Dragon Tide Chronicles: Dawn Rising

Chapter 68: Demon Shaft, Day One

Chapter 68: Demon Shaft, Day One

An ice cold wave of ice water gushes down on my head, snapping me awake instantly.

“It’s always ice water, isn’t it?!” I snap. Alexander grins at me like a fox, enjoying himself perhaps a tad too much.

“That was for the apple to the face. Now come on, it’s time to get going. Might as well get some extra time.”

I groan. “Honestly, doesn’t it take time to activate the portal or something like that?”

Alexander winks at me. “Nope. In fact, takes only a few seconds. Say goodbye to your lunch, Danica.”

I glare at him. “You already activated the portal, didn’t you?”

He grins. “Yep. Hold on!” Almost immediately, I feel as though someone attached a huge weight to my feet, and I plummet straight down, Alexander close behind me. A whirling light fills my vision for but a moment, and then it goes away, fading into a huge spiraling tunnel like vortex.

“What the heck is this place?!” I scream, as I fall even faster, with Alexander falling just as fast.

“I already told you! This is the Demon Shaft! It is an inter-dimensional prison used to seal away powerful beings of various origins. Demons, Dialadects, even powerful mortals get sent here. It was created by your goddess, Aladamia, long ago. It connects the whole universe together, acting like an expressway as well. However, most trips through it are brief, instantaneous events. Most people don’t even realize this, but when you teleport or use portals, you really are briefly popping in and out of the Demon Shaft.”

I think slowly on this. “What happens if Ramok gets out? What would happen?”

Alexander looks at me meaningfully. “If he got out due to a gradual weakening of the seal, if it just decayed to oblivion, there wouldn’t be a problem. However, if he manages to forcefully tear his way free, it would destabilize teleportation and portals for a long time, and in addition, the Dialadect would be free to wreck chaos, able to attack Aladoria at will. It would be VERY bad if he broke free.”

I smile faintly. “Well then, let’s make sure we don’t let him do that. How long will it take to reach his seal?”

Alexander replies sullenly, “Three days. In that time, we have to make sure that Ramok doesn’t send his goons to harass us.”

Speaking of goons… I can hear something strange howling nearby, but can’t figure out what it is.

“Danica that was a Dialadect. There are two zones, the Shafts, which we’re in, and the Pits. The Pits are large empty stretches of space where the Dialadect usually are. It’s strange, they’re unusually a lot more aggressive then….” BOOM! A huge hole in the shaft rips open behind us, and Alexander curses.

“Damn! We’re behind schedule! The Demon Shaft is already breaking up! Come on, we’ve got to hurry, they’ll be after us now.”

A huge snake head with a long ropy neck pokes out of the hole, the head alone half the size of the shaft, which was already quite huge. It roars, a sound like a rattlesnake hiss and a dragon’s roar mashed up together.

“UUUUMMM, What is that thing, Alexander?! It’s creepy! And… does it have three eyes on each side?!”

Alexander rolls his eyes. “Freaking out over nothing. As typical of you pixies. That is a Dialadect, like I keep telling you. This one is a shrimp compared to some of the bigger… ‘fish’ out there.

Well, I’d hate to see mommy. That thing is HUGE!

“So… what IS the difference between Demons and these… Dialadect?” I ask, trying to lighten the mood as we try to avoid the creepy snake head. “It doesn’t seem like there’s much of a difference.”