The back door opened directly onto a flagstone street which lead away from the shore. She climbed the gradient as fast as she could until she was panting, then continued on through the heart of the city. It had been a long time since Eddie had been anywhere new, when she was in her early adulthood she used to travel a lot, exploring different parts of the world. New sights, new flavours, different cultures, it was intoxicating. Knowing that people existed and thrived in such different places made her feel a part of something bigger than herself and finding connections with strangers drew her to visit new places. It was mad how someone on the other side of the world, thousands of miles away that she had never met, never knew existed before meeting them, might also love a hot bath at the end of a long day, or also find their well-meaning parents overbearing.
She walked along the wide street as it meandered up from the shore into the city, reminiscing of happy weeks spent travelling through Europe with Pippa and Eric the summer before they went off to University. It was easy to blame the pandemic for putting an end to her travel plans, but if she analysed herself further she knew she’d stopped planning trips away long before that; Josh hated going anywhere new and complained so much she’d put those dreams on hold for a while when they were first dating, which eventually turned into years.
She came to a tall archway set into an ancient city wall, lit by burning braziers and guarded by two gargoyles perched on plinths. Similar to those found on gothic Cathedrals but about four times the size. That wasn’t the only difference, as these ones moved as if they were living, breathing beings.
They watched her advance with empty, pupil-less eyes. After Nero’s comment about the mind reading sea-monster, she was more than a little paranoid they would sense she was a witch and attack. The gargoyle to the right was most like a serpent, it’s scaled trunk coiled around the plinth. It’s tail twitched as it caught Eddie looking curiously and she dipped her head and sped up, passing under the great arch without hindrance.
Once she was safely through, she chanced a look back only to see the snake’s head had followed her progress, hanging down to peek under the arch.
“Are you lossst?” It hissed, it’s forked tongue darting out between it’s fangs. “Do you need directionsss?”
“No, thank you.” She squeaked.
“We can see the whole city from up here if you’re looking for something specific.” The other gargoyle said helpfully. This one resembled more of a bear-crossed-with-a-wolf and it had climbed the parapet to sit on top of the wall, oblivious to the small grooves his claws had scratched into the stone.
“I already have directions. Thank you for offering though.” She replied, eager to keep moving.
“Suit yourself.”
He shrugged, then leapt down behind the wall to return to his post. The snake’s head disappeared too, Eddie had been dismissed.
She continued on, past stone buildings wrapped in vines adorned with strange flowers and odd-shaped fruit, past a bustling market square (although she was sorely tempted to look around it, she didn’t stop) until she saw the first sign for the railway painted beside a red arrow high up on a wall. Despite the late hour, the streets and public areas in the city centre were easy to manoeuvre as they were lit by the same floating orbs she had seen in the bar terrace. However, as she moved further away from the centre, both the lights and the people became few and far between. After a while Eddie had to rely on the moonlight to navigate by the signs.
She had to be getting close, she thought to herself as she followed a sign pointing to a dark alleyway that ran underneath an abandoned three-storey building. Shutters hung crooked from their rusted hinges and of the few windows still containing glass, cracks spread out like spiders webs obscuring the empty rooms beyond. The walls of the tunnel were warped with age and bowed inwards, making the narrow space feel even more claustrophobic.
Sharp clacks from her heeled boots echoed against the stone floor as she walked through the dark towards the end of the tunnel. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t seen another person for the last ten minutes, no one felt at ease walking through a long, dark, enclosed space. This is what Eddie told herself this as she headed further under the building, right until her footsteps were joined by a second set, the beats lower and further apart.
A jolt of adrenaline set her heart beating faster and she clenched her fists to steady her breathing. Instantly she regretted not taking Thane up on his offer, his mammoth size would certainly be a deterrent for any unsavoury characters. She sped up, aiming for the moonlight streaming across the end of the tunnel.
The other footsteps sped up too.
Throwing caution to the wind Eddie broke out into a run. She was only a few meters from the exit, but as she reached it a pale figure stepped out from the wall, blocking her escape. A single eye glowed in the shadows.
“We meet again.”
She careened to a halt, breathing hard.
“Marduk.”
“That’s my name.” He grinned, the smile not reaching his eyes. “Don’t wear it out.”
Eddie took a step back and he followed her, mirroring her movement, a hungry look on his face. She grasped at something to say to prevent what was coming next. “Nero told you not to hunt in his city.”
He snorted. “I heard you talking with his lapdog after you thought I’d left. Nero doesn’t know where you are. And when we’re finished with you, there’ll be nothing left for him to find.”
She chanced a look behind her at the soul eater who had been following her through the tunnel. He had the same mismatched eyes trained in an unblinking stare, and she gasped as he ran a pointed black tongue over wickedly sharp teeth. She was trapped.
In her childhood, Eddie’s mother had taken her and her brother to Karate lessons, dragging them along on cold winter nights to the community hall. She’d hated going, standing in the freezing room which smelt of floor wax and sweaty feet, but her mum had insisted she at least complete the term before throwing in the towel. That was it, the whole extent of self-defence lessons in her close to thirty years of age, one term of karate which she had reluctantly attended. In this moment, Eddie was regretting not giving herself a better chance at defending herself.
The only time she’d ever felt remotely powerful was when she’d used magic. This thought occurred to her as the soul eater behind her reached out a slim hand. She was a witch, goddam it! If she was going down, she would go down fighting.
Eddie rallied her power, channeling whatever power lay within her to her fingertips like she had at the beach when she’d angrily shoved Nero. The buzzing sensation in her palms steadied her and she addressed him calmly, trying to sound braver than she felt. “Take another step and you’ll regret it.”
The soul eater barked out a laugh, then lunged straight towards her. Twisting to the side, she threw him back with her magic, shouting “Salire!”. Expecting to levitate him a few meters down the tunnel, Eddie was surprised when he flew backwards with such a force that on hitting the wall there was a sickening crack and he crumpled to a heap at the bottom. Chunks of ancient plaster rained down, and he groaned, scratching weakly at the floor as he tried to get back up.
Empowered, Eddie turned to face Marduk, holding her hands out in a fighting stance.
“You should give up now so you don’t end up like your friend here.”
He looked at her, both shocked and impressed. “You’re a witch? What the hell are you doing here?”
“Teaching you a lesson.”
He let out a snarl. “I’m far stronger than Ozul, it’ll take a lot more than that little stunt to stop me.”
Eddie glanced behind him, spotting a heavy wooden door and came up with a plan. Without giving him a chance to attack, the door ripped off its hinges on her command and hurtled towards Marduk. He tried to dodge it, but wasn’t fast enough. It barrelled into him, pinning him against the floor of the tunnel. Eddie was already running. It wouldn’t hold him for long, but she didn’t need long. With Marduk distracted, she tried to put enough distance between them for her plan to work.
An animalistic roar sounded from underneath and Marduk threw the wood off him harder than she thought possible with his slender frame. It shattered on impact with the ceiling and he stood, his eye blazing with fury.
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At last Eddie reached the opposite end of the tunnel and looked back. Gone was the charming man from the bar; in his place was a monster.
His legs, arms, and neck had lengthened, and his hands were transformed into curved talons. His once cropped white hair had grown out from his head in spines. The translucent skin on Marduk’s neck was pulled taught over purple veins. Eddie was hit with a feeling of surrealness, unable to believe that this creature could exist in the life she had always known. Before today, the worst things she’d come across in an alley were stale puddles of sick. It had never been clearer than in this moment that she wasn’t in the world she grew up in anymore. She snapped back to reality as he shouted across the space, black spit flying from his lips.
“There’s nowhere you can run where I won’t find you. But don’t let that stop you, the chase is the best part.”
Every part of her was screaming to keep fleeing, to get to safety, but she knew she could never outrun him. No, if she wanted to survive, she would have to face this head on.
He charged towards her with a great lurching gait, past the remains of the door, past the other soul eater still struggling to sit up. Praying that her plan would work, Eddie sucked in a deep, steadying breath and channelled her power. She didn’t know the right spells to form her magic into anything other than undiluted power, but she persisted, hoping that she could at least manipulate it enough to save her in the moment. She promised to herself that if she survived, she would learn every spell in the book strapped to her back.
Eddie waited until he was midway before unleashing a torrent of power. Leaning into the blast, she used it to feel outwards and pulled hard, on every stone, every bit of plaster she could find, until the tunnel rumbled, shaking.
Realisation sparked in his eyes, but it was too late. He couldn’t turn back. He wouldn’t make it out in time.
The walls imploded.
All at once, stones larger than Eddie’s head flew through the air crashing into each other and sending shards shooting outwards in all directions. The ceiling began to fall in great chunks and Eddie sprinted as fast as she could to escape the blast. A piece of rubble caught her cheek as she ran and she felt the sharp sting as it cut through her skin, but she pushed herself harder, until the roar of the implosion stopped.
Panting, Eddie looked at what she had done. The debris began to settle into an enormous pile of rubble, revealing not a single wall of the three-storey building remaining upright. She stared in horror, she’d only meant to collapse the tunnel ceiling, not the entire building. The air was thick with dust but there were no cries, no signs of movement.
She’d actually done it.
She’d fought off two soul eaters, by herself, and survived with only a scratch. The realisation made her feel invincible.
Now she really needed to get a move on, before anyone found her here. Someone surely would have heard the noise and would be investigating soon. She walked back the way she came, then cut down another street that seemed to be leading in the right direction. It took a while, but eventually she found her way back to the path that lead to the railway. She hurried along it, listening out for sirens or shouting, but the night remained silent.
Eventually, she saw the bright lights of the railway station at the base of a steep mountain. Her feet ached and her cheek stung where she’d been hit, but as she stumbled towards the yellow victorian-era building with its cast iron lampposts and window boxes full of pansies, she was so relieved she could cry.
“Not so fast.”
A gravelly voice interrupted her thoughts a split second before the worst pain she’d ever felt lanced through her shoulder. Eddie fell to the ground and a heavy weight pressed on top of her, pinning her down. She twisted her head to see blood-stained talons slicing through her jacket and into her flesh and she cried out, unable to move away.
Her captor lowered his head so that she could see him. His one black, lifeless eye bored into hers.
Marduk had survived.
Several of his teeth were missing and even more were chipped, there was a madness in his face that hadn’t been there before. His nose was at an odd angle, and from what little she could see chunks of greying flesh had been scraped away from his frame, each wound oozing thick black blood.
“You put up a good fight, I’ll give you that. But I’ll always win in the end, little girl.”
“Let me go!” She cried.
“Oh you’re not going anywhere. Not until I’ve drained you dry.” His slick tongue snaked out and he licked the tears from her cheek as she struggled. “Delicious. I’ve not had a witch before. I wonder how your soul will taste.”
She pushed harder against his hold and he twisted his claws in her shoulder, digging deeper. White-hot pain blinded her. She screamed in agony, the sound echoing off the deserted street. He chuckled coldly. “I’m going to savour this.”
His left hand came up to the back of her neck and he pressed down hard, immobilising her head against the floor. In her periphery she could see his teeth elongating as his mouth stretched wider than she thought possible. Hot wet breath wafted over her and he bit down. A mixture of black and red blood dribbled down and hit the stones by her head. Within seconds she couldn’t feel her magic anymore, like he had flicked a switch and she was an ordinary human again. She screamed.
Black flames erupted around them, plunging the street into darkness.
Two tall figures stepped from the rippling shadows. Thane’s wild face was twisted in fury, he was drawn up to his full height and upon seeing them he started running. Nero looked like an avenging god as he blasted Marduk backwards with a stream of fire.
His blue eyes were incensed, brighter than she had ever seen, they lit up his face as he turned them on her. She crawled towards him away from the soul eater despite the pain wracking her shoulder as she moved it.
A tearing sound was followed by a high-pitched scream, and a skeletal arm flew over her head to land with a wet thump. Eddie looked back to see Thane smashing his fist into Marduk’s skull over and over again until black blood coated his face and beard. He spat onto the flagstones and stood, chest heaving.
“Are you alright?”
The closeness of Nero’s voice made her jump, he had moved over to her silently and knelt down at her level. He had one hand extended as if he wanted to offer her comfort but wasn’t sure if she would welcome it. She didn’t know what to say, she wasn’t alright in the slightest. She wanted to tell him that she’d been seconds from a fate worse than death and if he hadn’t got there exactly when he did, she’d never see her friends or her family again. Never drink overpriced syrupy coffee in the Autumn or beat Pippa at Poker or listen to Eric relive another terrible first date over a bottle of wine. While she was thinking all of this, she couldn’t find the words to say it and she stared back at him helplessly. His mouth pressed into a grim line and he nodded his understanding.
“You’re safe now Edina. I’m here, I’ve got you. He can’t hurt you anymore.”
Eddie burst into tears and reached for Nero, who pulled her into his chest. He stroked her hair and murmured words of comfort as she let out all the tension and horror she’d lived through that night.
There was a snapping sound as Thane pulled another arm off, breaking her out of her despair, and she watched as he drove his foot into Marduk’s torso with enough force to launch it down the street. He stormed after it, before grabbing an ankle and dragging it unceremoniously back to them. A trail of thick black blood remained on the flagstones. As he reached them, he let go of the foot and it dropped like a lead weight, smacking against the stone. He retrieved the other limbs and threw them down to make a pile.
“I’m finished. You can burn it.” He spoke gruffly. His hands were bruised and shaking.
Nero released Eddie, straightened and waved a hand. More flames appeared, devouring Marduk’s body in seconds. The three of them watched as it disintegrated into ash.
“How did you find me?” Eddie whispered hoarsely.
“Galen and Ignatius.” Nero offered her his hand as he helped her to stand.
When she looked even more confused, he explained, “They’re gargoyles on the city wall.”
“By the archway? I met them earlier.”
He seemed relieved she was speaking again and nodded, his thumb stroking slow curves across the back of her hand.
“My power’s gone. My magic, I can’t feel it.” Or perhaps she just wasn’t registering much anymore. She wiped the backs of her hands over her cheeks.
“Their venom can paralyse your ability to use it. Did he bite you?” Nero gestured to her neck, and she nodded, turning around to expose her wounds.
Nero sucked in a breath and Thane swore loudly when they saw the deep gashes in her shoulder.
“He bit me on the base of my neck, I think it’s hidden under the collar.”
“Alright, I’m going to suck it out. Let me know if you want me to stop and I’ll stop, okay?”
“Okay” She braced herself.
Ever so gently, he peeled back the collar of her jacket. She felt his lips encircle the wound and the slight negative pressure spreading out from the bite. She knew when it had worked because all at once her power returned. She had only known about for a couple of days, but it felt as familiar to her as any other body part. Nero relinquished her.
Remembering the spell from yesterday (or was it still the same day here?) she clamped a hand on her shoulder and muttered “Sano.” Feeling instant relief as the wound stitched itself together and the pain muted.
She rolled her shoulder, testing it. It was good as new.
“I suppose this is where you say ‘I told you so’.” She said, looking up into Nero’s bright blue eyes. There was none of his earlier aloofness however, only tenderness.
“No, this is where I say that I’m sorry. I apologise for my unforgivable behaviour earlier, it was thoughtless and cruel and you didn’t deserve to be treated in such a way.” He looked at her earnestly. “I made you feel so unsafe around me that you felt you had no choice but to take on the Otherworld alone. This won’t happen again.”
“I understand why you did it, you were protecting your people.”
“I should have kept you safe too. I brought you here.”
Thane coughed, and they jumped apart, not realising they had drawn closer together as they spoke. “If we’re doing apologies, I’m sorry for letting you wander off on your own.” Eddie turned to him, craning her head to meet his eyes.
“Don’t beat yourself up about it, I asked you to after all. You didn’t know he was still in the city.” She squeezed his arm, “Thank you for saving me Thane. You too, Nero.”
Thane looked as though he wanted to argue with her, but he nodded anyway, leaving it alone. Then he grinned, his beard pulling up at his ears.
“So, a witch huh? That was a pretty neat trick healing your shoulder.”
She peeked up at Nero. “Shh. It’s a secret.”
“Yet so far you’ve managed to reveal yourself to everyone you’ve met.” Nero admonished. She elbowed him in the ribs and Thane laughed, his earlier sadness forgotten.
They set off to the railway station, each of the men flanking her like overprotective guard dogs. As they reached the door, Nero paused. “A building collapsed in the industrial district not far from here. I don’t suppose you know anything about that?”
“Nope. This is the first I’m hearing about it.”
“Hmm.” He looked down at her, his eyebrow raised. She smiled sweetly back at him. He reached across and picked a piece of rubble from her hair, then tossed it to the floor. “Let’s get this over with so I can return you to the living world before you cause any more damage to my city.”