Page 72 of Hex
There’s a portal at the end of the hall, the same one we entered through when we arrived, and I make a beeline straight for it. The station in The Shade is as busy as ever, but I ignore everyone and head toward the Faloria section. Standing in front of my exit, I eye the address in my palm, knowing these things can take me almost directly to my destination, depending on how far away the nearest connecting portal is.
I step through, readying myself for the unexpected, but I’m not ready. Not at all.
What greets me is a dungeon. An actual, real life dungeon. It’s as though I have just appeared from within the wall behind me, and rows of doors line the long space.
“Hey, who are you? What’re you doing down here?”
Shit.
A harpy with an evil sneer on her face charges me but I’m not panicking. Yet.
I throw a dagger at her and it misses, so I throw another, and another…
Yes! The last one hit her bird-like leg and is now sticking out of her flesh.
The scream that she yells out is nearly deafening and I need her to shut the fuck up, quickly, before she encourages her friends to join the party.
Without thinking too much on it, I go for what is becoming my old faithful…shooting balls of fire at a much better success rate than the daggers. Her squeals turn into squawks seconds before she is burned to a crisp at my feet.
She must have been the warden here or something because a huge chain full of keys falls to the ground with her ashes, and I have to smile.
The Moirai have to be on my side here. After all the shit, this is my reward, the balance.
“Sage?” Shadows dance across the bars of the door to my left and I think my blinking problem is starting up again because I can’t stop. What I’m seeing can’t be real.
Well, it can, because it is, butfuck.
“Slay? Why are you there?” I start trying key after key, hoping one of them will work in the lock of his door.
I can just about see him through the small rectangle of bars, acting as a sort of window through the solid steel. Or Iron…it’s silver and hard as fuck.
“Dei Rafi drugged us. Danika is here, too.” His words are slurred, and now his face is clear I can see how worn he looks.
Anger ripples through me. Dei or no Dei, Rafi just hit the top of my shit list.
Finally, one of the keys works and I manage to heave the door open. “Is Pierce here somewhere?”
“Here!” His voice carries from the cell next to Slay’s.
After a lot of fiddling, I unlock his door, too, relieved that they’re both here, even if they are still suffering the effects of whatever they were drugged with.
“Where’s Danika?” I start peeking inside the other cells, disappointed every time it isn’t my best friend.
“She has her own room upstairs. Top floor,” Slay answers first, and at least he’s standing, leaning against the ragged texture of the wall.
I knew this was all too easy.
“Go back through the portal over there. Slash and Hack are at Samhain’s castle in Heyl. He needs you.” I begin marching toward the stairs, halfway down the hall.
“The fuck he does. Hack’s fine. What about you?” Slay’s accusing tone is promptly ignored by me as I carry on. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?” I whip around to find he has caught up with me, they both have, and I’m feeling extra cursey right now. “I’m going to go and save my best fucking friend. You two are still recovering from whatever those cells and the poison did to you, so let me do this. I’ll be discreet and fast and no one will know I was there.” Optimism is in full force as I spin on my heel without waiting for a response.
Footsteps follow behind me and I roll my eyes, but I don’t comment on it because that would waste valuable time.
One of the keys eventually unlocks the door at the top of the stairs. Before I open it, I listen for anyone who might be close, but it’s only silence that greets me.Good.
Pushing the door slowly, I poke my head out of the gap to give a quick visual check of the surroundings.
