Page 100 of An Invocation of Monsters

“Go into eternity,” Toth said, his voice almost gentle now.

The shimmering colors were flowing faster, distorting into colors no human eye had ever seen. The blurred shape of a window began to open.

Toth released the spirit into the window, and it vanished with a grateful sigh.

His claws withdrew, and the creature’s body collapsed to the ground, limp and empty.

My monster looked up at me, then his gaze focused on something beyond.

I turned my head, sure that I couldn’t take any more terror. My chest ached from my galloping heartbeat.

But, thank my lucky stars, there were no more murderous creatures.

“Take her and calm her,” Toth ordered. “Protect her. I do not wish for her to watch while I… take care of this.”

I reached out gratefully for Drazan’s flickering tentacles, and he silently pulled me into the deep.

31

Drazan

Be calm, my precious one, I told her, pulling her into the comforting embrace of the water. It is gone. Toth has ensured it will never touch you.

I gripped her carefully, feeling the panic transferred through her shaking fingers as she groped at my tentacles.

Gently, little by little, I fed air to her, sensing her racing pulse through my sensitive appendages.

It took some time before I sensed her heart slowing to a normal pace. I let my tentacles wander, stroking her arms and legs, twining through her hair. Her nails no longer dug into me painfully.

Flashing soothing colors at her—pale blues and greens, touches of violet—I brought her further below.

All will be well, I said, and relief flowed through me when she met my eyes, pressing her hand flat against the tentacle I kept wound around her stomach.

She opened her mouth, sending a flurry of bubbles to the surface. Her muscles tensed in my grip when she looked up, following the sight of them vanishing far above.

I’d never brought her this far below before, but the time was now.

She would see where I had slept for a thousand years, the remnants left by those who came before.

Now they were my kingdom, and it would be hers as well.

Allowing her to float within my grasp, I freed my hands. Air and water were as putty to me, clay within a sculptor’s grasp.

Pinching delicately, pulling oxygen from the water around us, I smoothed the surface of the bubble that would grant Elle the ability to follow me.

She watched with wide eyes, her hair floating around her in a scarlet cloud that made the water look bloody. Her colors were pleasing to me, a bright fleck of fire against the shadows of the Void.

I fit the bubble around her face, smoothing the edges to conform to her sharp jaw and high cheekbones. She smiled at me tentatively, reaching out to stroke my wrists as I worked.

Now you will breathe as I do, I told her. You will see all the wonders of my kingdom.

I released her, and with the litheness of a fish born to water, she swam towards me, her hair streaming behind her.

Come, little one. I moved deeper into the abyss, and extended a tentacle.

Elle reached out, letting the tip around her fingers to bring her further. She kicked, following me deeper and deeper, until the only lights emanated from my being.

I allowed them to brighten, feeling tension in her grasp. If only Elle knew how I read her, felt the pulse of her blood, felt the movement of every tiny muscle.

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