River
Kobal led us away from the Asharún and through a side tunnel. The tip of some of the black and red rocks scraped my skin while I walked through it. Before me, Kobal turned sideways to avoid the rocks before being able to walk straight again. More of those deadly rocks hovered above our heads, waiting to break free and slice someone in half.
The further we moved away from the Asharún, the less I felt the effects of the wraiths. Midnight blue sparks raced across my fingertips when I ran them over the rocks and drew on the pulse of life in them. The ache in my brutalized lungs eased with every breath I took, yet I was beginning to lag.
I thought I’d been hot in Hell before, but it was nothing compared to now. Sweat ran down my forehead and back, adhering my dress to me. I pulled at my soggy collar, trying to get some air against my skin; it didn’t help. I wiped the sweat away from my eyes, but no sooner had I done so than more of it stuck my lashes together.
For the first time, I understood what a lobster felt like when it was first thrown into the pot, and I vowed to never eat the crustacean again.
When Kobal glanced back at me, I forced a smile. I didn’t need a mirror to know I looked like week-old dog crap, but I refused to let him carry me through here. I’d let him carry me across that cavern filled with the dead monsters who escaped the seals. I wouldn’t let him do it again. I had to stand on my own in this place; it would eat me alive otherwise.
I might take a wraith right now though. They may drain my abilities and weaken me, but I would almost welcome their wintry presence to ease my increasing discomfort in this suffocating heat.
I glanced over at Hawk, but he wasn’t sweating anywhere near as bad as me. Because he’s a demon now too, I reminded myself.
Still, sometimes I forgot that this man, who had once been more human than me, was now more demon than me. Hawk could be changed into a demon and have their immortality. If other humans survived the change, they could also have the demon’s immortality too. I would never be able to have it without risking my connection to all living things, and Kobal refused to take that risk with me.
I understood why; the last thing I wanted was to become like Lucifer and the other fallen angels, but I would give almost anything to have an eternity with Kobal. I couldn’t deny that I still harbored a teeny hope that we would discover it was possible to turn me into a demon without severing my connection to all life.
My gaze landed on Kobal’s broad back. I watched his muscles and his markings bunch and flow with every step he took. He was the strongest and most powerful being I knew, yet not even he would be able to stop my eventual death.
Whether my demise be tomorrow or a thousand years from now—some of my ancestors, such as Noah, had managed to live far longer than they should have—I would still die. My ancestors’ lengthy lives most likely came from their ability to draw on the flow of life, even if they hadn’t known they were doing it at the time.
Kobal stepped out of the side passageway. He turned to extend his hand to me. Taking it, I climbed out from between the walls and into a massive cavern. The heat slapped me in the face with enough force to suck the breath out of me. I wheezed to get air into my shocked lungs as sweat poured down me, soaking me as thoroughly as my dip in the Asharún. I didn’t bother to pull my dress away from me again; it cleaved to my body, but extra movement was not an option. Moving would only create more heat and more sweat.
“River—”
“Fine!” I wheezed before Kobal decided to either take me back or carry me through here. “I’m fine. Keep going.”
My legs wobbled when I stepped forward, but I steadied them beneath me as a muscle twitched in Kobal’s cheek.
Walking caused more sweat to pour down me. My lips cracked and my mouth felt like I’d made sand my new favorite snack, but I didn’t ask for the water some of the skelleins carried for me. I’d drink it all if I got my hands on it, and I wanted out of this place more than I craved a drink.
Our footsteps echoed off the walls surrounding us. We couldn’t hide that we were coming from anything ahead, but we’d be able to see anything coming at us from over two hundred feet away. Tilting my head back, I blinked at the smooth, rounded ceiling a hundred feet above me. The glow of a distant fire bounced off the black rocks, turning some of them gray. The glow and those gray rocks were the only color in this drab area.
Hell shadows danced over the walls, keeping rhythm with the flickering flames. The shadows moved in a sinuous, almost memorizing dance. They unnerved me with their ability to leap and jump in ways no normal shadow could, but they were fascinating to watch.
When my knees nearly gave out on me, I staggered forward a step before righting myself. “Let me carry you,” Kobal grated from between his teeth.
My attempt to swallow was thwarted by my severe lack of saliva. “No.”
“It’s not a sign of weakness to require help. You are not from here. You’ll exhaust yourself by being stubborn.”
“Maybe, but this is something I have to do,” I croaked.
Kobal growled in frustration and made a move to grab me. For a second, I thought he was going to completely disregard my wishes, but his hands fell back to his sides. His black eyes shifted to amber when they met mine, and I knew what it had taken for him not to do as he wanted.
At one time, he would have ignored my words and tossed me over his shoulder. I had no doubt he would carry me out of here if he believed I was in danger, but for now he’d listened to me.
I almost threw myself into his arms to hug him close. Instead, I smiled at him. He stared at me for a minute before reluctantly turning away.
As we walked across the cavern, I finally spotted the source of the heat and the glow playing over the walls. Fifty feet away, fire rolled onto a rock ledge before receding again. The ebb and flow of it reminded me of the sea. The crackle of the flames almost sounded like the crashing of waves on the sand. Unlike the sea, white plumes of spray didn’t shoot up from it when it reached the shore, instead yellow and orange sparks floated through the air before vanishing into the shade above.
“An ocean in Hell,” I whispered. “Is that the oracle?”
“It is,” Kobal confirmed.
I missed the ocean. Missed the salt of it on my lips, the soothing flow of its waves against the shore, and the cries of the birds soaring above. This crashing fire had none of the teeming life the sea did, but it still drew me toward it.
Stopping at the edge of the waves, I gazed out over the oracle. The fires rolled on for a good hundred yards before slipping beneath the wall across from me. “Where does it come from?” I asked.
“The oracle is an extension of the Fires of Creation,” Kobal said from beside me. “This chamber doesn’t possess the same amount of power as the chamber housing the Fires, but there is enough here that the human world can be looked upon. Because the fire here isn’t as strong, we can get closer to the oracle.”
I remembered gazing down into the Fires of Creation that had forged Kobal and thinking how angry and hot the flames looked. Now that heat blasted against me, but nothing would deter me from getting closer to it.
My heart beat faster with every step I took toward the fiery sea. I yearned to peer into the oracle and see my brothers. I had to know Gage and Bailey were alive. I’d sacrifice everything for them and would do anything to ensure they had a future.
The trembling in my legs grew, but it wasn’t only from exhaustion anymore. No, I feared looking into those fires and discovering my brothers’ broken bodies. A lump wedged in my throat. Every step became harder to make, but I continued until I stood at the edge of what could only be called a shore.
I kept my feet away from the rolling inferno as I gazed over the crests. “Will it work for me?” I asked Kobal when he stepped beside me.
“I don’t know.”
“Do you see anything?” No matter how I tried, I couldn’t keep the hope from my voice. I needed someone to see something beyond this place.
“The wall,” he replied and rested his hand on my shoulder. “Mac is guarding it. The wall still stands.”
My shoulders sagged beneath his grip. “Hawk?” I asked when he came forward to stand on my other side.
“I see the ocean, but not this one,” he said softly.
“Is it the ocean from home?”
Hawk had lived in the town next to the one I grew up in, but we hadn’t met until we were both at the wall.
“Yes, and there are boats on it, people fishing.”
My hands fisted as I tried to will something into view. No matter how much I tried, all I saw was fire and the sparks floating through the air. “Do I have to look somewhere special?”
“No,” Kobal replied, his hand tightening on my shoulder when I swayed on my feet. “We should go.”
“Wait.” All I wanted was a glimpse of Bailey and Gage, just one tiny glimpse. “A few more minutes.”
I sensed the other demons and skelleins closing in behind me. The hounds’ claws clicked against the rocky ground as they patrolled the cavern. I didn’t look at any of them.
“You must drink,” Kobal said and handed me a canteen.
My fingers curled around it, and I lifted it to my mouth. Hot water trickled past my lips. I greedily gulped it down before reluctantly pulling it away. Kobal took it from me and handed it to Lix as I focused on the oracle again. Before me, the waves of fire parted like a curtain pulling back from a window.
My heart plummeted when I saw what the oracle revealed.