Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 125422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 627(@200wpm)___ 502(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 627(@200wpm)___ 502(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
Torben tugs his scarf tighter and squints at the distant silhouette. “It looks close, but I know better than to trust my eyes here.”
He’s right. Distances in the Underworld can be deceiving, especially in a place like the Star Swamp, where perspective is warped by the deadly pools.
I pick a path forward. Torben, the generals, and the soldiers follow behind me, trudging carefully. I warn them again to step lightly, to test each patch of ground, but my warning comes too late for some. There’s a sudden splash, followed by a despairing cry that makes my heart stop.
I whip around and watch in horror as a man slips waist-deep, his rifle falling from numb hands. He screams, a raw, panicked sound that sends a shiver through me. I scramble back to him, reaching out, but before I can grasp his hand, he’s yanked down into the star-studded darkness below. For an instant, I see his face twisted in terror beneath me, lit by the faint glimmer of cosmic lights. Then, he vanishes, swallowed by Oblivion.
Only silence remains.
My stomach twists. That soldier is gone forever, lost. Not even the realm of death can reclaim him now. He’s trapped in that infinite void, drifting among stars that care nothing for souls. The realization that my carelessness cost him his eternity hits me like a hammer. Although I coerced him, he was still under my charge. If I intend to use these mortals to save Tuonela, I owe it to them not to discard their lives so easily.
“Careful!” I shout, voice cracking. The soldiers hesitate, shuffling nervously. Another one steps wrong, the ground giving way beneath her foot. She yelps, grabbing at a comrade’s shoulder. They manage to haul her back before she slips under, but the tension is mounting. They can smell danger now, and no amount of mental manipulation will entirely quell it.
Torben kneels, pressing a hand to the surface of the swamp. “This won’t do,” he mutters. “We can’t cross it, not like this.”
“I know,” I snap, trying to keep the panic from my voice. “But we must. The palace is our only hope, the only place I can hide this many troops from Louhi’s spies.”
He glances up at me, annoyance briefly sparking in his eyes. “Do you think I don’t know that? Give me a moment.” He fumbles in his satchel, producing his spellbook again, the pages rustling in the frigid wind.
“Another spell?” I ask, voice low. I can feel the soldiers watching me, looking for reassurance. I send a calming wave of thought through their minds, telling them to stay still, to not move an inch. In the silence, I can hear Torben’s quiet chanting.
He sprinkles a handful of something onto the swamp. Salt? Ash? I can’t tell. He closes his eyes, murmuring a string of words I do not understand. The sound of his voice changes, becoming resonant, echoing in this wretched landscape. I’m reminded of how he summoned the portal earlier—only now, we’re using magic in a place that already has magic infused in its very bones.
At first, nothing happens. Then, I hear a crackling sound, like ice forming on a pond. The soldiers gasp. I look down and see that the black surface is freezing over with a layer of frost. It spreads outward from Torben’s fingertips, radiating across the swamp’s surface. Snowflakes settle on the newly forming crust and do not sink. The sparkling darkness below grows dim, veiled by translucent ice. I test it with the toe of my boot, and it holds firm.
“Clever old man,” I say, relieved. He stands, shoulders slumping with effort. “You can keep it frozen?”
He nods grimly. “Not indefinitely,” he warns, “but long enough for us to cross if we move swiftly.”
I don’t waste a second. “Forward!” I bark to the soldiers, filling their minds with encouragement, a gentle push that makes their feet find purpose. They pick their way across the swamp now, careful but quick, each step clicking on the thin film of ice. I keep them in a loose formation, rifles at the ready, though what good bullets will be against Old Gods and horrors of the Underworld, I don’t know.
Torben and I fall into step near the center of the group. The cold bites at my cheeks, and I taste iron on the wind. The palace looms larger with every stride, a cluster of dark, jagged towers that look like claws scraping at the white stained sky, a poor man’s version of Shadow’s End. I remember this place from ages past, its halls lined with strange relics and Louhi’s awful decorating. Her sour presence still lingers here, though she’s gone—for now.
Oh the irony that the two of us have switched places. If I wasn’t in such a mood, I might even laugh.
We press on in tense silence, the only sounds the crunch of boots on ice and the faint whisper of snowfall, the soldiers marching forward, eyes ahead, focused on the task I implanted in their minds: get to Castle Synti and get there safely.