The Labyrinth of Negrastir

Abyss of Death

It took us three long and exhausting days to reach the Kingdom of Menargel.

As we left the Empire behind us and journeyed to a highland riddled with snow-capped mountains, the air turned chillier and drier.

During this time, a heavy silence hung between us.

Neither of us spoke much, except for that one time when I asked why we were going through the mountains instead of taking the main road to the Kingdom.

"You want me dead that badly?"

I was so immersed in my own mind that it slipped from my memory that his brother, the king of Menargel, put a price on his head.

Although I wanted to come to my defence, something about the way he asked this made me clam up and look the other way.

At the same time, I was dying to know why.

"About your brother," I began, pausing to gauge his reaction. "Why does he want you dead?"

Trudging a few steps ahead of me, he looked over his shoulder for the briefest of moments.

I held my breath.

He took his time replying.

"My father came from a lineage of nomadic warlocks, who settled in the south and built the Kingdom of Menargel amidst the barren highland. My mother was a human princess from the Realm of Eignum.

"She... she passed away when she had me. Unlike my older brother, however, I possessed the powers of my father and his family. I was set to ascend the throne. Until my brother tried to kill me, that is."

He came to a standstill and faced me as we reached a tunnel in the jagged mountain.

Although he beamed wide and hid his true feelings from me, the pain in his glassy eyes and lopsided smile was palpable still. I averted my gaze.

So, this was the kind of excruciating agony the Demon God was bound to feel? I looked up.

"My father sent me off to your Empire after that incident. He thought I'd be safer in Hargelad as a prisoner, that Corvus would never set foot there as long as he was the sole ruler. As you know, he was dead wrong."

I was about to say something when he interrupted me. "I don't want to talk about this anymore." He glanced up at the darkening sky. "It's getting dark. We should pass the mountain before the witching hour. Come."

Our conversation dwindled to a few hushed whispers as we passed through the tunnel. With each step, the darkness engulfed us and rendered everything ahead invisible.

I thought the awkward silence would last longer than it did. We were halfway through when Vanir asked me something that made my blood run cold.

"Is there something you want to tell me, Hera? Something you couldn't tell me earlier."

I couldn't make out what kind of face he was making in the dark. But the troubled tone of his voice was difficult to ignore.

What in the world did he want to know?

"Why are you asking this? Is there—"

Vanir picked up the pace before I could finish my sentence. His brisk footsteps told me I had somehow hacked him off.

Observing him getting further away in the tunnel, recent memories came rushing back.

Did those demons rat me out? But why was he beating around the bush instead of asking straight up if that were the case?

I quickened my stride.

The tunnel opened up to a shimmering mountain lake cloaked in light mist.

The rippling body of water reflected the ethereal beauty of the crystal-clear moonlight and the twinkling stars above as we drew nearer.