Chapter 26: Chapter 26
Noises from the battle raged on as Ru made her way along in inky blackness, feeling with one hand along a wall, Lyric’s hand on her shoulder. It was pitch black down here, darker than anything Ru had ever experienced before, and her eyes ached they were searching so hard for the light and finding none. She wished she could ignite her hand, but she couldn’t risk letting the demons or Reapers know they’d found the cellar.
When she’d reached the wall near the front of the sanctuary upstairs, she’d felt compelled to go through it, and at Lyric’s urging, she had done so, finding a stairwell that twisted and turned, and Ru realized they were going back into the mountainside Kayakoy sat atop. The staircase had been walled off long ago, but Ru knew there had to be another opening somewhere since otherwise no Reapers would be able to physically use the portal, and her gut was telling her she was headed in the right direction and the portal was ahead of her somewhere. The further under the ground they went, the less they could hear the sounds of engagement from above, though every once in a while, the ground would shake as a Keeper of the Earth discharged, and little pieces of rock or dirt would tumble down on their heads.
“So long as no Keepers of the Water decide to flood us, we should be good,” Lyric mused, just above a whisper.
With each step, Ru felt that she was closer to their objective. She could almost envision the location of the portal. She knew it was at the end of this tunnel, but it was hard to tell how much further she’d have to walk, and at this rate, they weren’t covering the ground very quickly.
A noise caught her attention, and Ru froze. “Did you hear that?” she whispered. It sounded like a slithering noise.
“Yep,” Lyric replied.
Still too cautious to move, Ru listened intently and heard the sound again. Now, it sounded like a rattle, like something one heard in a documentary about diamondbacks. Then, another movie popped to her mind. “Holy Hell, it’s Medusa!”
Lyric giggled. “You watch too much TV. There’s no Medusa.”
The noise rang out through the tunnel again, closer this time. Realizing it didn’t do much good to keep themselves in the dark if they were discovered, Ru lit her hand. Standing about five feet in front of them in the narrow passage, her neck craned so that she’d fit beneath the eight-foot ceiling, her tail curled up beside her, and her hair reaching and slithering out in all directions, Ru saw a face that had haunted her dreams as a child. Gaunt and white, with blood red lips, a serpent’s tongue sliding out from between sharpened teeth, and scarlet eyes, she peered at them, ready to strike.
“Then what the Hell is that?” Ru asked, certain that there was no other way to describe the creature in front of them.
“Uh, that’s Medusa,” Lyric replied in a whisper. “Hit her!”
Ru was certain it couldn’t be the Medusa because she had definitely looked straight into the monster’s eyes and she hadn’t turned to stone. So, she raised her hand and blasted the monster with her blue lights as Lyric began to stir up the wind, blowing her back. The face snarled into a smile, letting out a roar, and Ru felt herself reeling backward, tumbling into Lyric and knocking her down. They both slid back across the sharp stones of the tunnel floor, Ru’s light sent askew, sending some larger rocks down from the ceiling. Unfortunately, they missed the monster, who was coming for them again.
“You hurt?” Lyric asked, leaping up.
“No,” but Ru didn’t have time to say more as she concentrated her forces and blasted them, once again, at the woman with the snakes for hair.
“I can’t do too much or I might cause a cave in,” Lyric explained.
“Okay!” Ru didn’t have time to talk as she saw Medusa raise her hands again, likely about to send more black energy her direction. This time, Ru was able to sidestep the bolt of charged black smoke that came her way.
“We need more Light,” Lyric said, as she picked up the fallen rocks and sent them careening into the monster’s head. The snakes hissed as they made contact and knocked the creature off balance. She stumbled, which only caused her to shriek, and a new rain of rocks hit Ru in the head, though none large enough to do any damage.
“Someone called?” Rider asked, materializing between the two girls. “Well, hello there, gorgeous.” He immediately sent two sharp bolts of lightning at his new girlfriend, knocking her backward, but Medusa was a feisty one, and it only took her a few seconds to recover.
Cutter’s voice sounded behind her. “Ru! We’ll keep her busy. If you think the portal is down there, you need to rematerialize close to the end of the tunnel.”
“Right,” Ru said, wishing she had thought of that before. She wished she had time to turn and look at him, but she didn’t, so, with a deep breath, she imagined herself further down the tunnel, and a few seconds later, she opened her eyes to hear shrieks from Medusa far behind her. Turning, she could see the tunnel curved somewhere between here and there, because once again, it was pitch black. Until she swiveled back to look in front of her. Against the stone wall before her there was a slight shimmer. She could see it even in the darkness. With a deep breath, she raised her hands, not wanting to give anyone or anything a chance to stop her.
Before she could speak, however, she felt a rumbling and knew that there was something trying to come through the portal. She remembered the bull and the other creature she’d caught trying to come out last time and knew it would be in everyone’s best interest if she closed this opening before anything could make it out. Resolving herself, she pulled upon all of her remaining strength, hoping it would be enough.
The light came out of her hand in a powerful punch, as it had last time she faced such an undertaking. It hit the portal opening and sent a wave of energy backward. Ru managed to stay on her feet this time, and as she spoke the words of the incantation, she expected to be knocked out again. Though the shuddering continued, the portal didn’t close.
“In nomine domini, ut claudere infernum est effi- cimur, omnium aeternum!” Ru shouted again, straining to gather as much energy as she possibly could. The portal opening appeared to be faltering, and on the other side, she saw what looked to be the head of a water buffalo. The form was dark and shadowy, and she couldn’t be sure that was what she was seeing, but as long as he was trying to get out, she didn’t see how she could muster enough strength to get the portal to close.
Still straining against the black energy, Ru sent out a message, hoping for anyone who could to show up and take care of the demon while she closed the portal. She didn’t know how much longer she could hold on by herself.
“Hey, you found it!” Ivy’s voice filled the void next to her. Before Ru could respond, Ivy raised her hands, and a dark green wave of power came out from them, unlike anything Ru’d ever seen before. They made contact with the head of the water buffalo, and Ivy said, “Infernus et perdere faciam te in nomine Domini!”
Instantly, the form disappeared, and Ru felt her previously divided power come back together. Knowing she had to be just about out of power, Ru scraped together every ounce she had, and with her eyes closed, she envisioned the portal closing as she repeated the words, “In nomine domini, ut claudere infernum est effi- cimur, omnium aeternum!”
A wave of power surged back at her through the portal, and Ru felt herself falling backward, just as she had last time, the heat from the decimated portal washing over her as her body hit the ground.