Ena was surprised to find that the air was damp in the cave, but not stale, and as they got progressively deeper, instead of getting colder, the air seemed to get warmer and more humid. How was that possible?
The metal lanterns that lined the staircase were strange too. The flames inside them were blue, and they didn’t flicker like candlelight. There was no wax to be seen, either, only a dark black substance that filled the bottom and which seemed to create an unwavering flame.
The staircase continued to wind down and around until it flattened and widened at the bottom, opening into a wide hallway lined with the same lanterns. Branching off the hallway were archways that led to other hallways, dozens of them which seemed to form an elaborate network under the mountain.
Ena was speechless already, taking in all of this, but as the hallway ended and opened into a huge cavern, she was in utter awe.
The chamber was enormous, the ceiling easily twice as high as the tallest tree she’d ever seen, with thousands of spiked stalactites, some as large as Ty, hanging menacingly down from it. Her footsteps echoed as she walked, the sound of them small and foreign to her ears as they became lost in the cavernous space. All around her, the dark-gray rock walls of the chamber were carved with giant pillars that almost seemed to blend into the stone, but upon closer examination were decorated elaborately with swirls, circles, and dots in patterns thatresembled Ty’sonatatattoos. The pillars were complimented by more pointed archways that dotted the space, leading into countless alcoves along the floor of the cave, each alight with the strange blue glow of the lanterns she’d seen walking in.
A carved staircase wove around the edges of the cavern, leading to landings every few stories up with archways branching off into more passageways into the darkness. And to top it all off, a raised platform was carved into the wall at the far side of the cavern. It was empty right now, and Ena couldn’t help but feel like something important was meant to go there.
Together, the carved walls and lights all around the chamber, though slightly intimidating, were incredibly beautiful and she couldn’t help but admire the artistry. To think that these walls had been carved by hand by daemons over the course of centuries was mind-boggling. The skill and time that would take alone left her with a feeling of intense awe for these people she knew so little about. How was it possible witches had been ignorant of this for centuries? Was it willful? All to keep the secret of the amulet and what they’d done? Because staring at the wonder of what daemons were capable of…a part of her understood witches’ fear of them, and yet she found herself utterly fascinated.
She was so overcome by the vastness of the space and the artistry of its architecture that it took her a surprisingly long time to notice that they were not alone.
At the rear of the chamber, seated around a long, wooden table braced on metal legs, there were about half a dozen daemons, and all of their eyes were on the four of them as they made their way across the floor.
At the head of the table, facing them as they approached, was a large man. He was leaning back in an elaborate, gold chair, one of his elbows laid on the armrest as his fist propped up his rigid jaw. He was attractive, with short dark hair and slightlygolden, hazel eyes. He looked to be somewhere in his fifties, with a similar build to Ty.
And he looked unhappy.
This must have been Ty’s uncle Cole, the King of the Underworld.
Directly to his right sat a similarly sized man with dirty-blond hair and brown eyes, who looked undeniably like Turner. This must be his other uncle, Zak. She’d never made the connection before, but there was no doubt he was Turner’s father.
The four other daemons were a mix of ages and genders. There was a large, bulky wall of a man with even moreonatatattoos than Ty; a skinnier one with greasy hair who reminded Ena of a rat; and two women—one seated next to Zak who was brown-haired with bright-blue eyes, and an older woman with black hair who looked to be the senior of the group. All of them hadonatatattoos, like Ty, Steig, and Turner, but some more than others, and they were all dressed similarly in the warm cave, with even the women wearing long-sleeve shirts and light, cotton pants, not unlike what mortal and witch men would wear in the summertime. The only thing that distinguished the women were the leather bodices they wore over top of their shirts.
Everyone was quiet as the four of them approached, and Ena’s stomach tightened. If this room was any indication of the power the king wielded, it was intimidating to say the least.
Ty casually placed his large hand on the small of her back, leading her forward until they stopped at the opposite end of the table from where Cole sat, watching them like a hawk eyeing its prey.
“Ty,” he greeted coldly. “You’ve returned.” The man spoke quietly, but there was no need for more volume. The sound of his deep voice echoed around the cavernous space, making it loom larger. “I was beginning to think you were never coming back.”
“My apologies, Uncle Cole,” Ty responded, his voice steady and practiced. “We ran into some complications.”
“I can see that,” Cole responded, a feline smile spreading across his face. “What’s this you’ve brought?” he asked, looking directly at Ena with a mixture of curiosity and disdain.
“We’ve taken a witch,” Ty said stoically.
“Taken a witch, you say…and a very pretty one at that,” Cole said, seeming entertained by the idea.
Ena’s skin prickled under his focused attention, and she felt Ty stiffen beside her.
“It’s been decades since we’ve had a witch-slave in the Underworld. What a…gift,” he continued, over-enunciating the last word. Something about the way he said it told Ena he wasn’t entirely pleased by this development.
“Yes, Uncle. I know she’ll be most useful to us. I have big plans for her,” Ty said, unwavering in the face of his uncle’s double-talk.
“Undoubtedly,” Cole said, the feline smile returning to his face. “I’d love to hear more of these plans you have, but I’m sure you’re all very tired and need time to settle in, and as you can see, we were in the middle of a Convening.” He gestured with an open hand to the table filled with daemons before him.
“Of course, Uncle. I can come back to debrief you on the mission and my plans at your convenience,” Ty said, inclining his head slightly in deference.
Cole nodded once, as if in dismissal.
Ty placed his hand on Ena’s back to lead her away, but Cole stopped them.
“One more thing, before you go.” The way he spoke sent shivers down her spine, almost like there was a hidden threat to every word. “I know I would feel a lot more comfortable having a witch around if she were properly attired.” He said the word “witch” like a curse, spitting it out between his teeth.
Ty froze and slowly turned back to face his uncle. “You know it won’t work on her,” he said tightly.
