Chapter 15

  Beneath the Sands

  “Stop right there!” A guard called down from the watchtower as they entered the shadow of the citadel. Hannah and Ari obeyed, craning their necks to peer up at the speaker. He was too high up for them to make out distinctive features, the only thing that stood out was the beard straddling his chin, and an object in his hands, the barrel of what seemed to be a rifle, pointing down at them.

  “We come in peace! I am an apprentice Medara, a healer. Let us pass,” Hannah called up to him.

  The man turned, speaking to another guard they couldn’t see. A moment later he looked back down at them.

  “I don’t care what you are, you need to get out of here. It ain't safe out on the sands.”

  “We’d be a lot safer if you let us into the citadel then, wouldn’t we?” Hannah asked.

  The guard turned to his companion again. More words they couldn’t hear. Ari shuffled from foot to foot, a sense that something was coming prickled at her mind, aggravatingly indistinct. Vibrations in the sand radiated through the thick soles of her hiking boots. Something in the watchtower began to whine, a strange alarm that quickly grew loud enough to sting their ears, despite how far above them it was.

  “The citadel’s locked down! Run for it!” the guard barked under the alarm.

  Hannah grabbed Ari’s arm and tugged her forward, but the intense rumbling shook them off their feet. They fell to the sand and shuffled away as the ground began to cave in, forming a hissing vortex. Ari felt an aura emerging from its center, something hungry and hateful. It reminded her of the corpion, but whatever this was, it was way bigger.

  A scarlet head burst from the center of the vortex, followed by rows upon rows of legs. A giant centipede towered over them, its head nearly cresting the cliff that contained the citadel. Sunlight glinted off jagged points of raw glass studding each segment of the enormous body. Pulses of lightning zipped from point to point, racing up to gather around the insects twitching antennae.

  “Shit,” Ari and Hannah said in unison. They scrambled to their feet and dove out of the way before a concentrated bolt of lightning blasted the sand where they’d lain, turning the grit into molten glass.

  “What is that thing?” Ari asked.

  “A gross bug,” Hannah called, her staff forming in her hand. She raised it into the air, a shield dome appearing above them, absorbing the next bolt of lightning and redirecting it back into the centipede’s maw. The monster lurched back, smoke hissing from its mouth, segmented plates of chitin rasping against each other. “Nothing with that many legs deserves to live. I’mma smash it.”

  Ari considered pulling Boreal from her pocket, but decided against it when she noticed the confident smirk on Hannah’s lips. This wasn’t like the fight against the titan. The centipede’s aura was weak, carrying none of the weight, and only a fraction of the titan’s menace. They could handle this monster.

  I’m not helpless anymore, Ari reminded herself. The surging magic in her core came to hand in an instant, needing release, needing a target. She glanced at the pit around the centipede’s trunk. If she rushed in with her sword she’d just end up slipping in and impaling herself on its spear-like legs. Raising her blazing sword, Ari pointed its tip at one of the glass studs, took three breaths to ensure her aim was true, and fired off a bolt of magic. The golden lance smashed into the glass chunk and shattered it. The studs above and below sparked, lighting struggling to bridge the gap where the middle stud once was. The centipede hissed and dove back into the sand, throwing up a cloud of dust. Ari shielded her eyes with her left arm, coughing as grit filled her mouth and nose.

  “Fight’s not over yet, keep moving!” Hannah called. Ari followed her voice, jogging out of the cloud of sand, struggling to keep her feet as the ground began to shake again. A new vortex opened, the centipede rocketing out of it to snap at the girls with its dripping mandibles, its saliva sizzling as it hit the sand. Ari jumped out of the way of the attack and slashed at it’s head, her blade cutting through an eye like a hot knife through cold butter. A sickening spurt of black ichor speckled her shirt and arms, the tar-like stuff burning her skin.

  Ari gave a pained shout, stumbling back from the creature as it tossed its head.

  “Damn it, kid! Get out of here!” the guard shouted at them. Bullets rained down from the watchtower, pinging off the centipede’s thick chitin, seeming to only annoy the monster. It raised its head, lightning racing up and down its body, antennae swathed in electricity, remaining eyes locked on the watchtower. The guard chucked something small and round at the centipede’s head. It hit with an explosion. Lightning arced into the sky as the centipede’s head rocked back, a few chunks of chitin raining down into the sand. It screeched, flailing into the pit it left behind, the ground shuddering as it slithered underneath the sands.

  Then the earth stilled. Silence fell, unnerving. Hannah and Ari glanced at each other. And then the world fell out from under them. A massive vortex pulled them in. Hannah plunged her staff into the sands, slowing her descent, reaching out for Ari with her free hand. Ari swam clumsily against the shifting tide, clawing at the air and grit before finally catching Hannah’s hand. They slid together, riding the sand toward the yawning maw of the demon centipede. Ari clenched her eyes shut.

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  “Space is no barrier, pass through,” Hazeon’s command shook her. With a cry she tightened her grip on Hannal’s hand and enveloped them both in the blaze of her magic. In an instant they were back on solid ground, just beyond the rim of the massive vortex.

  “Damn girl, you’ve been holding out on me. If I knew you could teleport we wouldn’t have walked this far,” Hannah said with a laugh.

  “I don’t know how I’m doing this, I promise,” Ari said, slightly dazed. Her channels were throbbing, a clear warning sign. “We need to wrap this up. I think if we break those glass spikes it won’t be able to use its lightning attack.”

  “Oh yeah? I can handle that,” Hannah said as she got to her feet. She twirled her staff in a circle and five stars of flickering magic appeared before her. She jabbed each one with the tip of her staff, multiplying them from five to fifteen, and on to fifty. Ari felt the magic in the air shift around them as Hannah worked her spell, whispering something under her breath. The centipede reared out of the vortex, smoke and ichor pouring from its mouth, its body wreathed in lightning. Hannah grinned.

  “This is my special move. Starlight barrage!” she called and thrust her staff toward the monster. Stars streaked forward like comets, launching into the glass studs lining the centipede’s trunk, shattering them on impact. The monster screeched. Lightning raged through its body, frying it inside an out now that there was nothing to channel the stored electricity away. The bolts that did escape cascaded into the air, dissipating into burnt ozone. The centipede fell, the impact of its body kicking up clouds of dust, but this time it didn’t slip into the sand. It lay where it fell, smoking and sparking. Its legs twitched a few times before curling inward, stiffening as rigor mortis set in. Ari watched its aura dim until it was just as dark as the stones and sand beneath it. The guards in the watchtower whooped and hollered. Ari sat in awed silence. She’d have to ask Hannah for some pointers when this was all over.

  The watchtower’s siren wound down only to be replaced by the tolling of a bell, and the cheers of men.

  “Open the gates! Open the gates!”

  A loud, metallic clang echoed off the stone walls of the sandstone cliff. Swarthy looking men and women in stained overalls and hardhats exited the citadel with pickaxes and carts. Ari and Hannah watched as they set upon the centipede’s corpse, collecting the meat, chition, and other bits. Another group of men, some sporting weapons and bits of chitin armor, approached the girls. Their leader was a broad man with sun bleached hair and weathered skin. A glimpse of a wide grin flashed through the wiry beard that dominated his chin.

  “We’ve been trying to kill that bastard for months,” he said, turning to stare at the dead monster. “Had us holed up here, killed anyone who tried to leave. Close to starving us out.”

  “You’re welcome,” Hannah said, still holding onto her staff, though her posture wasn’t threatening. The leader turned to meet her gaze. The conversation fell into a lull as they sized each other up. Ari climbed to her feet, watching them nervously, her channels still throbbing. I hope these guys are friendly, she thought, catching glimpses of pistols and sheathed blades hanging from the belts of the men gathered around their leader.

  After a few tense heartbeats the white haired man extended a large hand to Hannah. “Name’s Conrad Dale. I’m in charge of this here mining citadel.”

  “Hannah Mirena, apprentice Medara,” Hannah said as she took his hand to shake.

  “I’m Ari, uh, friend of Hannah,” Ari said, holding a hand. Conrad took it, his callouses scratching against the soft skin of her palm.

  “So, what brings two lovely young girls into a wilderness like this? No offense, but I doubt the Guilds would send an apprentice and her . . . friend alone to trade with us.”

  “My teacher and I were escorting Ari to the Guild Hub in Fellandre when we were attacked by a void titan on the Realm Sea. My teacher held it off and told us to run. We rushed through the first gate we came across and ended up here,” Hannah said. It wasn’t a complete lie, but it wasn’t close to the truth either. A few of the gathered men whispered to each other, the words ‘realm sea’ and ‘mage’ standing out, spoken with awe.

  Conrad nodded. “A titan, huh? You think your teacher will survive a fight like that?”

  “Yes. No titan is a match for her,” Hannah said, her confidence surprising both Ari and Conrad.

  “That so? You must have a powerful teacher,” he said, glancing at the centipede. “I suppose that tracks. Well, we’re grateful for your defense of our little set up here. If you’re looking for a place to stay for the night, we’d be glad to host you. It ain’t glamorous, but it's better than camping on the sand. Maybe your teacher will show up in a day or two.”

  “We have a rendezvous set up in case of separation. It’s likely she’ll head there, but I think we could rest here for a night, if you have the food and room to spare,” Hannah said.

  “We do now. Arkipede stew is on the menu tonight, isn’t that right boys?” Conri called. A round of cheers answered his question.

  “You’re gonna eat that thing?” Ari asked incredulously, her nose scrunched in disgust. Hannah nodded in agreement.

  “Don’t knock it ‘till you try it, Girly. It's sweeter than crab meat, I’ll swear to that,” Conrad proclaimed.

  “I do like crab . . . .” Ari said, not entirely convinced, though her grumbling stomach was persuasive.

  “Come on, I’ll give you a tour of our operations. Maybe you can drop a good word to the Guild Heads in Fellandre. Arcglass is of great use to the guilds after all.”

  “So that’s why it's called the glass citadel. I was wondering,” Hannah said as they followed Conrad and his men up the slope to the citadel’s entrance. As they stepped into the shadowed crag that marred the cliff’s face, the iron gates became viable, their surface marked by black streaks of carbon and large dents. Likely mementos of the arcipede’s attempts to bash its way inside.

  “What’s arcglass?” Ari asked while they waited for the gates to lift.

  “It's a type of natural glass ore that conducts magic, kind of like gold and copper do with electricity. It's used in a lot of magi-tech, like my nosis,” Hannah said and pulled her phone from the pocket of her dress. She glanced at it and pursed her lips. “Still no message from Seren. She should have caught up to us by now.”

  “Maybe she’s busy?” Ari asked.

  Hannah snorted and shoved the phone back into her pocket. “Yeah, busy getting into trouble.”

  “Well, she’d better hurry up then. We’re loads of trouble,” Ari said, winning a smile from Hannah.

  The gates clanked to a stop, the motors that powered them huffing steam. Conrad waved for them to follow, his men chatting excitedly about the feast they were eagerly awaiting. Ari hung back a moment, turning to watch the men and women pulling apart the centipede, scuttling this way and that like crabs on a fallen whale carcass. It made sense humans would find a way to utilize monsters just like they did normal animals. There was something encouraging about that. Resourcefulness allowed humanity to carve out a living just about anywhere, even in a world full of monsters and gods.

  Hannah called for her. The motors were huffing again, the gate clunking and rattling as it started to lower. Ari rushed through the barrier, hand raised to hold her beanie in place, and a soft smile on her lips.