Darkly Devoted (Book 1, 2, 3)

DD Chapter 27 - Prince

"WHERE WERE you? I stayed back to wait for you," Nicole's chipper voice called out. Vivienne turned and saw the girl standing by the entrance. Here, the rocks were still dry, but Vivienne could already hear dripping water nearby.

Vivienne swallowed hard and descended the slippery, rocky stairs and into the narrow opening of the cave below. As she began to follow the crowd down, a small hand reached out and grabbed hers. Vivienne felt Nicole give her a reassuring squeeze. "We'll stay together like we promised." In recent days, Vivienne had some misgivings about Nicole's treatment of Sam, Kacen, and just about everyone else Zissa pointed a finger of judgment at. However, at that moment, Vivienne couldn't appreciate the small girl's presence enough.

"Was it you last night who made the Segias grow?" Nicole asked carefully. "Were you trying to protect us from the Tercel baddies?"

Vivienne swallowed hard. She heard the faintest bit of hope in Nicole's voice, as though she believed that if Vivienne had really come armed with such an incredible power, there would be a chance that Tercel could really be defeated.

"If that was you," Nicole whispered, "you don't have to be ashamed. You can learn to harness your powers. You can save us all."

"I-I don't think it was me," Vivienne whispered. Nicole's profound disappointment was visible even here in the darkness. "I don't know what happened at the diner. You were right. I've never been able to do that before, and I doubt I can ever do it again."

The cave's interior momentarily transfixed Vivienne. The water levels were lowered by Tercel's recent efforts to drain Satan's Hollow. However, the water levels hadn't been completely depleted, and their work had only revealed the full, horrible splendor of the caves.

Jagged stalactites by the thousands hung from the high ceilings like haunted chandeliers. About a dozen of Vivienne's friends had gathered around a spectacular subterranean lake with a mountain of stalagmites in the center. Vivienne saw demons appearing from the black waters like oil slicks taking form. The cave was aglow with the light of flying Segais wood.

"Watch your head," Nicole whispered, giving Vivienne's hand a curt tug. "You're so tall — you might give yourself a concussion on the gates of hell."

Vivienne looked up, and in the pulsating, shimmering blue light, she saw that there was, indeed, a rusted metal gate hanging over the entrance to the cave.

"Back in the old days, they used to lower that gate once everyone was inside," Nicole whispered. "They didn't trust anyone who entered the caves to come back human. The only one they allowed out was the champion because they needed her to control the swarms of demons the trials created."

"Why would anyone willingly go in?" Vivienne asked, studying the horrid gate. She couldn't tell if it was flecked with brown from rust or from centuries of bloodshed.

"Let's get moving," Nicole sliced open a slithering snake demon that had been resting unassumingly on a rock. "You don't have to burn the small ones, just stab them."

A majority of the most battle-hungry fighters were gathered at the edge of the lake, eager to pick off any of the demons that came crawling up to the shore. Vivienne watched as they all lifted their weapons and cheered as Zissa and Ashlar walked by. Yomi was crawling beside his master in the form of a majestic ram. She also noticed that when Ashlar tried to grab Zissa's hand, she yanked it away.

"Will you show me the way to the inner sanctum?" Vivienne begged.

"We're going to tear down these damned machines first," Ashlar said, waving his bat around in a menacing manner. "Why go into the secret chamber? We're not here to pick a Grand Master. We're here to take down the big bad."

"Minthe, I'll lead you there," Zissa said. "But after we destroy their siphons first."

"I need to get in there right now," Vivienne stressed.

"Then why don't you use your power?" Ashlar snapped. "You could clear this entire cave out using the crazy magic you showed us last night."

"If I had that kind of power, don't you think I would have used it by now?" Vivienne asked. "You talk as though I had the power to change any of this. I'm just as helpless as any of you are."

Zissa sighed as tears came to Vivienne's eyes. "Look, there's a path under that archway. Usually, it's underwater, and there's a boat in the sanctum. Now, it's just a dirt path. Go on."

"Thank you!" Vivienne gasped and made a run for it.

Vivienne felt her skin crawl as she saw the flicker of demon eyes blinking back at her from the darkness. Some of them were rather beautiful, in all sorts of colors. They were eyes that might once have been human. Vivienne tried not to think about it too hard. She tried to keep looking forward. The path forward split off and led into different corridors. It was a maze that could get one lost for an eternity.

At the end of the path, Vivienne came to a hill with a single door leading to the heart of the caverns. It was a bad sign that the door was ajar. Blake had been wrong. Someone was here, someone who wasn't Tercel.

Vivienne stepped into the doorway and stared in wonder as, before her, a majestic tree rose stories high.

Vivienne walked up to the magnificent century-old tree. The ground under her feet was covered with leaves. The leaves flowed peacefully into a circular pool of Black Waters that glistened about a hundred feet down.

Vivienne looked up and saw that the branches stretched all the way to the surface. Taking a deep breath, she looked up and saw light-blue light filtering through the branches high above. Vivienne could almost feel the light of the sun on her face. This tree led all the way to the surface. Too bad, it was impossible to climb.

This opening must be what Ashlar meant when he begged her to repair the opening to the surface by forcing the Segais to regrow. Was this the opening through which Tercel initially entered the caverns?

Vivienne had no time to ponder. There was a girl in a daffodil dress lying among the tangled roots of the magnificent tree. Her black hair shrouded her face, but Vivienne knew precisely who it was. Her father's side of the family had a history of premature greying. Janun always had an annoying streak of grey hair, which she tried to hide by cutting her bangs extra short or by tucking it behind her ear. Vivienne never had that problem, but she had been mentally preparing for it for years.

A bit of grey would go well with her starkly pale eyes. It would make the contrast with her raven black hair less dramatic. Yet, the gray never came for Vivienne, as much as she willed herself to grow it.

"Janun!" Vivienne ran to her sister's side. It was too dark to see anything clearly. As Vivienne reached out to touch her sister's shoulder to shake her awake, a voice interrupted her.

"It took you long enough to get here," a man's voice stated from behind the giant door. Vivienne jumped up and held up her gun. Julian stepped into the light and slowly clapped. His eyes were ice-cold. There was a murderous smile on his gorgeous face. Julian wasn't wearing his glasses anymore, but Vivienne had a feeling he never needed them.

"Hello, Raven," Julian said, continuing to smile. "Do you recognize me now? Or do you need me to put on a black mask?"

"Prince Mercury."