Page 14 of The Dark Rises
Not far from the entrance, we come to a small mountain. This is the location. I glance around the base, but there’s no sign of Madoc. Sensing magic above me, I look up. Halfway up the side is a cave, firelight rippling across its stone mouth.
I look at Lux. “Stay here. Alert only. Understood?” My voice is barely a whisper, but he nods his head several times.
Scampering into the nearest shadow, he settles in. Eyes peeled for danger, he doesn’t even blink. Maybe I should consider taking him on more missions.
With a boost of magic, I step to the entrance of the cave, only to find a knife at my throat. I raise my eyebrow in disbelief at his choice of weapon. With all the magic at his disposal, his choice is primitive, but says a lot about his confidence.
He clucks his tongue in irritation. “What are you doing here?” Crossing to the fireplace, he sits down and resumeseating, but his predatory gaze never leaves me despite his nonchalant demeanor.
“Are you really trying to convince me you’re camping in the Wilds?” I ask derisively. Does he think I’m stupid? I cast my magic to the corners of the room as I take a deep breath. Mmm. The saturated tones of dark magic.
He smirks at me. “It’s safe enough. Better than getting caught between the Lesser and aristocratic light Fae.” A weary look crosses his scruffy face. His dusty clothes reflect the amount of traveling he’s done today. “I haven’t caught one whiff of Brixton or Rivan. Or any Phoenix, for that matter. It’s as if they’ve disappeared from the Fae lands.”
I say nothing, concentrating only on finding the source of the disturbance I sense in the air. Magic ripples in the corner, and I send mine to intercept. Camouflaged, the huge creature moves forward, magic pulsing in my direction, but Madoc jumps between us and blocks it.
“Stop!” he shouts at the semi-transparent… thing. “He isn’t here to harm us. Friend. Friend.”
His words reverberate off the stone walls, but they have the desired effect. The creature solidifies in front of us.
“Friend?” it asks. Head brushing the ceiling, the… monster… stares down at me with pitch black eyes as if he’s contemplating my demise.
“Friend,” Madoc confirms with a snort. “Don’t take this to heart, Cormal. Our relationship will be as brief as your time in this cave.”
Wiry hair covers a rough, textured body. Long, dark hair cascades down from a face that is decidedly not human in structure. Demon origin, maybe. Thick protruding brow. Mouth full of sharp, pointed teeth. Five-inch claws at the end of each of its fingers. Bow-legged, it stands at an awkward angle.
“He grows, doesn’t he?” I ask Madoc, eyeing the muscles stacked on top of each other. “How tall?”
Madoc grunts. “He could grow as tall as the mountain around us if he wished, but it would take him a while to shrink again. The process is painful too. This is his preferred size.” With a swipe of his tongue, he licks his finger and tosses the large bone to the creature who catches it in a lightning fast move.
“Is this the monster Callyx is hunting for Lucifer?” I ask, my gaze catching on the brand on the monster’s hip. It’s the devil’s mark.
Silence reigns for several minutes. “Does it matter? He only hurt one person his whole life. Granted, it was a demon prince, which is why he landed where he did. But if we were counting kills, I’m sure you and I would surpass his record by at least a few hundred.”
“It must have been a long time ago,” I say slowly, trying to figure out when the last prince died. At least a couple of thousand years ago. Way before my time. “It’s odd that nobody has ever talked about it.” Demons love to gossip, and time has no meaning to them. They’re just as likely to talk about a prince dying today as they did yesterday.
“That’s because it was the devil’s own brother.” Madoc sneers. “He was sent to The Below for one lapse in judgement.” Anger sets in the line of his jaw. “An entire life ruined because of who he killed.” Bitterness seeps from his lips.
“How did you two meet? If he was in The Below all this time?”
“Because I was there, too,” he reveals. “For some reason, Aamon chose to protect me. Now, I do the same for him.”
Shock renders me speechless. Of all the secrets I thought he might be hiding, none of them came close to the truth. “How the hell did you get out? There’s only one tunnel in and out, and it’s a maze of deadly traps.”
“Would you believe me if I said an angel?” He shakes his head as if he still can’t believe it.
The creature must decide I’m not a threat because he plops down beside Madoc and reaches for the bone in his hand. Quicker than I can see, Madoc cuts his hand. Roaring, he jumps to his feet and towers over Madoc, who does nothing.
“You already had your share. I told you I was hungry,” Madoc explains to him as if he’s a child. “I’ll give you what’s left when I’m finished.”
Huffing and stomping his feet, he circles around and lies down with his back to Madoc.
“As you can see, he’s like a child. Something happened in his development, and he never matured into an adult,” Madoc explains to me as he finishes his meal.
Similar to Lux.
“Gabriel,” I state confidently. Lucifer sent him there to cool off. When he retrieved him, his wings had been cut off. “How did you get him to give up his wings?”
“The Below has a way of stripping you bare. Gabriel thought he was strong until he faced the true monsters of the deep. One monster’s favorite torture tool is the mirror. It’s spelled to display only the darkest truths about yourself, the ones buried deep inside that you never let out. After a while, he broke. Begged us to protect him. Our price was his wings,” Madoc reveals, his voice full of satisfaction.
