Orseis screamed with delight as the three of them slid down an icy track that Manipule continually formed along the base of their sliding death trap. It put Jan’s near frictionless rock sled to shame. Not only was Manipule’s ride faster, it was also made of a slim layer of frost as thin and delicate as a butterfly’s wing, held together only by Manipule’s attention and ability.

  As usual, Bel had no idea that Manipule could do such a thing. It was another reminder that she was bad at getting to know the people around her. While she was busy brooding, Orseis was having the time of her life.

  “Jump us over those rocks!” the cuttle girl yelled.

  Manipule’s tongue stuck out as she concentrated, and she formed a curved lump of ice that tilted their sled towards a pair of sharp rocks. Bel resisted the instinct to close her eyes.

  Would I survive hitting something at this speed? she wondered. Her essence had regenerated, so she had activated her hasten ability again. She was fairly confident that meant she was moving even faster than it felt. Fast had to be too fast at some point.

  They slid up the side of the rocks, and Bel could see their sharp edges flash by under the fingernail thin layer of ice. Her stomach lurched as they launched into the air and her snakes wriggled down her back as Orseis screamed into her ear.

  “I’m turning off my hasten ability,” Bel declared as Manipule smoothly stuck their landing with a small ramp of ice. “I’m running out of essence and it’ll be too disorienting if we slide into battle and everything is changing speed.” The world brightened and the feeling of the wind hitting her face weakened as her ability ended. Bel breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Boo!” Orseis whined. Bel pretended to be distracted by a giant spider battling starfish made of rock as they sped past.

  Manipule laughed and bumped her shoulder. “Too fast for you?”

  “Shouldn’t you be paying attention?”

  “This part is flat. I could do it half asleep. We just need to dodge all the fighting.”

  Bel’s head turned as they zipped past a group of giants fending off a pack of feral fire spirits.

  “The entrance to the underground is just a tiny hole that Jan opened up,” Bel said. “We’ll have to slow down for it.”

  Manipule grinned wickedly.

  Bel frowned. “It’s barely wider than I am tall.”

  “That’s plenty of room,” the gorgon replied confidently.

  “What’s the matter, Bel?” Orseis said in a mocking tone. “Afraid?”

  Bel’s shoulders squared up and her chin lifted defiantly. “Of course not. If Manipule says she can make it, then we’ll be fine.”

  Manipule struggled to suppress a grin, but a moment later she laughed.

  Bel frowned. Everyone was having far too much fun, at least in her opinion. Sure, Flann would be okay with the priest healing him, but plenty of people had died. Not that Orseis would care – she hadn’t even been there. And Manipule came from a place where death was a daily thing.

  Bel wondered if she was being oversensitive, or if the others were just crazy.

  “Wow, was the building alive too?” Orseis asked, pointing at one of the tower corpses.

  “Yeah,” Bel agreed. “Actually, Manipule, you should steer clear of them. There may be tiny towers ready to burst out from inside.”

  Manipule shook her head with disbelief. “This Technis is a very strange god.”

  “He’s not really a god,” Bel said quickly. “He didn’t ascend or anything. He’s just faking it.”

  Orseis gestured around them with her tentacles. “He ripped open a portal to another world and left enough behind to fight a great spirit. I think you have to admit that he’s powerful.”

  Bel frowned, remembering how Technis’ puppet had been impervious to her group’s attacks. “Yeah, he’s powerful.”

  She pointed. “The hole is over there.”

  Manipule skillfully aimed their sled at the hole. To Bel’s relief, she also slowed down. At the last moment though, they shot past the opening. Bel opened her mouth to object, but Manipule created a ramp that led them straight up, until they curled around in a circle that dropped them straight into the underground passage.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Everyone screamed, but Bel was embarrassed to realize that she was the only was to scream with fear.

  “How, uh, long can you keep this up?” she asked before Orseis could say anything.

  Manipule hummed. “I have perhaps a quarter of my essence remaining.”

  “You’re so efficient!” Orseis gushed.

  Manipule laughed. “Most gorgons have very few abilities, so we learn to use them well. I got my ice abilities and began work with the meat preservation team when I was younger than you.”

  “So how many years is that?” Orseis asked.

  “I am nearly thirty cycles now.”

  “Hah!” Orseis laughed in Bel’s direction. “If I’m like a child to you, then you’re like a child to her!”

  “I’m not a child.”

  “Bel isn’t a child.”

  Bel looked at Manipule, surprised at her serious tone.

  “Bel looks very mature to me,” the Manipule said, her eyes on the path ahead.

  “I don’t actually know how old I am,” Bel admitted. “I would ask Lempo, but I don’t think she knows how to tell time.”

  Orseis rubbed her chin with a stray tentacle. “I thought James knew?”

  Bel shook her head. “No, we just assumed that we were around the same age. The only people who would know for sure would be Technis and his servants.”

  Bel smiled grimly when she thought about Clark’s death. “Maybe just Technis now. I’m not asking him.”

  “Huh. I wonder which of us had the worst childhood.”

  Manipule laughed. “Your childhood is not over yet, and you have us now. The rest of yours will be wonderful.”

  Orseis turned an embarrassed shade, but stuck out her tongue rather than express an honest emotion.

  Manipule smiled as she began to weave their sled from side to side, bleeding off speed. “Bel, I need to bring us to a stop before I run out of essence, so you give her a hug.”

  Orseis crossed her free tentacles over her shoulders, attempting to ward off any affect. In a fit of vindictive mischief, Bel tickled her exposed stomach instead. The sled quickly shattered under Orseis frantic kicking and they were all dumped unceremoniously on the ground.

  Bel grabbed her travel box with one arm and Orseis with another and they quickly skid to a halt. Manipule lay on the ground nearby, laughing at them.

  A smile tugged at the corner of Bel’s mouth, but she pushed it down. With everyone going on, smiling wouldn’t be appropriate. But Orseis tried to tickle her with her long tentacles, and Bel was forced to retaliate.

  “Are we there yet?” Orseis groaned.

  Bel’s snakes curled with frustration. “You know we aren’t.”

  “Haven’t you two gotten your essence back yet?”

  “No,” Bel scolded the whining cuttle-girl, “so we’re stuck walking. If you’re so annoyed with walking, why don’t you get an ability to make us move faster?”

  “I only have good abilities,” Orseis answered proudly.

  “This is why we do not let our children choose their own abilities,” Manipule whispered to Bel. “They always make choices that they regret when they are older.”

  “Hey!”

  Bel smiled slightly at Manipule’s teasing. Bel’s stress had been pushed aside by her bone-deep weariness, and now she was struggling to keep her feet moving.

  “Why are we even rushing?” she groaned aloud. “Dutcha probably gave up on me an hour ago.”

  No one answered her, and Bel realized that she’d probably been complaining as much as Orseis. She opened her mouth to apologize, but shouted in surprise instead.

  “Look! It’s everyone else!”

  She pointed to the group trudging in their direction.

  “Does that mean Dutcha gave up on holding the portal open?” Orseis asked.

  Bel grimaced. “I guess we’ll find out.”

  They picked up their pace, and soon they were close enough to shout.

  “What happened to Flann?” Jan yelled. “Is he okay?”

  The short meerkat semi-human trotted over to Bel, his tail whipping from side to side with agitation. “Well?”

  “I left him with the priest,” Bel replied. “He’s stable, and the priest didn’t seem too concerned.”

  Jan’s rubbed his paws against his fur. “I’ve gotta hurry back.”

  “There are a bunch of monsters out there,” Orseis warned the old man.

  The rest of the survivors caught up, and Bel raised her hand in greeting. They wearily waved back, and Beth flash her a cocky grin.

  Bel glanced at Jan, who was nervously hoping from foot to foot. “Don’t get distracted up there. If may be safer to wait for things on the surface to calm down.”

  Crecerelle hugged Manipule and turned to Bel for the traditional gorgon greeting. Then she hugged Orseis, teasing the squirming cuttle-girl with a few hisses of her hair snakes.

  “What happened to Dutcha?” Bel asked.

  “She’s falling apart,” Beth replied.

  “I know she’s angry at me, but what’s she doing?”

  “Nah, she’s literally falling into pieces,” the whip-wielding delver replied.

  “They’re melting off of her,” Beth explained.

  “Oh. That’s, uh, bad.”

  “You sure you want to try to talk with her?” Beth asked. “I thought you decided to save Flann rather than go through her portal. I wasn’t really paying much attention at the time.”

  “I’ve got to try. If Seth is right–” Bel nodded to the quiet scorpion man. “–then the thing we got from the cat girls could be a key to open some kind of portal. Dutcha said that she couldn’t open one without Technis’ key, but maybe this one is good too.”

  Beth rubbed the pommel of one of her daggers. “You want me to come and help? You know, in case your spirit mom is going crazy?”

  “Beth, you can’t even walk straight without leaning on Seth. It’s my responsibility to hunt down Technis.”

  Beth looked at Manipule and Orseis. “And these two are joining you?”

  “Yup,” Orseis exclaimed with enthusiasm.

  “If we can,” Manipule added.

  “Yeah, if we can still get there,” Bel said. “Did Dutcha still have that portal open? If she does, we don’t even need this mystery key.”

  Beth shrugged. “Don’t look at me.”

  “It was too dangerous for us to stay,” Cress explained.

  “And the furry man wanted to leave,” the delver added.

  Jan was shifting from one foot to the other, clearly eager to go.

  Bel knelt down and hugged him. “Take care of yourself, old man.”

  He patted her on the shoulder. “You too, young’un.”

  Beth gave her an awkward hug too. “Good luck talking with your mom. And good luck in the Old World. Who knows what Technis has gotten up to with his head start.”