The passage on the other side was narrower, but just as high as the chamber they had come from, the roof somewhere out of sight above them.

Can you see in this place?

‘Yeah, it’s all, like creepy vague glow coming from the air. You know, usual creepy magical stuff. Huh, that dress does good things for your ass. Pads it out a bit.’

That is not something you need to concern yourself with! And my derriere does not need enhancement, it is exquisite in its natural state. From the feel of the dress, it was backless, cut all the way down to just above her fundament before clinging to her skin, the fabric shifting against her with every step. So what did you see? You appeared quite pained by the experience.

‘I could kinda-sorta see stuff, but everything was made of creepy scribble-writing that made my head hurt to look at. Like having a hang-over on some of that crazy giant-brew they make, where it looks like everything’s glowing, but, like, nerdier. Bloody hurts! Except I can’t really sleep it off, because we’re in some creepy weird place. What are you going to do to get us out?’

The walls of this place were not entirely uniform – the grey stone had patches that were a paler shade, that looked almost soft, somehow. Janaxia pushed against it with a hand, and the stone warped and shifted slightly, feeling like clay, but dry and without sticking to her hand. Loath though I am to admit it, I have little knowledge of matters such as this. This place is clearly constructed, so I would surmise there must be an exit, for the creators or shapers of this place to come and go. Even if it was a long time ago, that we have managed to gain access, means that it cannot be utterly sealed.

The stone parted before her, her fingers moving into a dry cavity. There was something on the other side, a panoramic vista, although rather more dreary than panoramic – a dull and dusty plain, without even any wind to stir the grit to life, nor any scrubs or other plant life, simply… dead and empty. Semari shoved her out of the way and gawped through. ‘Huh, that’s kinda shit. I’ve heard there’s some places like that, but don’t think that anyone would bother making weird magical stuff to look at them.’ She pushed her own hand forward, where it flattened against stone that Janaxia’s hand had passed through. ‘That’s not fair, how come you get cool magical stuff all the time?’ She drew back and punched the wall, then shook his fist in pain. ‘Owwww! Stupid stone. Can you feel anything on the other side?’

Janaxia moved her arm around – there was a change in temperature, the air slightly warmer, although without even a hint of a breeze. It appears dull and devoid of life.

‘Just like your… dammit, I can’t really say anything rude, because I know that place of your’s is definitely not devoid of life.’

Is this really the time? We appear to be confined in some most unusual demiplane. Or was it a planar sanctum? Hakara would probably know the difference, but it had seemed sufficiently vague to not be worth learning. This is scarcely a time for levity.

‘Well, at least it’s not too bad here. Hey, what’s that?’ The view through the gap was misty, thick haze limiting their vision, but movement was easy to discern – a winged and humanoid shape, just at the edge of vision, a long tail flicking before it vanished. ‘Looked kinda demon-y to me. Although I guess it’s nice to see something moving. If this place is a tomb, I’d expect a couple of skeletons or something. Unless it’s a demon-tomb, but they don’t really seem to care about stuff like that.’ She grabbed Janaxia’s arm and yanked it to the side, where it suddenly encountered solid rock – to her, the portal or whatever it was functioned like a window, even if the entire thing was solid to Semari.

A booming slam sounded behind them as the door shut, the stone portal then vanishing, turning into bare rock.

Well, I suppose we must press onward then. I must say, if this is an ancient fastness, then such places are normally equipped with guardians and some measure of rather forceful and unfriendly hospitality. But it did seem oddly comfortable, despite the barrenness of the place – she almost wanted to close her eyes and meditate in the silence, or at least what would be silence if it weren’t for Semari.

As they progressed forward, they passed more of the mottled patches – Janaxia trailed her finger through them, the rock fading away to reveal more of the same land, all empty and barren. One or two had shapes, the vaguest suggestion of artificial construction amongst the emptiness, but that could have been coincidence. The only one that revealed anything different showed a vast wall, or perhaps a mountain, surely too large to be a construction, a pillar that seemed to stretch as far into the sky as Janaxia could see. The emptiness of the place made perspective hard to judge, there simply being nothing to judge the size from. She stretched forward, trying to touch it, before something shoved against her backside, pushing her partway through.

She shot blasts backwards, hearing several grunts of pain as she withdrew herself, turning around to find Semari picking herself up from the floor. ‘Hey, you don’t need to be mean! I was just trying to see what would happen. We should experiment, right?’

Being pushed through mysterious portals from a mysterious tunnel is not the sort of experimentation I wish to indulge in! Such portals may be one-way, or otherwise inaccessible from the other side, and getting stuck in such a place seems rather irksome.

Semari shrugged, unchastised, and they kept walking. How long they were walking for was impossible to tell – the place seemed to restrict the afflictions of the flesh in some manner, so that hunger and thirst didn’t arise. Hopefully they wouldn’t be wandering for eternity! Having to spend that long with only Semari for company would likely drive her into some quite horrendous forms of insanity. Or, if she could get sufficient distance, then an ambush might be enough to kill the other woman? It would be dangerous, with her speed and strength. No, if such were needed, then it would be best to arrange an accident, or for Semari to be on the other side of some inseparable divide, proof against even her agility.

‘So, are you really going to do what your family says?’

Is this really the time? And what concern is that of yours?

‘Eh, not got much else to do. And they don’t exactly pay well. I bet Carissia would pay a decent amount for your head. And Stathis’ mom is totally gunning for yours, and she has an army. There’s the creepy wierdo hanging out with your mum, but Carissia just blows shit up, so, like, that’s not much of a contest, is it? You might want to, y’know, bail. Start a new branch or something, blame everything on your mom. Hey, if you kill her, then you could take over.’

That would be… unwise, and probably terminally unhealthy. Memories of being locked in the dark, of being beaten bloody and raw for her failures, surged up within her. She is potent at her arts, and I have little desire to have my soul forged into some trinket. And Ophexia and Peresperan would likely take issue with such a coup. I doubt even your aid would be sufficient.

‘Well, there doesn’t seem much reason to hang around. Other than getting the hell out of this place, at least – if anyone can do whatever weird stuff is needed to get us out of here, then it’s going to be Hakara, but she’s not here, so you’ll have to bullshit something together. But I don’t really want to go against the Iristari, they’re big and organised! Even Kethys keeps out of Per Tolith.’

Your loyalty is duly noted.

‘Stathis was easier to work for. And, well, was kinda less mucky doing stuff for her. This is all kinda mucky, isn’t it? Like, your lot are pretty gribbly and probably wanting to user in an age of darkness and doom, that kind of thing, right? Stathis just kinda wants to help out, and her mom might be scary, but she’s kinda cool about it all.’

I… She paused, unsure how to continue.

‘Hey, your clothing’s gone crappy.’

Janaxia looked down at herself – her clothing had faded from the laced and jewelled magnificence, to rather more dowdy robes, reminiscent of what she had been forced to wear when initially learning magic. She tried to focus her will again, but it refused to obey her, her clothing staying dull and bland.

‘For an evil sorceress, you seem pretty shit at being treacherous and stuff. You’ve got the look down, but shouldn’t you be planning to usurp her or something? Slip some poison into her porridge, that kind of thing? She looks old, does she still eat solids?’

She wards all her food against such commonplace attacks.

‘So do you want to kill her then? I mean, otherwise you’re kinda fucked. Carissia’s going to kill you, or your mom’s going to send you on a mission that gets you killed because you’re a crap wizard. Or she might want a young and sexy body and dump her soul into your body or something.’

I have successfully managed to lead us a hitherto-unknown realm, that is surely deserving of some praise, is it not? And managed to gain access to Anytha’s home, without any inelegant burglary or larceny.

‘Both of those were by accident, though, so don’t count. Seriously though, what are you going to do? You’re not much fun to bully when you’re worried you might get killed. And I don’t want to get blown to hell by Carissa, so I’m skipping out. Unless you can bring Stathis back, then you’re gonna have to get used to running away a lot, be your mom’s bitch or do the honourable thing and…’ She made theatrical stabbing motions.

While that does have a certain appeal, I have no desire to risk myself to that extent. Better to let the competitors for the headship tire themselves out first. After all, I have already converted Kita into a follower, have I not? Although she is but the least of my siblings, she still has some utility.

The passageway continued onwards, the beginning now out of sight, no end visible. I suppose I would be a more-than-adequate heir. I have been approved by Kinnevar himself, after all. It would be good for the family to perhaps engage with other nobility, rather than spending all our time on magical research. Magical research is all well and good, of course, but there needs to be rather more. Some fresh blood, well, the old blood, but renewed, might be refreshing.

‘If you want me to beat up more of your family, you’ll have to pay me a damn sight more. Wizard-fingers break easy, but it’s still work, y’know? And that fat one looks all greasy, I don’t want to touch him.’ She grimaced and shivered.

Shamuth. And yes, he is rather loathsome. You may use a club on him, should you desire, and beat him quite thoroughly, he certainly deserves it. And his wife as well. Neither of them requires the full complement of limbs, I daresay. She felt confidence growing inside of her – if she could extend her current task for long enough, and let Mother, Ophexia and Perasperan fight it out, then see what happened, then she could make a play for the headship herself. Mother was strong, but not invincible, and if someone else could do all of the heavy lifting, then so much the better.

There was a quiet fluttering sensation, and she looked down to find her rather more impressive clothing reasserting itself, her body now wreathed in fine style, something more suited to the heir to old blood, proud of her position, and her body. And slightly taller, as heels pushed her upwards an inch or two.

That would be an interesting proposition. But we would need to escape from this place first. And I don’t mean by shoving me through one of the strange portals!

‘Yeah, this place is spooky.’ Semari jumped upwards and somehow managed to grab hold of the wall but was only able to climb a little way upwards before slowly skidding back downwards. ‘Dammit, stone’s too smooth! Guess we keep going.’

It was impossible to tell how long they were walking for, Semari giving up on trying to clamber up the walls after not long. Even trickling her fingers along the dappled wall patches grew tiresome after a while, each and every one simply another vista of dead and barren dust.

However long it was, there was, finally, an ending. Or at least a stone wall, with a slit down the centre, and symbols in the Unreadable Tongue around it. It was strange seeing it in such a pristine state, looking freshly carved, rather than battered, eroded and worn.

A path was made. Born from shadows and wishing all to fall within . We claimed this world for ourselves, to fight against the merciless light. Unto three did we grant power, to be bound beyond binding, to open the way. Wielder, Breaker, Seeker. This shall be our grave and our womb, death and rebirth both, until all is claimed.

‘What does that say?’

Nothing that seems relevant. Janaxia pressed her hand against the crack, a black un-light flickering into existence, the stone wall folding away. On the other side was darkness, an impenetrable aura that even her vision couldn’t penetrate. Janaxia stepped forward, feeling a soothing ripple embrace her body. It was like slipping into a bath, comforting and relaxing, without any of the usual disorientation of teleportation. Although it was impossible to tell if it was teleportation, or simply an impossible-to-see-though aura. Either way, it only seemed to last the duration of a few steps before she stepped into another room.

This one was on a somewhat less grandiose scope, with all of the walls and the ceiling visible. But here, rather than mostly plain rock, all were elaborately worked and carved. The surfaces looked as though they were covered with crawling demons – limbs and bodies and heads carved from stone, picked out in every detail. In the centre were three podiums, all empty. The carved figures were set so that they were all looking at the podiums, hands and claws raised as though in reverence.

Semari walked into her back, then looked around at the carvings. ‘Wow, creepy! Hey, didn’t you kill one of those things at Redcastle?’ She pointed at a warped and misshapen tangle of wings and fangs, a draconic maw in the centre. ‘Although it was a lot bigger. Or maybe we’re, like, super-small here and haven’t noticed?’

The carvings covered the walls, even extending onto the edge of the ceiling. But most of the ceiling was covered by a golden sunburst, somehow glinting despite the lack of light. Within the solar ring were three shapes of darkness, each above one of the plinths; one an elongated slash, one roughly rectangular, one circular.

As soon as Janaxia moved beneath the disc, she immediately felt warmer, a sensation that reminded her somehow of Stathis. She closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the memories, before pushing them away. Whatever had happened on that night was not something she wanted to recall!

She approached the centre plinth, beneath the rectangular block of darkness. This looked like some form of focal point, so if there were any way out, or something else hidden, then it would be here. Items of power must once have been stored here, and revered, by the looks of things. Even if by demons! Although a few were rather more comely than most, with largely human forms and enough scales or horns to add some charm, rather than being monstrous conglomerations of different creatures smashed together, or freakishly oversized monsters.

She ran her fingers over the podium – it wasn’t perfectly smooth, she could feel slight indentations in the stone. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on the shapes. It was the Unreadable Tongue, an… incantation? She muttered the words under her breath, and felt a distant echo, and… was that a giggle? More felt than heard, but very out of keeping with the otherwise eldritch nature of the place. It must be her imagination. But she could feel a presence, soft and close, encouraging her. She cut her hand through the air, and a slash of darkness appeared in the air. Warm air flowed through, along with a rotting stench of garbage.

‘You sure you want to be doing that? We’ve no idea what the hell this place is.’

Janaxia felt a slight pressure on her wrist, like a smaller hand guiding her arm through the air, her body seeming to remember the movements.

‘You’re just going to be full creepy, aren’t you?’

Janaxia could feel power surging through her, strong and vital. She flicked her fingers, conjuring up a spray of shadows, shaping the stuff into almost-physicality, a book appearing there, pages ruffling and flicking. Then she gestured and it snapped shut with a puff of air, as she curved her hands through the air. She almost laughed – where was this place? Here, everything felt easy and simple, the powers leaping to her fingertips. Even normally, she couldn’t bend the world to her will this easily!

‘Hey, is that Belazaan?’

More shadows twisted and writhed, showing a city, the viewpoint flicking and twisting around, showing the spires and buildings of Belazaan. She sliced her hand through the air, another wisp of air entering the chamber, ripe with the scents of the city and of the sea. Then hands shoved against her from behind, making her stumble forwards, into the slice she had just made, falling into sudden light and darkness.