Esoterica 4: Beyond the End (Esoterica Chronicles) by Virgil Knightley

Author:Virgil Knightley [Knightley, Virgil]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Eldritch Blade
Published: 2022-04-26T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

D ahlia White was not at all impressed with whatever arcane energy ripped her from Liam’s side and thrust her into the wretched highland wastes of Leng. It wasn’t like the benignly disorienting portals that Esoterica’s crystals could conjure, nor was it anything like Chelsea’s gateways.

She had quite a reasonable amount of experience with portals of various kinds and types, and this was the worst of them. When she was spat out of a black fissure onto the dull landscape of the Leng Plateau, she hit the ground hard, scraping her knee against a jagged stone that jutted out of the ground.

The starchild beauty winced and touched the wound, exuding white light from the tips of her fingers. The gash sealed itself, and the pain was reduced to a memory.

“Alright there, Dolly?” Memento said. She had apparently landed on her feet. At the very least, she seemed to Dahlia’s eyes to have dodged any discomfort. Dahlia’s skin was still crawling from the aftereffects of the spell.

“I didn’t enjoy that,” she said flatly.

Melody fluttered in front of her, crossing her arms. “I didn’t enjoy you murdering me.”

“Oh, let it go,” Dahlia groaned, rolling her eyes. “I only killed you once.”

“That’s one more time than what is socially acceptable,” Melody said through slitted eyes. Her face was a mask of anger, but Dahlia knew it was mostly banter.

Carmilla spoke up next. “Quiet, you two,” she said in a hoarse whisper. “We don’t know who could be watching us.”

“Whoever they are, they’re going to get their asses kicked,” Memento retorted, punching her chest with pride.

“Very likely,” Carmilla agreed with a giggle, but she instantly sobered up. “Still—be smart. It does us no favors to let our guard down.”

Dahlia raised her hand and her eyes went blazing white, as bright and painful to behold as the sun itself. Her hand glowed, too, and illuminated a path of footsteps all around them, some varying significantly in intensity.

“The brighter prints you see are those left most recently,” she explained.

Melody floated up higher in the air to get a better view. “Hey,” she said after a minute, “bitch.” Dahlia looked up. “They all seem to be leading off in two directions.”

“We’re in the middle of a well-traveled path,” Carmilla agreed.

“So, which way do we go?” asked the demoness. Memento’s forked tongue licked the air, hoping for an extra clue.

Dahlia squinted to see a shape in the distance—a shadow forming just in front of the horizon. “Well, there’s something off in that direction,” she said.

Melody grunted her agreement. “Some things,” she amended. “Maybe we should ask for directions?”

Dahlia laughed at that. “You’re hard to kill, being dead and all. Lead the way, Melody.”

Melody scowled down at Dahlia. “Hard, but not necessarily impossible. If they have magic or—”

“She was joking, Mel,” Memento said exasperatedly, “but the point does stand. You have greater visibility and are harder to hurt. You go a few paces ahead and keep slightly elevated. We’re right here.”

Melody muttered something about sulfur-stinking demon bitches and started flying off in that direction.

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