“Finally, someone in this godforsaken dungeon has paid attention to aesthetics,” said Jeremy, taking a seat at the end of one of the banquet tables. He took a deep breath. “And what a beautiful smell.” Jeremy motioned for Maren to join him at the table. She hesitated and then took a seat beside him.
“So where's the food?” Jeremy brushed Maren's hair behind her ear and smiled.
Maren pulled away.
“Are you not feeling well? You keep turning red.”
“Stop, Jeremy. Just stop.” Maren rose from the banquet table. “Steven, where are your friends?”
“They must be out hunting,” said Steven dreamily. “Don't worry, when they return we're sure to have a feast.”
Jeremy called for Lyrna to join him and she jumped up on the silver-plated bench. He pulled the map out from his pocket. “So where are we on here?” He ran his finger across the map. “Should I mark it?” Jeremy smiled and pet the top of Lyrna's head. He picked up a large yellow chalk from his box.
“You've got a map?” Steven moved towards Jeremy for a closer look.
“Yes, and you haven't? Of course you know this place by heart and are probably best pals with all sorts of freaky-ass creatures.”
“Jeremy!” said Maren.
“We're looking for the Heart of the maze, Steve, so if you could just point it out to us....”
Steven smiled. “It's above us.”
“So that would mean we're...” Jeremy moved his finger across the map, “third level, right next to the dungeon.” He fixed his eyes on Steven, who stood smiling and unblinking before him. “That seems like a dangerous location for a banquet,” he said slowly.
Lyrna was the first to cry out. There was a muffled sound of metal clanking and feet shuffling coming through a door located behind the harvest statue. Jeremy and Maren both stood up abruptly. The door flew open, and the first of a horde of grunting and snorting abominations burst through, clad in crude armor and brandishing an axe and sword. Jeremy, Maren, and Lyrna bolted for the exit. On her way to the door, Maren slipped on a piece of yellow chalk that Jeremy had dropped on the ground, falling hard on her hands and knees. By that time, five abominations had entered the room.
Jeremy turned just as the first monster reached Maren. Its face was human-like, but horribly misshapen and scarred. Maren tried to scramble to her feet but her attacker took a coiled net off its back and tossed it over her. Her limbs became entangled and she fell again, this time landing unevenly on her face with a sickening thud. The abomination howled.
Jeremy hesitated and hated himself for it. He looked at his hands, shaking from the adrenaline that pumped through his body. He inhaled sharply, and then charged the creature, running in a tight arc to attack it from the side. The abomination managed to lift its sword to repel Jeremy, but he was too quick. Jeremy leapt and deflected the blade harmlessly with the bottom of his foot while grabbing the creature's head with both of his hands. Two deadly currents left his hands and entered the misshapen head, disintegrating the twisted brain from within.
Lyrna was busy distracting the four other abominations. She deftly dodged their swings, following up with quick counterattacks and enraging the monsters. But she miscalculated slightly, and after putting her claws deeply into a dull eye, she caught an axe blade in the last inch of her tail, which severed cleanly and fell to the floor. Lyrna screeched and crawled under the table. An abomination jumped and landed in the middle of the table, splitting the wood and scattering cutlery everywhere. Lyrna managed to get out of the way in time, and crawled behind the harvest statue.
Jeremy, seeing the bloody stump of Lyrna's tail on the
ground, cried out. His hair sparked and stood on end, and an expanding blue wall of electricity flashed into the monsters, who were making their way towards Lyrna. The wall bowled them over and one fell into the harvest statue, which teetered and then crashed on the ground. The monsters were stunned for the moment. Maren had finally climbed out of the net and was standing in the exit, shouting.
Jeremy and Lyrna joined Maren in the doorway, and they ran in a frenzy down the hall.
Jeremy, Maren, and Lyrna raced through the maze, opening and closing doors indiscriminately. After ten minutes of running, Maren slammed a door closed and turned to Jeremy. “We left him,” she said between breaths. “Steven!”
“That was a set up, Maren. He was with them.”
“You don't know that. Steven could be dead!”
“I killed one of those creatures, Maren! Did you see?” Jeremy's eyes shone wildly, not with victory but with self-loathing.
“I... don't know what I saw.” Maren looked at the ground and then up at Jeremy. She wiped her hair from off her face. “But thank you.”
A moment of silence passed between them.
Jeremy bent down beside Lyrna and ripped the bottom of his shirt off. He wound it tightly around the tip of her tail. Her tail, usually thick with fur, was matted with blood. “Lyrna, I was so afraid you left me.” Jeremy scooped Lyrna up and hugged her close to his chest. A tear fell down his cheek and he turned away from Maren.
Lyrna mewed affectionately.
Maren rubbed her eyes. “Jeremy, you brought the chalk?”
“Apparently.” Jeremy examined his hands and saw that they were covered in a yellow dusting. He felt in his back jean pockets and produced two large pieces of chalk. “But not the map.” He slammed his fist onto the stone wall and cursed. Lyrna flattened her ears.
“But okay,” said Lyrna. “Still alive.” She tugged at his pant leg with her mouth and then shook her tongue to rid it of chalk.
“It's not okay.”
“We shouldn't have left Steven,” repeated Maren sadly.
“Maren, it was a set up. I looked at the map and we weren't 'next door' to where we were when he found us. We were beside the dungeon, the one place I knew for sure that I wanted to avoid. But you were all smitten with him calling you a guy and holding the door for you and being a general weirdo.” Jeremy walked to the opposite stone wall and began to doodle geese pictures with the yellow piece of chalk.
“Okay! So maybe it was a set up. Sorry for being concerned about another human being's welfare.” Maren stood up and started pacing the room.
“And I'm not? I've been looking out for you since we've been here! I could leave at any time if I wanted.”
“Really? Well I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you!”
“So you don't want to see your parents?”
“You know what I mean, I wouldn't have come to Earth if I hadn't gone with you on Failrun!”
Jeremy held his breath and doodled furiously. First he drew a flock of geese in the sky. Then he drew a pond and added a mother goose and her goslings.
“Jeremy.”
He continued to ignore her and started on a sunset.
“Jeremy, put the chalk down.”
“Chalk!”
Jeremy turned around and was about to tell Lyrna not to get involved when he saw a large yellow creature with mangy fur descending the wall. The creature was thickset and strong and Jeremy immediately recognized it as the monster on the tile. Before he could warn Maren and Lyrna, the creature had sprung down to the center of the room, knocking Maren to the floor. The creature stood on its hind legs and roared, bearing its sharp, black teeth. It licked its swollen gums with a forked tongue and leered at Jeremy.
Jeremy stumbled back and dropped the chalk. It rolled behind him.
“Chalk!” roared the creature.
“It wants the chalk, give it the chalk!” Maren crawled to the furthermost wall and watched in horror as Jeremy flung the chalk at the monster. The chalk smacked the monster in the head and the monster toppled over. When it lifted its large furry head, it clapped its hands. “Good chalk! Make Urm happy!”
Maren blinked. She looked to Jeremy, who scrambled to his feet. “Is it... friendly?”
Lyrna approached the monster from its side, her ears tucked back. “Urm, I Lyrna.”
&nbs
p; The monster beat its chest. “Urm.”
“Is that your chalk, Urm?” asked Jeremy.
The yellow, furry monster shook its head. “Yes, mean ghost hid it. I look for long time. Say I'm stupid.”
Maren walked to Jeremy with her back against the wall. “We don't think you're stupid.”
“Thank you, friends!” Urm jumped up and down, lifting his large furry legs to his chest and slamming them to the floor. “Urm love chalk!” Urm crawled up the wall, his left arm firmly holding his chalk. He began to draw self portraits.
“Let's leave. Now.” Maren tugged at Jeremy's shirt and they tiptoed to the door.
“Psst, Lyrna!” said Jeremy.
“Wait!” Urm crashed to the ground. “Where you go?”
“Heart!” said Lyrna cheerfully.
“Lyrna, come on!” Jeremy motioned for Lyrna to exit the room.
“Heart? Wait! I take you there. Very simple. Hop on back.” Urm patted his back and lay flat to the ground. “I take you up wall, through high door to Heart now.”
Jeremy examined the high walls and saw that there was a door thirty feet up. He pointed this out to Maren.
“It might make things easier.” He shrugged.
“Wait!” said Maren. “Do we really want to go to the Heart? Let's think this through. What happens there?”
The monster raised its large, furry eyebrow. “Heart Mantel's throne. You want eat, right?”
“No I do not want to be eaten! Jeremy, what are we doing?”
Jeremy examined the monster's yellow fur and hopped up on its back. Lyrna scrambled up Urm's leg. “Maren.” Jeremy patted Urm's fur, indicating a seat for Maren.
“Jeremy, I don't know,” said Maren after a pause. She closed her eyes and shook her head.
“Maren.” He patted Urm's fur again. “Unless, of course, you wanted to sit on my lap.” He smiled.
Maren gasped. “Jeremy!”
“Don't act so shocked.”
Maren couldn't believe his trespass, especially under the current circumstances. “This is serious, we could die!”
“Exactly. Get up here.”
Maren sighed and reluctantly climbed onto the yellow abomination's back. “All right, but this is for my parents' sake.”
Chapter 41
Mantel
Urm sprang up onto the stone wall, his massive, furry paws expertly working with the scattered cracks and protrusions. Jeremy and Maren held tight to his fur and Lyrna bit down to keep from falling off. The monster climbed until at last he reached a great wooden door with a heart engraved just above the handle. “Ready?” asked Urm.
“Yes,” said Jeremy after a sigh.
Urm opened the door with his massive paw. It creaked on its hinges. Urm scrambled through the door and Jeremy and Maren saw a large, circular room with a ceiling that tapered to a point. The floor was polished black marble inlaid with precious stones, and the walls were blood-red. At the far end of the room sat a throne with gilded edges. Engraved in its side were depictions of a harvest. Jeremy and Maren's parents stood with their backs against the wall, shouting and waving their arms. Jeremy's father, Wantoro, had his hands and legs chained.
“Jeremy!” shouted Wantoro.
“Father, what's going on down there?”
“Jeremy, watch out!” Wantoro shook his chains.
Jeremy and Maren gripped Urm's fur as he descended the wall. “Wait, Urm!”
But Urm had already reached the bottom. He shook them off his fur and leapt back onto the wall. “Urm go now!” Urm scurried up the blood-red wall and disappeared behind the wooden door.
“Wait!” Maren yelled.
“Jeremy Chikalto,” said a strange, hoarse voice. The sound had a low end like thunder in the distance, and a high end as shrill as a rusted hinge.
Jeremy and Maren spun around. The voice came from a small, fleshy figure robed in black. Its body emanated waves that disturbed the air surrounding it, like the heart of a fire. It hovered above the ground and moved slowly towards Jeremy.
“Yes, Mantel. This is the boy you seek.” Ms. Fritz emerged from behind the throne. She smoothed her hair to her head and smiled.
“Maren, you have to get out of here!” yelled Gillian from across the room, tears streaming down her face.
Mantel's hood fell back and Maren gasped. His head was pale and wrinkled, with coal-black eyes and a long, flat nose that flared at the nostrils. A sliver in the front of his robe showed a small, shriveled body hunched forward. His hands were iridescent, fleshy stumps with small finger buds. He raised one of his hands over his head. “Jeremy Chikalto, descendent of Vordin Chikalto, I am honored.” Mantel set his black eyes on Jeremy.
“What?” Jeremy stammered.
“Some ghosts led you astray. My apologies.” Mantel lowered his hand.
Jeremy shot a sideways glance at his father. He looked fierce despite his shackles. Jeremy balled his hand into a fist. “I'm here now, so what do you want?”
Suddenly Mantel manifested directly in front of Jeremy. Jeremy fell back on the floor and Mantel hissed with laughter. “Jeremy Chikalto, do not worry about your friends and family. It is you who I want. Look at me.” Mantel's dark, boding stare bore down on Jeremy's soul like an anchor. Mantel drew his face close to Jeremy's, but not quite touching. Jeremy tried to jerk his head away but found that he could not. To his horror, he could now see that beneath Mantel's skin, different faces bubbled up, pressing against the pink flesh. An eye blinked beneath Mantel's cheek; a mouth screamed just under the skin on his forehead. The faces of the dead were in him. Jeremy then heard a singular shrill voice enter his head, piercing through all thoughts, omnipresent.
“Yes, I was once called Cain. But do you know who are?”
Everything around Jeremy grew warbled. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Lyrna throwing herself against the air, as though a forcefield kept her separated from him and Mantel.
Don't hurt us, thought Jeremy. Sweat dripped down his brow and mixed with the tears forming on his eyelashes.
“Hurt you?” said the voice in Jeremy's head. “You are Jeremy Chikalto, descendent of Vordin Chikalto.” Mantel rose slightly in the air and circled Jeremy, leaving a trail of thick, pink mucous on the floor. Jeremy scrambled to his feet.
“Vordin Chikalto was my salvation,” continued Mantel. “He reincarnated my damned soul. Like the angel Gabriel, he heralded new life; like the Anointed One, I rose again and offer life.
How did–
“Vordin Chikalto was like you.”
Jeremy stopped struggling against Mantel's voice. His eyes widened. But...
“Angel blood runs in your veins.”
And my father?
“Only you.”
Jeremy struggled against the voice again and was able to bring his eyes so far as the black polished floor.
“Jeremy Chikalto!”
You're hurting me! His temples were beginning to tense up, and his mind felt a terrible pressure building, as though his head might explode.
“Don't resist. Be with me. You must cross over to the Haze and gather souls for my harvest.”
Jeremy dropped to his hands and knees and gnashed his teeth, the pain was so excruciating. Why should I bring you souls?!
“You can live here, with me. I will fulfill you. What do you desire? Wealth, power... love.”
Souls are supposed to be sorted in the Haze.
“The Apocalypse is imminent. We must be ready.” Mantel's lips curled. “Ah, I see. Hidden thoughts betray you. You think you are allied with God?” Mantel laughed and a thick, black smoke billowed from his mouth. “I'm afraid you are predestined to choose between my company or Lucifer's. God does not want you.” Mantel drifted behind Jeremy and whispered in his ear. “It isn't fair, I know. God's vengeance is durable. After your ancestor took pity on me and returned me to my corpse, he was cursed. You embody that curse.”
That doesn't make sense. Jeremy gritted his teeth.
“Few co
mprehend the divine agenda.” Mantel's shrill voice had entered Jeremy's head again. “I too bear the mark of a curse. See?” Mantel pointed to his neck with his iridescent finger buds. The blue and purple veins throbbed and Jeremy saw what appeared to be a tattoo: two small black spirals, joined at the center, were etched into his flesh. A thick blue line that looped at the end cut through the center of the spirals.
Mantel's mouth twitched. “God cursed Vordin Chikalto for his trespass on the divine will. You are the fruition of that curse. You, with the smug fantasy of God's grace, are to aid the fallen Lucifer in unleashing the greatest darkness. You, Apollyon.”
I don't believe you. Jeremy closed his eyes and held his head.
“You are the angel of the bottomless pit. But you don't have to be. Join me and we can rise up against Lucifer's army at the end of days. We can topple God!” Mantel's eyes shimmered with desire and light bent and twisted around him.
Stop it! Jeremy grabbed at his temples and forced his head to the ground. He fell forward, his chin cracking on the cold stone, and blood pooled from his ears. When he came to his senses, he heard Maren screaming.
The IIU had arrived and surrounded Wantoro, Gillian, and Mateo. The bright white of their uniforms reflected off the floor.
“Mantel, should we take them to the dungeon?” Bentley looked up from under his thick, black brow and smiled.
“That's up to Jeremy. Tell me, Apollyon, are they enemies or guests?” Mantel gestured towards Wantoro with his frail, pink hand. “Unchain him.”
Bentley nodded and unchained Wantoro.
“Jeremy, you were saying? Enemies or guests?”
“They're nothing to you.”
Mantel let out a splintering laugh and floated to the center of the room.
Jeremy got to his feet and scrambled to his family and friends. They turned towards a door.
Ms. Fritz and the IIU cut them off, drawing their weapons.
“Jeremy, I will be a perfect host to your loved ones. Stay,” said Mantel calmly, turning his gaze to the party.
“We're leaving,” said Jeremy, clenching his teeth.
“But you came here to rescue your father, yes? I imagine someone will die if you attempt to get past the IIU.
Bentley raised his gun. The other IIU members followed his example.
“No, we're leaving this place.” Jeremy extended his arms over his father and Maren.