Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

NATE GARRETT

Realm of Duat

The realm of the dead was really quite pleasant after the blood-soaked murder cavern we'd just left.

We ended up on a beach with crystal-clear water lapping the shore. The sun was high overhead, although it wasn't too warm, as there was a pleasant breeze coming off what I assumed was an ocean, considering there was no sign of land out toward the horizon.

"Anyone want to explain what just happened?" Selene asked.

"These realm gates need the blood of their pantheon to open them from the Earth realm," Lucifer said. "Isis opened this one. We can get back through this realm to the Earth realm normally, but the other way is locked out."

"The realm gate to Avalon is to the north, inside the mountain," Isis said.

"What is it with realm gates being inside mountains?" Remy asked.

"Dwarves like mountains," Zamek said, giving a simple answer.

"I'm sorry about Sobek," I said to Isis, who picked up a large stone and threw it into the ocean.

"Megaera will pay for what she did," Isis said calmly.

"So the Erinyes are involved," Lucifer said. "That is not a good thing. Many have tried to kill them over the centuries."

"We will succeed," Isis said, leaving no room to suggest the outcome could be anything else.

I climbed up on my mount, Remy sitting behind me, and Isis, Selene, and Tarron each took a horse. Zamek shared with Lucifer, and we set off at a gentle trot, picking up the pace after we left the soft sand.

"What can we expect inside the mountain?" I asked Isis.

"The spirits roam freely inside," she said. "My Osiris will be among them. It will not be an easy time to see those I have lost."

I pulled up beside Isis. "You going to be okay?"

She shrugged. "I do not know, Nate. I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize," I told her.

"Will they be willing to help us?" Remy asked.

"I do not know," Isis repeated. "Maybe. Maybe not. Spirits are strange like that."

Everyone was silent as we rode through the open plains of the realm. While there were plenty of trees and plants, there were no animals. No birds or insects, no sounds from their calls. The realm of the dead lived up to its name.

It took a few hours of riding, but we eventually reached the entrance to the mountain. It was a giant wound in the side of the massive range that stretched as far as I could see, the caps all covered in snow. The opening in the mountain was bright blue, caused by the crystals that were exposed to the light.

"That's a bit ominous," Tarron said, getting down from the horse.

"Can we take these in there?" I asked.

"It should be fine," Isis said. "We'll have to walk them, though; it's too dangerous to ride."

We all climbed down off our mounts and led them into the mountain, the blue light bathing us all in its glow as I took in the magnificent structure before us.

It looked like dwarven ruins, stretching high up into the interior of the mountain. Statues adorned the pathways, each one depicting a different animal.

"There's no echo," Selene said.

"Who built this?" Zamek asked.

"No idea," Isis said. "It's always been here. It's not dwarven or elven or anything else that we recognize."

"It's magnificent," Zamek said, running his hand over the stone of the path we were on and stopping to admire an archway as we walked under it.

We continued on down the long straight pathway until we came to a crossroads.

"I don't know which path to take." Isis frowned. "The gate I used to come here originally is to the east of here, I think. It's hard to tell. It's a gate close to the Nile. Or was. It was buried in the desert thousands of years ago."

"Good job we went this way, then," Remy said.

"We don't have time to be running around somewhere the size of a small country to find one gate," Selene said. "We need help."

"A spirit?" Lucifer asked. "Isis, do you know where we can find such a thing?"

Isis nodded; her eyes closed. She didn't want to do this, but she would anyway.

Selene placed a hand on Isis's shoulder. "You are not alone here," she whispered. "Our strength is your strength."

Isis nodded slightly, and she pointed toward a set of steps that led down into a blue-tinged mist. "The mist is where they come from," Isis said.

"Do we need to worry about Anubis?" I asked.

"He could be anywhere in this entire realm," she said. "He moves around a lot."

"And Ammit?" Lucifer asked.

"With Anubis, I imagine," Isis said. "Neither are likely to help us, though; they care more for the dead than they do the living."

"Sounds like they've been here too long," Remy said.

"That might be the case," Isis agreed.

I looked down into the blue mist and had a sudden urge to be anywhere but here. "How does this work?" I asked. "Are these random spirits? Will we see people linked to one of us?"

"Could be either," Isis said. "Most likely, the second we step inside the mist, it will call those we knew in life."

"You don't have to do this," I told her. "I can go down and get what I need from whoever turns up."

Isis shook her head. "No, I have to do this. Otherwise, we'll be here for too long. You can come with me, if you like. I'd appreciate the support."

"No problem," I told her.

Isis turned to the others. "Lucifer, you too. Everyone else stay here; keep the horses company."

No one minded not having to go down into the spirit mist.

We descended the steps until the mist was above us, too dense to see our companions standing above.

The mist swirled all around us, causing the hairs on the backs of my arms and neck to stand on end. I had the constant feeling of being watched.

Lucifer and I followed Isis, who walked with the confidence of someone who knew exactly where she was going. Then she suddenly stopped, her eyes closed, the mist swirling quicker and quicker around her.

"Osiris," she whispered.

The mist continued to swirl until it formed a translucent man. He had long hair that fell between his shoulders and wore a simple tunic and sandals. "My love," he said softly.

Isis smiled with tears in her eyes. "I have not been back here for a long time," she said. "I have missed you."

"And I you," Osiris said softly. He turned to Lucifer and me. "You brought friends."

"This is Nate Garrett," Isis said. "Son of Brynhildr and Odin."

Osiris bowed his head. "A pleasure." He turned to Lucifer. "You, I already know."

"Old friend," Lucifer said.

"Are you still as troublesome as you were in your youth?" Osiris asked Lucifer with a playful smile.

"I've passed on my troublemaking to this one," Lucifer said, motioning to me.

Osiris laughed, and the mist broke apart, only to be re-formed once again a moment later.

"We're looking for the hidden realm gate to Avalon," Isis said.

"To the west," Osiris said. "An hour's ride. Have you seen our son, Horus?"

Isis shook her head. "Please don't tell me he's here?"

It was Osiris's turn to shake his head. "No. He used to come by and talk to me. To many of us. But he hasn't been here in many years. He hunts Set."

Isis nodded. "He does."

"Set will never be found unless he wants to be," Osiris said. "Horus will search forever."

"That will not put him off," Isis said with a slight smile.

"No, he has both of our stubbornness," Osiris agreed. "Are you happy?"

Isis shrugged. "I got used to being without you, and now that I see you again ... the pain is as new."

"I ached for you," Osiris said, the mist swirling around Isis. "I still ache for you, and one day we will be reunited here. But not today. You must continue on; you must live, Isis. You need to find yourself happiness. Once your fighting is done, what will you do?"

Isis didn't have an answer.

"Go," Osiris said. "Go and do what you came here to do. I miss you, my love, but I do not wish to see you here with me for many years to come."

Isis sighed. "I miss you too, my love. I will not be back for a long time. We are going to stop Arthur from destroying the realms."

"Arthur?" Osiris asked.

"Asmodeus's spirit inside the body of a sorcerer," Lucifer said.

Osiris didn't move, but a feeling of anger radiated off him. "Asmodeus is a name I remember well. He was a monster. If he still lives inside the body of another, you make sure that this Arthur's spirit is destroyed just as much as his body."

"That's the plan," I said. I didn't bother to tell him that we didn't actually have a plan on how to achieve that.

"Asmodeus was an evil man," Osiris said. "It took the lives of thousands to stop him when he rode with his devils."

"It's just him this time," Lucifer said. "His devils are dead or gone."

"Good," Osiris said. "Lucifer, you stood against Asmodeus before. You turned your back on your blood brothers and sisters to do what was right. You must do so again." He looked at me. "I can sense the power inside of you," Osiris said to me. "It is difficult to ignore. Your necromancy sings to the spirits."

I looked around me and saw the mass of violently swirling mist.

"While I am here, they cannot harm you," Osiris said. "But when I tell you to go, you must turn and run and never come back down to these parts. Ever. The mist will try to claim you as one of its own."

"I'm only half-necromancer," I said.

"I doubt that will matter to some of the more voracious hunters who dwell within this mountain. Necromancy is a beacon of power to these spirits that ignites an insatiable hunger. If you were a full necromancer, I would not be able to hold them back."

I looked behind me.

"Follow the path to the west," Osiris said. "Keep going west; do not deviate. The realm gate was locked the last time I saw it."

"Arthur reopened it in Avalon," Lucifer said.

"Then you must make sure it closes behind you. Duat is too dangerous a place to be used as a shortcut. If the spirits start to gain in hunger, they will leave here and start to hunt above, where the paths are clear. They will take anyone who is with a necromancer. They will not distinguish, except to know you are alive and they are not. I would not dawdle."

I took a step backward.

"I look forward to our reunion," Osiris said to Isis.

"I love you," Isis said sadly.

"I love you too," Osiris said, the mist that made up his body intensifying as it swirled around hers. "Follow the mark of Ra. Now run."

Lucifer and I turned and sprinted toward the steps, with Isis hot on our heels as the swirls of mist almost lunged for us, forcing us to run around them. We reached the steps and didn't stop as the mist gave chase. Isis and Lucifer were first up the stairs, and the mist formed solid matter, tripping my feet. I felt it wrap around my legs, dragging me back down the steps as my friends shouted from above. It wanted power; it needed power. Tarron leaped down the stairs, his sword stabbing at mist that vanished and re-formed.

I poured my magic into a sphere and tossed it down the steps; it was completely ignored by the swirls until it detonated. The mist vanished from around me, darting back down to the magic, which tore into the wall at the foot of the stairs, giving me time to get to the top, where everyone was on horses, galloping west.

We followed Isis through a seemingly never-ending maze of pathways, and occasionally the mist spilled out over the sides of the pathway but stopped, as if unsure it could continue further. The deeper we rode, the more the mist encroached upon the path.

"Are we still going west?" Remy asked.

"We're following those," Selene said, pointing to one of the Eyes of Ra that were painted on the stone pillars every few dozen feet. They were all in bright red and difficult to miss.

Eventually, I saw a realm gate in the distance, and we spurred our horses on, but the mist poured out from over the path, snaked across it, and wrapped around my mare's legs, tripping her and throwing Remy and me to the ground.

I used my air magic to steady us both and land safely, and the horse regained her feet. She trotted beside me as the mist continued to hover ominously.

"Nate," Selene called out, bringing her horse to a stop.

I helped Remy get up onto her horse. "Get to the gate," I shouted, making the horse beside me run off after the others. "I'll be right behind you."

"Nate," Selene called out again, her tone hard this time. "You better get there."

I kept my eyes on the mist and gave a thumbs-up. "You're not going to get to them," I said softly.

I threw a small ball of fire to the right of me, and the mist descended upon it. The fire was extinguished by the consumption of the magic, the mist swirling even more violently.

I created a larger ball of flame and threw it into the mist. This time it separated, moving away from the ball for a moment, before springing back into it, devouring it. There was a shriek from the mist. "The magic hurts you," I said. "But you want it anyway."

The mist reared up, moving higher and higher, until it towered forty feet above me. Black, smokelike swirls spilled from my eyes, and I unleashed an explosion of pure magic all around me, destroying the path, tearing through stone as if it were paper. I poured the pure magic out of me and directed it toward the tower of mist, which collapsed over the magic, the shrieks of pain and pleasure from the mass deafening me.

I turned and sprinted away, reaching Isis, who stood by the already-activated realm gate.

"What did you do?" she asked me.

"I gave them all the power they could want," I told her.

The mist that hadn't been hurt by the pure magic continued to spill out over the broken path, heading toward us.

"I never want to come back here," I said and stepped through the realm gate, with Isis behind me a moment later.

The cavern we found ourselves in was large enough to fit a football stadium inside it and still have room. The floor was smooth and tiled, and I spotted Tarron kneeling beside the tiles, an expression of intensity on his face.

"These are dwarven and shadow elf runes," he said as Zamek joined him. "Do you know what this symbolizes?"

No one did.

"The elves and dwarves made this place together," Zamek said. "These realm gates are neither dwarven nor elven but a combination of the two. When we have time, I'd very much like to come back here and spend time deciphering this writing."

I looked around the cavern. There was a lot of writing on the walls. I understood a lot of Elvish and Dwarvish, but some of it was even earlier than the ancient dwarves. It appeared to mix words with pictures and dots, and frankly, the whole thing was far beyond my understanding.

"So is this like some kind of communal meeting place?" Selene asked.

"Yes, I think so," Tarron said. "I think it might also be some kind of prison. I think we may need to send some people here to look around, check there's no nasty surprises."

"That's going to have to wait," I said. "Sorry."

"I think it's safe," Tarron said. "I just can't be certain."

"You're the oldest one here," I said to Lucifer. "You ever hear of anything like this?"

"I didn't even know there were realm gates here," he said with a shrug.

"How do we get out of here?" Remy asked. "Because I assume, despite Zamek and Tarron having some kind of brain boner over all this, we do actually need to leave."

"I vote the words brain boner are never used again," Zamek said.

"Ever," I said to Remy.

"I calls them like I sees them," Remy said with a grin.

"This is the way out," Tarron said, pointing to an archway at the far end of the cavern. "Each of these archways leads to a different realm gate. I don't know which one goes where, but there must be a hundred caverns here."

We rode up and out of the cavern without a word, continuing until we exited the mountain. It was raining, but stretching far before us was the city of Camelot.

"It's going to be a bit of a ride to get there," Lucifer said. "Do you really think that we can get into the palace and talk to whoever is in charge, getting them to surrender, before we bring everyone down on us?"

"Not really," I said.

I continued to look at Camelot for several seconds. "We know there's no Arthur, no Merlin, no Gawain, no Abaddon, no one powerful enough or stupid enough to wage a war, but we need to know the lay of the land, and we need information. Remy, you worked here—any chance there are people you trust who still live here?"

"Trust?" Remy asked. "No, not really. But there are people here we can get information out of. They work in the palace, last I heard."

"So that's where we go first," Isis said.

I nodded just as part of the city exploded, black smoke and flames billowing out into the dank sky.

My team raced onward toward the city as the sounds of battle echoed all around the plains. It took us some time to reach the outskirts of Camelot, only for us to find a multitude of people wounded or dead on the cobbled streets.

"Help who you can," I said, getting down from my horse as everyone else did the same.

"Go—we'll help," Isis said, rushing over to a large number of people who were trying to keep safe behind a makeshift barricade of stone and wood.

I ran over to a young woman in a dark three-piece suit, who was trying to help up a middle-aged man who'd been badly cut through the legs. "What's going on?"

"The people rebelled," she said as we dropped the man next to two young men, who set about trying to heal his wounds. "The Blade of Avalon ... they executed a hundred people in the main square. They said that they had betrayed Arthur. Some of them were just kids. That was a few hours ago, and now we're in the shit."

"Where are the BOA?" I asked her.

"Near the palace," she said. "I don't know who you are, but if you go there, they'll kill you."

"We've got a lot of dead and hurt," Remy said, poking his head through the door. "A lot more people angry."

"Remy?" the young woman asked.

"Bethany,"Remy said, hugging her. "We worked together for the Shield of Avalon, before, you know, I left and found out that Arthur was psychotic."

"You got out in time," Bethany said. "Most of us were trapped here, forced to work, forced to do their bidding. They have people we care about imprisoned in the palace. If one of us steps out of line ..."

"So the people executed in the square—they were the loved ones of people they have imprisoned inside the palace?" I asked.

Bethany nodded. "There's a resistance here; we try to figure out ways to thwart Arthur's plans. But we can't leave the realm—we can't even leave the city, not without our loved ones. So we fight in little ways."

"And now you're fighting in big ways," I said. "Remy, I'm going to the palace."

"They'll kill you," Bethany said again.

"Stay safe," I said. "I'll be back soon."

I walked along the road toward the palace square. I'd lived and worked in Avalon for centuries and had considered it, if not my home, then at least a place of safety. A million people had lived in the realm of Avalon. Many had escaped in the early days of Arthur's reign, but many hundreds of thousands of innocent people had been forced to stay. I'd been powerless to help. We all had. That was about to end.

There were two dozen paladins outside the palace, standing guard, their golden shields and armor covered with blood that, judging from the number of dead inside the square, wasn't theirs. People from the city were hiding at the corners of the square, helping those who had been injured to safety. The paladins made no effort to interfere; their job was to keep the place free of enemies.

"Halt," one of the paladins said, stepping forward, lifting his huge gauntlet-covered hand toward me. "Disperse or feel our wrath."

"These were innocent people," I said, my voice little more than a whisper. "Why kill them?"

"They were told to leave," the man said. "They did not."

"So you butchered women, children, innocent people who came to voice their displeasure at having their loved ones killed." My voice got angrier with every word.

The paladin drew his longsword from the sheath on his hip. It gleamed. "Leave, or be next," he said, and the paladins behind him also drew their swords.

I stopped walking and looked beyond the paladin to the palace. It was still just as large as it had been when I'd last been here, but the ominous metal gate and door to the building were new. The gate had spikes on it that I could see were wet with the blood of people who had tried to gain entry.

"The door," I said, ignoring the paladins and pointing beyond them. "Someone is controlling the metal."

"That would be me," the paladin said. "Those who got past us needed to be taught a lesson. This is your last warning."

Thunder rumbled above my head. "You should all start running now," I told them. The anger building as fast as the thunderstorm above me.

There was laughter among the dozen paladins. "Who do you think you are?"

Lightning streaked from the sky, driving through the paladin and ripping a hole in his chest the size of my fist. He dropped to the ground as smokelike tendrils of magic gathered up around me.

"My name is Nathaniel Garrett Woden," I said, taking a step forward and readying my pure magic. "And you've finally given me a target to release my anger at. You really should have run."

I unleashed hell.