Page 18 of Legendary

Never forget who you are when you’re down there. The darkness is familiar but that doesn’t always mean it’s the right choice. Always remember who you are.

I knew Purgatory like the back of my hand. It had never felt like home, but itwasfamiliar like she claimed. I would never shy away from its darkness, then again, why was I letting her words affect me like this. I was giving them much more thought that I originally assumed I would.

The light from the portal started to blind us. Elise did a giddy little shimmy before tossing the key back to Nicholas. She stepped into the portaland disappeared. Reese followed behind, hesitantly almost looking like he wanted to run in the other direction rather than step foot into this fucking portal. Nicholas clasped the key back around his neck and tucked it back into his shirt.

I tilted my face up to look at him. His profile caught me off guard. He looked so ready for this, yet there was something under the surface. Something I couldn’t pinpoint. It was something I wasn’t used to seeing when I really focused on him.

It was like he could feel me staring at him because he eventually looked down at me, right as he was about to walk forward. “What?” His voice was deep, and his eyes bore down on me.

I could feel the corner of my lips twitching upwards. Purgatory could be a scary place, but it could also be a place to let go of your inhibitions if you let it. It could even ease the mind of an over-thinker. I licked my lips and blinked up at him. “You plan to be more than just an angelic night light down there?”

He looked over his shoulder at the portal and then back at me, tilting his head to the side. “I planned on it.”

I extended my arm and cupped his chin, letting my thumb graze over his jaw. The scar under his eye ticked as he kept my eye contact. His chest rose and fell, pretending like it didn’t want to rampage at my closeness. “Good. I look forward to seeing what kind of angelic magic you have in store, Nicholas. I have a feeling you’ve been withholding. Although I, for one, can’t wait to see you handle yourswordagain.” I let the innuendo roll off my tongue. I wanted to rile him up, but I, in no way, shape or form was allowing him to get hisswordanywhere near me until he told me what I wanted to hear.

I tapped my fingers against his cheek as I slid my hand away and sauntered off towards the portal. My angelic light whispered and moved inside of me, but I didn’t speak back. I couldn’t have it hold me back even if I knew how tofuckingtalk to it. I wasn’t choosing one over the other, but there wasn’t much of a choice when the scales were unbalanced in my favor anyway. I knew who I was though, I wouldn’t forget that. Despite what Natalia thought.

I heard him shuffle around and follow behind me as I stepped through the glowing light of the portal, catching Natalia and Zane in my peripheral vision. Nicholas would have to get used to that now that we were heading into my side of the realms. Whether he did it blindly or with open eyes, he would have to follow me.Trust, as Elise so eloquently put it.

And I could guarantee when it came to me, he didn’t mind.

NICK

The portal seemed to suck us in and then spit us out as if it knew where we were going. I landed right behind Dani nearly running into her with the way that magic portal pushed me out. The moment my feet hit the ground in Purgatory, it was like everything changed. The air was thicker and heady. Wherever we landed smelled like what lingers when a candle is snuffed out. It wasn’t dark, but there was no real sunlight anywhere, just flickers of light from the surrounding area. I had no clue if time was the same down here as it was in Heaven’s Gate. It looked like it was mid evening but it very well could have been early morning here. There were trees behind us that stayed still as statues, as not even a gust of wind whipped by. I looked forward and saw a bridge. It was wide and curved upwards, made of weathered stone. Water lay beneath it, still and almost peaceful. Candles hung from the columns along the bridge, casting a glowing pathway for us. Their flames were a raging red, overpowering the oranges and yellows of a normal flame.

There was a silence I wasn’t used to. It was a bit soothing but inPurgatory I didn’t know if soothing was really all that great.

“This way,” Elise ordered, marching ahead of us.

“Are you going to tell us where we’re going?” I asked, suspicious.

“You’ll know when we get there,” she answered, not bothering to look back at me.

Reese walked beside me as we both begrudgingly followed behind her. “I don’t like this.”

I readjusted my sword that was slung along my back. “Neither do I, but this is all we’ve got for now.”

“Yeah, that makes me more nervous. We are trusting Elise of all people to find a place to keep ussafe.” Reese let out an erratic laugh as if he couldn’t believe the words coming out his mouth.

“You two fuckers could have stayed at home with Daddy Cassial alright, so please shut your fucking mouths,” Elise yelled from the front of the line.

I heard the crunch of something hard under my feet. I stopped walking to bend down and get a better look. I grazed my hand over what I realized was broken stone. I followed the path and noticed that most of the stones were broken, either completely split or shattered into pieces causing it to resemble gravel. The light from the bridge allowed me to see what should have been grass, but it looked like it had been begging for water for quite some time. The coloring was brown and there were patches that were merely spots of dirt.

“You get too far behind, you’ll get lost.” I raised my head up to see Dani hovering over me. She had her hands on her hips, tilting her head to the side.

“Is all of Purgatory like this?” I asked, pushing off the ground and towering over her again.

She looked around as if none of this was new to her, but there was something about the way her shoulders seemed a little too tense. “No, some parts are better than others. This isn’t even the worst of it actually.”

“And you have no idea where she could be taking us?” I questioned, looking back towards the bridge, noticing Reese starting to look back and slow his pace.

Dani began to walk around me and shook her head. “No, Nicholas. I haven’t had a full conversation with her in months. Besides, there are a lot of things about Elise I don’t know, so this will be a fun discovery for all of us.” She turned around and I watched her walk away for a few seconds, taking in the entire shape of her that was illuminated by the candle lights.

I ran a hand through my hair, rallying my thoughts before I jogged over to the others, who just happened to be halfway onto the bridge.

The bridge was sturdy and solid stone. As we walked across it the airseemed to range from incredibly thick like before to normal everyday air. It was as if I had to adjust my breathing every few minutes. The smoke from the flames dissipated in the air and the candle wicks crackled a bit. I wasn’t used to being able to hear every little thing, but now that I could it was overwhelming.

“We’re on the outskirts, if you must know,” Elise offered. She pointed towards the northeast and my gaze followed her extended arm. A large building that looked almost medieval from this distance sat on a tall hill. Everything looked like a dark shadow from here, but I could make out its pointed towers and the ominous way about it. “That is where the enemy lies.”

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