off on your own." And with that Ubasti turned back to the pit and stepped off the ledge, dropping out of sight.
She felt her heart leap into her throat. She waited for the sound of a body crashing against the rocks below, but heard nothing. She approached the chasm in a hesitant fashion, and gingerly looked down, but she didn't see anything either.
"Ah, dammit, this is insane!" she muttered. Louder, she called out, "Ubasti?"
"I am here." It sounded close, yet still far enough away to be quieter than normal. "Hurry!"
"Shit!" She stood right on the edge. "Shit, shit!" Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and hopped off. "Aw, shiiiit!"
She felt like she would fall forever, but before she realized it she landed. Her eyes snapped open and she stared into the blackness of the yawning abyss. The ground beneath her feet crumbled as she lost her balance and started to pitch forward. At the last moment, someone grabbed her by the breastplate harness and yanked her backwards. Terror raced along her nerves as she flailed about trying to stabilize herself.
"Take it easy!" Ubasti cried, holding her. "I have you, you are safe."
She stopped struggling, and nearly collapsed from nervous exhaustion. She trembled uncontrollably, her breathing ragged, as she clung to the avatar.
"Are you all right?"
She got a hold of herself. "Yeah, sure. I've never been more scared in all my life. I hope I never have ta do anything like that again."
"Facing your own mortality is the greatest test of courage you will ever have to face. If you can survive it, nothing will hold more terror for you ever again."
"Um, yeah, swell." Just what I need, she thought, my own personal Yoda.
Nonetheless, she had recovered sufficiently to regain her presence of mind. Looking around, she realized for the first time that her surroundings appeared pitch black. The only thing that reassured her she hadn't gone blind were the fiery-orange eyes of the avatar.
"I can't see a thing!"
"That is easily rectified." Even as she said it, a torch flared to life with an audible pop. Eile saw she stood in the mouth of a small cave. As she watched, a string of torches lit up sequentially down the long path of a tunnel that receded to a tiny point far in the distance.
"That's a neat trick!"
"I have power over my own temple, though it is not absolute."
A sharp pain stabbed at the back of Eile's left hand, followed by a dull, throbbing ache. "Aaahh!"
"What is wrong?"
She shook her hand. "Cripes. Aw, nothing, my hand's starting to hurt, that's all."
"Let me see it."
She gave Ubasti a confused look, but she held her hand out.
"Take off the bandage."
"Alright." Annoyed, she untied the handkerchief, stripped off the glove, and held the hand back out for her to inspect. "But I don't know what you c--"
Ubasti stared at the hand, and twin orange beams lanced out of her eyes and struck it, bathing it in an orange glow.
"Ack!" She tried to snatch her hand away, but the beams held it firm like a physical grasp. However, she relaxed when she realized it didn't hurt. In fact, the hand became suffused with a warm glow that drove away the ache and loosened the muscles. When the beams cut out and the glow dissipated, the skin tingled, but nothing more serious than that. She looked at the back of the hand, and the wound had vanished. What's more, she couldn't see a scar; in fact, the skin bore no sign there ever had been a wound.
She wriggle her fingers, and felt relieved to see they worked fine with no pain. "Thank you." She slipped on her glove.
Ubasti nodded. "You are welcome. Now, come, we are fast running out of time." And she started down the tunnel at a brisk jog. Eile sprinted to catch up, then fell in beside her.
Despite the fast pace they set for themselves, it seemed to her to take forever to get anywhere. The tunnel stretched out straight ahead as far as she could see, with no turns, rises, or dips, and while she could tell they were moving by the passing torches, their unseen destination didn't seem to get any closer.
Finally she couldn't take it anymore. "Where the hell are we?"
"We are under the treasure vault."
She had not marked time or distance as she fled the guards, but it didn't feel to her it took that long to reach the chasm. "How long have we been at this?"
"About a quarter-hour."
"Huh. Feels longer."
"That is the nature of this route. It had been enspelled to be perceived as endless, to discourage intruders from using it. Except we are perhaps the first to do so in a thousand years."
"Swell. How much longer before we reach the obstacle you mentioned?"
"Soon. It is just beyond the vault."
"So...what is it?"
"I do not wish to terrify you. You shall find out soon enough."
"Oh, great. Thanks a bunch."
"You comported yourself well against the guards and when faced with the chasm, and your reputation is one of boldness and daring. However, I sense within you a fear of monsters."
"Yeah, I don't deal with monsters very well. We don't have them in the Waking World; at least, not like here."
"Then, as with the chasm, you are about to face your greatest test. If you can conquer your fear, you will triumph, and no monster will ever hold any terror for you again."
"Aw, sweet Jesus! Why did ya hafta go and tell me that?!"
"To forewarn you, so that you may be forearmed."
"Then you might as well tell me everything. What will we be facing?"
"Very well, if you insist. It is an avatar of Apep, the Eater of Souls."
"Wha--?"
"Another name for it is the Serpent From the Nile."
"Are you telling me it's some kinda snake?"
"It is an evil demon in the form of a serpent."
"Just my luck, it'll probably be humongous."
"It is not small."
"Yippee." She jumped when she heard the word echo back a half a dozen times; there had been no echo in the tunnel. With her next step, the tunnel suddenly vanished, and she found herself at the opening to an enormous cavern.
"Geezus!" She leapt back. Ubasti stopped just a little ahead of her. When she realized nothing else would happen, she stepped further in and gazed around.
She and Sunny had once toured the Cave of the Winds near Colorado Springs, and the chamber resembled one of its larger galleries, only at least ten times bigger. The same phosphorescent organism as in the pit cavern swarmed the walls and ceiling, in such numbers that the gallery appeared as bright as an overcast day. She realized it was simply an enlarged portion of the tunnel, having an oval cross-section wider than it was tall. Masses of stalagmites covered the floor, except where a path had been carved through them, smoothed and leveled. Each stalagmite was paired with a corresponding stalactite attached to the ceiling, and in a number of cases they had grown until they merged, forming columns arranged in a haphazard pattern. The path wound its way to the opposite end, where it connected with a flight of stairs that led up to a ledge and an opening to another tunnel. The mouth glowed with flickering torchlight, making it an obvious and tempting destination.
But for her, the best part was that the demon Apep seemed to be absent.
Ubasti looked around, as if searching for an opponent.
"It looks like we lucked out." She spoke in a hopeful tone. She really wanted it to be true.
"Appearances can be deceiving, but if you are right, we would be foolish not to take advantage of it. Let us go." And she started up the path at a brisk walk. Eile fell in beside her, gripping her sword in a resolute manner even as she hoped she wouldn't need it.
At first, Ubasti continued to survey the cavern, expecting trouble, but after they got a third of the way, she seemed to relax. As if that had been a signal, the ground suddenly started to shake. A monstrous form rose up from the floor, throwing off stalagmites and breaking stalactites as it reared its head. Its skin glistened in banded hues of black, brown,
tan, red, blue, green, and white. Its eyes blazed like twin ruby suns, and it dropped its mouth and screamed an earsplitting hiss that seemed to convey all the hate and rage of the entire world.
Even knowing what to expect, she stood paralyzed with terror. It did look like a snake, a cobra to be more exact, and as if to prove her right, a hood spread behind its head with the sound of rock grating on rock. However, it had none of the beauty and symmetry of a real snake; instead it seemed to embody raw cruelty and anarchy.
"Holy Jesus God!"
"Wrong again!" Ubasti pulled the sickle-swords from off her back, crouched and roared like a lioness, and charged. When she reached the demon, she leapt straight up, twisted her body full around, and swung her weapons. Both clashed sequentially on the monster's nose, raising clouds of sparks. It struck at her, but she somersaulted, landed on its head, and pushed off. She soared towards the nearest stalactite still intact, pirouetted, landed on her feet, and jumped clear as the snake-thing smashed into it, shattering it into a myriad fragments. She turned and raked her swords across its body, throwing out streamers of sparks, then rolled as she neared the ground. She sprang away as soon as she landed, flying straight for its head as it twisted around to confront her. It struck, but at the last minute she flipped above it, arched over its head, and slashed at the back of its neck, casting off still more sparks. She then tumbled to land on the other side of it.
Eile watched her gymnastics in stupefied awe, but it dissipated her fear. Grim determination filled her as she realized she had to help. Hefting her sword, she ran at the snake demon.
"Rrraaaawww!" She began slashing, jabbing, and