Guardians of the Dead by S.L. Wilson

Author:S.L. Wilson [Wilson, S.L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: young adult, magic, vampires, werewolves, ya, horror, demons, fiction, ya fiction, fantasy, young adult fiction, supernatural, adventure, witches, action, witch, angels, monsters, buffy the vampire slayer
Published: 2015-02-25T16:00:00+00:00

THE STAIRCASE was a rickety metal frame set into a round turret at the back of the church; it smelt of rust and decay. The stairs spiralled down into the inky blackness, and Amber’s hands trembled as she clung to the cold metal railing. Their boots vibrated on each step as they descended, leaving a musical trail in their wake.

The lower they went the more oppressive the air became. Amber hadn’t suffered from claustrophobia before, but she was fairly certain this was what it must feel like. Her lungs were tight in her chest and her throat felt like it was closing in on itself. She curled her fingers around the rail and steadied herself.

‘You okay?’ Connor’s voice floated up from several steps below.

‘Just feeling a bit overwhelmed, I’ll be okay in a minute.’

‘It shouldn’t be much longer,’ he said.

She began moving again, keeping her eyes on the faint silhouette of the stairs in the dim light from Connor’s torch. Her head was spinning from the ever decreasing spiral and just when she thought she might actually throw up, she noticed the space around them growing lighter, not the pale light from Connor’s torch but an eerie green light which filled Amber with the first trickle of fear.

‘Be careful, the staircase ends here.’ Connor held out a hand to support her as she jumped off the last step.

‘Thank goodness,’ she gasped and stepped out onto a metal platform.

They were in some sort of cage, the walls and ceilings made of interwoven metal, and it reminded her of the chain-link fences that surrounded the kids’ play park by her house. Metal sconces with black candles hung from the intricate barrier, the flames sparking with a ghostly green glow. Amber could make out a large door to her right, but as her eyes adjusted to the murkiness, she was transfixed by the view beyond the cage. She walked to the nearest fence and looked through the wire, lacing her fingers through. The cage was supported by solid rock and was halfway down a huge circular cavern carved within the earth. As her eyes travelled down the rock face, she could see hundreds of doorways chiselled out of the stone, each hole barred with a heavy wooden door and each door marked with a phoenix symbol painted in red. The cell doors filled every inch of the cavern walls above and beneath her, thousands of them spreading deep into the black hole below. Her stomach lurched at the sight. Demon cells.

‘This way.’ Connor moved off to the right and pushed on the door embedded in the black rock. It screeched in protest as he inched it open. Drawing a thin dagger from his belt he slipped through the opening.

The network of tunnels ran like a maze through the rock, a deterrent for any demon who escaped, according to Connor and his books.

‘They may escape through the doors but with this many tunnels it would take them forever to navigate their way out. Apparently they aren’t very bright.

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