Behind My Shadow - Book Three

53. Keep Your Eyes Open

With my newfound connection with Raetri, I am able to sense where everything in the world is now. I mean, I can sense all the portals that lead to different corners of the realm, I can sense where all my favorite people are with a mere thought, and most importantly I can sense where the most evil lifeforms in this realm are dwelling.

I can sense the Jabberwockies.

At first, I'm kinda overwhelmed by the intensity of evil they radiate, and I almost get scatterbrained trying to locate all of them, but now I try to coach myself to only focus on one. I only need to kill one for my last Labor.

And for Labor sixteen, I need to find one's nest.

For some incredibly maniacal reason, one such evil presence seems to be calling to me, seems to be trying to lure me in...

I mean, it feels like a trap, but at the same time I'm too compelled to accomplish my next Labors to turn away, and for some reason I don't think I should.

I think I'm supposed to kill this Jabberwocky.

And I kinda think it's been waiting for me for a long time...

♣ ♦ ♥ ♠

I've been flying all day and through the better part of the night, which considering how enormous my Angelus Reprobi's wings are and how fast they can go, tells me I must've covered thousands of miles.

Despite all this though, I still feel anxious and a little panicky that midnight is quickly approaching and I'm still struggling to complete the sixteenth Labor.

I know where the Jabberwocky's nest is but it's still so far away...

I anxiously glance over the side of my Angelus Reprobi to take in my surroundings.

The bright turquoise blue ocean I've been crossing for the past few hours or more now begins to darken till it doesn't even look blue anymore. The tumultuous waters fade into a sickly gray color and the wild waves sound like roaring monsters as they crash into each other, a spray of purplish-green foam flies up into the air with each clash like the saliva of two beasts fighting.

The wind is so dastardly violent, I feel like it's trying to rip me off the back of my animal soul spirit.

I hunker farther down and cling more desperately to the glass spikes studded along the Angelus Reprobi's spine.

As the night presses on, I realize how truly far I have wandered into poisoned territory. I mean, the very atmosphere here is suffocating with evil, it feels somehow too cold to move and yet too humid to breath. It's such a nauseating condition, I've already thrown up like, twice.

I wearily lift my head as I hear the beating of my Angelus Reprobi's wings echo across solid ground. At last! I've crossed the ocean! I quickly scan my surroundings.

This vile land is covered in colossal volcanos spitting geysers of neon yellow acid into the air. The air is so polluted here, despite being practically midnight, it glows with an eerie yellow haze. Dull rumbles of thunder drone over the sound of the ocean ripping into the ashy shore, lightning dryly crackles around me in the sky in prolonged flashes of green light. The bolts of lightning themselves seem to hover in the smoldering sky for an unnatural amount of time before fizzling away.

As I fly over the spewing volcanos, my attention is suddenly ensnared by one that isn't spitting out neon acid. No, this one is hollow. Seems to me like this would make the perfect nest for a Jabberwocky...

My Angelus Reprobi hovers over the dormant volcano as I strain to see in the darkness. Enormous columns of steam waft up from the den and sting my face, practically blinding me. I guess I'm going to have to go inside and check it out if I want to destroy the egg...

Which I do.

Suddenly a monstrous ground-quake ripples throughout the entire world, briefly causing a tsunami to rise on the cusp of the shore and making the volcanos sling the acid farther into the air as Raetri shakes.

Now the rippling stops and the ocean waves come careening down with a deafening roar. Some of the water splashes over the sides of the volcanos and giant waves of glowing vapor billow up into the sky with thunderous crackles.

OMG, that's Raetri telling me my sixteenth Labor is complete!

I found the Jabberwocky's nest at long last!

Now I have to get inside of this thing somehow.