Chapter 30

Vadanya landed painfully on her side and rolled onto her back. The familiar soaring ceilings of a castle entrance hall rose above her. She winced and sat up. The hall was long and mostly empty, with a plum colored carpet running down the center of it to two empty golden thrones. The walls were dark grey stone and the doors on the other end of the hall were heavy iron. She sighed, "It's almost primitive."

"They kept it that way on purpose."

Vadanya turned in surprise.

Entering through one of the many doors along the wall was the Oracle, her younger sister. The girl wore a simple long white dress with golden trim on the bottom. Everything about her was pale, her platinum blond hair, her crystalline blue eyes, her porcelain skin.

Vadanya got to her feet, "I'm home early. Asshole decided he didn't want to give up."

The Oracle smiled warmly, "That's fine, Danya." Her gaze became distant and she looked towards the door. Her face was grave but her voice was expressionless as she said, "The end result is set in stone: Seth'ius will be destroyed. But what happens in the meantime is very unstable."

"Anything can happen?" Vadanya asked.

The Oracle nodded, "Yes. Anything. They could all survive. Or they could all die." She met her sister's worried gaze, "It's the danger of having a wild card."

Lian!

Lian jumped. He scowled, "What do you want, Jace?" For three days he'd felt numb and empty. For three days he had been alone. For three days he'd spent his time practicing his aim by shooting at the water and the clouds in the sky.

You're alright. I couldn't reach you when your emotions got unstable. Jace sounded relieved.

Lian sulked, "So what? I'm all alone now. How am I supposed to know what to do? Where to go? How am I supposed to know anything?"

Vadanya will be fine.

"But I'm not," Lian muttered.

You know, I'm not great at this comforting thing, Lian. For what it's worth, I'm sorry.

"If I'd gotten off the boat and helped her-"

You'd be dead.

Lian sighed, "Probably. Yeah." He shrugged indifferently, "Might as well be at this point, because I don't know what I'm doing. So it's not like I'll be able to help anyway!"

Lian, you'll do fine. Nobody knows what they're doing all the time. Hell, I don't know what I'm doing most of the time.

"And look where that got you," Lian snapped.

Oh good god.

The shadows of a smile crossed Lian's face, "Ral said that a lot."

Probably where I got it from.

Lian sighed, "How far away is this continent anyway?"

A week more of sitting in a boat. The ocean will drop you off in a kingdom that should be friendly to you as long as you make it very clear you are not an ally of Seth'ius.

Lian nodded, "Okay." He aimed his gun at a cloud on the horizon and fired off a fireball. A pillar of steam rose from where it landed in the water, right where he'd wanted it. He patted the side of the gun, "I'm getting better with it."

Once you get too far from where I'm at I won't be able to reach you easily. We won't be able to...converse casually.

Lian nodded again, "Okay." He put his hand in the water, "So basically you can help if I get in a really big disaster but you won't really be available otherwise?"

Yeah.

The ocean moved around Lian, but everywhere else it was still. It guided him west where apparently there was another continent. He'd never heard of other continents but also wasn't really surprised they existed. It hadn't seemed right that his continent was the only one if the world itself was so big.

Lian was pulled out of a half asleep state when the boat washed up on shore. He rubbed his eyes, picked up his magical gun from where it sat next to him and looked around.

He was greeted with a rocky shore. Sheer, jagged, razor bladed rocks rose from the water all around. They were all a dull slate grey color. Tall luscious grass was visible just over the edge of the low cliff that rose above him.

The sun was setting behind the cliff. He could just see the colors dying the clouds above him.

Lian scowled, "How the holy light am I supposed to get past this?"

Lian, calm down. There's a flatter part of shore just a little farther down the line.

"How much farther down?" Lian snapped, "Because I am not going to wander this entire coastline."

Good god. It was clear that Jace was one hundred percent done having his own attitude thrown back at him. It's not going to be the whole coastline, alright?

"It better not be," Lian grumbled. He scanned the shore as the boat floated along it. If anything the small cliff in front of him was getting larger. The individual rocks gradually dropped away, beneath the water, while the cliff climbed closer to the sky.

Lian scowled, "The cliff doesn't look like it's getting any smaller, Jace."

Jace didn't respond.

Lian rolled his eyes, "Of course. Why bother with me?" He scanned the cliff in front of him. It didn't look very climbable. And at this point he'd probably smack face first into it if he tried to vault it, even with the boots.

Eventually the base of the cliff opened into a broad cave. The cave was dark and looming. It had an aura around it that made Lian vaguely uncomfortable but more curious than anything. He leaned over the boat, "What about there? That can lead to the top of the cliff."

No.

"Why not?" Lian snapped, "And where were you earlier, asshole?"

Ooo name calling. Very intimidating. I was busy. The cave has a negative and necromantic magical aura. Don't go into it.

"But what if it goes to the top of the cliff?" Lian demanded impatiently, "I have spent half the night letting you guide the boat on this leisurely little scenic route."

Don't go into it, Lian. It's the goddess of death's territory.

Lian scoffed, "Whatever. I'll survive."

Fine. But if I can't rescue you, you have to be able to get out on your own.

"Fine." Lian took over directing the boat. The cave was huge up close. There was nothing but darkness past the entrance of the cave. Deeper into it he could see a soft purple-pink glow, but it wasn't enough to illuminate anything. He was having second thoughts but was also too stubborn to quit now. He'd made his choice, and he was prepared to deal with the consequences.

Lian took a deep breathe and squared his shoulders. He walked into the darkness of the cave. It took a while for his eyes to adjust to the lack of light. And even then he had to use his hands on the walls to guide himself along.

It wasn't so much of a cave but a tunnel. The floor was smooth, and worn down. There wasn't a single stray pebble. The walls felt like they were made of bricks as opposed to having been worn down naturally. It did feel like he was gradually making his way up, which was satisfying.

Lian grinned, "See. I knew it." Now he was more confident.

It was hard to tell how far in he was though. He counted his steps but didn't actually know how long his stride was. He'd taken a hundred steps when he came to a fork in the path. Left or right.

Lian chewed his lower lip, "Left. Right. Left. Right." Despite the fact that he couldn't see anything he looked around. He sighed, "And maybe forward." He didn't dare walk forward to test that fact in case he lost the walls he was currently using as guides. He shrugged, "Let's go right. I can always retrace my steps."

The tunnel to the right continued to go up, at a steeper slope. The sudden incline surprised Lian but he adjusted to it quickly. He laughed, "See, Jace. I told you I'd survive. And the tunnels are going up."

Lian squinted as a bright pinkish light penetrated the darkness. One hundred and thirteen steps later he was standing in a large open cavern. A symbol on the wall in front of him was what gave off the light. There were two openings on the left and right sides of the cavern that disappeared into darkness. The symbol was a magical one, but he didn't recognize it.

Lian cocked his head to the side. Curiously, he reached out and touched the symbol. He almost vomited. The power was dark and sullying. It slid over his skin like thick paste and burned like acid. Breathing became difficult like he was inhaling smoke and the air around him burned his throat and eyes. Lian jerked away hard enough he stumbled backwards. He leaned against the wall, gasping for breath and shuddered, "What was that?"

A small tremor shook the ground around him.

Lian straightened instantly. He scanned all around him, refusing to overlook a single detail. The only thing that moved was the dust falling to the ground. Everything was still. He rubbed his eyes and swallowed audibly, "Okay. Note to self. Don't touch the symbol."

A female voice echoed down the tunnel to the right toward him.

Lian stiffened. Every hair on his body stood on end. He turned to the right, almost in a daze, "That sounded like..." He shook his head roughly, "That's no possible. I watched them die. They turned to ash." Even so he listened intently as he crept down the tunnel on the right. Every muscle in his body was tense, ready to burst out running at any second.

"Lian! Don't abandon me!" This time it was very clearly Hailey's voice. It sounded as though she was in pain and very afraid.

Lian clenched his jaw. His grip on his gun tightened. He shook his head again, "I'm just psyching myself out. It's not her. It can't be."

Hailey tried to call out again but her call turned into a high pitched, chilling shriek that cut off abruptly. Eerie silence filled the tunnels.

Lian's hands shook. He listened intently but she didn't call out again. "Hai-Hailey?" he whispered quietly.