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  “It is not that much further. We can help her.” Jedd was being overly confident as usual. At least they did not want to leave her there.

  When she had finished emptying her already hollow stomach, she stood up and looked at her surroundings. She did not like what she saw. Above the surface of the dungeon, it was marginally lighter than down below, although Cecily could not see where this light source was coming from as the sky was grey with thick clouds. In the distance, Cecily could hear the rumble of thunder while sizable forks of lightening crackled over vast mountains. She looked to either side of her and saw the same drab and ashen rocky terrain as far as the eye could see. Behind her lay nothing but a craggy wall belonging to yet another mountain, whose depths she had just dragged herself out of.

  Cecily dared not breathe in, not only because she was afraid the rotten stench would make her heave again, but because a fine red dust floated in the air. She looked down at her sweatshirt and jeans and saw that the powder had settled on her clothes. When she shook her head, it drifted down onto her shoulders. She looked around and noticed the rocks were also covered by a fine layer of this red sand-like dust. It gave the grey atmosphere around them an eerie crimson hue, almost like a beautiful sunset, only without the beauty or the sun. The temperature in this ugly place was very warm, so she took off her jumper leaving herself in a t-shirt, although she was already regretting its white colour. She wrapped the top around her mouth and nose to prevent herself from breathing in too much of the dust. It seemed the others had the same idea.

  Luckily, Cecily had changed at home, but the others were still in their evening wear from the party. This did not seem to faze them though. Elisabeth and Fen were ripping bits of material from their already torn dresses. Kaden, Jedd and Sol had discarded their dinner jackets and were tearing at them easily. The girls had taken off their party shoes before the climb. It seemed that bare feet did not bother them in the slightest. She looked at her friends in their odd combination of ruined evening wear against the backdrop of this scarlet granite desert. Why were they not complaining? Did they feel no pain? Cecily was the only one dressed halfway appropriately for this adventure in jeans, a t-shirt and trainers and she felt ill-prepared. Not only that, she hurt all over. Her friends really were warriors. And they were truly in this nothing space, this forlorn place between realms.

  When they were all ready, they set off walking. At least they had no more climbing to do as they appeared to be in a valley that was fairly flat, surrounded by craggy peaks on all sides. The terrain was very treacherous under foot and true to form, Cecily spent much of her time stumbling, going over on her ankles and falling to her knees, but she was grateful for small miracles and thankfully, she did not have to climb a mountain. She knew she was slowing the others down again. She watched them as they walked in front of her. They were so agile and nimble. They seemed to float above the rocks, just skimming their surface. Cecily was drained. She looked back to see how far they had come and it was not far at all. Over the ground, she saw where she had made footprints on the lightly dusted surface. Some of the footprints were elongated where she had dragged her weary limbs. No one was chatty and so their trek was silent.

  After a while, Fen said to Kaden, “We still haven’t got our powers back. What if Dasrus attacks us here where he knows we have nothing to draw on?”

  “There is no point in attacking us here. He requires us to lead him directly to what he needs to complete the ritual. That is what this whole elaborate scheme of his has been about.”

  Cecily felt she had something new to worry about. “What if you don’t get your powers back when we get to the other side? He’ll kill us when he’s finished with us.”

  Kaden was as calm as ever. “Dasrus can stifle our powers in a place such as this where we are close to his realm, but he cannot take our magic away. Even he is not that mighty. We draw our power from nature. If you look around, there is not much in the way of natural life around here.”

  Kaden was right. Even though the thunder roared in the distance and the leaden clouds rolled in the sky above them, there was no sign of water anywhere, no trees or plants, just hard rock.

  “We probably could draw some magic from the rocks, which is why Dasrus has used his magic to stifle our powers while we are here. Once we get back to the Earth plane, especially Bramblegate, we will be back to full capacity. Dasrus knows this and he will be ready.”

  “Does anyone else think that this plan of Dasrus’s is a bit elaborate?” questioned Sol. “I mean, why go to all this trouble? He had us right where he wanted us. We were weak and outnumbered. Why didn’t he just force us to give him what he needs?”

  “Maybe it is a test for Jedd,” replied Fen. “This whole situation is geared towards Jedd betraying Dasrus and setting us free so we can lead him to the final piece of the puzzle. He was counting on Jedd betraying him for this plan to work.”

  “He must know him well,” retorted Elisabeth, sarcastically.

  “It just doesn’t make sense,” continued Sol, ignoring the comment. “Did he not think that we would work out his motive?”

  “He made it too easy for us to escape,” chipped in Cecily. “Telling Jedd he still needed something to complete the ritual, leaving him with his powers, those pathetic chains holding our cell doors locked and leaving Jedd without a blindfold on the way in so he could lead us straight out of here.”

  “Like I said, elaborate,” replied Sol.

  “We can’t presume to know what Dasrus is up to. It may well be a test for Jedd. All we know is that he needs one last thing to open the gateway and I know what it is,” argued Kaden. “Where Dasrus is concerned, let’s assume the worst.”

  “It’s bound to be an ambush,” said Jedd.

  “Do you know that for sure?” Elisabeth jumped on his comment, still not trusting him.

  “No! It’s obvious though, isn’t it?”

  Kaden intervened, “One step at a time. Like I said, I’ve a plan to get us in and out.”

  “Well at least we still have our strength,” added Elisabeth. “He cannot take away our fighting spirit.”

  The group once more fell silent. They had a lot to think about. Cecily was having a tough enough time in this place. She did not know if she could handle what Dasrus had to offer when they eventually got home. She began hatching her own plan to run away. She could not go home, especially after all Purdey had revealed. She imagined charging through the front door, packing what she needed and telling her so-called mother exactly what she thought of her. Now she’d had time to digest what Purdey had said to her, she too had a lot of things she wanted to say. Then she never wanted to see that murderer’s face again. She was not bothered that Purdey hated her. She was more upset for her beloved father.

  She had thought her plan through, now she wondered how she was going to execute it. Was she going to make a dash for it as soon as they arrived home? She somehow doubted the others would let her leave and they had supernatural powers, so she was no match for them. She could try and sneak off when they were otherwise engaged, but she thought it would not take them long to realise she was missing. Also, by that time, they might be with Dasrus and those hell beasts might come after her or worse still, Dasrus. What if the others got angry with her for trying to leave and so refused to protect her? If she did make it home, what if Purdey stood in her way? She also had to pack some things. In the end, she concluded that making a run for it was probably not wise, so it seemed she would be facing Dasrus with her friends, whether she liked it or not.

  Cecily was so busy mulling over her problems that at first, she did not realise Jedd had dropped back from the front of the group and was now walking next to Cecily, matching her pace. She felt that the uncomfortable atmosphere between them was palpable; however, she was not going to be the first to speak. She felt like she had nothing to say to him. So they continued walking in awkward silence. After a while, Cecily forgot he was there. She was concentrating on her footing, whilst rambling ove
r the rugged landscape. The last thing she wanted was a sprained ankle, which would make her even more of a burden to the others. Also, she was still very much embroiled in her own problems, so when Jedd spoke, it made her jump.

  “I am truly sorry, Cec. I never meant to hurt you. I know that I said some awful things to you and let you down. I will make it up to you.”

  He sounded genuine enough, but she did not know quite know what to say to him. She felt they had never seen eye to eye. He had been mean to her for as long as she could remember. It was too soon and she felt that at the moment, she would rather conserve her energy than talk to him.

  When she did not answer, he continued. “I was so lost and I did some horrible things. But I’ve realised the error of my ways. I’ll prove I am back with the Light. I don’t want to end up like Purdey…” He stopped mid-sentence. Well that definitely sparked her interest.

  “What do you know about my mother?” she asked rather flatly.

  Jedd seemed to carefully consider his response before speaking.

  “I’m sorry, Cec. She didn’t make it. Dasrus…” Jedd was unable to finish his sentence.

  “How?” Cecily enquired, simply.

  “How?” echoed Jedd.

  “Yes, how? Stabbed, shot, hung, smothered, choked? How?” Cecily could feel her anger building, but she did not know to whom her anger was directed.

  “Well, magic I guess,” offered Jedd. “He ripped her soul from her body.”

  Jedd carefully explained to Cecily exactly what he had witnessed and carried on talking even when he saw her wincing. He explained how the soul had left her body in pieces, how it had whirled around the room like a mini-hurricane and how it had taken a downward turn and had disappeared into the ground.

  Cecily remained impassive. “Her body?”

  “Eaten by the shadow beasts.”

  Cecily fell quiet again and did not speak for a long time. Now it seemed she had to get her head around the death of her mother. Jedd walked beside her for a while, also in silence. Eventually, Kaden called Jedd back to the front to help them retrace the route, although Cecily was so lost in thought, she did not notice his absence. While they trekked tirelessly, Cecily forgot her exhaustion as she tried to pinpoint her feelings about the news she had just received.

  Her mother was dead, killed in the most atrocious, inhumane and unbelievable way. To top it off, Jedd had actually witnessed her soul go into the ground; therefore, it was unlikely she had gone towards the Light. She was dead. Cecily would never see her mother again. Purdey was out of her life. She kept repeating these mantras to herself in an attempt to stir some emotion.

  She thought back to when she found her father swinging by his neck in the back garden. She remembered calmly calling the ambulance, following this with a call to her mother. She denied the reality of what was happening, hid from the facts surrounding her father’s suicide and blocked out words of sympathy from well-wishers. She remembered sitting in the doctor’s surgery with her mother. The doctor explained that this denial was a temporary response to the pain. When her pain finally re-emerged and it did not take long, she remembered with agony the anger she had felt.

  Now, with the death of her mother, it was like she had missed the first stage of grief and gone straight to the second stage of anger. Why did she feel such fury towards her mother? She would never see her again. Is that not what she wanted? Was this rage down to the fact that she felt the pain of her mother leaving her? Because they had departed on such bad terms and because Cecily had not had the opportunity to say all she wanted to Purdey? She’d had so much she wanted to say to her mother, none of it pleasant and now she would never get the chance. This thought made her all the angrier. Deep down, Cecily knew the reason for her outrage and that was because her last hope for revenge had gone; revenge for her father’s murder by her own mother’s hand. How could she do that to him? How could she do that to her?

  At that moment, Cecily realised her mother had meant every word she had said to Cecily and now that had sunk in, Cecily just wanted to lash out at her, only now it would never happen because Purdey was dead, killed by Dasrus. She had not thought to ask Jedd if he knew why Dasrus had ended her, but she guessed it was because she had served her purpose. Now she would be paying for her wicked deeds. Cecily did not feel like weeping for her mother’s soul, she did not feel as if she wanted to cry out in pain or at the injustice of losing both parents so young. She just felt anger, anger that her mother would not die by her own hand.

  Shocked by her feelings, Cecily was glad to be awakened from her thoughts by Kaden shouting, “It’s there! I see it!”

  The others had climbed up to a ridge ahead of her to get a better vantage point.

  “How do you know that is the right door?” enquired Fen.

  “Is that the door you came through?” Kaden asked Jedd, pointing off into the distance.

  “Absolutely!” replied Jedd, with the utmost certainty. “I’ve retraced the route exactly.”

  “Then that is the door we must exit from,” said Kaden.

  Cecily could see Kaden pointing in the opposite direction to where they had originally been looking.

  “Are you sure that is the right door?” questioned Sol. “We don’t want to end up somewhere other than Bramblegate.”

  “If Jedd is certain that he came through that door, then we must leave through this one,” said Kaden, arms and palms extended as he explained. “As you know, portal doors come in pairs, one entrance and one exit.”He was so confident that he seemed to placate the group.

  Cecily decided it was time to join her friends and so she scrambled up the ridge. As she reached the top, she saw a door on top of the mountain ahead of her. She was surprised to see it was just a regular door. Not attached to walls or a frame, just a normal door, stood alone on top of a mountain. Her eyes followed the horizon to see if she could see the other door, the entrance to this realm. Sure enough, the adjacent mountain had another solitary door perched on top of it.

  Now they had reached the edge of the valley, they had some climbing to do to get to the top of the mountain. The fatigue overwhelmed Cecily as she digested the enormity of the task ahead. Cecily spoke for the first time since Jedd had revealed her mother’s death and as a result, her throat was tight and her voice cracked.

  “I can’t do it,” she croaked. “I can’t climb that mountain.”

  Before anyone else had the chance to speak, Jedd stepped forward.

  “I’ll carry her.”

  “Great,” said Elisabeth, icily. “At least that means she won’t slow us down.”

  This comment burned Cecily. What was her problem? She tried to attract Elisabeth’s attention, but Elisabeth would not look at her. She knew Cecily was still human, she could not help it. Jedd swept up Cecily like she was a pile of feathers. As he did so, he displaced the red dust that had been gathering on her as she walked and as the dust rose in a cloud, it made her sneeze. Cecily and Jedd giggled at the tiny mouse-like squeak that liberated itself from Cecily’s nose and as they did, Elisabeth shot them a glacial look. Cecily once again found herself wondering what she had done to Elisabeth, but she decided to make an effort not to think about it. She felt she could think no more.

  They made good time, even though the path to the door was a tough climb. Her friends clambered over the rocks lightly and swiftly. They appeared to find footholds where there were none. As they scaled the mountain further up, Jedd needed to use both of his hands, so he transferred Cecily to his back, where she clung onto his neck for dear life. Cecily was glad of this as Elisabeth was travelling behind them and now she did not have to endure the unpleasantness of trying to avoid her stare. Her friends were fast. She realised Elisabeth was right, she had been slowing them down.

  There was a small flat landing on top of the mountain on which the door was precariously perched. Jedd carefully put Cecily down and her friends neared the door to check it out. Cecily hung back for a minute and decided to look down. As
she did, she found her stomach in her mouth. She had never been afraid of heights, but they were a long way up. Cecily turned her attention to the door. It was just an average black door and as she had seen from the bottom of the mountain, it stood alone, unattached. It seemed as though if you were to open it and walk through, you would fall down the other side of the mountain. As Cecily got closer, she saw the others were pinching their noses and pulling faces. The black colour of the door was in fact a slimy mould. It was dripping from the door and dissipating as it hit the rocks with a loud hiss. The door seemed to contract as if it was breathing and as it did, it expelled the most repulsive, fetid smell. The door seemed to be rotten to the core.

  As Kaden reached for the handle, Elisabeth shouted, “No!” and batted his hand away. “Jedd should go first. We still don’t know what is waiting for us on the other side.”

  Jedd simply shrugged and took hold of the door handle. As he did, the mouldy putrid slime covered his hand like a thick black tar. The handle turned easily; however, Jedd had to apply a lot of pressure in order to push it open. He shoved the door with his shoulder and as he did so, his left side became covered in the horrid sludge. As he stepped away from the open door, the ooze dissipated once more.

  “Why is it so difficult to open the door?” enquired Cecily, peering through.

  “It’s a portal to another realm, Cec,” explained Kaden. “The physics are different.”

  Cecily, who was expecting to see Bramblegate, saw nothing. Whatever was on the other side of that door was white in colour and opaque. She could not see through it. Jedd went to step through the door, but Elisabeth stopped him.

  “Wait, I’ll come with you. If the coast is clear, I will send Jedd back to tell you,” she said to the others.

  “It’s probably best if the four of us go together,” suggested Sol, referring to himself, Fen, Jedd and Elisabeth, “just in case there is an ambush. I’ll come back and tell you if everything is OK,” he said to Kaden.