Chapter Thirty-Four
Portals
Yushin approached the giant castle that overlooked the city. Numerous soldiers guarded the castle we approached, all wearing the same armor - a shiny black with red intricate lining. They all seemed to make a ‘N’ shape on their chest. Each soldier straightened up as we approached them, tapping the ground with their scythe-looking weapons.
One could barely see their eyes and mostly only a slight red glow.
“It’s an Army of the Undead, practically. The one who watches this town. Her name is Nyktos,” Yushin explained. “Most of the soldiers you see here are vampire-spawns, those loyal to Nyktos and only Nyktos, halfway controlled by her.”
“Yushi-poo, nice to see you again! And your friend, ah, the blood of the reaper - I love it!” A voice sounded from one of the soldiers. The guard, who looked like every other guard in the same armor, came up to us, nothing different from this guard to the others.
“What a cringe name,” Yushin muttered, shaking his head to the guard. “Nyktos, I don’t like talking to your army of undead. Can you just let us in? I seek the portal.”
“Aww, is that the only reason you’ve come? Not to, I don’t know, maybe let me sip the reaper’s blood? One of the few creatures of the undead that I have yet to taste.”
“She’s not an undead - she’s a human.”
“Oh, even better!” The guard squealed, or, I guess, Nyktos squealed. “I mean, I knew she was human, but… She’s still got the blood of the reaper, and it’s very gratifying to smell. I’m surprised not many other blood mages have begun to follow her.”
“Nyktos?” Yushin sighed, pinching the bridge of his forehead.
Watching their interaction made me feel wholly uneasy and out of place. I know I’m a Reaper, but I still didn’t fully understand what that meant. It mostly meant guiding souls, but do I have anything else? Or is it just the soul-guiding thing? I looked away from the guard, down to my toes.
“Come, come!” Nyktos’s voice rushed as the guard she was controlling began to guide me closer to the palace doors.
I glanced over my shoulder to Yushin, who avoided our gazes and followed us. Guiding us into the castle, I noticed its differences with Miserth Keep - its halls were taller and red. The place was lined with chandeliers, a very shiny keep. The light that shimmered in the hallways empowered the red, making it a more robust and bright red - similar to the color of blood. Was she a Blood Mage as well, or was she something more?
My eyes traveled the stairs on the side of the entrance, leading up to a grand overlook, and there stood a woman. The woman is a mesmerizing figure with long, flowing midnight black hair that gently lays against her back in loose waves. Her striking red eyes glow in the darkness, exuding an air of mystery and power that commands attention. She is dressed in a beautiful black gown that flows elegantly around her, accentuating her pale skin and slender figure. The dress has a subtle touch of red, adding a hint of color to her otherwise dark attire. This woman must be Nyktos because she resembled a queen of some sort.
When she caught me staring, she leaned forward over the railing. She grinned before flipping herself over it and disappearing into thin air. I felt a chill creep up around me with what felt like hands gripping my shoulders and a whisper into my ear, “Aria Kirasa, daughter of the Previous Reaper, welcome finally.”
My entire body tensed, and a shiver ran down my spine as her voice crept into my ear. The hairs stood on my arms as she continued with her intoxicating whispers.
“Born in the Underworld, Raised in the Human world under the guidance of Ren and Sayuri, some of the underworld’s most powerful sorcerers. Honestly, with blood as strong as yours, I’m shocked you were not found previously to when you were; I mean,” Her fingernails gripped my shoulders as she pulled me closer to her cold body, “Your blood is…” She breathed deeply, “Something intriguing, something sweet, yet with a hint of something powerful. Just a taste?”
I was frozen in terror as she continued to speak quietly to me in my ear, her voice causing me to shiver once more. “I - I don’t think that’s ok,” I murmured as best I could, my voice barely catching in my throat.
“Nyktos, we’re here on business,” Yushin finally stepped in, getting between the woman and me.
“Fine,” She sighed, turning into a soft mist and appearing a few steps away from us.
“Portal, please,” Yushin said.
Once again, she sighed and rolled her eyes, “You know where it’s at. But I promise you, one drop of her blood and this kingdom will likely fall into a frenzy - but I’ll be the first one there.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Yushin dismissed it and reached for my wrist, gently gripping it and pulling me along.
“Careful now.”
As I was dragged away from Nyktos, I glanced at her and noticed that she was watching me, her eyes bright and red. A smirk appeared on her face before she turned into a misty figure and disappeared once more.
Down the hall, Yushin and I approached a dead end. Yushin put his hands on the wall, whispering something, and then pushed through, still bringing me along. It was similar to a portal, but on the other side were some stairs leading down—a spiral staircase.
It was weird that Nyktos knew about me, who I was, and where I was raised. She wasn’t the only one, though. Butch knew I was the daughter of the previous reaper, too - are blood mages and vampires that strong with blood? If they specialized in it - but if that was the case, wouldn’t it have been easier to get a blood mage to track me down or even Ren and Sayuri?
“Don’t worry about Nyktos,” Yushin spoke to me, breaking the silence of the stairway. “Not only is she the strongest Blood Mage here in the underworld, but she’s also a necromancer. So, between being able to create her undead and taking in other blood mages and demons, she has one of the strongest armies here. Many of her undead followers are inanimate, just to be controlled and toyed with by her. It’s… Not exactly a pleasant sight to watch the whole ceremony.”
“So, she just… Controls all the guards here?”
“Mmm, most of them. There are still guards who inhabit their mind - but a lot of the army has rotted brains that she could gain conscience over, or some just gave themselves to her.”
“Sounds a bit overpowered, in my opinion,” I muttered, crossing my arms as the thought of her taking my brain made me shiver.
“The underworld is a compelling place - full of creatures. You’ve seen it first hand with Mundus.”
Knowing Mundus was still out there worried me, too, and now I had Nyktos to be concerned about.
“Just stay focused,” Yushin said.
I nodded, my brain still wanting to drift off into all the what-ifs.
Finally, at the bottom of the stairs, I felt another cold shiver rushing through my body as a cold gust of wind swept me over. It was A strange, powerful presence that didn’t feel threatening. It felt… Welcoming. On the other side, I could see a round circular object with an ample open space in the middle. This must be the Pervara Portal. It was created with ice crystals and was in a perfect circle formation. I could see nothing but darkness on the other side of the portal.
“Pervara, the Sanguine Lands portal - Portal Number Two, welcomes you,” Yushin said, taking a few steps before me and motioning to the portal behind me. “Glad to see it’s still inactive - as you can tell by the frozen crystals.”
“Is this one not supposed to be?” I asked him.
“No,” He said, running his hands gently along some of the ice crystals. “Come on,” He said as he approached the portal and stood in the middle of it.
Joining him, I stood across from him and gazed up at the beautiful ice crystals, reaching to touch one.
“Just like Abigail’s Tree, ok?” He said, holding his hands out to me.
I nodded, still slightly nervous from the last time we did this when I was randomly teleported to the human world.
“It might be a bit similar - depending on how inactive this portal has been. It’ll take us to the human world.”
“I thought you said it wouldn’t?!”
He smiled gently, tilting his head and immediately reaching out to my hands and gripping them. “I lied,” He chuckled. “Take a deep breath, and concentrate,” His low and soothing voice gently flowed to me.
Yushin and I stood facing each other. Our hands clasped tightly together as we focused our energy on the task. The air around us crackled with electricity, and the ground beneath our feet trembled with the sheer force of their power. I was already nervous and even lost a bit of concentration, which made everything disappear around me and stop.
“Concentrate, don’t get nervous.” He said, his eyes still closed, and his head bowed.
I nodded, doing as I was told, and took a deep breath. As I did so, things around me began to feel different again.
“Say as I do, just as before - if you remember.”
With that, he began to chant ancient incantation, and a brilliant light began to form between our hands, growing brighter and brighter until it was almost blinding. The light swirled and danced, taking on the shape of a shimmering portal that seemed to lead to another world. The portal was of various colors, with swirling blue, green, and purple hues. It was as if a rainbow had been captured and contained within the portal's boundaries. The air around us hummed with excitement and anticipation as if the very universe was waiting with bated breath for us to complete our task. As we poured more and more energy into the portal, the light grew even brighter, and the colors became even more intense. It was a beautiful sight to behold, but also one that carried a sense of danger and risk - complete failure.
Despite the risk, however, we remained focused and determined. Our hands remained clasped, and we continued to say the enchantment to open the portal to the human world. Then, in a burst of energy, the portal finally stabilized, and a rush of wind blew through it, signaling that the way to the human realm was now open.
We were suddenly in another area full of heat and humidity. I realized that it had taken down a large cavern. I gazed upwards to recognize that the sky was above us, full of stars and darkness, but below us was something unimaginable. I noticed we were in the pit of an inactive volcano, and I immediately freaked out. “YUSHIN WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!”
“Shh, you’re fine,” He sighed, “Dramatic as Hell,” the man muttered.
“WHY ARE WE NOT BURNING?!”
“... Magic?” The man shrugged, gazing downwards at the low lava pool. “The volcano is dormant, and by the looks of it - it won’t erupt for a very long time - which will eventually shut the portal down again,” He explained. “The pool is tiny.”
“We can just walk into lava pools practically and not burn?” I questioned him, staring at the lava, watching it shimmer underneath us.
“Well, no. Magic can protect you greatly but can’t always protect you from natural disasters. Imagine falling into this pool - you’d probably burn up,” He said, shrugging again. He turned around, running his fingers on the wall where the portal sat. “This thin cave is where the portal lies, Mount Nefarious - home of the second portal connected directly to Nyktos’s kingdom,” He explained. “With the natural disasters that this land has, it makes it easier to travel to collect souls. Just, again, not during active times, unfortunately.”
“Can anyone use the underworld’s portals?” I asked him.
“Not exactly. The portals activate with special magic connected to the world of the undead - and humans would need to be some kind of wizard to open it practically. Typically, they are also guarded. Nyktos would never let some random person into her kingdom - just souls. In your case, the portals recognized you - with the help of Kurai, of course.”
“Good to know, so how do we go back?” I asked him, staring down the thin entrance.
“Since it’s activated, you can just… Walk back through the portal,” The man motioned.
“I can’t fit in that,” I pointed to the entrance that was too small and then to myself. “I’m way too large for that.”
“Are you?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at me. “Come on,” With a quick flick of his wrist, Yushin’s body disappeared into the little wisp I had initially met him in. I didn’t realize it, but my body had changed and morphed into this tiny wisp.
I was floating in the air.
But I was also floating upwards - I had no control over my actions.
Yushin?! How do I control this thing?
Just use your brain.
Do I even have a brain right now?!
Your body just shapeshifted; you're welcome. Use your brain, think about where you want to go and go there!
I can’t?! I’m just going up!
I see that, have fun.
HAVE FUN?!
YUSHIN GET UP HERE NOW!
I heard a chuckle from the spirit walker as his little wisp floated upwards with me, and we floated to the top of the volcano. No matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t go back down. I just kept going up. As we approached the top of the volcano, I could look out and about into the far distance. I was amazed and staring - even though I wasn’t sure I had eyes, I was staring hard. What laid out before me was a large island covered in nothing but trees, surrounded by water on one side and trees on the other. The land stretched for miles - this volcano was on an island, but it wasn’t a simple small island. This place was massive.
Hey, look, you stopped! His voice teased me.
Ignoring him, I continued to take in the breathtaking view.
That’s when I saw something curious and strange - in the distance.
I saw smoke - and lots of burning trees. But the volcano was inactive? Why was the village or town or whatever it was on fire? Can we go there?
Why?
Thinking of something on the spot, Souls. I feel something strange - something’s calling me there. Whatever is happening, it needs me.
Are you sure you’re not crazy?
You don’t feel that? I questioned him, turning to his floating wisp.
There was a slight pull that was asking me to go there. I wasn’t sure, but perhaps it was a soul?
Souls, there are souls over there, Yushin. You have to feel that there is no way you don’t.
I mean, yes? Strange that you’re feeling it, but I’m not. Mmm, ok, let’s check it out.
Thank you, I replied to him. The only thing on my mind was heading to that village - and we needed to go. With that, that’s where my wisp took me.
Nyktos, Queen of Pervara - The Sanguine Lands.
