Chapter 15

Typhon didn't likethe plan. Not one bit. Even though it was actually quite clever.

Camouflaged as one of the deusvenati, while stomach churning, would give him the ability to move around Nullarcana. Or, as Deino preferred to call it, Atlantis.

The part he disliked? Putting Deino in danger.

Seeing that collar around her neck filled him with fear, a fear that it would be replaced with the real version. That she would become a slave—or worse—to his quest.

If someone had told him he would one day wonder if vengeance and a return to power were truly necessary, he would have taken their head. But now… Now he'd found a measure of happiness with this woman. Discovered something worth protecting. Someone to love.

Ack.

She must have cast a spell on him. The god of monsters didn't love. He couldn't. The beasts he prevailed over would have eaten him up and spit out his bones if he were so soft, yet there was no denying the affection he had for her.

But could he tell her that?

No.

Could he forbid her from doing this?

No.

He could only hope they prevailed, because anything else? Unacceptable.

"So where is the portal for Atlantis?" she asked.

"Right there." He indicated the arm that had flopped to the ground.

She glanced at it. "I don't see any directions."

"It has none, but its owner originated in Atlantis, meaning you can use it as a focal point to see where it came from."

Her lips pursed. "I've never done that."

"In that case, let's go home."

Her nose wrinkled. "I have no home, remember? The monsters destroyed it, and those fuckers will keep coming after me and my siblings until Ariadne is stopped. I have to figure this out so we can find that twat, cut off her head, and get you back in power. The sooner the better."

"Cut off her head?" he questioned.

"I've seen too many movies where the bad guy gets back up after the hero thinks he's dealt a death wound to take chances."

"I think I need to watch more of these movies. In my time, dead people didn't rise unless a necromancer commanded them to."

"You and I are going to have some epic couch snuggles when this is over. But first…" She squatted and squinted at the arm. "How do I make it into a compass?"

"You need to scry its movements." He explained the process, and with a look of concentration, Deino cast the spell on the arm, which jerked.

Startled, she fell from her haunches to her butt. "It moved."

"How else is it supposed to guide?" was his dry retort.

She glared. "You could have warned me."

He shrugged. "Now you know."

"Um, is it going to claw its way there?"

"Not without a lot of effort. You'll have to pick it up to follow the path it took."

"Pick it up? Ew. No. You do it."

"The magic will work better if the caster is the one making the connection."

"This sucks," she complained, but she still bent down and grabbed the arm. She held it out in front of her with a grimace. "This way," she stated as she began to walk.

They weaved through the small town, a place that didn't deserve the tragedy visited upon it. A place that he could have saved had he been full power.

Deino wasn't the only one dealing with guilt. He'd hoped the deusvenati would leave when they realized all the magical targets had fled, but instead, they'd turned murderous.

Why? Not a question he'd often asked himself. As the god of monsters, senseless violence was something he'd gotten used to. Before, at any rate. Then he lived in solitude and emerged with a better appreciation for life.

As they reached the edge of the town, Deino paused to look back. "It feels wrong to leave those bodies unburied.

"Burial is a very Earth thing. In other civilizations, cremation is preferred as it's thought to release the spirit after death."

"And we're sure there's no one living left behind, maybe hiding?"

He shook his head. "They were thorough."

"In that case…" She swept her hand through the air, and the air crackled with power, heating and whipping around her until she flung it. A wave of fire spread outward, the flame of it blue and white, the most intense they could get. Hot enough to cleanse.

She turned her back on the inferno she used to sweep the town clean and marched toward the wasteland and the archway they could see in the distance.

Unlike the one for Earth, warnings were posted around it: Danger. He had to wonder why it had never been destroyed. If all the portals to Atlantis had been broken, the deusvenati would have been stuck.

Perhaps if they did succeed, he would make it his mission to ensure all the doorways were closed.

Ifthey succeeded…

The odds weren't in their favor. Two of them against all of the forces in Atlantis. This was foolish. They'd be killed before they ever got close to Ariadne.

As they neared the portal, he shed all doubt.

Doubt was for mortals.

Trepidation for the cowardly.

Head held high, he stood by his witch's side and murmured, "Are you ready?"

"If I said no—"

"I'd whisk you away."

She glanced at him. "You'd give up your godhood for me?"

A good thing she couldn't see his face as he lied, "You're no use to me dead."

"As if I'm going to die. My sister told me I have a great destiny." She stood by the edge of the portal and held out her hand. "Coming, oh mighty captor?"

He stood before the archway, a stony maw that would shortly swallow them whole. A terrible analogy given his trepidation over the quest. A qualm not shared by his bold witch.

"I'll do my best to remain by your side," he promised as they stepped into the portal.

They went from a barren wasteland to a cave of tan-colored stone, which appeared to be home to thirteen portals, only three of them still intact. Not surprising, given the actions of the deusvenati.

A golden-armored soldier snoozed against a wall, snoring behind his helm. Typhon held his finger to his lips, thinking it best they sneaked past, but his witch had other plans.

"Let me go, you brute." She shoved away from him and fled across the room, waking the sleeping soldier, who jumped to his feet.

"Halt. Who goes there?"

"Golden devils! How dare you take me hostage!" Deino snapped, looking utterly crazed.

"Where did you come from?" the soldier demanded.

That was Typhon's cue. "Zuzamenn. I've returned with a captive."

"I thought all troops returned yesterday." The fellow sounded puzzled.

"I got trapped in a building with this witch." He tried to add a sneer to his tone. "She fought me, but I prevailed. I've brought her back to face judgement." He did his best to improvise, and to his surprise, it worked.

"The Enclave will be pleased. We lost too many in that attack, and they returned with only two others weak in the source."

"Was the oracle one of them?" he fished, seeing how Deino's eyes widened, probably wondering if they were her sisters.

The fellow shook his head. "Minor witches barely worth collaring."

"Take off this slave ring and I'll show you a real witch," hissed Deino, really playing up her role.

"Feisty," commented the soldier.

"You have no idea," Typhon's replied dryly. "I'll take her to her new home."

The soldier snickered. "She won't be cocky for long."

Typhon gripped her by the arm and marched her out of the only open doorway, keeping quiet until they were in a narrow stone hallway.

"Can you feel your sisters?" he whispered.

She shook her head. "Nope. What about you? Is Ariadne here?"

He nodded. He'd felt the difference the moment he crossed over, the tug at his essence. And if he felt her, chances were she felt him too. "We'll have to move quickly before she notifies the deusvenati."

"Can you use your connection to find her?"

He shook his head. "Oddly enough, no. It's not like the bond you have with your sisters. It was why I needed help on Earth locating her fortress."

The tunnel they traversed spilled into a large chamber with several tunnels branching off it and a row of five golden guards.

"I've brought back a witch for the enclave," he stated upon seeing them.

"We'll take her from here," declared the one holding a spear.

Typhon readied to argue, when Deino sprang into action. "You'll never put me in a cell." She ran, bolting past them to the doorway on the left. The armored soldiers looked at each other as if having a silent argument.

"I guess I'll go get her," he offered when none of them moved.

"Better you than me," mumbled the guy with the spear.

He wondered at their reluctance and if he'd blown his cover by offering to fetch the fleeing witch. But he'd promised to stay close by, and so he shadowed her steps in the tunnel that crept upwards, the air getting hotter with each stride. Dusty too. By the time he found Deino, she was standing still at a doorway she'd tugged partially open.

She glanced at him. "Stay away from me!"

"It's me," he murmured.

"Just making sure."

"Why did you run?"

"Because something told me to come this way." She turned to look back through the door. "I don't think the deusvenati live on the surface."

"What makes you think that?"

She shoved the door wide so he could see. Or not see. He could tell he looked outside only because of the nimbus of the sun barely visible for the dirt whipping around.

He stepped past the threshold to get a proper glimpse and was struck by the devastation. When the winds died down for a moment, and an area of dust settled, he could see the remnants of a city, partially buried in dunes, eroded, and in places falling down. No hint of life, not even a single tree or hardy bush. The dry heat tightened his lungs enough he coughed.

He went back inside, and she shut the door.

"Their world is dead," she declared.

He coughed again. "The air is polluted."

"I know. I had to put on a magic mask halfway up the tunnel. What do you think happened? It's like a nuke went off."

"What is a nuke?"

"Giant bomb that wipes out everything, while poisoning the land and air for centuries."

"Humans created that?" At her nod, he exclaimed, "Why?"

"Because we're violent. But I don't get the impression these guys are into technology so I'm thinking maybe a volcano erupted and fucked the environment. Or maybe an asteroid hit."

"It's because their god died."

She blinked at him. "How is that possible? A bunch of Earth's gods are dead and gone and we're not a wasteland."

"Some places are more reliant on gods than others. And Earth still has many left. In this case, the planet was likely not viable until a deity took interest and made it habitable."

"So the deusvenati fucked themselves when they killed him."

"Yes."

"If that's the case, why are they such assholes about getting rid of magic elsewhere?"

"I don't know. Like I don't know why they appear to be collecting people with magic."

"Guess we'll have to go back down and find out." Her nose wrinkled. "Dammit. I was hoping to explore a bit more before getting shoved in a cage. Oh well, at least I still have my magic."

"Be sure to not let them see. They must believe you are nullified."

"I know. Don't worry. Let's go before they come looking."

Not something they needed to worry about, as they encountered no one on their way down, which led to him slowing his step before the chamber, murmuring, "Something isn't right."

"We can't turn back now," she stated before stepping boldly into the room with the guards.

He was only a second behind her. A second too late to stop her from being grabbed and a real collar being closed around her throat. During that second of shock, he couldn't avoid his own capture. A net of the magic-numbing metal dropped over him, making it impossible to fight.

Impossible to do anything as the deusvenati took Deino away.

And dropped him down a deep hole.