Page 14 of Within the Flames
Four
"So, what happens now?" Macey asked. "You said you were going to lead us down some kind of path?"
The daimon sighed. "I was speaking figuratively. I have no idea what actual path to take here."
"I thought this was your home?" Jared asked, eyeing his cuffs in disgust.
"It is, but it doesn't usually look like this. There are... less people. A lot less people. None at all, to be precise."
"Then where do they all come from?"
Luc shrugged. "The magic of this place is ancient, and I don't think anyone knows how it works. I just hope it takes them all away once you're gone. I like my solitude." He gestured towards the space where the people had been before and seemed to have reappeared.
Macey scowled. That was somewhat inconvenient. At least it meant it wasn’t actually her test.
If this daimon wasn't going to lead them, then Macey was going to have to do it herself. Giving Luc an evil glare, she walked past him and down a muddy path towards the revellers. Most of them were naked by now, and the noise of their moans and groans was deafening. Jared appeared next to her, and she took his hand when she saw his expression. This had to be incredibly hard for the incubus.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think that this is a test for me," he whispered. "One I'd be failing without these cuffs."
"Maybe Malan was wrong," Macey mused. "Maybe it's not me being tested. Maybe it's all of us, to prove that we're worthy to see the lampads. Or maybe this is just a coincidence." She sighed. "I really wish we had someone who told us what was happening in clear, easy to understand words. Instead, we have a prophet who likes to allude to things but never actually explains, and a daimon guide who isn't much better at giving out information."
Jared grinned. "Being a Warden sucks. All work, no rewards."
Behind them, the daimon cleared his throat. "Being together should be reward enough. Not everyone has a relationship as loving and rewarding as yours." There was bitterness in his voice, a lot of it. Macey almost felt sorry for him. It sounded like he was lonely.
"Want to join?" a melodious voice asked from their right. A woman, her supple breasts exposed and covered in some sort of sticky liquid that looked like chocolate, was lying on the muddy ground, her legs spread. A man was... well, he was sucking her off, his head squeezed between her thighs.
"No, we're good," Macey muttered and hurried on. She wasn't sure if they really had to walk through this hedonistic village, but there was no other path, and why would the magic show them this if it wasn't relevant?
She squeezed Jared's hand tighter when she noticed him staring at the woman.
"It's going to be fine," she whispered. "Try not to look at them."
He groaned in response. "I can feel their energy," he admitted. "I can't feed off it, but I can still feel it. It's very distracting."
Macey didn't even want to imagine how it had to feel for him. Waves, even she was noticing the sexual energy in the air, and she wasn't an incubus. It had to be hell for him. Or heaven, had he been without the shackles.
She increased her pace, trying to get them away from this orgy as quickly as possible. There had to be a point to it all. They could have gone to a random brothel if they wanted to see naked people having fun with each other.
Finally, the houses became more scattered and the end of the cavern came into view. The walls were glistening with moisture, reminding Macey of... well, other moist things. She shook her head, trying to get the images out of her mind.
"There's an archway, just like the one before," Cam called from behind them, his superior senses once again coming in handy.
"Is it an illusion again?" Macey asked the incubus and he frowned in concentration.
"No, I think it's really just a doorway out of this cave."
She sighed in relief. Good. The sooner they got out of here, the better, although she was a little apprehensive of what they were going to stumble in next.
Cam sniffed the air. "There's a draught coming through there. It smells like the sea."
"The sea? Aren't we quite far away from that?"
Macey concentrated on her water magic. Indeed, she felt a light tug, pulling her towards the narrow gap in the cavern wall.
"I can feel it too," Rónàn confirmed. "Salt water."
Smiling at the familiar sensation, Macey stepped through the archway, her steps quickening. The tunnel was dark, but she wasn't as scared of stumbling as she had been before. The sea was waiting for her. Water, proper clean water, not like the Thames water they'd seen outside. Maybe this was some kind of underground estuary?
