Inferno Page 20

  The god glanced over his shoulder at me. “It’s going to get very hot, so prepare yourself.”

  Zoran pressed his hand against the door. Fire burned from his fingertips and spread, lighting the pattern carved into the surface. The locks running along the sides clicked open. Zoran stepped back and grabbed a handle that had emerged from the stone.

  “Let’s hope a mortal didn’t follow us down here,” he said with a smirk before pulling the door to the side.

  A wave of immense heat slammed into me. I blocked my face with my arms. Lowering them, I saw the glow from the fire burning below.

  Zoran stepped inside and motioned for me to follow. I hurried in after him and waited as he shut the door. I was practically bouncing with anticipation. I wanted to run down the stairs and find out what was at the bottom.

  He smiled at me and ruffled my hair as he passed. “Strange little sparrow.”

  I glared at his back. So I was a little excited. I was a firebird, and a place known for its burning infernos sounded like paradise to me. We started down the stairs and with every step that heat increased. Iri was so lucky. I’d happily be sent to hell if I ever died.

  We descended lower and lower under ground. The stairs opened up, and a large archway stood over the entrance to a magma river.

  “Well, not exactly hell,” said Zoran. “But the gateway at least.”

  “Wow!” I ran to the edge and brushed my hand down the carved stone that showed men writhing in pain. It was quite gruesome, but at the same time, it was amazing!

  “So when people die, they really come here?”

  Zoran stopped at the edge of the river. “Depends on the person,” he replied. “That tunnel there”—he pointed to one of the side passages—“leads to the center of the earth. Masou and Iri’s home.”

  I dropped to my knees and put my hand in the river. “I bet it’s so warm there.” I sighed. This was more like heaven than hell to me.

  Zoran nodded. “It’s very nice, actually. Far less drama compared to the mortal realm.”

  “You’ve been there?” I peered up at him.

  “It was a long time ago, before the incident with Amber. I don’t think Masou has let anyone visit since then. He’s quite protective of Iri.”

  “Because he loves her,” I replied.

  “Why would you say that?”

  I stood and dusted off my pants. “He told me himself. That’s why he gave up Ashleen. To protect Iri from Aedus.”

  “Hmm...” Zoran’s face remained expressionless. “I think you misheard.” He waved his hand and a walkway emerged. The god walked out onto it.

  I followed behind him. “Why can’t Masou love her? It seems perfectly reasonable to me.”

  “You’ve met Iri,” he stated. “That’s why it’s impossible. I’ll never understand how my brother handles that girl. She’s a constant nuisance. Hell, she kidnapped you.”

  Letting out a deep breath, I looked around the area. “Did they fly home?”

  “No, they go by boat.”

  “I want to go there someday.” I could easily get used to the constant heat. I was already dreading having to go back to the surface.

  “Give it a couple years and then ask Masou. I’m sure he’d allow us to visit now that I have you.”

  I laughed to myself. “Yeah, because if you touched Iri he’d freeze you in a block of ice.” I walked back to shore.

  Zoran appeared in a puff of black smoke in front of me. He lifted my chin with a finger as his other hand pulled me to him. “Oh, my confused little sparrow, that is impossible. So don’t think you can win over my brothers to get rid of me. They’ve tried, and as you can see, it didn’t work.”

  He left me standing there and walked back to the stairs. “Come on, Fin. I think the heat is going to your head. You’ll start acting like Iri if we stay here much longer.”

  I jogged after him and started the long hike back up to the surface. “Zoran?”

  “Yes?” he replied, not looking back.

  “Did you always live in the fire garden? I mean before you were banished. It sounded like you had a home on this side of the sea.”

  Zoran didn’t answer right away. He continued to walk in silence for a few minutes. “I had a home. It’s long been abandoned, though.”

  My excitement returned. “Could we go there?”

  He stopped and turned to face me. “Why?”

  I shrugged. “Just curious. I want to see what kind of palace-temple thing you lived in.”

  “Hmmm...” He continued the climb.

  “Please, Zoran? I’ve seen Aedus and sort of Masou’s palaces. I want to see yours, too.”

  “Don’t pester me, boy.”

  “Come on, Zoran.” I grabbed his arm.

  “Not now, Fin.” He yanked it free and increased his pace.

  I let out a heated breath and glared at his back. I just wanted to see his old home. It wasn’t that big of a deal, but he was being so difficult!

  “I’ll forgive you for sleeping with Amber.”

  Zoran stopped mid-step. “What?”

  “I’m still mad at you for trading me off to be with her and letting her crawl all over you for the last couple days.”

  He peered over his shoulder at me.

  “If you take me, I’ll forgive you.”

  “And?” He raised a brow.

  I shifted my waited. “And what?”

  “Forgiveness isn’t enough of an incentive.”

  Exhaling sharply, I rolled my eyes. “Fine, I’ll give you one free sex pass. You won’t have to wait until I want to do it.”

  “Five.”

  I glared at him. “One.”

  “Ten.”

  “Three!” I held up that many fingers. “That should be enough incentive for you to show me where you used to live.”

  Zoran thought for a moment. “Deal.” He disappeared around the bend of the staircase.

  I hurried after him. “Wait for me!”

  Reaching the top, I was gasping for air. I sat against the wall in the hallway as Zoran sealed the doorway. The moment it was closed I noticed a dramatic temperature shift.

  I slowly climbed to my feet. “Why can’t we live somewhere like that?”

  “Don’t start, Fin.” Zoran walked past me. “My brother and his little pet complain enough about how cold the mortal world is. I don’t need it from you.”

  Clambering to my feet, I hurried after him and followed the god down different halls on the lower levels of the palace. “You live under Aedus—”

  “Shh...” He raised a hand. “If I’m going to show you, then let me do so before you start asking questions.”

  “Fine,” I muttered.

  Zoran pushed opened two doors. We entered a chamber that was covered with a thick layer of dust. He waved his hand and fire flew to the torches on the walls. Turning in a circle, Zoran sighed. “Shows you how much my brother cares. It took so long to build it, too.”

  “Build wha—”

  A wave of fire shot out from him. I covered my face as the flames cleared away the dust.

  “Come here.” He reached out a hand to me.

  I took it and went with Zoran to the center of the room.

  “Don’t move and hold onto me.”

  I nodded and pressed into him. I felt his warmth begin to grow. Zoran lifted his arms overhead. I wrapped mine around his waist as the intensity of his power increased. The floor started to shift.

  “Zoran?” I whispered.

  “Don’t let go of me.”

  I swallowed hard and watched as white pillars emerged from the ground. Fire shot from Zoran’s palms. It ignited the curved beams. The temperature increased, and the room was soon filled with blue flames. I tightened my hold on the god as he continued to grow hotter.

  The pillars started to spin around us, forming a wall of fire. My body was overwhelmed by the sensation. He had never been this hot before.

  “Hold on, Fin!” Zoran yelled, over the sounded of the swirl
ing blaze.

  Dark purple flames shot from his body. My body grew weak. He snatched me before I fell. I couldn’t breathe as I felt like my body was being sucked through a thin tube. The pressure confining my limbs burst and my legs gave out when they hit solid ground.

  My eyes shot open, and I gasped for air.

  Zoran helped onto me. “Deep breaths, Fin. We made it.” He pushed back my hair. “You did very well for your first transport.”

  I clung to him as the coldness came back. My body was not liking the constant temperature shifts I had been put through in the last ten minutes.

  “It’s in worse shape than I expected,” he said softly.

  I glanced around the room and what remained of a once lavish room. Paintings were half-charred and sculptures laid broken on the floor. It sat in ruin. Everything was stained black and thrown about the room. One wall had been completely demolished. This didn’t seem like the palace of a god.

  “Zoran?”

  “Welcome to the Dragon’s Nest, Fin.” He waved his arm. “My home.”

  Chapter 49: Hatchery

  I followed Zoran out onto a half-demolished balcony.

  He glanced around, emotionless. “I never thought Aedus would take it this far.”

  “Your brother did this?”

  Zoran nodded. “That’s Aedus for you.” He picked up a broken piece of stone and hurled it out into the clearing. “Always overreacts.”

  I peeked over the edge to see a small stream of smoke. The volcano had nearly gone cold.

  “When I was banished, the dragons scattered as well.” He scanned the area. “Looks like the volcano died out. Probably Aedus’ doing as well. He wanted to make sure this place was destroyed.” With a sigh, Zoran went back inside.

  I hurried after him and trailed behind him deeper into the palace. It was a shame that everything had been ruined. Just by the assortment of things thrown about, I could tell it had once been beautiful. Zoran pushed open a door barely hanging onto its hinges. I peeked around him and saw a bed skewed across the ground.

  “Was this your room?”

  He nodded and entered. “What’s left of it, at least.”

  “It’s cleaner than I thought it would be.”

  “Hmmm...” Zoran gave me a confused expression as he kicked a chair out of the way.

  “I mean it’s not cluttered. But back home the room is overflowing with your stuff. This”—I glanced around—“well, it’s just too nice to be your room.”

  Zoran narrowed his eyes at me.

  Smiling, I gave a nervous laugh. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

  “It should be taken into account that this house is much, much larger than my home in the garden. So I’m sorry if my ‘clutter’ of priceless artifacts from every era of existence is ruining the flow of my room.”

  “I get it,” I muttered. “I’m sorry. It was just an observation.”

  He didn’t respond and went to examine a fallen painting. With a sigh, he carefully removed it from the frame and rolled it up.

  “What’s that?” I hurried over and tried to get a look at it. All I saw was the tops of trees.

  “A keepsake. Hold it for me.” Zoran passed me the painting and knelt down by the wall. He tapped his knuckle on a few different stones.

  “What are you looking for?”

  “Shh...” He checked a few more until one gave off a hollow sound.

  Zoran pressed his palm to the tile and fire spread across the floor. The section glowed a deep blue before pushing down and moving to the side. Zoran lifted out a pendant. The crystal rod was a solid black with a silver cap that oozed down from the top like lava. The chain was molded into it.

  Black smoke from within the crystal filtered out from the tip and wrapped around the canvas in my hands. The painting turned into smoke and was sucked back into the pendant.

  “Wow.” I flexed my hands. “That was so cool. Where did you get that?”

  “Personally made it for myself to transport items. It’ll only respond to my fire. It would have been useful when I was moving overseas, but I was forced to leave this place before I could gather any of my belongings.” Zoran made the few other objects in the secret compartment disappear before he tapped his foot and the panel moved back into place. He put the chain around his neck.

  “Couldn’t you just make things magically appear back home? You always do that smoke trick.”

  “It has a distance limit, Fin,” he replied, running his finger along the cracks in the wall. “It’s hard enough to concentrate on dispersing myself into something as fickle as smoke without having to worry about something else getting lost in the journey.”

  “Oh, then that crystal really does come in handy.” I thought for a moment. Something about this situation didn’t seem right. “Wait, did you—?”

  Zoran smiled. “Do you really think I would agree to come here unless I was the one planning it?”

  My mouth dropped open. “Curse the gods, you bastard. You tricked me. The deal is off. You get nothing.”

  Zoran snatched my wrist and slammed me up against the wall. “Don’t blame me for using a situation to get what I wanted. It’s not my fault you’re such a curious little sparrow.”

  “I hate you so much right now.” I squirmed, trying to get free. “That wasn’t fair.”

  “Oh, Fin, really? We’re going to debate what’s fair now?” He patted my cheek before going back to examining the wall.

  Clenching my jaw, I stared at the floor. “It was a dirty trick and you know it.”

  “Not my first one, either.” He pressed his hand to the stone and it slowly started to heat up.

  I moved out of the way and stood behind him as a doorway formed. It glowed blue as it swung back.

  “How many secret hiding places do you have?” I glanced around the room.

  Zoran peered over his shoulder. “With brothers like mine, I’ve gotten good at hiding things. Thank the gods for that,” he said with a smirk, “or you might not be alive.”

  “You’re not funny.”

  Chuckling to himself, he entered the hidden passage. I stayed right behind him, feeling a little unsure.

  Zoran swiped the spider webs out of the way. “Disgusting creatures.” With a wave of his hand, he sent fire spiraling down the hallway. It ate away any debris that had formed. “Much better.” He dusted off the front of his coat.

  We continued on toward an opening up ahead. It was too dark to see what was inside. We walked down a small set of stairs into the room.

  I pressed up against Zoran’s back. “What is this place?” I had learned from the garden that dark places in a god’s palace usually had creatures trapped in them.

  Zoran snapped his fingers and a fire ring formed around the ceiling.

  “Curse the gods,” I whispered. “Are those...?”

  “Dragon eggs,” replied Zoran.

  The room was filled with shelves and had eggs carefully placed on stands along them. The eggs were organized by color, from the golden ones to the deep blue. Black and white ones were positioned on circular tables in the center. Compared to the others, they were few in number with only four white and two black.

  “Damn it,” sighed Zoran, kneeling down. He picked up the shattered remains of a black shell. “Aedus didn’t even find the room and he still ruined one.”

  I squatted down next to him. “Maybe it hatched.”

  “Not likely.” The god rubbed his forehead.

  “You never know.” I picked up part of the shell. “It looks like it could have.”

  “It’s too cold.” Zoran stood and looked around the room. “The others made it at least. Maybe now some of the dragons will finally stop holding a grudge against me.”

  “Why do you have the eggs?” I rose to my feet and examined the shiny black shell.

  “To protect them. Dragon eggs are tricky. There’s no set time for a baby dragon to hatch. The conditions have to be just right. Sometimes it can take years. So the dragons w
ould come and go, and I would keep the eggs safe here.”

  “Keeper of dragons,” I recited.

  He smiled at me. “Yes, until Aedus blew up a couple hatcheries. I haven’t seen a dragon egg in years.” He ran his finger gently over a white one. “The dragons hide them in the caverns. Who knows, by returning these, they might trust me again to watch over the eggs. It sure would help their numbers and stop the tar beetles from packing them off.”

  Zoran took out his pendant and started putting the eggs inside. I watched from the steps. This was going to take forever, but Zoran was being overly careful with each one. I glanced down a connecting corridor.

  “Zoran, what’s down there?”

  “The underground lake where I use to keep the human piranhas. There’s a tunnel that leads directly to the sea.”

  “You’ve had those disgusting things for that long?”

  “One of my best creations. Second to you, of course.” He gave me a smirk.

  Rolling my eyes, I sighed. “Can I go take a look?”

  Stopping what he was doing, Zoran faced me. “Can I trust you not to blow anything up?”

  I groaned. “Yes. I’m not that explosive.”

  “Hmmm...” he replied. “I suppose you can go.”

  Chapter 50: Yuki

  Clenching my jaw, I marched down the hall, muttering to myself. That man! I wasn’t that destructive, and it wasn’t like I was going to ruin anything worse than Aedus already had.

  The tunnel descended into a large, open cavern. The cold air hit me and I wrapped my arms around my chest. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. It was more interesting than sitting around waiting for Zoran, though. I walked to the water’s edge and knelt down. Dipping my hand into the water, I quickly yanked it back. It was practically ice. It was hard to believe that this place had once been an active volcano.

  Grabbing a stone, I tossed it into the water. It disappeared into the darkness. The lake must be deeper than it looked. The ground shifted behind me.

  I glanced over my shoulder. “Zoran?”

  No one was there. It was probably the foundation shifting. This place was close to falling apart. I threw a couple rocks into the water. The ruffling noise came from behind me again. My head snapped around. Nothing.