Chapter 23 - Reasonable

  Alex examines his hands. The fingertips were pretty bloodied from trying to slow himself down. He winces, noticing that even a whole nail had gotten ripped off. And now that the adrenaline was wearing off, the pain of it sets in. His hands shake, making it hard to even move his fingers. He doesn’t have any bandages or scrap cloth, so Alex makes do with using what little bit of his shirt is left clean to wipe his hands.

  Corvus hops closer along the barricade to get a closer look. “That appears quite painful. Luckily it is merely surface-level.” Alex only grunts in reply, biting back a sharper retort. “I know it is a poor consolation, Alex. But in a few hours they will be perfectly healed.” Corvus assures him.

  Hara watches them both, her amethyst eyes glowing faintly in the low light of the cave. She doesn’t like seeing Alex hurt. But she can’t do anything to help either. So she just stays close to him, offering what little comfort she can.

  “We should be able to cross this next territory fairly quickly. Unlike the Abyssal Grotto, we only need to cross a corner of Last To Burn’s territory.” Corvus explains, looking out past the low wall. “Which is good. We need to arrive in New Europa with all haste. Alex regaining an Animus is our utmost priority.” He says, turning back to Alex. “However, I must ask a favor of you, Alex. Would you consider a brief detour at the edge of this territory, or would you grant me leave of my duties in order to attend to a small matter before rejoining you?” He asks.

  Alex is a bit taken aback at Corvus’s request. “You just said we needed to hurry.” He frowns, looking at his hands. The bleeding had already stopped, but they were still raw. “And you’re asking my permission to go somewhere on your own?” He asks, looking up at the crow.

  Corvus nods. “I am bound to guide you by our Deal. But even without that in place, I would still ask. My errand is not pertinent to your journey, but is a private matter to which I must attend.” He explains.

  Alex shrugs. “Which would be better?” Alex asks, uncertain if he’s ready to go without a guide, even temporarily.

  Corvus considers. “Both have merit. If you accompany me, you may witness how the more powerful entities in Hell conduct their business. It may also put you at greater risk. The person I would meet with is not an enemy, but I would never count them as a friend. Conversely, if you proceed without me, you’ll make better progress towards New Europa. Also you will have a chance to stretch your abilities without direct guidance. But if something unexpected occurs, I will not be able to assist.” The crow lays out the challenges in each path for Alex and Hara.

  Alex winces, neither option sounds particularly appealing. At the same time, he doesn’t want to tell Corvus no. The crow has been more than generous with him since he arrived, and Alex wants to repay that somehow. Ultimately though, if Corvus is meeting with someone he doesn’t consider a friend, Alex doesn’t want to be anywhere near that meeting.

  “I don’t think I’m quite ready to put myself in some powerful being’s crosshairs. Even if you’re there, a Faded soul would just be collateral damage if things go badly. I think I’ll take my chances traveling without you.” He says, then grins at Hara. “Besides, I’ve got Hara to help look after me.” The hound perks up with a happy wag, pleased at Alex’s confidence in her.

  “Yes! Hara keep Alex safe! Hara can do this!” The hound exclaims, eager to show how good she can be. Alex chuckles and reaches to pat her side, but stops himself, thinking better of it with his injured hands.

  Corvus nods. “Then it is settled. When I need to diverge from your path, I will let you know, and then I will rejoin you as soon as my business is concluded.” He crows softly. “For the moment, there is another challenge to overcome. We are already within Last To Burn’s territory. And it feels as though the master of the land is away. Alex, Hara, you two will need to descend the pathway cut into the cavern wall with utmost caution. Due to the nature of this territory, gravity only operates in one fixed direction. So you will be unable to simply walk down the wall as if it were the ground.” He warns the pair.

  Alex looks back up the tunnel. A wall of blackness is barely visible from where he rests, marking the transition back into the grotto. Then he peeks over the lip of Hara’s barrier, seeing how the orange and yellow glow paints the stone beyond the tunnel in wavering light. “So are all territories distinct like this?”

  Corvus shakes his head. “Hardly. Many are utterly unremarkable. But when someone with a significant title claims dominion over their territory, and they have enough Animus to fuel their will, it creates places like the Abyssal Grotto,” Corvus pauses, gesturing past the tunnel’s exit, “and this.”

  Finally getting over the shaken nerves, Alex gets to his feet and carefully climbs over the barricade. With far more caution than before, he walks the last few feet of the tunnel and approaches the exit. The tunnel opens up into hollow space arching downwards. They appear to be about two-thirds of the way up one side, with a sprawling environment stretching out in the distance below them. And looking to the side, Alex sees that there is indeed a pathway carved into the stone walls.

  Hara tries to follow Alex, but the hound has trouble jumping over the barrier she made. The stream running down the tunnel is starting to cause water to pool against one side like a small dam, which will just make things harder if she waits much longer. Hara tries to imagine the rock melting back into the ground, she tries to undo her wall. But it just won’t go. Growing frustrated, Hara takes a few steps back and growls. Then with a burst of motion, she charges the wall. Her body slams into it, shattering the stone, and sending Corvus flapping into the air with a caw of surprise.

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  Hearing the crack of the stone breaking, Alex whips his head around just in time to see the debris and water coming. He side-steps, barely getting out of the way. The water splashes out over the edge, falling for a few feet before hissing and billowing up into a plume of steam. The stone fragments continue to fall, disappearing from view.

  Alex leans over the edge, letting out a low whistle as he watches the stone fragments vanish. The heat wafting up towards him is staggering, like standing too close to a bonfire. “So this place belongs to someone with the title of ‘Last To Burn’, right? Seems like everything here is burning.” Alex muses as Corvus lands on his shoulder.

  The crow turns his head to look back at Hara trotting up to join them, giving the hound an indignant huff. “Yes. While the master of the land is here, only the area directly around him refuses to burn. This is not a territory you would want to cross the heart of. We will be skirting its outer edge, avoiding the worst of the flames and heat.” He explains. “If the ‘Last To Burn’ were present, we might have been able to request his escort to make the traversal safer. Despite the imposing nature of the territory, the owner is a reasonable man.” Corvus says with a shrug of his wings.

  Hara leans to look down with Alex, the rising heat doesn’t seem to bother her as much. But as she does, Alex notices something. The hound’s head and face take on a much more stone-like appearance. He tentatively reaches over, touching her head to discover it wasn’t just a visual quirk. Hara’s skin had hardened like actual stone in the presence of the heat. The rest of her still seems like a normal hide with her soft velvety fur.

  Hara notices Alex’s inspection and cocks her head at him. “Alex, why looking at Hara that way?” She asks as Alex pokes at other parts of her flank. Then he touches a ticklish spot and the hound lets out a yip with the area under Alex’s finger hardening to stone too. “Quit it, tickles!” Hara says, wiggling away from the probing fingers and the edge of the drop.

  Corvus watches Alex’s moment of discovery and lets out a chuckling caw. “That’s a natural part of being a Stone Hellhound, Alex. Many demons have unique traits tied to the type of demon they are. What you’re witnessing is a natural defensive measure. Do you remember when you kicked one of them during your escape?” He asks, flapping off of Alex’s shoulder to swoop and land atop Hara’s back. When he makes contact, his talons clack against Hara’s skin.

  Alex thinks back. A lot of that chase was just a frantic blur in his memory. But he does remember one of the hounds getting close, and trying to kick it. “Yeah, it felt like I kicked a statue.” He says, remembering the jolt it had sent up his leg. “I didn’t think too much of it at the time.” He looks at Hara again, suddenly remembering that she’s from the same species as the beasts that had hunted him.

  Hara knew there were other hounds. They aren’t like her. They’re mean and like to fight. She kind of remembers Alex mentioning them when they first met. They made Alex afraid of her. Hara decides she doesn’t like those other hounds. She likes Alex and Corvus. They’re her friends. If something tries to hurt her friends, she’ll make it stop. “Hara better than other hounds. Hara nicer too.” She insists in response to Alex’s contemplative gaze.

  Alex chuckles and reaches to pat Hara’s neck. “You absolutely are.” He smiles, then looks back over the edge. He frowns as a thought hits him. He’s about to voice the question, mouth already open, but the answer presents itself just as quickly. “Corvus, I was about to ask why I couldn’t just use the Intent-movement to get down. But I see the problem already. It’s the heat. I can’t get a clear view, there’s too much distortion in the air.” He says, grunting in frustration.

  The crow nods. “We will have to traverse this land the mundane way, unfortunately.” Even Corvus sounds displeased by this development. “But once on the other side, reaching New Europa will be fairly quick.”

  Alex steps over towards the carved pathway down. It’s barely wide enough for him to stand on. Putting his back to the wall, he starts side-stepping down the rough-hewn stairs. The steps are anything but uniform, forcing Alex to pay attention to where he’s putting his feet. “No sense hanging around here then.” He says, sidling his way along. Hara has less trouble with the footing, with Corvus riding along on her back.

  Step by step, the path curls along the cavern wall. As it descends, the space widens in a hollow cone. The lip of the path shields the group from the worst of the heated updraft, but even so, Alex finds himself soaked in sweat after only minutes.

  The time stretches on until Alex notices that they’ve reached the opposite side of the cavern. Looking back up towards the tunnel mouth, he’s able to see the spill over from the stream falling into the air. It doesn’t even reach down to their new elevation before the water is reduced to steam, the vapor being carried back up in the rising heat currents.

  Periodically, Alex passes what looks like anchor-bolts embedded in the stone wall. Remnants of rope or chain adorning each one. At one time, the path seems to have had a safety line. But no longer. Alex finds himself desperately wishing it had been better maintained.

  No one speaks during the long hike down the spiral pathway, Alex and Hara both focusing solely on maintaining their footing on the uneven stairs. As they get lower, Alex starts to see other tunnels branching off from the floor of the space, just as large as the passageways surrounding the Nexus Point. As the path approaches the edge of one such tunnel, it flattens to go above the arch of the passage.

  Edging along the top of the arch, Alex and the others are graced with a soothing breeze of cooler air being drawn in from the tunnel. The permanently burning territory creates a perpetual updraft, likely the cause of the light breeze that Alex had been able to feel since even before Last-Stop. The reprieve from the heat is a much welcome change, but it doesn’t last long as the group moves around the other side of the tunnel and starts down the wall again.

  They’ve made significant progress, but haven’t quite come full circle. The widening base of the cavern results in them moving further down than around. Then Alex is forced to stop. The path ahead dead-ending at the mouth of the next tunnel.