"Oh, good! Because I was wondering whether we'd die here of old age," Riza retorted, stuffing Devil's Weed in her backpack.
"My brother, despite his abrasiveness, has a point. Death has visited many places over the eons. Mortis is not her only favorite spot in this big universe," Phantom said. "If she left Mortis of her own accord, we might find traces of her in those worlds. She's a creature of habit, in her strange ways."
"It'll at least buy us some time," Seeley added. "At least until we formulate a more coherent plan."
“It doesn’t make sense, though,” I said. “Surely if Death switched places she’d have mentioned it to you, at least? You know, since she’s expecting Thieron back?”
I got a faint nod from Seeley before the entire planet began to hum, the cave walls vibrating around us. Kabbah shook his head, looking up at the small patch of night sky we could still see from below. "I think Brendel is already here. I can't say I blame her. I'd be in a rush, too, if the plan I'd been working on for millions of years was at risk."
"Let's go to Strava," Phantom suggested. "Death used to love hanging out there, long before the Draenir even evolved."
I couldn't help but smile. "You're joking, right? It's where we awakened the Hermessi in the first place."
"I am well aware. But none of the elementals will expect us to go there. Right now, they won't know where we're headed, because we don't have a plan," Phantom said. “And I would like to figure out what happened to my maker, since I have a feeling you’re right in your assessment regarding her departure.”
As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. It was the one silver lining to our general aimlessness. It made us unpredictable, even to Brendel. Looking at Taeral, I felt sorry for him. I could only imagine how he was feeling, after everything we'd been through. He'd worked so hard to get Phyla and to save his father. He'd made the right decision in the end by coming here, though we all would've supported him had he chosen to go help Sherus first. I couldn't let him despair, and staying in one place for too long while we had Thieron and no Death to hand it to was exactly what would make Taeral break down.
"Phantom is right," he said, his voice low. "Let's go to Strava while there is still time. We'll regroup there."
"Lead the way," Varga replied with a faint smile.
We took out our breathing devices, readying ourselves for a deep swim. The last time we'd gone through these waters, we'd had trouble. I could only hope that whatever came next would not be as awful as what we'd dealt with before now.
Raphael took my hand in his, staring me down with his intense blue and green eyes. "No matter what happens, we're together. Got that?"
My cheeks burned, the memory of our dreamy lovemaking still tampering with my senses. How could I not love this creature, when he could still find the strength to encourage me, despite the hot mess we'd gotten ourselves in?
"We're together," I whispered.
"And don't you forget that," he replied, and kissed me briefly, his lips tickling mine and sending billions of electric jolts through my body. What we'd experienced in the dream had felt remarkably real, but I was still dying to make it to the real thing—and that involved surviving this ritual. I didn't lack motivation, that much was obvious.
I put on my breathing device, giving the Reapers one last glance. "I take it we'll see you on the other side? I mean, you guys can bounce between worlds like it's a literal walk in the park."
"We'll be with you all the way," Seeley replied. "I hope I speak for Soul, Widow, and Phantom when I say that it's our duty to make sure you all reach Death in one piece, and with Thieron in your possession."
Herakles grinned. "That's so sweet. I could cry."
"Ugh. Let's go!" Riza urged them, as the cave trembled from a distant, catastrophic impact. I didn't need to see what was going on out there. Just the thought of the Hermessi's active presence on Mortis was a clear enough indication that they were out for blood and destruction.
"Remember not to touch the crystal eggs," Taeral reminded us as he jumped in.
One by one we followed, the pink water enveloping our bodies. I welcomed the chill as I swam downward, following Taeral and Raphael. The others were right behind us, as we kept a tight formation on our way down.
For a moment, there was only silence and water, and I could've stayed like this forever. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option, so I kept moving. Around us, the crystal eggs had grown larger since the last time we'd been here. Touching them would've thrown me back with an electric jolt—and that wasn't even the scary part. We had no idea what was growing inside them, but, given the local Hermessi's allegiance and their liberal access to these primordial waters, I figured it couldn't be anything good or fluffy or friendly.
Determination seemed to fuel Taeral as he swam deeper, headed straight for the bottom of the tunnel, where a light began to shimmer. The natural wormhole had sensed our approach and was beginning to open up.
"Amelia, watch out!" Riza screamed through the breathing device's comms system.
I froze as a black shadow swooshed past me. It tackled Raphael, and my heart jumped in my throat. Looking to my right, I saw where it had come from. A broken crystal egg. The others were cracking open, as well. Shills. Dozens of them, more vicious than ever.
Raphael managed to rip his attacker's throat out, blood spreading crimson through the water. "Hurry," he said, his breath short. "They're all coming out!"
We didn't stand a chance. Before we could move farther down, Shills had already surrounded us. They darted through the water, their long claws and sharp fangs targeting our critical body parts.
Riza and Taeral zapped themselves in different positions, cutting through the beasts' torsos. Riza had a sword and was proficient at beheading the Shills. Taeral, on the other hand, had Thieron. He had no idea what it would do or how to use it properly, since he lacked Death’s knowledge, but it seemed powerful enough to deliver deadly blows—he'd broken Brendel into thousands of little pieces with it while it had been still incomplete. From what I could tell, Thieron was acting as a sharp weapon, cutting through the Shills like a knife through butter.
It was one thing for Death to wield a complete Thieron, and a whole different thing for Taeral to do it. The living had not been designed to toy with such a powerful weapon, whether they were destined to become Reapers, like Taeral, or not. Even so, it was a good blade, and I had no time left to wonder whether Taeral had yet to find some untapped potential inside it or not.
One of the Shills knocked my weapon away, and I found myself scrambling for a knife. I couldn’t reach my weapon in time, as it got bumped up and away between the Shills. Varga fired a pulverizer pellet at it, and Taeral found a moment to slip me Yamani’s scythe. “Take it! Use it!” he said.
I grabbed it and swung it against the creatures who came at me, eager to avenge their fallen beast brother. Raphael, Herakles, Eva, and Varga continued firing their pulverizer weapons, shooting glowing blue pellets left and right at every single Shill that tried to take them out.
Lumi and Nethissis worked their swamp witch magic, helping us kill more of them faster, but it still wasn't enough. More Shills kept breaking out of their crystal eggs, and, to make matters worse, a bright orange light began to swell above the pink water surface. "Brendel…" I managed, and slashed across a Shill's chest, drawing blood.
A pulverizer pellet from Herakles finished the job, turning the creature into ashes.
"A little help here would be nice!" Varga shouted, addressing the Reapers.
There were so many Shills around and between us that I couldn't even see Phantom or the others. Heck, I was so busy trying to stay alive that I simply didn't have time to keep track of our sort-of-dead allies.
Another Shill rammed into me, and I shot my hand out. The scythe sliced through its soft, reddish stomach. I kicked it away, trying to swim down and put some distance between us, but the Shill was twice as angry and all the more determined to eat me.
A bright flash blinded me for a split second. When I opened my eyes, I found the Shill right in front of me, its many beady eyes wide, unflinching, and its large mouth gaping. A curved blade poked out from inside. Behind it, Seeley glanced at me, slightly amused. He pulled his scythe back, and the Shill died in a puff of blood, its massive body floating upward, toward the surface.
"Thanks," I murmured.
More flashes of light followed as Soul, Phantom, and Widow made their way through the Shill crowd, cutting and slashing away. The corpses they left behind were pulled up to the surface, which made me quiver.
