around Matt wondered why anyone would volunteer to come here. On his third visit the darkness was just as profound and terrible as it had been on his first. He pulled his cloak tighter around him and glanced over at Neriah. He hated to bring her or even Dillon to a place like this. But she knew the way to the cavern and Silos and Aysher would be invaluable. And Dillon was the only one ever to enter the labyrinth of tunnels and survive.

Neriah picked up on his thoughts. "You worry too much." She said and kissed him on the cheek.
"Hey Gracious Leader." said Dillon through chattering teeth. "Can we get a little light here?"

Matt concentrated and three hovering balls of flame appeared over their head bathing them in dim light.

"Nice job." said Dillon, looking up. "Now if you could just conjure oh about a hundred million more of those, we'd really have something."

"Sure and bring every monster in the Underworld down on top of us. Raise your hand please if you're immortal." Neriah grinned and raised a hand. Even Silos lifted a paw.

"Come on." said Matt. "Let's get moving. Before something comes along and eats Dillon."

"Laugh it up God boy but I'd just die. You're the one who would have to spend the rest of eternity trapped in something's small intestine."

After that they didn't speak any more. They walked in silence for hours, following the dogs' exceptional noses until they came to the edge of the pit. "This is it." said Dillon. His voice trembled slightly.

"Alright." Matt sent one of the lights downward so that it illuminated the floor below. "We can use our wings to get down there. Neriah –"

"Way ahead of you." A second later she had transformed into a swallow and darted down into the pit.

"What about those two?" Dillon indicated Aysher and Silos. But even as he spoke the two dogs leapt down into the pit, transforming into their fighting form as they did and landing easily fifty feet below. "Never mind." said Dillon.

He and Matt joined them a second later. Matt knelt down next to the dogs and spoke softly to them. "I need you to find Mr. Carter, okay? Can you do that?"

"They say he's close." said Neriah, returning to human form. "They say other things are too."

"Oh goodie." Muttered Dillon.

With a wave of his hand Matt dimmed the light. They walked on through the murky darkness until a sound pulled them up short.

"I know you're out there." said a voice in a painful rasp. "I can hear you. I already have five of your friends in here keeping me company. If you want to be the eighth come right in."

"Carter? Marcus Carter? Where are you?"

"Hmm, a talker. Haven't had one of those in a while. How long ago? I don't know. It's hard to tell the time down here. Days. Months. Years perhaps? Who can tell the time in the darkness? Maybe there is no time. Maybe it's all my imagination. I'm probably insane now anyway? Maybe I always was."
The voice came from his left. Matt called the light to him again. Light illuminated the pit and they saw him. He stood in the entrance of a small cave with an overhanging roof. He looked terrible. He was caked in filth and blood, his shirt was in tatters and a long, ugly wound ran straight across his chest. His face was gaunt and he had a growth of scraggy beard on his chin. His matted hair showed greyer than it had done. His eyes had a haunted look. The metal claws on both his hands were blackened with gore from constant use. He stood in a fighter's pose, weary and waiting for an attack. But even as the three Guards took in his appearance he screamed and pressed his hands to his face, covering his eyes.

"Matt the light!" said Neriah. "It's hurting him. Put it out." Matt dimmed the lamps they shone with barely a firefly glow. Carter vanished again.

"Mr. Carter?" said Neriah.

"Go away." said the voice hoarsely. "You think other's haven't tried it before. Imitations? Trickery. Oh you're very clever. Shadows in the dark making me see things that aren't there. Well you won't get me, not yet."

"He thinks we're demons." said Neriah.

"I know." said Matt. "Marcus we're going to come to you now okay? We're not going to hurt you. We want to help. We're going to take you out of this place." He did his best to sound reassuring.

"No! Come anywhere near me and I'll destroy you. I swear."

"I'll get him!" Growled Dillon, starting forward.

"No!" Matt put a hand out to stop him. "I'll go. Stay here."

He walked forward until using the dim light of the firefly he could see Mr. Carter again. This light seemed not to hurt the man's eyes because he simply stared at Matt. He shook his head and the ghost of a smile crossed his face. "Oh that's really not a form you want to go about borrowing." He said. "Trust me. You do not want to make that kid's dad mad. Come on then. Come join your buddies."
Matt looked down and saw that the ground outside the cave was littered with the dead bodies of demons.

But as his attention wavered for a moment, Carter sprang, lashing out with the deadly claws, claws that could kill even an immortal.

Without thinking Matt caught him and turned the claws to either side. He had to check himself so not to break Carter's wrists. The man was emaciated. Matt crushed the arms and the deadly weapons between his chest and Carter's, holding them there. Their faces were inches apart. Carter struggled madly against him.

"Carter! Carter! Carter, stop it!" The man continued to fight desperately.

"Marcus Carter stop! Put them away!" he said and felt the terrible head-splitting pain as his eyes burned with their immortal hue.

He stared at him in shock and stopped struggling. With a metallic hiss the claws retracted. Then he reached up and did the strangest thing. He put his hand very gently and almost timidly on the side of Matt's face.

"Matt. Matt. It is you, isn't it? Not some monster. Not some creature. Matt. Our leader. Leader pure of heart. Must, must awaken. Arkarian trusts you, believes in you. Don't know why. Wrong for the job. Power, lot's of power, son of a god after all, but no skill. Not a leader, just a weapon. Everything is wrong." Suddenly he seemed to sober. "Sorry, I'm sorry. I don't mean it. Too long, down here, on my own. No one to talk to. I think it's made me a little crazy. Maybe I was crazy already. I thought you were all dead."

"Hey Glorious One. We've got company!" Yelled Dillon.

"Handle it." said Matt.

From the corner of his eye he saw a flash of light that could only be Neriah's weapon. There was a terrifying shriek from the darkness.

"I don't understand this. Did she win? How are you alive? Why did this happen?" Mr. Carter was throwing questions at him. He could feel them trembling.

Matt tried to think what he was here for. What was the plan? He had expected many things down here but not this shrivelled wreck of a man. Carter seemed almost happy to see him and he hadn't even spoken of his betrayal. Didn't he realise that Matt could be his executioner? Was this place so terrible that he would prefer being captured by the Guard and made to pay for his crimes?

It was more from the compulsion to remind Carter and himself of the situation than anything else that drove his next words. "Marcus Carter you are charged with the crimes of high treason against the Guardians of Time and of betraying your position as one of those Named in the Veridian Prophecy. You will be taken from this place and brought before the Tribunal of the Guard where you will be made to answer for your heinous crimes and where the Tribunal will pass sentence on you. Do you understand?"

But Carter didn't even seem to hear him. He was staring out into the night, listening intensely. "You've roused them. They can feel the power in you. It's making them angry, or hungry. That call. That's their hunting call. There's eight of them already out there and…" He paused. "At least two dozen moving this way. We need to get out of here or it'll be too late."

"Carter did you hear me?"

Before he could reply Dillon yelled. "Matt there's too many. We can't hold them."
"Alright. Shut your eyes!" he commanded Carter. The man did so.

With one thought the light above his head changed from a firefly glow to the blaze of a miniature sun, lighting up the entire pit and causing the assembled demons to cower. "To me. All of you!"
In an instant Dillon was at his side. Seconds later three white hounds bounded over. Matt wrapped his power around all six of them an instant later the underworld faded one last time.

They placed him in one of the cells contained behind one of the many doors of Arkarian's Chambers. In his weakened state the transfer between worlds had caused him to pass out, and though Isabel had healed his wounds he had yet to awaken.

Matt waited in the central chamber while the others finished containing the demon outbreak. Ethan had gone with them to everyone's relief. A return to active duty would be a good distraction. Matt stayed pacing the room impatiently and occasionally sending his mind out to the battlefield to check everything was okay. He had to fight the urge to go out and join them. There was nothing that the six of them couldn't handle and he had more pressing matters to deal with.

"Matt, why aren't you out helping the others?" asked a voice behind him. Finally Arkarian had returned.
Matt filled him in on the situation. When he was done Arkarian had to conjure himself one of his stools and sit down. "You should have consulted with me." He said.

"I know. I'm sorry. But I didn't have time to go to Athens and back."

"Have you interrogated him?"

"No. He's still unconscious. I understand if you don't want to see him. If you feel he's even partially responsible for Lorian's death then I know it would be hard. But I'd appreciate your help if you're willing to give it."

"You shouldn't have risked reopening that rift."

"I know. But I couldn't leave him in that place. No one deserves to be left there."

"In the end Matt, it will make little difference. He will be put on trial and executed. Then his soul will be returned to the Underworld."

"Oh."

"Or somewhere worse if your father wills it. I'm afraid you may only have increased Carter's suffering." They stared at each other unhappily. "Shall we go see if he is awake?"

Carter sat on the thin mattress of the cell, staring at the stone wall. The lights in the cell were dimmed so they would not hurt his still sensitive eyes. He stood up as they entered, and came to meet them at the bars.

"What happened?" He asked. "Did we lose? Was the world corrupted?"

"You lost." said Arkarian.

"Then that darkness. It's everywhere?"

"The darkness is confined to the Underworld. Even as we speak the Guard works to repair the border between the two worlds. The war is over. Both your master and your mistress are dead."

"The war is over! How long have I been gone for?"

"It's been ten days since the Battle for the Citadel where you disappeared. For you however, trapped in the Underworld that time may have been closer to twenty."

"Underworld? Battle for the Citadel? Arkarian, what are you talking about?" He reached out and grabbed Arkarian's hands through the bars.

Arkarian stepped backwards, breaking his hold. Matt had never seen him look so stiff and cold. "Marcus Carter." and now Matt heard him echo his own words. "You are charged with the crimes of high treason against the Guardians of Time and of betraying your position as one of those Named in the Veridian Prophecy. What do you have to say for yourself?"

This time the words seemed to penetrate. Carter's expression morphed into one of surprise, then terror, than fury. He was ash pale. "If this is a joke it's a very bad one." He said.

"It's no joke."

"You think I'm the traitor? But Lady Arabella – "

"Has been cleared of all charges."

"And you think I did it? Arkarian I swear I never – "

"Haven't you told enough lies?" demanded a voice. Shawn stood in the doorway. He entered. The rest of the named followed him. "For once in your life Marcus tell us the truth."

"Shawn –" He looked around at the eight stony faces staring at him though the bars. He turned to Isabel.

"Isabel you don't think I really betrayed you do you?"

"I was there Carter. I saw what you did. I know what you are." Isabel's expression was blank. She grasped Neriah's hand tightly.

"You're crazy. You're all crazy. I'm not a traitor. I swear it. Arkarian, Matt look into my thoughts. You'll see it's true."

"You've lied to the Tribunal and I for thirteen years." said Arkarian. "If you could hide it from my father for all those years how I can believe anything you even think."

Something seemed to occur to him. "Get Rochelle. Have her test me. She'll prove I'm loyal." He must have felt something in the heavy silence because he turned even paler. "What's wrong? What did I say?"

"Rochelle's dead." Ethan spoke quietly. "Your Master murdered her."

He stumbled back from the bars. "Oh Gods."

"And the curse took it's revenge on him so don't bother hoping for him to come to your rescue."

"I'm not a traitor! I would never – I could never – Rochelle is dead."

"She died loyal." said Ethan. "A hero to the Guard. Unlike you."

"I swear – I blacked out. When I came too I was alone in the darkness. I say alone – I had these things – "

He indicated the sheathed claws, "Buried in the neck of one of those creatures. I thought that Lathenia had swept through the world before we could stop her. That she'd made our world dark too. I thought all of you were dead."

Matt stepped right up to the bars. "Marcus you understand that if you tell us the truth things will go better for you."

"I am telling you the truth!"

Matt's looked at him and then into him. He tried to sift through the man's jumbled thoughts. "What's the last thing you remember before the dark?" He asked.

"It was after our meeting with King Richard. I…I went to a staff meeting at a school."

"Liar!" yelled Dillon. "I saw you disappear into the woods. You were going to meet Marduke. You were going to show him how to get into the Citadel."

"That's not true! I…I…"

"I think I saw it too." said Neriah. "Though I didn't think about it at the time."

"Is there any part of your story you'd like to change?" asked Matt.

"I was at a staff meeting." said Carter through gritted teeth.

"I've heard enough of this." said Shawn. "He's obviously incapable of uttering one sentence without twisting it into a pack of lies."

"Alright." said Arkarian. "That's enough. This will only serve to upset us and we all have responsibilities to take care of. The Tribunal will get the truth from him."

They filed out. Carter clung to the bars. "No please! Arkarian! Jimmy you have to believe me."

Jimmy looked around. He looked hurt and sorrowful. "I don't know what to believe Marcus. I'm sorry."

He followed the others out into the corridor, leaving Matt standing in the doorway. Carter tried to speak but Matt cut him off. "Get some sleep Mr. Carter. You'll need it. You'll be taken to Athens to stand trial in the morning. I suggest you think over what you're going to tell the Tribunal."