To prove the point, I reached into my satchel and pulled out two more bags of jerky. I opened one and handed it to Talon. He took it with a sigh, numbly popping a piece into his mouth as he stared at Carl who was actually skipping behind Virgil.

We left the white district without further fanfare. I glanced back to see a wall separating us and let out a sigh of relief. We walked down another set of descending bridges and sloped ramps that crossed back and forth impossibly, but these were made of diamond or clear crystal of some kind. Talon’s tail twitched at every flicker of shifting light, but he managed to restrain himself.

We didn’t speak. I was too lost in my thoughts, Talon was too frightened of Carl or possibly feeling inadequate as my Shadow – my protector. Carl was too busy sightseeing, frolicking, or singing.

Virgil was Virgil, the awkwardly silent taxi driver.

After what felt like a few more hours, we reached a yawning lake that stretched as far as the eye could see. A lake of blood. Boats drifted here and there full of clouded masses that resembled huddles of souls. I studied them, wondering if Charon was present, or if these were maybe trainees for his replacement when he was too hungover to come to work. Which was probably often.

No boat was at the shore before us, but Virgil waited patiently, not informing us of anything. I went back to studying the lake. Two waterfalls, each a thousand feet high could be seen in the distance – raging, white capped rivers of blood crashing down into the lake. Detritus fell down those waterfalls, too, looking suspiciously like drowning humanoid figures, but it was too far away to be certain.

A low gong echoed through the cavern, and Virgil walked out onto the roiling water. “Don’t fall in,” was all he said, not even glancing back at us. I blinked, turning to Talon and Carl. As they looked at me, I almost took a step back. Their faces were… slightly blurred. Like a charcoal sketch that had been smudged with a thumb. I could still make out their features, but only with effort. Their bodies were the same. Smudged.

They looked just as concerned upon seeing me, telling me all I needed to know.

I set my shoulders and strode after Virgil. “Let’s hurry. There’s nothing to be done about it.”

I heard them murmur their agreement as I stepped into the water.

But my foot didn’t break the surface. I glanced up to see Virgil calmly walking across the constantly roiling lake of blood, also not breaking the surface. He didn’t stumble, even when the water dipped and rose beneath him. Almost like he was hovering over it, but he wasn’t. He was walking on top of the blood in his sandals without faltering once.

I took another step and wobbled as the surface shifted up and then down beneath me. Like a fucking Ninja Warrior obstacle course. Not wanting to get too far behind, and knowing that Virgil wasn’t the kind of guy to wait, I pressed on, hands out for balance as I struggled after our guide. Talon and Carl seemed to be faring much better behind me, but then again, reptiles were used to all sorts of awkward perambulation, and cats had an uncanny ability to always maneuver easily and land on their feet.

Fumbling, bumbling wizards, though? Not so much. I gritted my teeth and hurried as best I could. Just because my feet didn’t break the surface didn’t mean my body wouldn’t if I fell. Remembering what Virgil had said, I crouched down and brushed my hand against the lake of blood. My hand dipped below the surface like any other body of liquid and came out bloody.

I shivered, quickly wiping my hands on my pants as I straightened. My companions grumbled at the revelation – that any misstep could send us into the lake, and that the results probably wouldn’t be favorable. We had to keep our feet.

I had a few near falls, but Talon and Carl kept an eye on me, steadying me often.

At one point, a boat drifted before us, chopping the wake not a foot in front of me as I stared at the huddle of tortured souls in the boat. I didn’t give them my full attention, because my eyes kept darting from the blood I stood on, to the boat cruising right through the same substance, the impossibility of it all making me stumble as the bloody lake shifted up and down, side to side.

We continued on once it passed, and spent the next hour crossing that lake. We reached the waterfall surprisingly fast, and I glanced back at where we had started. It seemed impossibly far away, too far for us to have walked so quickly. I suppressed a shudder and pressed on. Virgil walked under the waterfall, the blood striking an unseen dome that abruptly appeared over his head. He stopped, motioning for us to hurry.

I did, trying to urge my feet faster. That’s when I slipped.

I felt Talon’s claws slice through my shirt as he darted to catch me, but he missed. I struck the bloody lake and sunk like a rock. I paddled and kicked as hard as possible, but it was as if I weighed a million pounds as I saw the surface stretch further and further away.

Mmmmm… a bubbled voice gurgled in my ears. I flinched, spinning back and forth to spot the threat, but saw only crimson darkness. So sweet, a wizard’s blood. Screams so delicious. Bones so crunchy, like shouts of ecstasy in our soul. Sweet spurts of lust and snarls of greed. This one has LIVED, but now he shall die. Forever.

Forever, a new voice agreed.

Forever… A dozen voices this time, all around me.

A crashing sound from up above. I looked up, clawing my hands for the ever-distant surface, and saw a white shape slicing through the depths after me, black fangs extended and snapping like a pale crocodile. Sobek, I thought absently. The Egyptian crocodile God. I flinched, struggling to escape before it latched onto my hair, grabbing a fistful.

Then I was rising with impossible speed, unable to see anything through the swarm of bubbles around me.

Nooooo!

He was OURS! The other voices shrieked, screamed, and roared in those bubbling tones.

I suddenly gasped as I was tossed out of the crimson lake. Strong paws caught me, held me close to a cold chest, and then began jostling me up and down as if trying to shake out loose change. I heard a roaring sound and then I was dumped onto solid ground. Talon stared down at me, shaking me. I blinked at him. “I’m… I’m fine…” I rasped, coughing and wiping at my eyes.

He nodded and then spun. I saw Carl walking calmly towards us, spitting blood from his mouth. He looked more smudged, and not just with charcoal, but with a wine color mixed in.

Talon let out a breath upon seeing the Elder, and when I looked at him, I noticed he had purple smudges around his body and face. I scrambled to my feet and saw Virgil watching us. “We shall rest. We are almost there.”

“If we’re almost there,” I growled, wiping more blood from my face, “then let’s get moving.”

Virgil shook his head. “The door opens in two hours, by your time. We don’t want to wait outside the door. This place is safer. If any place is safe here.”

I considered his words, with nothing about his face to tell me whether he was lying or not. I finally nodded. “Two hours.”

He lay down on the rock floor and closed his eyes. I frowned at him. Why did he need to sleep? Wasn’t he already dead?

A paw gripped my shoulder, gently forcing me down to the ground. I tried to fight it, but something about the touch made me obey. As I sunk down to the ground, even though I was arguing in my mind that I should stand watch this time, I felt lethargy deep in my soul. I finally sat down, letting out a deep breath. I wasn’t sure if I was exhausted from trying to swim or walking across the damned lake.

Talon studied me. I could still make out the scars bisecting his eyes, but much of it was blurred. Like a smudged painting. “Sleep. We need you at full strength. I don’t think – despite our strengths,” he added, glancing back at Carl, “that we can leave this place without you. This man is hiding something, or at least not telling us the full truth. I fear his price.”

“I’ll pay the price and get us out of here. Don’t worry, Talon.”

He nodded distantly, and the smudged face wouldn’t let me determine if he was confident in my answer. He placed a furred paw over my eyes, forcing them closed.

“Sleep, Wylde. Sleep…”