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He hated the caverns of the Netherrealm, but it was even worse without his powers. It was dank, cold, and dark. All the things he loathed. He wanted to complain about it, and under normal circumstances, he would have, but at the moment, Nixus’s pallor, his own aching body, and the promise of information that might be able to help them was enough for Luc to keep his mouth clear of complaints.
But to keep his mind occupied, he worked to keep his brother and sister talking.
It made the trek more bearable and reminded him they weren’t actually residents of that grisly landscape—not him and Nix, anyway. Over the River of Sorrows, he had considered jumping into its dark waters, but Lexa had lashed both he and Nix to the boat. On the Plains of Chrysanthemum, the bones stretched on and on, even as he and Nix hung from Lexa’s talons as she flew over them, and he wondered if he was losing all sense of reality or if he was in a morbid dream.
He missed Brinna.
Finally, Lexa touched down on the other side of that expanse, setting them gently on a new landscape smoking with sulfur.
“And where are we now?” Luc asked, smoothing out his clothing. “Dammit, Lexa, I’m wrinkled.”
She snorted. “You’re about to enter Pyre Canyon. And you’re worried about wrinkles?”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” he said. “It sounds… hot.”
She laughed. “An understatement.”
“We should get going,” Nix said, his normally witty repartee nonexistent.
It worried Luc.
Rather than say something that might get his brother to laugh, he nodded. “Yes. Let’s get this over with.” He looked at Lexa, back in her non-dragon form. “Is Cumbria burning in this fire?”
She shook her head. “Unfortunately, he’s deeper in the Netherrealm. The fires of the pyre would have been too kind.”
Luc didn’t like the sound of that.
“How much further?” Nix asked.
“Down the Dismal Rapids and over the Falls. Then it’s into the Malevolent Marshes. We’ll fly over the Nefarious Sea to the Verge, and there we’ll find the Edge.”
“Good goddess, Lexa,” Luc snapped.
“Now that, I have never been called, unless I’m using my tongue.”
“Lexa,” Nix said with a groan.
She laughed.
“Can’t we just portal there?” Luc asked. “Time is of the essence, and you’ve described a fucking quest.”
“Oh.” She tilted her head. “I thought you wanted a hero quest.” She patted down her pantsuit. “You’re both trying to be heroes, yes?”
“No. We’re trying to break the spell and fix Nix,” Luc said, but then, maybe he was lying. He thought of Brinna, aware of the twinge in his chest, wanting more than anything to find a way to help her. Originally this had been for Aurielle and thereby Nix—at least that’s what he’d rationalized. But he realized when it came to Brinna, it had never been about Nix. It had always been about him.
“I don’t need to be fixed,” Nix said. “I need to get back to Auri.”
“Forgive me for wanting to share my home with you both. But whatever–”
“Don’t be like that, Lexa. You’ve never wanted me in your realm,” Luc replied.
“But now I do. You’ve no light and are at my mercy.” She grinned, and he could swear he saw her dragon’s teeth.
He groaned. “Way to rub it in, sister.”
She held up her hand. “Fine. You want instant gratification?” The landscape drifted away, throwing them into the dark, and when the movement stopped, Lexa said, “Don’t move.” She paused.
The scree under his shoes informed him that the landscape was rocky and uneven, though he couldn’t see it.
