A Breeding Darkness (Complete)

(36)

Saul's eyes glued to the gate, and he took Lucy's arm. "We need to get out of here," he said. "Alisdair, can you shutter the lantern more?"

Alisdair slid the shutter almost entirely over the glass on the lantern, cutting the light down to just a sliver. It would still be visible from the gate, but if they could put their bodies between the lantern and the guard's line of sight, they might be able to disguise it...

Lucy stopped dead in her tracks, bringing Saul to a jerking halt as well. He started to ask her what was wrong, but she interrupted him by pointing at the emerald sparks. They were still sparkling in the air, but now they were converging, coming into a bright sphere that hovered in the air for a moment before slowly descending. They fell on a bush, and then fell through the bush, dissolving into the ground until all their green light disappeared. Eyes wide, Lucy rushed forward and plunged into the branches before Alisdair could even bring the light over for her to see.

She felt along the ground, fingers scrambling in the dirt, until they met something flat and cold. It was not a root, or anything that was natural. Alisdair appeared with the lantern then, and Lucy could see the edge of a large stone. She quickly scraped the dirt and leaves to one side to reveal a trap-door made of granite and metal, set into a frame in the ground. She glanced up at Saul and Alisdair, who looked shocked that her compass had actually led them to something.

"Help me open it," Lucy said, stuffing her skirt into her belt so that her legs could be free as she positioned herself over the iron handle set on top of the door. She grabbed one end, and Saul and Alisdair the other. Together they heaved until the door slowly fell open to reveal a set of stairs leading down into the earth. The trio stood at the top, looking in apprehension down into the darkness. A cold and musty breeze stirred their clothes, bringing with it the scent of time passing slowly and the stagnant stench of forgotten places.

Lucy shivered, but knew she couldn't afford to be afraid. She took a step down onto the first stair, and saw that the emerald green sphere of light from her compass hovered in the narrow corridor at the bottom. It moved forward as she approached it, and Lucy had a feeling it was still leading them. She looked back at Saul and Alisdair, who were pulling the door shut behind them. Hopefully the guards who came to check on the strange explosion wouldn't think to check the bushes.

"We're going this way," Lucy called back to them, her voice echoing even though she had spoken barely above a whisper. Alisdair grimaced at her, but still unshuttered the lantern to give them more light to avoid the broken stones in their path and the thick roots that thrust through the earthen roof and dangled at just the right height to poke out eyeballs.

The emerald light led them down a maze of corridors, taking them deeper into the hill. They scaled steps and went down them, and turned corners seemingly sending them back where they came from. This was a catacomb meant to hide and trap. This was not somewhere Lucy should have been, and not somewhere she wanted to be. But the emerald light led them on, pausing any time they did, and moving again when they were ready. It led them all the way to where the corridor emptied out into a large circular room.

Other corridors emptied into the room as well, making it the heart of the catacombs. It was made of dark stone, with a domed ceiling that pushed back the dirt from above. Torches burned on the walls, flooding the room with orange light that flickered and danced. It should have felt inviting, but somehow the flames felt ominous and dangerous.

"What is this place?" Saul asked. The compass sparks had floated into the room and suddenly extinguished themselves. This was where they were supposed to go.

"I don't know," Lucy replied, stepping forward into the room and letting her eyes fall on the slab in the exact center.

Just like with the girl they had found in the mountain, this was a burial site. A heavy piece of granite took up the center of the room, and on it a body lay perfectly still. Lucy held her breath, stealing forward. She already knew it wasn't the girl. This was much too large for it to be her. 

But she was not expecting to see Joon's deathly pale face.

With her face buzzing, she stared at the blue tint to his skin, the purple bruising of his lips. She nearly ran to his side, nearly careened onto him. She didn't understand. How was he here? How could he be--?

She didn't let herself finish that thought. 

This wasn't right. No black veins wound around his neck and jaw, no bandages peeked through his collar. Her bloomers and coat were nowhere to be seen, and instead he wore the traditional robes of the king, emerald silk and with a silver medallion embroidered over his shoulders and down his back. In them, he looked like a myth. A legend. He was the Joon she knew, but ever so slightly not. This was a perfect Joon, one made of crowns and thrones and hundreds of years of history.

"Prince Joon," Alisdair said, coming to stand over Joon and spill lantern light across his face. "I thought you said he was in Zerkalo?"

"He is.... he was," Lucy muttered, unable to take her eyes off Joon's face. He was so still, so perfectly still, and it ran like ice water through her veins. 

"We should get him out of here," Saul said. "There's something wrong about this place. It makes me feel sick."

Lucy agreed. Something about the place, even though it was brightly lit, seemed to suck all the energy and happiness from her bones. She felt like crying for no reason, or giving up what she never had. It was unsettling, and she wanted to get Joon's body away as soon as possible.

Saul and Alisdair prepared to lift Joon, one by his arms, the other by his feet, but as soon as their hands touched his skin, darkness exploded from the stone he lay on. Black tendrils sliced through the air, narrowly missing Saul's face and Alisdair's arms. The two men jumped backward as the tendrils wound around Joon, wrapping him tightly in their darkness. As the tendrils rested against his face, Lucy saw his neck pulse with black veins. It was not like she remembered in Zerkalo, but more like a vision or a dream, just barely remembered. 

Lucy swallowed hard, looking down at Joon. The source of darkness. How could that be possible? Joon was the prince of the land. Zerkalo had been created because it could not bare to be apart from him. So how could he suddenly become the thing that was creating a darkness that would consume and destroy everything in this country? 

But, most importantly, if he was the source of darkness, she'd have to destroy him.

Her stomach roiled, and her knees gave out as her whole body went numb. She slid down, collapsing into a seat on the ground, the cold stones biting into her legs as she stared at Joon. She'd have to destroy him. Was this the Joon she knew in Zerkalo? Or was this his body, left behind like she left hers when she entered the dream world? Would destroying this body leave his soul trapped? 

Saul placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing to give her strength, but she barely felt it. She was too busy trying to think of any other ways she might destroy darkness without destroying the thing it was bound to. Her mind was coming up with nothing useful, only vague ideas of fairy tale solutions that seemed stupid and impractical, when she heard a noise down one of the corridors. Her head snapped up and she looked up just in time to see a creature spill from the corridor into their room and leap across the slab that Joon lay on. She saw a sinuous body and scales, a stone dragon that perhaps once graced the corners of the palace, before it leapt onto her.

The force sent her head crashing into the stones. Her hearing turned to screeching, though she wasn't sure if this was from her mouth, someone else's, or just the crushing pain in her temple from the collision with the stones. Either way, her vision swam and she had almost no strength to fight the creature as its claws tore at the skin on her stomach and its jaws snapped closed inches away from her neck. She yelled for help, but as the creature clawed deep into her abdomen, she only heard a strong and steady voice speak from the dimming darkness that was creeping in.

"You made a grave mistake entering here."

And then Lucy's consciousness slipped away, disappearing as the pain faded from the creature and she saw nothing but Joon's ghostly white hands, folded dead and still on his chest.