The sand beneath her was warm and dry, and had managed to seep into her clothing, rubbing against her skin whenever she moved. Stathis shifted around, trying to shake it out, feeling her body sliding deeper into a groove in the sand. Then cold water splashed against her face, sand turning to mud and sticking to her as she grumbled and shifted, blinking sleep out of her eyes, wincing again as sunlight, far too bright, stabbed into her face. A shadow loomed over her, slowly resolving itself into Pajaran, another bucket of water in her hands.

‘Couldn’t you at least manage to crawl into a bed?’ She raised the bucket, Stathis rolling over and trying to stand, her head swimming and making her regret the movement. The sand was now claggy against her body, grating against her skin as she tried to still the world spinning around her through sheer willpower, and failed.

Getting up was far harder than it should have been, a lengthy trial, especially with the sun blasting down at her. From how high in the sky it was, it wasn’t far off noon. As she stumbled to her feet, her leg brushed against something heavy and warm. Arms suddenly grabbed around her leg as Semari mumbled something, clamping tightly on and almost making Stathis fall on top of her. Her grip was too tight to be able to shake her off, and she was too heavy to walk with, forcing Stathis to remain in place, Pajaran still holding the bucket threateningly.

‘You were getting pretty merry last night!’

Stathis couldn’t remember how much she had drunk, but from the pounding in her head, it must have been quite a bit. She tried lifting her leg, wanting to detach Semari, but Semari just pulled downwards, apparently able to maintain a grapple even in her sleep.

‘Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve been able to relax! Being stuck in weird other-worlds and then being bought back as a whatever-I-am now has that effect. You had a few as well though, right?’

‘I did, but I stopped early. Thought someone should keep an eye on your spooky friend.’

‘Still sulking in her room?’

‘Yeah. At least she was when I crashed out. The locals are getting a bit creeped out by the whole “sphere of darkness” thing, so you might want to get be reassuring about that. I threw some money at them and that seems to have convinced them not to do anything more though.’

‘Thanks! I’ll see if there’s a mayor or anything. Gods, got any water? I’m parched!’

‘Sleeping on the beach will do that!’

Stathis started to strip, trying to shake the sand and dirt out of her clothing, feeling the aches and sprains from the fighting yesterday. ‘Everyone else OK?’

‘Still sleeping it out. Vrintar’s passed out, although at least she managed to crawl inside. Parth showed up with some funny fruit she said she found in the forest. Don’t know what the hell it was, but it glowed green, and made the drinks very frothy and sweet.’

Stathis groaned as memories started to trickle back – the thing had looked like a crystalline lemon, soft and smooth to the touch, and the juice was so sweet it had made her tongue curl up, making the beer froth up with bright green bubbles. No wonder she had a pounding headache!

‘Any idea where she is now?’

‘She ghosted out after a while, think she went into the woods.’

‘As long as there’s no other elven treasures she’s going to nick! I really hope that those sea-elves or sirens or whatever they were don’t come after us. Even if it did help us move a lot faster.’

With Semari clamped around her leg, she couldn’t take her trousers off, but started the task of walking towards the sea, dragging Semari with her, cutting a deep furrow through the sand, discarding her sword as she did so.

‘We took some food to Hakara as well, didn’t we? Think I remember that happening.’

‘Yes, that happened. Although she did have to stop Semari messing with the circle.’

‘Well, she needs to learn to stop poking magical effects.’ She managed to pull her boots off, even with Semari in the way, tossing them back to Pajaran, before taking another step forward, the waves now licking around her feet. Semari shivered, but didn’t wake up or let go. ‘So, nothing exploded, got cursed or otherwise went to shit overnight? That’s about the most we can hope for at the moment, I guess.’

‘Seems a fair summary, yeah.’

Stathis heaved her leg forward, dragging Semari into the surf. As water rushed onto her face, she coughed and spluttered, finally letting go and letting Stathis step into deeper water herself, submerging herself beneath the waves. The shock of the cold water stung, the salt biting into her wounds, but it helped her to wake up. When she emerged above the waves, she tossed her head, keeping her hair out of her eyes before dunking her face again.

‘OK, I feel a bit more awake now.’

Semari was still spluttering and coughing, apparently having inhaled some water, standing up from the water with her arms hanging low, still barely awake, before leaping forward and diving beneath the water. She vanished from sight for a worryingly long time before emerging in a splashing plume, droplets reflecting the sunlight as she burst out and reached an impressive height, then splashed back into the water.

‘Wow, she recovers fast!’

Stathis nodded. ‘Yeah, she’s annoyingly perky the morning after.’ She splashed around herself, giving herself as much of a wash as possible, before returning to the shore. She picked up her shirt and gave it another shake, more sand and grit falling out before putting it on – the shoes could wait for later, but she’d rather not be topless! ‘You can put the bucket down now, I’m up! Although some food would be good. Guess they’ve not bought the catch in yet?’

Pajaran tossed something at Stathis, which she caught out of the air – fruit, fresh-picked from the feel of it. Well, it would do, and should take the edge off her hunger! She devoured it, tossing the core into the ocean.

‘She’s still in her room if you want to talk to her?’

Stathis sighed. ‘I guess I should, but it’s going to be much the same, I think. Although she was a bit friendlier after I saved her life! At least there’s no-one else on this island she can get herself into trouble with, unless there’s another ancient ruin hidden away. As long as she doesn’t wander up there again to see that chained-up demon-thing, then we should be alright.’

‘You seem very complacent about her. Are you sure she’s not some magical curse made flesh or something?’

Stathis dragged a hand through her hair, trying to shape it into some form of order. ‘Honestly? No. But she’s too lazy to be particularly malign. And if she is some tool of her family, she’s pretty damn rubbish at it, otherwise I’d be dead a long time ago. She did seem genuinely upset by that, although still blamed me.’

‘Has she killed anyone else like that?’

‘Not that I know of. And I’ve seen her kiss quite a few people. Although I guess the medusa might have been protected somehow.’ She saw Pajaran’s expression. ‘We got captured by her tribe out in the boonies, and the toll was someone spending the night with her. Janaxia volunteered, and, uh… yeah. They were both pretty loud, but at least it got us through. So I don’t think she’s a walking kiss-curse or part succubus anything like that.’

They started walking up the beach, Stathis buckling her sword back on, carrying her boots in one hand. Semari whooped and hollered behind them, apparently happy to splash around in the ocean.

With the fishermen mostly out at sea, the town was quiet, the market the same desultory affair as yesterday. Although at least they seemed to be smiling at her a little more, probably a bit more accustomed to her presence. Some of the sailors were loitering around as well, making the most of the break from work, dozing wherever they had found a comfortable space.

‘I guess that must be the mayor’s place?’

‘Formally, he’s the tide-master, but pretty much, yeah. I had a quick look yesterday when you were busy fighting cultists. He’s quite laid-back, I guess not much happens out here. You should have got me before rushing off though!’

Stathis winced and shaded her eyes with her hands, the brightness of the sun on the sand too much to deal with. ‘It wasn’t exactly planned! I would have if there had been more time, but it was pretty chaotic. You can come check out the chained-up demon thing though? I guess it can’t really do much, but might be safer to check it out, just in case.’

The building was the most impressive one in the town, although that wasn’t saying much – the exposed timbers were still showing damage from the salt air, the paint in desperate need of a complete new layer, the window-shutters hanging off their frames, and several of the glass panes gone and replaced with wooden planks. She pushed on the double-doors, finding them unlocked, and stepped inside.

After the blinding sunlight, the cooler darkness inside the building was a relief. It was a large entrance hall, a winding stairway leading up to an internal landing, a hole in the ceiling letting vines in, bright vermillion flowers erupting from the long growths. Nautical trophies lined the walls – teeth taken from sharks, harpoons, half of a ship’s wheel that looked to have been torn in half, and several banners and flags, all faded and pale from exposure to sunlight and sea air. There was no sign of a secretary or any staff, but given the size of the place, it probably didn’t generate much administration.

‘Hello? Anyone around?’

There was a clatter from above them, a door slamming open, a man stepping onto the upstairs landing. He was dressed casually, in a loose shirt he hadn’t buttoned up and tattered trousers, with a medallion glinting around his neck. He leaned on the wooden railings, ignoring the worrying creaking that sounded out. He squinted down at them, then reached into a pocket and pulled out glasses. As he saw them more properly, a smile came over his tanned and weathered face.

‘Oh, the hero that dealt with those troublesome louts!’ He stood away from the railing, flakes of wood and paint drifting down. As he walked around, the whole landing creaked, parts of the railing swaying. Stathis leaned over and pushed a hand against a wall, checking that those at least were stable and sturdy – the building itself seemed stable enough, although the innards were in obvious need of work!

He said something as he moved down the stairs, but whatever it was got drowned out by the rippling cascade of creaks, the wood sounding as though it were on the edge of simply collapsing in on itself with every step. As he approached, Stathis could see that the medallion around his neck was a golden disc, with two yellowed fangs embedded into the surface.

Once he was on the ground floor, he waited several moments for the creaking to silence itself before speaking again. ‘My thanks to you! While they were seemingly content to keep themselves isolated away from the good folk of this town, I did worry that one day they would decide to be more aggressive!’

He stepped forward and took Stathis’ hand, enthusiastically pumping it up and down. As he did so, Stathis looked around and swiftly regretted it. Nothing in the place was properly straight, everything broken and crooked, making her feel more seasick than when she was actually on a ship, feeling as though she were out of balance, despite simply being stood on the ground.

‘It’s rare to get ships out here, especially at this time of year. Although it seems as though you’re in need of crew? Your captain is making generous offers to the fishermen.’

‘Yeah, a lot of them found a better offer. Inconvenient timing, but we need replacement. Uh, so when did that lot show up?’

‘Oh, a few years ago. At first it was just one or two, poking about the ruins. You know how it is – there’s always a few people foolish enough to poke into ancient whatever-they-are’s, and they normally take care of themselves. But they found something and then more and more of them kept coming, and they had established some form of base up there. And had weapons!’

Pajaran leaned against a supporting pillar, then stood up when it shifted under her weight, now leaning at a crazed angle, rumbles running through the whole building. ‘Any idea what’s up there?’

‘Well, there’s a lot of legends, of course, all sorts of monsters running about the place. But there’s little there beyond lots of tunnels, some magical traps and so forth. And, um…’

‘A giant chained up demon-monster-thing?’ Stathis finished for him.

‘Ah, yes. Well, there used to be the occasional elf that would come to check up on it, but there hasn’t been one in my tenure of tide-master. And they didn’t talk much or stay long when they did visit.’

‘So any idea what that thing is?’

The door slammed open, one of the townsfolk rushing in. They paused when they saw Stathis and Pajaran, but then stepped around them and started a hushed conversation with the mayor. Around them, the place continued to creak and sway, Stathis wincing and trying not to feel nauseous. The tone of their conversation sounded urgent, unlike the general languid attitude of the place. They murmured to each other, both turning to look at Stathis for a moment before continuing their conversation, before the newcomer stepped back.

‘Well, it seems congratulations are in order! My friend here was brave enough to sneak into the old ruins, and it seems as though the ancient beast was defeated! You are truly too modest.’

Stathis glanced at Pajaran, who shrugged and mouthed at her, ‘no idea’.

‘No sign of the cultists?’

‘They appear to have gone to ground! I daresay there will be a few stragglers, but we can deal with them, and push them onto the next ship that comes our way. We thought the thing indestructible! And the pool of ancient darkness – a rather melodramatic title, to be sure, but you know how tales are – seems to have vanished.’

‘Ah, well, we try to help? Although perhaps we should go and look again, just to be sure.’

Pajaran was already walking towards the door, Stathis not far behind.

‘Oh, you’ve done more than we could hope for! But if you’re sure, then we would welcome your assistance!’

Stathis could just barely hear him as the door shut behind them, Stathis speaking first. ‘You didn’t travel up there overnight and do anything, did you?’

Pajaran shook her head. ‘Nope. Too busy watching Janaxia, until I nodded off.’

‘I was too busy getting drunk.’ She brushed sand off her feet, then slipped her boots on. ‘Let’s go. I really hope that thing hasn’t gotten free! Although it’s big enough you’d think someone would notice.’

It was sweaty and hard work to make their way back up through the forest, before descending into the tunnels again, with both Stathis and Pajaran conjuring up magical lights to help them see. When they reached the passageway covered with moss, without the gusting draughts flowing down it, it was easier to run straight forward, their mouths covered as they tried to avoid inhaling any of the spores.

In the final chamber, it was as described – the chains hung limp and empty, the nails hammered into rock, with no sign that there had been anything there. Beneath them, the thick liquid was completely gone as well, revealing a deep pit around the edge of the room. Stathis let her wings blaze into existence and swooped down, head swimming as the smooth rock walls flashed past. At the very bottom was a thick layer of debris – bones, bleached an unnatural white, with a few fresher corpses on top, obviously the cultists from yesterday, all with looks of terror on their faces.

She drew her sword and flew a quick circuit around the place, the light from her wings making the bones that covered the floor gleam and sparkle. They were packed so densely that she couldn’t tell how thick they were – if this place had been here for thousands of years, then that could add up to a lot of corpses! Whatever clothing they had been wearing had been eroded away over time, but she could see a few things gleaming amongst the bones, metal reflecting her light.

Stathis hovered for a moment, the down-draught of her wings sending lighter bones scraping and skittering, before moving up then down in a swoop, grabbing at something shiny. She could feel the strength of her wings ebbing and flew upwards as quickly as possible, not wanting to get stranded amongst the bones.

It was a relief to be back on top, her wings guttering out as she landed, and she looked at the item she had picked up – it was an emerald the size of her fist, set into a rather gaudy golden setting, whatever shape it had been beaten into had eroded away by the liquid. Well, it might be valuable, at least.

‘Find anything up here?’

‘Guess the creepy altar is where Janaxia was tied up?’

‘Yup. And the pit was filled with very dense, dark liquid. Didn’t try touching it, but it grabbed at people knocked into it and didn’t let them go. Probably something to do with the demon, but there wasn’t much to investigate, so we got Janaxia out and then made a break for it.’

Pajaran drew her mace and stood beneath the gold-tipped stalactite, then swung at it. There was the solid sound of impact, part of the rock breaking away, to reveal more lines of gold beneath. There was a burst of light that flashed out from the gold, before swiftly fading away.

‘Well, I guess the locals can mine this out.’

Stathis closed her eyes and focused, trying to sense anything wicked or unnatural. She expected to sense something dark and ominous, some threatening pall of power but there was… nothing. It felt like nothing more than a cave, quiet and chill. She relayed this information to Pajaran.

‘Well, I guess that’s better than the alternative? Although there’s not even a body or blood or anything.’

‘I can’t imagine Janaxia trudging up her, especially not at night. And she’s too busy sulking. Maybe the cultists had some kind of suicide switch? Should get Hakara to have a look, but she’s exhausted enough already. Don’t suppose you have any knowledge about this sort of thing?’

‘I skipped most of the theory lessons about demons, to be honest. Smack ‘em with a mace, that seems to do the trick. Holy water makes them melt a bit, so I guess enough of that? But that wouldn’t explain where all of the evil water went.’

They poked around for a bit longer but couldn’t find anything else – other than the deep layers of bones in the pit, the place seemed to be just a cave, empty and barren.

When they returned to the surface, it was pleasant to step back into the sunlight, the woodland noises welcome after the stark silence of the caves. The walk back through the forest was almost pleasant, the sea breeze welcoming them as they returned to the town, cooling their sweaty bodies. The pulsing darkness around Janaxia’s room at the tavern was gone – hopefully she was feeling better?

People were gathering on the beach, smoke drifting upwards, the scent of cooking food making Stathis’ stomach rumble. Barbecues had been set up, fish roasting already. Janaxia had acquired a lounger from somewhere, sunning herself, body wrapped in a loose robe, a sunhat covering her face, the manacles from the cultists still snapped over her wrists and ankles. On another lounger was a young woman, either short or not yet full-grown, dressed in a similar style, although her clothing was a little baggy on her. She was more fully shaded, a parasol stuck into the sand to shade her. Sen was stood close by, holding a tray of drinks and tending to their needs. Had she managed to make friends with a local or something? Well, it probably wasn’t the best time to ask her now, and the food seemed a more pressing need.