They progressed into the woods, following along a small track, grass thick and soft underfoot. After the first curve, the town had vanished behind sight, the sea equally hidden, leaving them surrounded by nothing other than thick, dense forest. Birds chirped above them, animals brushing through the undergrowth somewhere out of sight. The island couldn’t be large enough to have anything that ferocious on, surely? It wasn’t big enough to hold a dragon or a giant, was it?

The air was humid and heavy, making Stathis glad didn’t have any armour; full plate harness would have been torture in the humidity, even worse than Redcastle where at least it had been a dry heat! There were a few signs of past attempts to build – scattered lines of bricks and stone slabs showing where a building had been, or at least part of one, but now thoroughly reclaimed, giving the place an abandoned and empty feeling, despite the presence of the town somewhere behind them.

At least it made the thread of light easier to see, the thin line flitting about in the green-tinted shadows. She felt stronger now, more awake and aware. Vrintar came to a sudden stop, raising a hand for silence. Stathis obeyed the command, tilting her head and trying to sense anything, hear anything other than forest life.

She closed her eyes and concentrated – close by, she could feel thick, oppressive darkness, heavy and cold, as well as something else, several flickers of light, incendiary embers in the darkness, burning with a bright light. Vrintar must have seen or heard something as she moved down a barely-perceptible side-track, shoving branches out of the way with her body, or slicing them down to prevent them whipping back at Stathis.

Stathis followed close behind, branches sliding off her armour. From somewhere nearby there was an eldritch invocation and the flash of darkness, as a clearing opened up before them. Ancient-looking stone monuments loomed over a raised platform, the occasional edge of it just about visible beneath a thick layer of moss. Janaxia was there, her clothing rustling and fluttering around her as she moved, managing to barely dodge a club. She flung her hand out, a bolt of energy cracking into her attacker, knocking them a few steps backwards, before another one attacked her, club smacking into her back and sending her reeling.

The one that Janaxia had attacked raised his club again, marks on his body suddenly flaring into brightness, a shining light emanating from the weapon as he moved to attack her.

Stathis started to charge, trying to cover the ground and protect Janaxia. Darkness swirled into being around her, a dome of chilling night flashing into existence. Stathis suddenly stumbled, feeling a cord pull tight against her ankle, tumbling to the ground and winding herself, having to waste time getting back up, as the dome of darkness suddenly shattered into shards that faded away into nothingness. Two more attackers had appeared, markings on their bodies all appearing golden-bright, apparently powerful enough to dissipate Janaxia’s spell.

Another club cracked against Janaxia’s head and sent her reeling, another bolt flicking out from her hand but missing, smacking into a tree, the trunk of which exploded in a shower of bark and moss.

Stathis pulled herself back to her feet as Vrintar reached them, an axe slicing the air and cleaving into one of the attackers. It bit deep into their arm, blood splattering out, the limb hanging limp and powerless, although Stathis could see the blood already starting to scab and heal, despite the ruinous injury. He somehow managed to block Vrintar’s next blow, although her axe cut deeply enough into his club that, with a twist of her wrist, she was able to disarm him and send the weapon flying into the woods, the glow already fading from it before it vanished amongst the foliage.

An arrow snapped out of the woodlands, some unseen attacker firing at her. It scraped across her shoulder, barely missing and slicing her skin. Stathis tried to charge, hoping that being amidst the group might grant some security from ranged attacks. Vrintar was ahead of her, flaming aura starting to flare into life, leaves crinkling in the heat. Janaxia doubled at the waist as she was struck in the stomach, trying to protect her head from more strikes, unable to move away and properly protect herself, unable to cast spells without leaving herself exposed.

Another arrow shot out, falling just short and making her stumble backwards. More arrows shot out, slowing her charge, with Vrintar slicing one out of the air, another catching her in the shoulder, blood welling up and starting to bubble and hiss from the heat. ‘Janaxia!’

Janaxia’s eyes bulged as she was struck again, coughing up blood, mouth moving as her clothing started to fragment, whatever she was trying to say cut short by another attack.

A savage thrumming of tiny wings filled the air, a black cloud of insects swarming out of the foliage, biting and stinging. They filled Stathis’ vision, very swing of her sword sending dozens of the things falling to the ground, but there were too many of the things, latching onto every inch of exposed skin, her skin feeling like it was on fire. She managed to stumble her way towards Vrintar, the heat prickling her skin but having a more pronounced effect on the insects, their bodies drying up, more and more of them dropping to the ground.

Her skin felt aflame with the bites, and she resisted the urge to itch and scratch herself. She kept swinging her blade, wishing Hakara were here to catch them all with a blast of ice. Or Janaxia was able to call up her freezing darkness!

The swarm slowly faded away, the ground thick with crunchy chitinous insect bodies, making horrific noises with every step. As the black cloud faded and she could see again, Stathis kept her blade up, waiting for another arrow to launch out of the undergrowth, but there was nothing.

‘You OK, Vrintar?’

‘I will endure. Although the bugs were rather unpleasant.’ Her body was covered in a sheen of sweat and painful-looking bite-bumps, all over her exposed skin. Stathis reached out and touched her, golden light flickering about the clearing, the worst of the bumps fading. Vrintar took a deep breath and then pulled the arrow out, drawing it through the flesh, Stathis healing her as best she could. There was still an angry red mark in her flesh, but at least it wasn’t bleeding.

‘Poisoned?’

Vrintar examined the arrowhead. ‘I don’t think so. Although surprisingly well-made.’ She showed the head to Stathis – although still dirty with blood, it was sharply-honed steel.

‘I don’t think I saw a smith here, so either they’ve got one of their own, or it’s an import. The rest of their gear looked new as well.’

‘The glowing marks, they appeared the same as those that attacked Janaxia in Belazaan.’

Stathis groaned. ‘I was hoping that was a trick of the light! Fuck, I thought that these bastards had all buggered off, or found better things to do.’

Vrintar cleaned her blades on some leaves, wiping blood off. ‘You recognise them? The light appeared similar to yours.’

‘Yeah, it is. They’re cultists. They worship, um, me. They tried kidnapping me when I was a kid, and Mother eliminated them, with rather extreme prejudice. But apparently not all of them. They’ve got those golden tattoo-marks, that they can make glow, gives them some healing abilities and things.’

‘I am surprised that your Mother didn’t make use of them.’

‘Well, kidnapping her daughter didn’t really start them off on the best footing, and religious fanatics make for poor allies. So they were eliminated. I guess some must have fled here or something?’ She shifted in her armour, feeling the bites starting to ache and itch. She healed herself a little, enough to take the edge off. ‘Given they worship me, maybe I can order them to stop?’

Vrintar squatted, sweeping at the ground with an axe. ‘Maybe. I imagine whatever they need Janaxia for will be less-than-pleasant as well. We should make haste. I believe I can track them through these woods, they do not appear to be moving with any stealth.’

She immediately moved into the woodlands, moving with impressive grace through the forest, Stathis feeling heavy and lumbering behind her, still itchy from the bites. The gleaming thread still ran from her chest into the forest, but it was impossible to move in a straight line, the undergrowth too thick to move through. It was impossible to keep track of where they were in relation to the town, or even the sea, everything hidden behind thick green walls and curtains.

‘They appear to be able to move through the forest more directly than we can.’ Vrintar hacked at a tree, slicing it down in a single blow to open up another path. ‘A shame Semari and Parth are not with us.’

‘Yeah, they’d be a lot faster. Don’t think we’ve really got the time to go back and get them though. They were being pretty rough with Janaxia, and cults always means trouble! I should have realised with the guy that attacked Janaxia back in Belazaan, I assumed he was just someone that didn’t like her family, probably no shortage of them. Mother at least would send enough assassins to complete the job, so it’s not her.’

As they ran, they only things they passed other than trees and bushes were occasional stony remnants of buildings, thick and squat pillars wound about with vines, faces and limbs of statues eaten up by moss. They all looked humanoid, rather than monstrous, but the island had clearly once been more heavily populated than it currently was. The line from her chest suddenly tilted downwards, beneath ground level, just as they reached a slope. It was so steep that Stathis had to sheathe her sword to continue, grabbing at grass or digging her hands into the soil in order to progress, hauling herself upwards, bit by bit. Even Vrintar was having to climb rather than run, hauling herself up by her arms.

By the time they reached the top, Stathis was covered with grime and sweat, her shirt stained green with crushed grass, the bites on her arms reigniting, increasingly hard to ignore. The brief kiss of an oceanic breeze was a small, but blessed, relief, cooling her a little.

They were on a hill, reaching up out of the forest, giving an impressive overview of the island, the sea a bright and vivid blue, and showing how far they had come. Stathis could see the town, but there was no way to signal to the others, and then it would take them just as long to get here. Well, Parth and Semari would probably be faster, but it would still take a while.

She turned back around – the trail of light was now pointing diagonally and down, into the hill. Hopefully there hadn’t been some secret entrance they’d missed! This looked like the ruins that had been visible from the coast – it looked as though there had been some attempt at keeping the ruins here at least somewhat out of the all-encroaching greenery, with more of the stubby pillars, even a few fragmentary pieces of roof. Several of them had toppled together, forming a rough heap that Vrintar jumped onto, using it as a lookout point.

‘This definitely looks like an important place. See anything up there?’

‘There are some more intact-looking buildings. No sign of any guards, but we should be careful. Can you give some indication of your power? It may make them more peaceable.’

Stathis drew her sword again, making the blade glow – out here, the light was hard to see, barely distinguishable from sunlight reflecting off her blade, but it would be more obvious once they were in any form of shade. ‘Good idea.’

They advanced, trying to be cautious while making good speed, as they headed towards the cluster of more intact-looking buildings, towards the back of the hill. They were all of thick-cut stone – not quite fortifications, but definitely something built to last, with small windows, and only single doors, large enough for just a single person at once. Stathis went fast, stepping into one of the buildings with her blade leading, the light more obvious now, as it illuminated the small, dark chamber.

It was empty, except for a few crates – she pried one open to find that it contained nothing more than food and water, standard supplies and gear. Another one was the same. ‘Nothing here, let’s check the next.’

The next building over was larger, looking like it had once been a decent-sized hall, although one wall had partially fallen in. Inside, there was a deep pit, cut down into the rock, crudely-cut steps leading into a thick darkness. Even here, there was still moss and growth on the steps, the only light coming from Stathis’ blade, not bright enough to illuminate all the way to the bottom.

There was nothing for it but to start heading downwards, into the verdant darkness. The air coming up from beneath was hot; too hot, a strange scent mixed in with the odour of plant-life. There was no sound other than their footsteps on the stone, the steps rough and uneven, some tiny and easily missed, others several paces wide.

At some point, the steps levelled out into an underground channel, broader and more even flagstones, like a road, complete with a channel down the centre. The moss down here, somehow growing despite the lack of light, was an unnerving rust-tinted red. When Stathis poked it with her sword, then it gave out a puff of spores, something that both Stathis and Vrintar were swift to step away from, waiting until they had settled to the ground before moving onwards.

‘This looks larger than anticipated!’

‘Yeah, I was hoping it would just be a cave!’ They passed a side-passage, short enough that Stathis could see the end, and hopefully didn’t have any secret passages concealed down it. The moss got brighter and more vividly red-coloured, until it was close in shade to Janaxia’s hair, glowing with its own light, clearly some magical plant or effect.

From up ahead came a hot wind, heavy with a rotting scent, like fetid meat. As it rushed against the moss, a thick haze of spores blossomed upwards and then started to get blown towards them. Stathis closed her mouth and tried to hold her breath, raising her arm to cover her mouth. The gust of wind kept blowing, forcing Stathis to take a breath.

The cloud of spores had a scent like blood, rich and iron-tinged, making her head reel and the passageway spin for a moment. Vrintar seemed similarly affected, swatting a hand through the air to try and clear it, blinking and shaking her head.

The wind passed, mossy spores dropping away. Stathis inhaled several deep breaths, trying to clear her head, the stuff mingling badly with the booze from earlier, her head swimming. There was another airy rush, this time air sucking forward, more motes of dust moving through the air. She tried to move faster, having to keep a hand on the wall to help with her balance. Another blast came, but at least this time she was more prepared for it, hiding her mouth in the crook of her arm to shield her mouth.

As she did so, sunlight shone on the walls, two figures charging towards them, bodies and weapons glowing brightly. Stathis lifted her own sword, still glowing, and lowered her arm, turning her head to try and avoid inhaling the spores, still feeling woozy. ‘Stand down! I command you!’ Power surged from her, blade rippling with light, and one of the attackers slowed. Vrintar surged up through the spores, axes swinging brightly before smashing into them, faster than they could react to, sending them dropping to the floor. Stathis charged at the other, clubbing them in the head with the flat of her sword to stagger them, before slamming the pommel into their temple.

They dropped to the floor, foaming at the mouth but no longer a threat, and Stathis charged onwards, still feeling woozy. The scent of blood was overpoweringly strong now, a cloying and thick taste that lingered at the back of her throat, as they ran forward, the darkness fading away with the light from Stathis’ blade.

A deep pit yawned beneath their feet, something at the bottom rippling like liquid. Stabbing down from above was a stalactite of rock, the grey sparkling with lines of gold, catching the light from Stathis’ sword. Nailed in place by golden spikes was a huge and misshapen figure, at least five times the height of a person, with mottled white skin marred by dark blue ichor oozing out from the nails and spikes. It didn’t seem to have a head, instead its huge chest was broken with countless slits and gashes, some of them rippling and pulsing, emitting the gusts of air they had felt. Which of the slits were mouths and which were wounds was impossible to tell, and the flesh bore other signs of mis-treatment, with brand- and scar-marks impressed onto the flesh. There was the stump of a neck, capped with black iron, a long trickle of blue-black blood winding down the clammy-looking flesh.

As another foul exhalation rushed out, Stathis and Vrintar both moved to the side, along the wall. From beneath there came a shout of panic – Stathis paused, careful not to slip on the moss. There, amidst the pool of dark liquid, was a platform, a stone altar right beneath the stalactite. It was hard to see in the murky gloom, even with the light from her sword, but there was a small and pale red glow in the darkness – that was probably Janaxia. On the far side, there was a narrow and winding stairway, with several fighters already running upwards, a position that would be hard to assault.

‘Apostate child of light, tainted by the darkness! This foul creature shall be slain, and then your own light shall be purified!’

Stathis couldn’t see the speaker, but it sounded as though it were coming from close by the red glare. She looked over at Vrintar and nodded, before charging for the edge and leaping, letting power surge through her as she left solid ground, her wings igniting from her back as she did so. The illumination burned away the darkness, revealing more of the chamber walls – there were heavy chains and shackles on the walls, built to restrain things far larger than humans, the metal inlaid with runes and enchanted gemstones. The creature on the stalactite gave another sigh, mouth-wounds working in unison.

The moment when she gained flight made her feel dizzy and vertiginous, blood rushing to her head as she flapped her wings, arresting her fall. Vrintar was taking a more direct approach, charging towards the staircase and leaping down, using the weight and force of her body to slam the first defender to the ground, several blows with her axes making sure they wouldn’t get up again.

Stathis held her sword high, now bright enough to light up the chamber, able to see Janaxia now chained to an altar, a gag shoved into her mouth, hands tightly wrapped in cloth to prevent her casting any spells. She kicked against the chains, too weak to do more than rattle them slightly. The line of light joining them was now clearly visible, throbbing brightly as Stathis slowly descended. The light from her wings was now reflecting against the liquid, showing it to be a pool of the thing’s blood, too thick to see through, slapping and chopping around, somehow being pulled into waves.

‘You will let her go. Or face my wrath.’

She levelled her sword at someone standing by the altar – from the number of tattoos on their body, they were probably a high priest or some other kind of leader. They were holding a sickle-shaped blade in their hand, the edge looking wickedly sharp as it glinted in Stathis’ light.

‘This wretch is a thing of pure evil! She must be destroyed, ere the world itself falls to ruin! The cycle shall be broken, so that the light shall rule, forevermore!’

Vrintar was still fighting her way down the stairs, her momentum broken by a canny defender that ducked and dodged her blows. The priest moved to Janaxia, yanking on her hair to expose her neck.

Stathis swooped forward, her own blade flashing as his blade sliced forward against Janaxia’s neck. Stathis’ sword made contact, shoving the priest backwards as she put her feet back onto the ground, slicing again, an eruption of light blasting out along her blade. It burned itself into him, turning flesh to ash, an arm falling to the ground as she sliced clean through his shoulder. His own tattoos burst into bright life, the fugue of pain rising over his face.

‘You are not… the true saviour… of the…’ He staggered backwards as Stathis withdrew her sword, stumbling and falling, tripping over and splashing into the liquid. It consumed him, rising up and enveloping his body, forming into tendrils and dragging him under, the body rapidly vanishing from sight. The stuff went suddenly flat and still, looking almost solid rather than liquid.

Stathis ran over to Janaxia. She was still struggling about, trying to spit out the gag, her choker now marred with a long scratch where the sickle had cut against it.

You certainly took your time! If you could kindly release me?

She grunted angrily from behind her gag, emerald eyes flashing, colour starting to trickle back into her hair-lash. Stathis quickly sliced off the hand-bindings, before more carefully using the tip of her sword to cut the gag free. The chains were securely tethered and locked in place, without any sign of the key – if the priest held it, then it was now somewhere within the pool of ichor-blood.

Janaxia twisted around, head turning as a bolt of darkness shot out from a hand. One of the cultists was hit, slamming backwards and hurtling above the liquid. They resurfaced once, tattoos trying to spark into life before their head vanished, and then never resurfaced again. Stathis tried swinging at one of the chains, but it had no effect, before she had to parry an attack from one of the cultists, countering with a swift riposte, slicing him open.

‘Can you get yourself free?’

Janaxia tried to angle her hands to be able to hit the chains herself, but couldn’t move enough before she had to attack another of the cultists. By now, Vrintar was most of the way down the stairs, now working on knocking the cultists off the stairs, their bodies vanishing into the pool, most without ever resurfacing, the liquid now utterly still with no sign of the earlier waves. A hand suddenly broke the surface, trying to grasp for anything, lit by Stathis’ sunlight, before vanishing from sight.

Stathis glanced upwards, glad that the chains and nails seemed to be securely in place, the thing above them not looking able to move. Another attacker charged, their movement stopping as Janaxia managed to writhe into position and blast them, Stathis taking advantage of their distraction to cut across their chest, before kicking them back. They vanished with a splash, body getting sucked downwards, clearly grabbed by something.

Vrintar tensed then jumped from the steps, avoiding going anywhere near the liquid before. The surface rippled for a moment, before she spun and started to attack the few cultists left, her axes flashing as their clothing started to smoulder. As soon as they were dealt with, she swiftly moved away from the edge, moving close to Stathis.

Janaxia was still twisting around, unable to break the chains, and turning her face away from Stathis. Her clothing was tattered and fragmentary, shredded lace and silk just about covering her, although her wriggling was pulling it tighter and more ragged as she twisted about.

You could have been rather swifter. And it smells as though you’ve been drinking!

‘Well, if you hadn’t stormed off, then you wouldn’t have been kidnapped! What were you even doing in the forest?’

Janaxia coloured and turned her face away again.

‘I’d have thought you’d be harder to trick! Well, at least it wasn’t vampires this time. And you, uh, might want to reform your clothing, there’s not much left.’

She arced her back in a very distracting manner as the ragged threads pulled around her body, before casting a spell and reforming her clothing, settling for a lightweight dress in a thick, bloody red, long sleeves covering her arms and hands, bands of gauze running up and down her torso.

Stathis took a deep breath and focused her power, blade shining with a blinding glow before she bought it down onto the chain. A chunk of metal flew out, but it took several more slices before the chain was shattered, leaving Janaxia with the fetters still around her wrists and ankles, short lengths of chain trailing out.

‘Time to go back to the town and see if we’re going to have to leave very, very fast. Hopefully they were separate from the townsfolk.’

I have undergone a quite prolonged sequence of shocks and assaults. And now you demand I walk through a forest?

‘Fine, I’ll carry you!’ Stathis reached out and tapped the choker, running her finger over the scratch from the sickle. ‘Good thing you wear this, otherwise that would have been a lot worse.’ Janaxia glared at Stathis, then turned her head away, not moving until Stathis hauled her onto her own back. ‘Is your voice OK?’

‘Yes.’ I simply prefer to reserve it for those I deem worthy of talking to.

‘You’re not talking to me?’ Stathis saw Vrintar supress a snort of amusement.

‘Well, perhaps the Darkbinder should be taken to rest, as she has endured so much. And this does not seem a healthy place to rest.’ Vrintar glanced up at the shackled demon above. ‘I will be happier in the sunlight, away from that thing. Best leave it to rest, I feel, perhaps we can return later to destroy it.’

Stathis nodded in agreement before launching herself up into the air with Janaxia, landing on the upper walkway. ‘Come on then, let’s get back. Away from this place.’ She shook her head, trying to concentrate, ignoring Janaxia’s grumbled complaints from behind herself.