Chapter 119

Riley scanned around. "Something doesn't math here. How could no one know this was here?"

The room was large, bordering on cavernous, and carved out of off-white stone, seemingly from one solid piece and set into the other. Bench-like channels drew down to a central ring, reminding Riley of Greek amphitheaters.

More squiggly sigils ringed the walls of the ceiling, arcing in a decreasing spiral, with the final phrase arcing around over the center point of the room.

In the name of hatred and war, all will be repaid...

"We're no more than a thirty-minute walk from the central chamber we started in. I'm not liking this," Tobias echoed, his own fear amplifying her own.

A moment later, he drew his sword, and his com crystal appeared in his left hand.

"Rowan, Greenbrier, secure, requesting support. We are..." The light within the crystal flickered and pulsed before fading away.

"Oh dear..." Riley's words trailed off as she and Tobias both turned towards the entrance they had come through.

"Where's the door?" Tobias scanned around, as did Riley, scurrying forward, retracing their steps, going so far as to set her paw on the wall.

Smooth, sandstone-like rock pushed back as if nothing had ever been there at all.

"We walked right into a trap," Riley lamented, her ears drooping.

"I don't think so. I think we stumbled onto a portal skip," Tobias rotated his head around the room, taking in the strange details. "Does this still feel like underground to you, or sewer? Take a breath; it smells... cleaner."

Riley reluctantly filled her lungs through her twitching nose. "It does, now that you mention it, but I still don't like it!"

"Neither do I. Portal magic like this is very powerful, very old, or both. They only open at specific times or conditions and move you to another location, hence the name," Tobias explained.

"So, we could be in enemy territory, hanging out in their main ceremonial chamber, just waiting to get our asses shot off, grand," Riley surmised.

Tobias turned pale and dropped into a defensive stance as Riley pulled the veil over both of them.

"Wait a minute. We have a map!" Riley looked up and to the right as the temple room appeared laid out in her overlay. No door was indicated behind, but there was a swirling blue symbol where it should have been, crossed over with a black X.

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Three other entrances displayed, set up like the cardinal directions.

"No joy; we've never been to wherever this is before, but two of those doors are also portals," Riley announced.

"We're definitely on the right track. I'm willing to bet whatever's been killing people, especially if it's Hedwig, he found his way here; that must mean there's a way back. Too much makes sense; the timing of the portal would keep it out of the way. It's the middle of the night; work is done during the day, but if he had cause or found himself down here..." Tobias considered, hiding in plain sight under their veil.

"Or if he was led here or called?" Riley completed the thought.

"We can't get lost in speculation. Let's do some reconnaissance," Tobias offered.

Skirting around the outside of the room, Tobias cut a wide arc, heading for the opening to their left. Arriving before it, he paused and peered through the opening.

All was blackness; not even the light of his crystal headlamp penetrated.

"Portal one..." Riley announced.

Grasping his sword, he let the tip of the blade penetrate the darkness before pulling it back.

"It appears stable for the moment," Tobias announced, moving on to the next, only to find the same at the opening opposite their entrance.

"Portal two," Riley narrated.

Finally, they came to the last door. The light fell through the space, illuminating a room with a spiraling ramp leading up into the ceiling.

"Should we try the crystal again or try our luck with one of the two? Maybe Sabine can find us," Riley asked, full of trepidation.

"It's either being suppressed, or we're far out of range. If it's being suppressed, whoever is doing it might be able to track us with it. Remember the blue devil?" Tobias cautioned.

"Then why aren't they on us already?" Riley challenged with cold logic.

"Well, because we might already be trapped, or they're confident enough in their security, they don't care. If we just leave, and the monster is here, then we might have enemies to our front and our back," the young ranger replied grimly.

"That's what I like about you. You're so optimistic. Well, let's get this over with. Find the monster, kill the monster," Riley said fearlessly as she began to move up the ramp, heading for the opening when she stopped, overwhelmed by a hanging foul air that seemed to be hovering, clinging to the ceiling of the room.

"Oh God, I thought the sewer was bad," she choked and gagged as the unmistakable odor of decay mixed with that of unwashed bodies.

"My eyes are burning," Tobias blinked in a futile attempt to clear them as he slid past Riley, taking point.

"Stay near to me, keep that veil up, and keep your ears up, too," he ordered, brimming with concern.

"Way ahead of you," Riley affirmed.

As they crossed the door, scores in the stone became visible, long claw marks cut into it, carving out furious furrows, stood garishly, highlighted with hints of dried blood, staring out in grisly dull browns.

There, on the floor, curled in a corner, was a sleeping humanoid monster, a torn dirty brown robe clung awkwardly to their distorted torso before fraying into tatters over long arms that flayed out into claws.

The hood was down and pockmarked with blood, revealing a bald head with pointed ears swept back at a severe angle. What nose they had left was shaped more like a vampire bat than anything human, their jaw distorting out underneath it, framing a monstrous, permanent grin, the seam of their mouth now stretching up behind their ears.

Around their neck was a strained and stretched copper torc cutting into their hide.

"That's Hedwig..." Tobias gasped in shock as Riley cast analyze.

Hedwig, Moroi, fae-blinded infernal servant, Level 2-8, elite

Consumes Life energy, Stealth, Elemental Resistance, Stealth Resistance, Magically Perceptive, Perfect Hunter

Once a human being, they are now an undead nightmare, feeding on life itself.

Beware that which lurks in the shadows.

At that moment, the bestial, once-human being raised its head and sniffed the air shortly before focusing in on the vague position where Riley and Tobias were poised.

An ear-splitting roar filled the air as it bounded in a feral leap towards them.