He’s shaking as his fingers dig into my chest. “Torin… something’s wrong.”
“It’s going to be okay. I promise it’ll be okay.” And I hope I’m not lying. I hope that everything will be okay as soon as I reach this goddamn horse.
The soul stops, even though the tunnel continues, and floats up to the top. I reach up and discover that it’s a way out, so Ipush against the hatch, but something must be on it because it’s not budging. Or it might possibly be locked. I shove hard against it, cursing myself for being so weak even now. The angle makes it difficult. It’s above my head, so I can’t kick it or slam a weapon into it.
“Riley, can you open this hatch above our heads?” I ask as I lift his hand up so he can feel it since he can’t see it.
Riley stretches out a shaking hand and the door blows off in a rush of white mist. Dirt and debris rain down on me as I leap up, catch the edge of the opening, and pull both of us out. The soul darts out and I look up to discover the young boy from earlier watching me with wide eyes, but he’s not the only one in the room.
No, the room is stacked with crates filled with people looking back at me. There are at least fifty of them, all in small crates they can barely sit up in. And where I stand is a magic circle that the crates surround, like they were used in some kind of ritual. I hesitate, unsure of what to do, but Riley reaches out to them. A woman crams her fingers between the tight bars and the second her fingers touch his, she transforms into a white orb that slips between the bars. He tries to reach for another, but the young boy is pulling us out of the room and I can’t lose him.
“I have to help them,” Riley says, sounding desperate.
“Not now. We’ll help them when we finish this,” I promise, realizing that none of them are even alive anymore. They’re just… souls stuck here because of the curse that horrible man inflicted on them.
My stomach tightens at the thought of what he used that magic for.
The young boy peeks out before pushing the door open and rushing across a long stretch of land as I find that we’re in the courtyard of a large building, possibly a manor, and it’s likely where the god resides.
I can’t see anyone, so I hurry after him while he dashes toward a grand stable.
Is it really going to be this easy? I mean… we’re not out yet, but I feared finding the horse would be impossible… and maybe it would have been without the help we’re currently receiving.
Riley, who is barely coherent, is trying to crawl off my back as he eagerly looks forward. I don’t think he realizes he’s doing it or even knows what’s happening.
The boy slips into the stable and rushes down to the far end where I spot the horse that I’d last seen standing over the dead horseman on the field.
When I saw him then, he was majestic and beautiful, a pale grayish-white color that had shimmered beneath the light of the sun. But right now, he’s not the magnificent beast I’d once laid my eyes on. His skin is stretched over his bones, giving him a skeletal look, and his coat that once shone is dull, making his color look more like that of a corpse. He jerks back on the chains that attach him to the ground as he swings his head around to face us.
Riley tries to leap off my back, but since he’s still tied to me, he throws me forward and I slam into the horse’s side. He bares his teeth and lunges for me, likely remembering that I’m the one who killed his last rider, but when Riley struggles to slide between us, he immediately pulls back. Riley falls into the beast’s side as I release the rope I have tied around Riley and lower him to the ground. I have to assume the horse won’t hurt him, and Riley’s too out of it to be aware that he’s clinging to a horse’s leg… the very creature he swore never to touch.
I reach for the chains around each pastern that are holding his legs down and notice there’s another around his neck, but they’re firmly fastened to the ground with runes and magic that I don’t even recognize. The god is determined to never let himfree, and I’m not sure there’s anything I can do about it in this state.
When I reach for the chain around his neck, the horse jerks his head away from Riley and bites down on my shoulder, throwing me back.
Of course I can’t defend myself from the beast; I wouldn’t dare hurt the creature that we depend on to save Riley. But I need the horse to work with me before it’s too late.
The bizarre creature Mickey gave me perks up, and I realize we have company. The soul who’d led us here flees in terror, and the horse tries to tuck Riley back in an attempt to protect him.
I scoop Riley up and when the horse comes at me, enraged I took his person away, I ram an elbow into the side of his face. “I am protecting him. What can you do while you’re chained here?” The horse isn’t satisfied, but he throws his head and chooses not to attack me. I pluck the small monster off my shoulder and toss it. “Go to Mickey.”
It takes flight, slipping through the open door a mere second before the god steps into it. He sets his cane on the ground and the noise of it echoes throughout the stable, sending chills down my back.
“How lucky I am to be visited by such a prestigious god of war… I see you brought my horseman back to me.”
“You will not touch him,” I hiss as I push Riley back and hold my scythes at the ready.
The god gives me a pitying look. “He’s dying and you know it.”
“Stay away from him.”
“If I do, he’ll finally die for good. Is that what you’d like? Do youwanthim to die? Because I can help him. I can fix him?—”
The horse thrashes, trying to break free, but all he ends up doing is crashing down to his knees, and I can tell it causes Riley distress. The god seems utterly unconcerned while he takesanother step forward and his cane hits the ground. The power this man holds has to be out of this world. We’re mere playthings to him, but then why doesn’t he just take Riley by force?
He smiles and steps to the side as I see who waits behind him.
It’s the horseman I’d seen out in the woods, the man astride the stocky red horse. Quickly, I call Quill out, knowing that we’re going to have to retreat, even if it means leaving Riley’s horse behind. My power isn’t strong enough to break the runes that hold him captive, and I fear a fight against an all-powerful god and this horseman will not end well. But at least I now know where the horse is. I could possibly create a new Door that’s closer to the stable to retrieve him.
