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The inquiry seems moot, but I nod, watching as the being finishes with its destruction. Its features become sharpened and acute as it steps into the wash of the firelight, and both Sheryl and I gasp with fright.
The being is insanely tall and lanky and blinks at us with four sets of eyes, all the shade of blood staining the sand surrounding us. I realize that he was able to strangle the elves so expertly because he has four arms, like a spider, hanging to his hips menacingly. On the tips of his fingers, orange light shines. Those are the sparks that had held some of our enemies in the air.
He is terrifying but also an astounding figure. He stares down at us on his hind legs, then moves toward us with an insect-like speed.
“You are coming with me,” he hisses, taking me by the ankle.
“No!” Sheryl screams, trying to bat him away like a pesky bug.
He grunts and then proceeds to snap his fingers with one of his extra hands. Invisible handcuffs wrap around Sheryl’s hands and feet while something reduces her voice to a restrained howl.
“Stop!” I scream as the creature pulls me by the ankles. “What do you want?”
I knew the moment I laid eyes on the thing that he wasn’t here to save me. Like the mage, he has sinister motives and is driven by his interest in this fucking coin that has buried itself into my hand.
But I am not going anywhere without a fight.
I kick, scream, roll, and shake my body like prey caught in a trap. He takes no heed of this and lifts me up onto his firm shoulder without hesitation.
Maybe if I wasn’t so stunned, so weakened by the coin, I would have had some chance to get away. I consider poking one of his many eyes out, but he begins to crawl on his six limbs, racing across the ground like something out of every child’s nightmare.
“Open the portal,” he roars.
One of his furry hands pins me to him by my neck, and I consider attempting to leap off his body. But something holds me down, like the invisible chain restricting my sweet Sheryl.
“Do it now,” he bellows. “What are you waiting for?”
I have no choice, yet I continue to writhe. A few seconds after screaming his orders, a giant space opens in the ground below us. I only notice its pulsing green-and-pink aura when it is far too late.
The creature leaps into the gaping hole, and the world, as I have known it, vanishes.
All of my muscles tense as I try to scream. I’m not in any physical pain but in utter torment. All of the misery of my life is presented to me in a slideshow, my eyes forced open to it, to endure it, to relive it again and again.
I weep until my chest caves in until my brain shrinks into dust, until I am welcomed into the blackest warmth of Eden.
FOUR
SYSTORAK
I open my eyes to see floating rocks spinning around me, lightning striking the volcanoes in the distance, and black skies. I look at the ground and notice the bedrock beneath my feet. I close my eyes and inhale, using what patience I have left.
“What is this place?” Lana asks, looking around at the miserable scenery.
“This,” I exhale, aggravated, “is the Inbetween.”
“What does that mean?” she asks curiously.
I roll my eyes. If she asks me one more question, I might lose it. I rub the bridge of my nose.
“It means,” I say, putting my hands on my hips, “this is a part of the universe that was,” I pause, looking for the words, “leftover when the gods formalized creation.”
“So,” she turns to look at me, “it’s still being built?”
I scoff and shake my head. “Yeah, yeah, it’s still being built,” I say, setting her on her feet.
I hear ticking from behind me and turn to face a gorton rodan about the size of a large ur’gin, with eyes all over its body. The venom injected from its fangs can take a grown demon out in seconds. I push Lana behind me and back away from the beast, watching its eyes twitch in every direction. She gasps, and I take hold of her arm behind me.
“Don’t move,” I command Lana, crouching to the gorton’s level.
