* * *Beth awoke in silence and darkness. Before she could so much as try to remember how she’d gotten there, a voice called out.
“You’re safe here.”
It was Cornelius’s gruff voice, of that she had no doubt. She sat up on a hard bed, her eyes adjusting to the meager light floating in the corner. Not floating, she realized after a moment, but a torch in a sconce.
She rubbed at her eyes and blinked. “What happened to Sleeper?”
“The hell if I know. We called on the shadows, no different than we ever have, but it sure as hell didn’t have the same effect.”
Beth nodded. “I know. Sleeper stepped into that thing. I thought it had absorbed him.”
The door creaked open, and Sleeper walked in. “Not absorbed, it was more like two halves reunited.”
Beth hesitated. “What do you mean? Two halves?”
“The spirit of shadow, one who walks between worlds, and the part of me you have seen in your own realm.” He placed his hand over his heart. “And the flesh who lives in this realm. We are of two natures, not so unlike your goddess you seek to resurrect. Though the Titans are not the same as us.”
Cornelius narrowed his eyes. “You could have passed for a Titan on that battlefield. You took down that … thing.”
“Not all of the Eldritch are so easily defeated. I’m sure you’re aware of that, as are those of us who survive here. We would not have unleashed something we could not defeat. So I fear your assessment may be somewhat skewed.”
“But our powers call to you?” Beth asked.
Sleeper inclined his head. “The blood mages have always called to us. The magic you wield is considered the third part of our being by many. But it is considered a curse by others; a curse laid upon us by the Titans so that we may be bound to another realm for all time.”
“Thank you for what you’ve done for us.” Beth stood up and took a shaky breath. She hesitated, and then reached out to pat Sleeper on the upper arm. “Without you, there’s a great deal we would not have survived. I won’t forget that.”
Sleeper gave Beth a shallow bow. “I am grateful to be bound to you and Cornelius. In the history of the blood mages, there have been far more cruel partnerships.”
“I was worried you may consider us masters,” Cornelius said.
Sleeper smiled. “There is much of us you do not understand. A partnership is more apt, as a partnership may be broken, and should it become strained enough, terminated.”
Beth didn’t think Sleeper meant terminated like the end of a contract or ripping up a piece of paper. She was quite certain he meant that the creatures from the Shadowed Lands could execute the blood mages at will. Or if not at will, without as much trouble as one might hope.
“But these things are inconsequential.” Sleeper held his hand out to the door. “Follow me, and I will lead you to the sage. She looks forward to meeting you, as those from your realm she has met previously were not so pleasant.”
Beth glanced at Cornelius but didn’t say anything. She suspected he was thinking the same thing she was. Who had been here before? And what did Sleeper mean when he said they hadn’t been pleasant?
The blood mages followed Sleeper out the door. Beth froze. It was night there by then, and stars and nebula lit up the sky around what was either a distant moon, or a not so distant planet. But between them, and behind them, and all around that beautiful vista drifted the terrible outlines of the Eldritch gods.
“Do you ever get used to that?”
Sleeper glanced back at Beth, and then followed her gaze to the stars above. “To a degree. It is a constant reminder of what we fight for, of what we lost, and what we still have to lose.”
“Memento mori,” Cornelius whispered.
That didn’t strike Beth as a phrase Sleeper would understand. But the Shadowed Lands resident focused on Cornelius and gave the old blood mage a small smile. Sleeper then turned back to the path ahead of them.
* * *
The Shadowed Lands were an alien place to be sure. But considering the stories of the Burning Lands Beth had heard over the years, she’d take the Shadowed Lands over that hellscape any day.
Now that the light had truly left the sky, the Shadowed Lands had come to life. Foliage that before she had mistaken for rocks cracked open, revealing traces of bright blue flesh within, and the animals came looking for it.
Most of the creatures running around looked like oversized lizards, but as much as Beth enjoyed the harmless lizards back in Missouri and Kansas, these were the length of her forearm with teeth to frighten off the most adamant animal lover.
Other things whispered through the underbrush just off the path as Sleeper led them into the woods. Something growled and hissed like a very large angry cat, but Beth couldn’t make out the shape of the animal.
“Do not worry about those who hiss,” Sleeper said. “They are loud, but they are tiny.”
“Are they venomous?” Cornelius asked. “For that matter, are those giant lizards venomous?”
“So long as you do not eat them, they will not harm you.”
Cornelius bobbed his head as they continued walking. “So they’re poisonous.”
“Your realm has odd language. What can kill you will kill you, regardless of what words you choose.”
“I’d say that’s an oversimplification. You need to know if the thing itself can kill you, or if you need to ingest it for it to kill you.”
“Cornelius,” Beth hissed. “Are you serious right now? You’re doing this here?”
The old blood mage scowled at her, adjusted the leather hat on his head, and let it drop.
“It is fine, Beth.” Sleeper gestured to the path ahead. “It is good to learn the sensitive areas of your friends and allies.”
“Speaking of language issues,” Beth whispered to Cornelius.
The blood mage chuckled as they turned the corner. A field of those stonelike flowers opened ahead of them. They weren’t all bright blue. There were greens and reds that looked like blood, and in the distance, some of them were even luminescent.
“It’s beautiful,” Beth said.
“Yes. It is likely why the previous sage chose this place long ago to build his home. It was grander once, before our conflicts with the Eldritch destroyed so much of our home. But the world goes on around us, and most of the animals have returned, and this place, which has been our home, will remain so.”
Beth smiled at Sleeper. There was a familiarity to his words. She had lost more than one home over the years. Some had been lost to floods, others to infighting among her family. But no matter where she settled, it became home eventually. And now, all she needed for somewhere to be home was Ashley.
Sleeper led them around the largest of the stone plants. Nestled behind it stood what at first appeared to be a humble dwelling. But the closer they got, the more Beth realized how intricate the carvings were in the stone of the walls, and how delicate the illustrations etched into the door itself were.
Brown rock filled the space between the walkway and the walls, much like the garden of any commoner. And it took a moment for Beth to realize that the brown rocks were the fallen petals, or branches, of the stone plants.
Cornelius and Sleeper didn’t seem nearly so interested in the vegetation or the lizards that scampered by around them. Sleeper approached the door without hesitation.