Seal of Solomon (Journeyman Book 2) (9 page)

The far windows groaned ominously under the intense wind and the room itself seemed to breathe, swaying as if she were on a boat during a storm at sea. It started to make her feel queasy, wanting nothing more than to lie back down until the sensation passed, but a gut feeling drove her to stand up and take a look outside.

As she stumbled out of bed and her feet touched the rough carpet, a flash of red streamed across her eyes and Gage was there holding her with tears flowing from his.

“Oh my dear Adrienne,” he said. “We’ll be sure to get you fixed up. Yeah. Fixed up right away. Joey probably has something -”

She winced, taking all her strength to lift a shaky finger up to his lips. “Shhh. Liar.”

Another flash and she found herself back in the murky room, spinning out of control. Lurching forward, she grabbed hold of the only thing nearby – the curtains withstanding the forceful grasp and stopping her from falling completely over. A thunderous
boom
shook the glass and rebounded against the walls, taunting her to yank the panels open. She did.

Outside, the horizon was unbelievably bright, colored wild like the setting sun. It was sandwiched between two layers of intense, boiling clouds, quaking as if about to give birth to a billion horrors.

“
Oh my God,” said Adrienne, her face catching the lightning as it began screaming between the clouds both above and below. “What have you gotten yourself into?”

There was a loud
crash
, followed by another, and then another, all rising to a deafening clatter. An army of gray hands, lifeless and countless, had slammed against the windows, blocking the view outside. They pressed hard on the splintering glass and it had little choice but to give way.

“Shit!” she yelled, turning to run, but not before the panes shattered and all those twisted arms came at her like serpents.

“
De malorum via!
” a sudden voice rumbled, powerful enough to cause the terrors to recoil.

Adrienne felt airy again, warmth percolating from her chest all the way out to her extremities as a light enveloped the surroundings. Then a force pulled hard, like a rope around her waist, dragging her deep down before she fell upon on a cold, rocky slab.

The wind was knocked out of her and she laid still. No bones were broken and despite a lingering soreness around her midsection, there was no other pain. Calmly she stood, despite the rush of adrenaline coursing through her veins. Before her was the edge of a vast precipice, plunging way down into the churning clouds below.

“Well, no going that way.”

She brushed away the loose dust that had collected on her short denim vest, which had somehow appeared on her out of thin air. In fact, her whole outfit had changed: the vest slung over a red tank while tight blue jeans trailed down to a pair of sturdy hiking boots.

A terrible roar came from above, drawing her attention. Sitting atop a floating rock was Gage’s house; the whole thing was there in utter ruin. Outside, two monstrous shapes like blobs of living ink scurried around, searching for something. Hunting it. Their many-armed tendrils lanced through windows and walls alike, tearing down what little remained standing.

Her instincts told her they were more than likely seeking her out and that she best be on her way. It was easier said than done though, as she didn't have the faintest idea where to go.

Gage, where are you? I could really do with some of that grizzly charm right now.

Since the way forward was impassable, she had no choice but to go in the opposite direction. Upon turning, she took a step and stopped dead in her tracks. An old man, chin full of white scruff barely visible beneath the hooded robes he wore, was blocking her way.

She reached for her weapons, normally holstered on her belt, but found none.

“Who are you?”

“Shhh! Quiet!” he whispered sharply, pointing up. The creatures had paused, distracted by the noise. Snarling came from unseen mouths before they resumed the hunt. “We do not want to draw their attention.”

“What are they?” she asked, completely at a loss. She had never seen anything like them before.

The man shuffled around, plucking a staff out of thin air. He began to creep away along the craggy surface, which extended far off toward the horizon. “More on that later,” he muttered. “For now, we must get out of here. Come on this way, toward the light.”

She was steadfast. “Why should I trust you?”

“Because you must. Now hurry.”

“Then tell me who you are!”

“Oh for Heaven’s sake,” he groaned. “There isn’t that much time. I know this must all be quite strange and disorienting for you, having only just arrived, but you must trust me even if only for now. Just think of me as a wanderer who happened to be in the right place at the right time to save a girl who shouldn’t even be here. Now please, I will answer more of your questions later. Come.”

Against her better judgment she agreed, falling in behind him. She stayed close, but not too much so. At this distance she was able to study his drab brown robes in detail, noting an intricately woven pattern in the long flowing fabric. Quite ornate for such an otherwise uninspired garment, she supposed it could have been an old ceremonial robe.

They walked on for what seemed like hours, though without a true frame of reference it was difficult to tell how much time had actually gone by. The air was muggy and oppressive, hanging thick with humidity. The landscape was barren, not a living thing in front of them for miles, also stretching far off to the left, the right, and now behind. Without so much as a change in color to draw away her boredom, Adrienne punctuated the silent trek with questions from her typically inquisitive mind.

“Excuse me,” she broke in, mouth cottony from thirst. “How much farther do we have on this march?”

“Ah yes. Not long now. The nexus should be visible any time now.”

“Nexus?”

“Yes. It's a portal of sorts, a link between two points, even if separated by great distances. It's the quickest means of travel here in the Astral Plane and one we will definitely need to get out of these wastelands.”

Those words rung in her ears. “The Astral Plane! So that's where I am! I thought as much, though for a while I'd honestly thought I'd gone insane.”

“A clever one,” he said, impressed with her cognitive functions. “Not often do those who arrive here keep so much of their former selves.”

“What do you mean?”

“Those things we encountered earlier, the ones trying to snatch you. All this is quite fascinating, perhaps I should note this for future investigation…” His voice trailed off into a bunch of indecipherable mumbling as they continued to walk.

“Those… monsters?” she asked. “They arrived here too? I'd have thought they were actually
from
here.”

“No, they were once from the earthly realm. People just like you who ended up here for any number of reasons. Once human, their forms are a physical manifestation of their particular soul’s torment. As you can tell by the look of what we've been walking through, things are seldom happy here.”

“My God, that would be horrible.” She raised a hand to her mouth, thinking if that had been her fate.

“It is definitely a horrid experience,” he replied, looking across his shoulder. “It’s partly why they came to you.”

“Me?”

He stopped and fully turned toward her, removing his hood with a flick of his hand. He was an aged man, outwardly in his late sixties, possibly seventies, but there was no way to be sure. Something felt familiar about his wrinkled face, oddly attractive, but she couldn’t place it; she had never met him before.

He leaned on his staff with both hands as he studied her, head to toe, with piercing blue eyes. “Yes, you. When something new enters the Astral Plane, there is a large disturbance like a stone skipping across a pond; the ripples can be felt all the way out to the furthest reaches. This last time felt different and it was how I knew where to find you so quickly.”

Adrienne hung on every one of his words.

“It has to do with energy brought in from Earth,” he continued. “It manifests here as a portion of memory; the house you were in, for example, was that your last location?”

She nodded, noting a faint spark in his eyes.

“It acts like a homing signal to the hopeless creatures here, who want for nothing other than to return to the land of the living, pass on to Heaven or even Hell, or exit into the boundless nothing. They feel as if they can use that energy to achieve one of these goals, stopping at nothing to get at it before it dissipates. Now all of this said, I have one big question on my mind: why you were not affected in the same way as others who come here?”

She had no idea. The last thing she could remember was fighting with Gage against those abominations the Noctis had sent in the living room of his house, or was it in the kitchen? She wasn’t sure now; it was all quite a blur.

…Non Omnis Moriar…
.

“Gage…” she said as the words faded from her thoughts.

“Gage?” the man asked with interest. “Someone you know?”

“Yes,” she replied, looking to the ground. “Well, someone I knew. From back when I was alive. He helped greatly in the fight against the Noctis.”

“Ah the Noctis, those demonic thugs. I have no love for them,” he said as his lips fell into a scowl before lifting into a smile. “And when you
were
alive? No, my dear, I suspect quite the opposite. As I think on it, a very unique opportunity has presented itself – one that may allow us to do something extraordinary.”

Her eyes narrowed, studying his salt and pepper hair – heavy on the former – as they hiked for at least a mile more. She was playing around with a few nicknames in her mind, settling on dubbing him Silver Fox since he was older and not an ugly fellow. Hell, that was better than nothing, the stubborn old goat not willing to reveal his name to her.

“Who are you?” she asked as he raised his hood back over his head.

“Time will tell,” he replied, hastily moving on.

Oh great
,
riddles now of all times!
her mind screamed as she fell back in behind him.

They had reached the edge of a large area of shiny stone, as if the ground had been heavily polished.

“Ah, here at last!” Silver rushed into the circle.

“The nexus I presume?”

“One of many,” he answered; she stepped up to his side. “Yes, this is where we will depart.” He pulled out a dagger and holster from his robes and handed them to her. It was a twisted blade of pure silver, engraved with symbols on the blade and handle alike. “Here, these are for you. I assume you're skilled in how to use one?”

“Yes, how did -”

“Later,” he said, shaking the handle. “Please, take them. We might need them where we are going”

“And where is that?”

“Lands near the base of an ancient temple. It was constructed here at least three thousand years ago, give or take a hundred years. I think we may be able to find an item there to help get you back where you came from.”

“Why are you helping me so much?” she asked, vastly suspicious of his motives.

“Because that is what family does for each other.”

She didn’t expect that particular answer and had no idea what he meant by it, though she finally grabbed the handle, placing it and the holster on her belt.

“Are you ready?” he asked her.

She breathed deeply, really unsure if she was or not. This would all be so interesting at a different time in a different place, yet now she found it all pretty unsettling.

It’s go time,
she thought.

“Yup!” she answered aloud.

“Good. Now remember, I don’t know what we’ll encounter when we reach the other side, so it’s best to be prepared for battle.”

“Got it.”

He raised his hands aloft and the rod floated away before impaling half its length into the stone. There was a deep hum, a smell like allspice wafting in on a sudden breeze. Curls of light whipped out from the staff to form the intricate lines of an ornate sigil, filling the entire polished area beneath their feet.

Adrienne immediately recognized it as one of Solomon’s seals. It was the forty-third, the fourth pentacle of Venus – meant to bring ones you love from far away. She gasped as it glowed brightly. She then whispered and it was carried away on the wind as they were both transported toward their destination.

“Solomon? It’s you…”

A MAN DRESSED IN
a high end suit made his way up the long and narrow street. The houses lining each side were dark, residents sleeping soundly within the cozy walls, completely unaware that a demon was walking along their prim and proper sidewalks. His striking red hair caught the moonlight, glowing brighter underneath the overpowering orange of the street lamps as he passed them by.

A single black cat made its way across the street three houses up – as good an omen as any to select the particular home it emerged from for this task.

Astaroth would be lying if he told himself that he didn’t have doubts over what he was about to do, but it had reached a point where he felt this was the only solution to the issues plaguing the Noctis. Fueled by his disillusionment with Keli’s competence after her willingness to be ordered about by the likes of a werewolf, he took a satisfying gulp of the nighttime air and strode up to the front door. He did not knock and in a soundless instant, was inside.