“I mean, it makes a statement,” Dina whispers back and despite everything I laugh.
“You’re right,” I tell her. “Let’s see what they think of it.” I take a tentative step over the threshold and then another. When nothing happens, I pick up the pace. The floor is stone here, so are the walls. The room we’re in almost looks like the tunnels but it’s newer. It opens up into a vestibule and then into another room. This one is circular, the walls and floor a dark black stone. Over the floors there are thick, red carpets embroidered with golden thread and all along the walls massive banners hang. Each of them shows an apocalyptic scene featuring worlds crumbling, cities on fire, and then finally the sharp teeth of a World Eater devouring a body. There are five doors leading out from the room. The doors I kicked rest up against a raised dais in the center with a stone basin in the middle that sparkles in the sunlight streaming in from the ceiling, which is one giant glass window. Early afternoon sun streams into the room making it light and bright. It’s almost serene in the quiet. The sunny atmosphere at odds with the medieval torture chamber vibe the room has going on.
“What the hells kind of Chamber of Commerce is this?” I ask, turning in a circle to take in the room. I see tall lit braziers at each doorway as well as a sword resting on a rack. In the corner a cage is suspended from the ceiling which would be concerning on its own but there’s a blonde man with blood on his face inside. He grabs the bars and rattles them with a sob.
“Are all Chamber of Commerces like this?”
Jaak steps up beside me and looks around. “I would say not. This is a World Eater Temple. Each tapestry you see depicts a step in their feeding cycle. Their acolytes worship here. Thiswill be where the last offering is made when the time for their feeding comes.”
“That explains the vibe and all the teeth.”
“Help me!” he moans, reaching a hand out to us. He’s dirty, barefoot, and in a ripped business suit. Whatever happened to him hasn’t been easy. I wonder how long he’s been hanging there in that cage.
I sheath my swords and start to head for the man. “We have to help him. Come on.”
Dina grabs my arm. “No, don’t. Leave him.”
I look at her in confusion. “But he needs our help. We can’t just leave him up there. You heard Jaak about the last offering. What if it’s him?”
“Offering or not. He’s my husband.”
“Ha! So we didn’t explode him!”
Dina gives me a confused look. “Um, exactly. Now leave him. He called this horror down on us. I hope he’s the last offering. He did it knowing exactly what it would bring. I’m done cleaning up his messes.” Dina glares at the man spinning in the cage with a look of disgust. “He made this happen. He can pay for it.”
We all back away from the cage but we hardly get a step in the opposite direction when Dina’s husband shouts.
“You can’t leave me here! Dina! Get your ass back here you ungrateful bitch! You would be nothing without me! Nothing, Dina! You’re trash, Dina! I married you when no one else would touch you!” She flips him off and we keep walking while he carries on screaming at her.
“You’re a freak, Dina! You and that witch family of yours. You think people in town haven’t talked about how you’re cursed? No one wanted you. Just me. You should be grateful I gave you the time of day you witch bitch.”
Mort makes a face. “He’s a bit mouthy for a man in a cage, isn’t he?”
“He is. Just ignore him.” I’m about to check out the mystery bowl on the dais when he yells again.
“I know where they’re keeping your precious Clyde!”
We all stop when he says that. Shit. Clyde is Dina’s whole deal and as little time as I’ve known her he’s my deal too now that she’s a part of the group.
I lift a sword and point it in her shitty husband’s direction. “Where is he?”
“Who the fuck are you? I’m not talking to you Ren Faire freaks! Are those even real swords?”
“I’m the witch bitch that’s going to cut your tongue out and make you swallow it, that’s who the fuck I am. Now tell us where Clyde is or I’m going to show you exactly how fake this sword is.”
Dina’s husband slams his hands against the bars. “You can’t do this to me, Dina. You cheating whore. Thought I didn’t know about Clyde, I did. That’s why they grabbed him. I offered him right up to her.”
Dina stomps over to his cage and jabs her staff through the bars to hit her husband in the mouth. Not once, but twice. The whole thing takes maybe five seconds and I watch with an open mouth the same as everyone else. I didn’t see this coming at all.
“I never cheated on you,” she growls. “Clyde was a friend and even though I loved him I didn’t say a word. Not like you carrying on with half the town. You think I don’t know about Ali and Jen because I do! Since the day we got married you’ve had Jen in our house!”
Mort gasps beside me. “Jen at the floral shop? Really? I never pegged her for that sort. Who else is a cheater in town?”
“You’ve been running around on me for years, so I made a friend. It’s not my fault I fell in love with him.” She jabs him again with her staff, this time in the gut. I sheath my swords and clasp my hands behind my back. I am not needed here at all. “Now where is he, Dustin? And don’t think for a second I’mscared of you anymore. I told you not to mess around with the Chamber of Commerce but did you listen to me? No. You just had to join for the free parking passes. Why would you even want them when we don’t have cars?!”
“Not now, sure but one day we will, and parking is exorbitant. I won’t pay to park in my own town.”
I clear my throat and walk towards them both. “Hi, I don’t want to get in the middle of this but we’ve got an apocalypse kind of happening here, so to speed this along, just tell us where Clyde is and we’ll let you out after we stop the end of the world.”
