FERISHA

  “Hey, asshole,” Ferisha muttered. “There’s something I can’t figure out.”

  “That’s a fuckin’ understatement?” Nico whispered in contempt as he surveyed what was left of the King’s body.

  “Why is the king dead in a cage with golems?”

  Rhegon lay on the floor with his arms folded behind his head and his eyelids drawn shut. “Maybe he prefers him that way.” He spoke calmly, completely untroubled by the rotten stench of death a klick away from his boots. It was daunting how peacefully a man could be in a barren cell with most of the floor ripped to shreds. All thanks to the skeleton that laid at his feet, festering in the corner with the flies and maggots.

  He wasn’t just some raggedy pile of bones with no guts and brains; the fucker was a deathspawn. He wasn’t the type of monster where mothers reassured their children with bedtime stories. The ones where some scrawny ass elf vanquished the evil. No, he was the bastard that dug deep inside their warm bellies and consumed their flesh. Then he touched the grieving woman, and her beautiful skin suddenly had the appearance of an old wrinkled buzzard.

  Except pieces of her flesh dropped the same way boiled chicken falls off the bone.

  When she tried to turn him, he grabbed her by the throat and twisted her head clean off. That’s the kind of man Rhegon was, not the fool that became a monster. He was the father who came at the last second and still chopped his wife’s head off. Then kept fighting until he saved another fool’s woman and child.

  Ferisha didn’t trust most people, but with Rhegon she was just surviving. Even if they were both bound by death, she would always find a way to keep breathing.

  Nico dragged them across the floor by their hair. “These two may have murdered the Prince, but if I find out anyone helped them. Then I’ll bury them next.”

  “Careful, we both know your prince was long dead before his blood spilled and his head toppled.”

  “I know you’re an Elfete but I would’ve figured you wouldn’t be stupid enough to believe in monsters.” Nico countered.

  “Careful, your Neanderthal is showing,” Ferisha whispered.

  Nico gritted his teeth and nodded to the other Purifiers outside. “We got two more slaves for the quarry, but be careful with this one. She’s an Elfete.”

  “Must you antagonize them,” Rhegon commented.

  Four stiffs wearing white streamlined combat suits marched inside the cell with distant stares and vacant smiles. Ferisha stepped forward, sarcastically bowing her head and stretching her arms outward. She kept her gaze focused on Nico as he fastened their ghoul helms on their faces in the far corner. Silas interrupted her thoughts as his blonde hair flowed behind him like a garment made of silk. His ears were thin and pointy with long tips, a hallmark of an ancient house.

  His gaze was soft and placid when he placed the handcuffs on her wrists. She figured with those ears, he must’ve hailed from Thoranfall. Only the Lightwood’s progeny gave a shit about Netherbornes. The Eldryn only cared about breeding their soldiers and fuckin’ their cousins. But at least centuries of the same DNA made them competent enough to hold a sword. The twelve kingdoms only know what would’ve happened if those idiots got smarter when they turned to maggots.

  “Dead men walking,” Ferisha smirked.

  Three stiffs entered the rift in the wall with their swords at the ready. They were three feet apart when Hael rushed forward. He raised his leg and hurled his reinforced boot towards Rhegon’s face. He captured his foot in midair and flung him towards the stonewall.

  He leapt to his feet, spinning the dagger between his index and middle finger. The Purifiers circled around him, lunging at him from all sides. Malachi swung his sword in a vicious arc, but Rhegon countered with the edge of his dagger.

  Their weapons collided, screeching as the steel intertwined. The guard grunted, putting his full weight into advancing further. But Rhegon held the dagger in his right hand, refusing to give him an inch.

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  Nico ran forward, holding the helm of his sword. He pulled his arms back and tried to cut off his head. Rhegon leaned back, dodging his venomous assault. He took to the air with the talisman tucked away into his shadows. When he gained enough momentum, he descended in a cloud of smoke and shadows.

  Malachi rushed forward with his sword engulfed in flames. Hael ran next to him, conjuring a gust of wind. Rhegon evaded their assault and touched the center of their foreheads. When he swallowed them in a pit of infinite darkness, he took to the air. He thrusted his boot against Roy’s chest and sent him flying through the opening until he slammed against the wall.

  Ferisha looked at the decorated soldier on the floor, unconscious in a puddle of his own making. Her gaze shifted to the guard next to her. “You ready to tap in?”

  Silas took a long look at Rhegon before he responded. “No, Nico has it under control.”

  She quietly dragged her foot across Hael’s steel blade, mindful of Silas’ iron grip on her shoulder. Rhegon held his hand in front of Nico as he struggled against the darkness. He brushed past him, not caring if he fought until the last second of his life. The shadows consumed everything; his soul, mind, and body would soon be a part of the many faces of the abyss. Either an elf or a Neanderthal, they all screamed in the dark.

  Silas released his hold on Ferisha as Rhegon fearlessly marched closer to them. He fumbled with his sheath until he froze in fear. He stared at the blood spilling from his chest on to the cobblestone floor. Silas looked at her with betrayal emanating from his eyes as his comrade’s blade plunged inside his stomach.

  He fell to his knees with his hand wrapped around the helm of his sword. As he struggled to get his words out, a cloud of black smoke clawed at his ankles, slowly spreading to the rest of his body. “W-why?”

  She knelt beside him, twisting the helm and wrenching it deeper into his gut. “My mother was a weeping bitch.”

  The darkness concealed the helm of the sword buried deep inside his chest. He took a relaxed breath, overcome with a strange emotion. Silas watched Rhegon in his final moments until his body nearly vanished. For some reason, those who didn’t struggle seeped into the black mist with a strange glint in their eyes. Almost seemed like somehow they were at peace.

  Rhegon sat in front of him. “Sleep.” He whispered, covering his eyes until Silas was gone.

  “Hey, old man,” Ferisha muttered, tapping her foot against his back as she held the sword inches away from his neck. “Do you remember who you are?”

  “Are you shackling them to their tombs or bringing them to salvation?” Rhegon asked.

  What the hell was he getting at?

  Everyone in the twelve kingdoms knew Neanderthals were demons. Before they destroyed the world, they slaughtered thousands of men, women, and children. They consumed their own people, raped their daughters and enslaved the world. A symbol of their cruelty was engraved on the legs of bondsman because they feared if it were their faces, then they would have spoiled their women.

  Her arm had fallen by her side in frustration. “I saved them so we can get the hell out of here. I don’t give a shit if they die in those tunnels. I don’t cry for golems.”

  “If you want to escort those bitches to their graves, then I’ll send you with them.” Nico bellowed.

  “How did you escape. . .?” Ferisha trailed off.

  “Be careful.” Rhegon cautioned. “He’s a mage.”

  With a painful cry, Nico waved his hands through the air, conjuring a translucent doorway. Strong winds pushed against them, pulling them closer to the strange power. Ferisha held on to Rhegon, but even the powerful giant struggled against the current.

  A distant world appeared through the door as Nico’s dark brown eyes transformed into yellow beams of light. Between a terrain of steep, barren mountains stood an ancient labyrinth made of stone. The walls and floor formed intricate patterns, leading to narrow pathways along the structure. There was no light in the maze other than a few torches. But somehow, on the edge of each mountain, mysterious figures stood amidst a thick haze with eyes that glowed as bright as Nico’s.

  “I won’t let go!” A voice called out.

  Ferisha snapped her neck in the opposite direction. The girl that flew into their cell with a powerful talisman pulled the other one by the wrist. Her grip was slipping as she struggled to keep them both safe. She looked at her fingers, slowly releasing the crumbling wall, and at her friend clinging to her wrist. In an instant, she wrenched her to the rift, but when the wall broke apart, she released her hold.

  She soared through the air, almost disappearing into a place that seemed like another dimension. Ferisha’s heart leaped inside her chest as Izogie came hurtling towards the portal. But before Nico teleported her to her demise Rhegon seized her by the arm.

  “IZOGIE!” The one hanging from the wall bellowed.

  Ferisha got distracted when the golem screamed and lost her footing. “Hold on!” She yelled.

  Rhegon grabbed her black hood, struggling to hold them both in place. “Ferisha, I have to let her go.” His voice projected.

  “No, we need them!” Ferisha screamed.

  Beyond their escape, she couldn’t explain why she wanted to save them. She figured it must’ve been her overwhelming sense to flee King’s Veil, but deep down, she’d hoped the rumors were true. If all the healing mages were buried in the underworld, then this golem was her last chance of finding her mother and escaping this hell.

  “No. No. No. N-Nooooo.” She howled.

  The woman darted across the room, launching feet-first into the portal. Ferisha grabbed her long dreadlocks, straining her muscles while she slowly pulled her back into the prison. Izogie reached for her cellmate out of desperation, unknowingly shifting her weight. Rhegon dragged closer to the underworld, his feet grinding against the cobblestone.

  As their fingertips brushed against each other, Rhegon caved under the force. His body lunged forward, his feet lifted off the ground, and his hand left Ferisha’s side. He watched her until she entered the portal, still holding on to the Neanderthal. Seconds later, he flew in straight behind her.

  Her throat was raw when their endless screams melted together in the smoldering skies. As they propelled through the air in different directions, Rhegon yelled in pain as dusk expelled from his fingertips.

  Plummeting fast through the air, Ferisha observed the darkness enveloping them. She stared at him from a far distance with soulful eyes.

  Then he stopped moving, his body completely still, but his voice exploded, shaking the horizon. “Carry them!”

  With her eyes nearly sealed inside the dark mist Ferisha and the damned girl stared at their falling companions. But in that moment, fire erupted across the gloomy sky, and the savage beast ascended in a wave of golden fire. She wrapped her arms around Rhegon, and they soared through the depths of hell like an angel.

  “I didn’t know golem were mages.” She finally confessed.

  “We aren’t.” She breathed heavily. “Only the ones that come back from the culling as victors.”

  Ferisha looked at her, stunned by her words. Her gaze returned to the shrinking window in the mist. As soon as her eyes beheld the slot void of shadows, it closed. There, she was separated by the same man who saved her life three years ago and every day since.

  She told herself that she was with him out of necessity, but could it have been more? She needed to survive, not to make friends. She couldn’t afford to waste any more time, not when her mother was taken that same night. The further they drifted, the more she convinced herself that Rhegon was a means to an end.

  She survived this long because of him.

  But now, he was nothing but another buried soul.

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