Page 39 of Whispers of the Magical Forest

It took us nearly twenty minutes to create a safe passage through the wards. By the end, my phoenix was screaming to be released so it could burn away all this corruption. The entrance we revealed led to steep stone stairs descending into darkness. "Right then," I said as I called more phoenix fire to light our way. "Let's go see what horrors await us in the Hambledon Underground. It's probably not as crowded as the London Tube."

Fiona smirked at me. "It might be as dangerous, though."

"The Department's architectural records didn't show half of what's down here," Gadross added grimly as we descended.

The stairs opened into a massive chamber that made my heart stop. Rows of containment circles filled the space. Each held a supernatural being in various stages of power drain. The magic that pervaded the air was thick with death and corruption.

"Oh gods," I breathed as my fire revealed the full horror of what was happening. The leader was draining power from these beings and transforming it so he could use it for his dark ritual. The process was like watching someone try to turn wine into poison. Here, he was using living souls instead of grapes.

"We need to help them," Fiona started forward, but Basheld her back.

"Their cores have been corrupted," I explained. I nearly lost what little food I had in my stomach. "The process is not reversible. If we had time, I would burn this place to the ground and put them out of their misery."

"We can't alert the leader to our presence," Fiona replied with a sigh as we continued.

"Each circle shows signs of prolonged power extraction," Gadross noted, his voice tight with horror as he examined the nearest containment field. "They've been here for months, maybe years."

We hadn't gone too far when a sudden surge of power made me reel. It was Bas and Argies. They'd combined their abilities. Dragon fire merged with Fae magic in a display that would have been beautiful if it wasn't born of desperation. The combined force shattered major barriers that had been hiding chambers.

"So much for a stealthy approach," I muttered as alarms shrieked through the complex. The sound was like having a fire alarm go off inside your skull.

"There," Argies growled, already moving forward. His nostrils flared as he caught Aislinn's scent. "She was here recently. The trail leads deeper."

Fresh blood marred the floor near one of the circles. Based on how Argies was reacting, it was Aislinn's blood. They'd moved her shortly before we arrived. Just our bloody luck. "Don't touch anything," I warned as we proceeded. "The corruption is active here. It's trying to-"

The shadows ahead of us condensed and formed into a familiar figure. Peterson stood before us. Though 'stood' might be generous. He sort of flowed like oil on water. His form rippled between solid and shadow, and purple energy leaked from his eyes.

"Bloody hell," I breathed. "What have they done to you?"

Gadross shifted into a defensive stance beside me, his expression grim as he assessed what Peterson had become. "They've shown me true power," he replied in a voice that echoed wrongly. "The kind your precious Department tries to suppress. The old ways are returning, and the vessels will-"

Thanos interrupted him with a blast of demigod magic that should have incinerated him. Instead, Peterson flowed around it like liquid darkness. He moved faster than I thought possible. I screamed when he materialized behind Thanos with claws of shadow aimed at his throat.

I reacted on instinct. Phoenix fire erupted from my hands. The golden flames caught Peterson mid-strike. For a moment, his form solidified enough for us to see what he'd become. The corruption had eaten away his humanity. It left something that existed between states of being. Something dark had replaced blood in his veins. He was a living conduit for dark magic.

"You are the final vessels and have walked into our trap," he snarled as he danced away from my flames. "When the moon reaches its peak, the First Ones will have their anchor in this world. Your power will open the way."

"Not bloody likely," I shot back as I gathered more fire. "We're getting her back. Then we're going to dismantle everything you've built here."

His laugh was like breaking glass. "You don't understand. This can't be stopped. It spreads through all it touches." His gaze fixed on Fiona's wound meaningfully. "Every defense broken, every barrier crossed just feeds it. Even now, your friend's power transforms. Soon she'll be-"

Argies's dragon fire cut him off, but Peterson was already moving. He flowed into the shadows cast by my flames. He used them as paths we couldn't follow. His final words echoed back to us. "Time grows short.When midnight comes, the old ways return. You will serve as the perfect vessels. The rest of you will also serve in time."

"Well," Fiona said into the silence that followed, "that was dramatic, wasn't it? Though I have to say, the whole 'liquid shadow' thing really isn't a good look on him."

"His magical signature has been completely rewritten," Gadross said, studying the residual energy with a mix of horror and fascination. "There's almost nothing left of his original pattern."

I examined the traces of Peterson's essence. "If they've done that to Aislinn..."

"They haven't," Argies growled as he cut me off. His hands were smoking with barely contained dragon fire. "Her scent is still pure. But it's getting weaker. We need to move."

"At least we know we're getting close," Thanos pointed out as we moved deeper into the complex. "And we have time. It's not even morning yet. They need the moon at its peak. That gives us several hours."

"Several hours to find Aislinn, stop an apocalyptic ritual, and deal with an entire pack of shadow-corrupted shifters," Fiona summarized. "Plus, whatever other horrors they've got waiting down here. Should be a piece of cake, yeah?"

I was about to reply when my senses screamed a warning. The energy ahead was different. It pulsed with a rhythm that made my magical core recoil. We were getting close to something. Something big.

"Does anyone else feel that?" I asked, though based on their expressions, they did. "Whatever is going on ahead has a heartbeat."

---