Climbing down into the darkness was beginning to feel like second nature. Somehow I didn’t think that was a good thing to become accustomed to.

The first time a silken thread broke under my searching foot I almost fell off the wall. Boopzy and his searching tentacles are what saved me. The squelch of his suckers detaching from the painted brick echoed in the gloom, making my already tense muscles spasm harder.

Ruby and her murderous chase flashed through my mind. I could feel her spindly legs reaching up from the darkness to clutch my legs. I twisted and bent awkwardly, searching the dark with my Blindsense. No auras, good or bad, revealed themselves to me.

I swallowed and took another shaky step, searching for a foothold just a little lower. The next clump of spider web I broke through made me flinch and bite my tongue to keep the manly scream inside. Frank hunkered down lower on my shoulder, burying his head under a wing.

“Steady,” I whispered to Frank and not myself. I swear. “There is no monster here.”

By the time my feet hit the floor at the bottom of the tower, my entire body was coated in threads of sticky silk. I tried to wipe it off but all that did was make it stick to my gloved fingers. Frustrated and covered in gunk I closed my eyes and listened. There wasn’t much else to do when the only light came from a circle of sparkling stars high overhead.

The whistling of rushing air from my right had me turning that way. I stuck my hands out in front of me and wandered forward. I should have brought a torch or a lantern with me. I’ll admit, I’m not the best at preparing for trips. I relied heavily on the freebies that hotels handed out. Hell, I’d been known to occasionally raid the housekeeper's trolley. Don’t dob on me, I know I’m not the only one. Still, you’d think a man of my years and experience would remember to bring a damn light.

My fingers hit the wall. I followed the draft until I found an archway. I moved down the hall on the other side, dragging my feet to avoid tripping over something. The hall was thin enough for me to hold my arms out and brush either wall. I don’t think I would have found the wooden door if that wasn’t the case.

I was expecting the thing to squeak like a mouse with a megaphone. You can imagine my surprise then when it opened silently. It didn’t even bang when it hit the wall. That was highly suspicious if you ask me. I know you didn’t but work with me here.

Don’t judge me too hard but the moment my foot hit a step I dropped to my knees and started crawling. Frank and Boopzy both complained quietly about it but I’m sorry, I didn’t want to lose this game by something as pathetic as breaking my own neck. Let’s be honest, you know that’s something I could and probably would do.

I crawled down the spiraling staircase into the icy-cold subterranean labyrinth that shouldn’t exist but did. With each curve of the stairs, the passage turned a lighter shade of grey. The presence of a light source should have comforted me. It didn’t.

I glanced around the final bend into a deserted corridor lit by harsh fluorescent tubes that ran the length of the ceiling. Some of them flickered giving the place an eerie haunted look that I for one didn’t appreciate. I was half expecting the walls to start dripping with blood or deep gouges of invisible claws to appear on the brick slowly moving toward me.

The buzz of the flickering lights was subdued by a high-pitched whine I knew very well. She’d made that noise whenever I’d refused to throw a stick or was taking too long to put down her food bowl.

My fingers hurt as I pressed them hard into the stone beneath me. I didn’t need to use my Blindsense to know she was at the far end of the hall. My pulse was raging through me. I had to fight the urge just to run and wrap my arms around her furry body.

My Girl. Stella. She was here.

It wasn’t just her either. There were three green auras practically blazing at the far end of the hall. I was smart enough to check for any reddish hues before I moved from my place on the floor. My booted feet pattered on the ground, making barely a noise as I rushed toward the wooden door.

All three of them were clustered in there, I could see them. I could feel them. They were almost free. All of us were.

The lockpicking icon flashed up over the decorative iron lever. I smirked and focused on it right up until the moment I saw the ten bouncing balls. I swallowed hard, eyeing the small supply of lockpicks I had stashed. Lockpicks had been one of the hardest things to come by in this place. I needed to find a shady merchant somewhere who sold all the tools a thief needed. Maybe I should send another note to Kendrick. He had to know someone.

Bloody hell, I was doing it again. I focused on the first of the balls and started singing my song to calm my racing mind. I broke my first lockpick and then my second almost immediately. It only got harder after that. The longer I was out here the louder and more desperate Stella’s cries became. I wondered why I couldn’t hear the others when Stella was so loud. I worried that they might be unconscious or on the brink of death. There was no telling how poorly Melumek’s Lady was treating them.

I broke my fifth lockpick and pushed away from the door, swearing and tearing at the thinning strands of my hair. Ten was a ridiculous number. Why did it have to be ten?

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

I glanced around for any hidden auras before shouting, “Stella!”

My girl went mad on the other side of the door. There would be no stealth anymore but I could live with that. If I couldn’t pick through the lock with my last two picks I was going to take out my sword and start hacking at the wood.

“Nora, are you in there?”

Stella howled. I bellowed and focused on the damn icon again, rushing through the first seven before the last three were flashing around at wild speeds just teasing me. One down, two to go. Two down, one to go.

Snap!

“Ahh!!!”

I banged my head on the door hard enough to see stars. I had one left. One. Titty fucking crap nipples. I took a second to breathe before I dove back in. They were waiting for me on the other side and I couldn’t let them down. Not again.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Fuck that was close. Nine. Ten!

The passage echoed with the solid click of the door unlatching. It swung open, banging off the wall as I charged inside. Stella ran for me, the chain around her neck stopping her before she could cross even half the length of the room. She pawed at the air and cried. A ran to her, dropping to my knees and wrapping my arms around her. Frank screeched and leaped off my shoulder as Stella’s tongue painted my face. I would have recoiled at the vileness of it if it wasn’t so wonderful.

“I missed you too, girl,” I cried. “Who’s my good girl?”

“Joe, no. You have to go.”

I reluctantly pushed Stella away to look at the far wall where Nora and Jacob were chained. Jacob was slumped to the side, his eyes closed and his face pale. He looked younger than he was in my memories. I sucked in a hard breath through my teeth until I realized his chest was rising and falling at a relatively steady pace. Nora’s dazed glare burned a hole into my soul. Her face was swollen and bruised in every shade from black to sickly yellow.

“You… Go. Please,” she groaned, her head dropping to her chest when she lost the strength to hold it up.

I gave Stella one more hug before rushing across the room, gently lifting Nora’s chin until her eyes focused on mine.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’m here to free you. Just hold on, Sob’s right outside. He’ll set you to rights. I’ll unlock your shackles.”

“No,” she moaned, shaking her head as far as my grip on her chin would allow. “Run.”

I ignored her, turning my eyes up to the first of her shackles. With only four bouncing balls the thing popped off almost immediately. Nora’s arm dropped like a stone through water, her hand smacking into the ground with enough force to make me flinch.

She reached up with a shaking arm and pushed against my chest with a pathetic fraction of her true strength. “It’s a trap, you idiot. Go.”

My frown turned into a scream as the floor dropped out beneath me. Nora cried my name. Her fingers wrapped around my sword strap for half a second before my weight tore me away from her. Stella’s whimpering followed me as I tumbled back into darkness.

My knees buckled as I hit the ground slamming the rest of me onto the cold stone floor. I wheezed, gripping my surely broken ribs as I watched my health bar plummet to little more than a third full. I couldn’t feel my legs. I tried to move but all it did was cause bolts of searing pain to burn through me until I was either going to throw up or pass out.

“Joe, it’s so good to see you. I didn’t think it would take this long for you to find me.”

I rolled toward the voice. Swearing and screaming in agony as I did. A droplet icon was flashing threateningly beside my health bar, eating up small portions of what remained.

“Who… are you?” I asked through gritted teeth.

The woman gasped overdramatically. “You hurt me. I know we didn’t spend all that much time together but you meant a lot to me.”

“Why?” I managed.

I felt the woman move toward me even though I couldn’t see her. Her presence in the dark room was intense and tangible despite my blindness. She gripped my chin with her cold fingers, yanking my head up.

“I’ve missed you and your nonsense,” she laughed, running a sharp fingernail down my cheek.

“Let me go. Let us all go,” I begged.

“You have no power here, sweetheart. Melumek has spoken to me. I’ve looked through the void and seen his pure intentions for this world. I’ve heard the spirits cry out for the freedom only Melumek can provide. Can you feel it, Joe? Can you feel his overwhelming power?”

“You’re crazy. Melumek is a monster.”

The woman snorted and pushed me away. I bit my tongue to hold back the pained bellow. “You don’t see it now but you will. Your Shadow Mistress has a solid grip on your balls but even she can’t stand against Melumek. Give up your blessing and join me. Join me in worshiping the one true master.”

“Never,” I snarled.

“If you join me I will let them all live. Jacob, Nora, Stella. All of them. We can be all-powerful together. One family united under Melumek.”

“He is the reason our country has been destroyed. He brought the Toilet Crocs. He is the reason everyone I ever knew before is dead and gone. I’ll be rotting in the ground before you convince me to join Melumek’s side.”

The woman returned and stroked my cheek. “Oh, but that’s perfect. If you’re dead you can join my army. I’ll make you a General.”

She snapped her fingers and light flared in the rounded chamber, blinding me with its intensity. I blinked past the spots and looked up at Melumek’s Lady.

She smiled down at me, folding her arms over her flaming black dress. “Hello, Joe.”

My mouth dropped open in a little ‘o’. I didn’t need my Blindsense to feel the red aura pulsating off of her. Twatasaur had been right. Nothing could be worse than that.