Freshwater Tails
Prologue
In a full sprint, a hooded figure cloaked in dark threads emerged from a patch of thick fog. They shot a look over their shoulder as they raced across a narrow bridge of crumbling stone and fissures that glowed with magma. Following a worn path through a forest of mangled trees, they reached the remains of an ancient pyramid-like ruin shrouded by forest overgrowth. The figure drew in a deep breath as they gazed upon the steep incline of weathered steps leading to a stone archway perched at the top of an opened platform.
But less than halfway up the climb, the ground trembled, launching the figure back down the steps. As they struggled to get back on their feet, a stampede of hellish creatures rushed toward the structure. With the being’s wild eyes set on their prey, the figure raced up the steps, skipping two or three at a time. As they ducked and dodged low-hanging branches, the hem of their hood snagged on a willowy branch and ripped off, revealing a sallow-skinned woman with stringy white hair, damp from sweat and blood.
As she reached the summit, a hellhound with black fur, the body of a wolf, and a spine with razor-sharp spikes, swiped its hooked claw at her, narrowly missing her back. Knowing the next attempt would strike her, she dove for the stone archway, rolled across the threshold, and entered a dark tunnel.
Using the rocky walls for stability, she hurried down the tunnel toward a faint stream of light illuminating the exit. As she grew closer, she saw tall trees silhouetted against a dark sky.
Felt the breeze of the cool air caressing her gaunt skin.
Saw the reflection of the moonlight dancing upon the glass-like surface of a nearby river.
Smelled the pine-scented air.
A taste of the freedom she could have, if only she were able to pay the price to exit.
She slowed her pace and came to a stop instead of fleeing from the cave-like opening.
She took a single step forward.
Wrought iron bars ejected up from the ground, sealing off her escape with an intricate gate of twisted pickets and speared railheads. “Just as expected.”
With a widened stance and a slight bend to her knees, she lifted her hands and hovered her grip around the vertical rods in front of her, careful to not touch the iron.
She eyed two pewter rings, one on each hand, and sucked in a deep breath. “This better work.”
She latched onto the bars, grimacing as the iron seared into her skin.
"Blood sacrifice, release my damned soul.”
She screamed as barbed spikes erupted of the iron and impaled her hands. After resisting the temptation to jerk her arms away, she let out a strangled cry, fixated her gaze on the two rings, and completed the enchantment in its entirety.
“Blood sacrifice, release my damned soul.
Open thy gate for War,
Unleash the Red Rider to patrol.”
Like a syringe, the iron siphoned her seeping blood into its bars, just as the spell had demanded. Unable to stand on her own any longer, she collapsed against the gate, searing her skin in even more places before she was finally released from the spike’s poisonous hold.
As she examined her hands and watched her wounds close up, the gate disappeared. With a deep sigh of relief, she took one step into the mortal realm.
A frigid hand clamped over her wrist and immediately jerked her back into the tunnel and whirled her around.
Electric blue eyes from a demon glimmered as a smirk quirked upon his lips. Leathery wings expanded behind him and lightning splintered out of the icy shards of his crown made of stalagmites and ice.
Unruffled by his theatrics, she dug her heels into the ground, pulling in the opposite direction of her captor. He tugged her arm, reeling her closer to his body. With a hard yank, she slipped out of his grip, breaking their tension.
He staggered backward as she toppled out of the tunnel exit.
Both watched in horror as the pewter ring flung off her finger, sailed high into the air, and plunged into the overgrown grass on the river embankment.
“No!”
Not realizing her tattered threads had transformed into a soft pink silk grown, she sprang forward, entangling herself in the frilly hem of her dress. She gathered the fabric in her arms and brushed her lush curls of buttery-yellow hair from her face, just as the demon stepped out of the tunnel and crossed into the mortal realm.
His form thawed, revealing tan skin and blue-grey eyes. Clad in a sporting riding suit of muted blues, he stalked forward with a scowl on his face. “Your feeble attempt to purloin my rings is at an end.”
“They’re as much mine as yours,” she said, running toward the area where the ring fell.
“Not in the slightest.” He extended his jaw and roared with such force that the ground trembled and the water of the river sloshed over the bank.
With watery eyes, she skidded to a stop and covered her ears. As she backed away, he flicked his fingertips, firing shards of ice at her. Before she could react, the ring on her other hand warmed and a translucent shield appeared in front of her, melting the ice on impact.
Enraged, the demon reached up high, funneling the atmospheric energy into his hands. Mesmerized by his power, she stood rooted to the ground, only falling to her knees when a brilliant white light swooped in front of her and pummeled into the demon.
An older gentleman dressed in a refined silk suit materialized from the dimming light. The tendrils of his salt-and-pepper colored hair billowed behind him as he strode over to the ring and plucked it out of the long blades of grass. Pinching it between his fingers, he held it up, examining it.
He turned his attention to the woman, who clambered to her feet. She drew in a shuddery breath as their eyes met.
His, full of pain.
Hers, full of regret.
“Run,” he demanded with an air of authority.
With trembling lips and eyes crinkling with a silent gratitude, she sprinted away.
“Damn you,” the demon snarled.
The man rounded on the demon. “It’s been a while, has it not?” He danced the ring back and forth across his knuckles. “But I can see you’ve kept busy making this potent talisman.”
“Yes I have, and she stole it from me. Hand it back. Now,” the demon commanded.
The older man shook his head, tsking the demon. “Something this powerful shouldn’t be in the hands of someone with such ill intent.”
“It shouldn’t be in your hands either! You’re just as fallen and disgraced as I am.”
The man nodded, pocketing the ring. “You’re right. But, unlike you, I’ll atone for my transgressions. And seeing what you’ve created, it seems now would be the time to start.” He dropped to his knees and bowed his head as gold aura shimmered around the outline of his body.
“Ascend thy soul, demon bound below--”
“Fool! Using the last of your powers on me? You’ll banish both of us to our realms—think of your family!”
The man’s head snapped up. “That’s exactly what I’m doing. If it means keeping you away from this ring to ensure the safety of my family, and the other magical beings in this realm, then I’ll do whatever I need to do.”
Once again, the man bowed his head.
“Banish the demon, ascend thy soul—”
The demon balled his hand into a tight fist. “I will not be exiled!”
“Sacrifice to repent,”
The demon punched the ground, indenting it and cracking the soil. The jagged fissures filled with ice and grew across the ground like lightning.
“Guard magic, as above, so below.”
The man drew in a deep breath and repeated the chant. Two wings of white and gold feathers sprouted out of his back and stretched wide.
Cursing, the demon fell to his knees and recited a counter spell.
“Summon thy name, break the chains that bind.
Pandora’s box opens,
Balance aflame, resurrect declined.”
The ice in the splintered ground melted as sulfuric fumes of gas seeped out.
With the older man finishing his final chant, the demon spat out his spell a second time while thick black smoke swirled out of the tunnel and snaked around his body. Before he was completely dragged back into the entrance of the Underworld and locked out of the mortal realm, he sped through the final delivery of his counter spell.
“You may have won the battle,” the demon said, huffing as he stood to his feet and peered beyond the iron bars at the older man, “but unlike you, I’ll be able to return and win the war.”
The man opened his worn and tired eyes. “No one in their right mind will summon you, but if they should, you’ll never get the ring back. I’ll use my last breath in this realm to be sure its protected by a pure-of-heart being.”
“Good luck with that,” the demon said, barking out a laugh. “By the looks of things, you don’t have much time.”
The man glanced over his body, watching the light from his aura fade as it funneled its energy toward a shimmery gold ring hovering above his head.
“By the way,” the demon said with a smirk, “there’s not one, but two rings. I’ll get them back, eventually.” He chuckled. “I guess patience really is a virtue.”
Ignoring the demon’s taunts, but unable to hide the anger that hardened his brow, the man took flight. He headed toward the river and grazed his fingertips across the surface, orchestrating the rapids into a whirlpool. White and aquamarine-colored lights appeared, flittering and swirling through the water. He dove into the vortex and disappeared, swallowed whole by Charybdis herself.
“Clever,” the demon said, straining to watch his foe through the iron gate. “Getting that ring back will be a bit of a challenge.”
He turned his attention toward the woods. Narrowed his eyes on the area where he last saw his prey. “You may run and hide all you want, my darling,” he yelled through the bars, his voice booming across the land. “But at least water is off limits to you, making it that much easier to take back what is mine!”
thank you for your support!
I hope you enjoyed both Pacific Tails and the prologue of Freshwater Tails and are eagerly waiting to find out more!
