Page 9 of Demanding Discord
“Discord?” I called. Silence answered.
Where the eff was he? My stomach soured, but I focused my gaze on the doorway to the next chamber. I was here. Discord wasn’t, and no matter the reason for his absence, I had to push through. I didn’t need his help; I could do this alone.
Another growl rumbled from behind me, spurring me into motion. I strode to the passage, pausing for a breath before crossing into the darkness.
I half-expected the chamber to light up like it had motion sensors. Unfortunately, it did not, so I lit another fireball in my hand. I could still only see about a foot in any direction, so I slowly turned and shuffled toward what I hoped was the wall. A torch hung from a sconce, and I took it, lighting the end.
A bowl of oil rested on a pedestal beneath the sconce, so I tapped the fiery end of the torch against it. This room had a similar, though much smaller, setup as the main chamber, and the flames licked down an oily channel, lighting more bowls and torches until warm light illuminated the entire space.
I liked it better when it was dark.
Long and narrow, the chamber stretched on for at least fifty yards before plunging into darkness, which was impossible. The temple was big, but not that big. Unless I’d just stepped into Dr. Who’s TARDIS, it had to be an optical illusion.
Mirrors ten feet tall lined the walls, and red sigils etched into the glass glowed along the top of each one. I crept forward and faced the first one, my distorted reflection bouncing off the mirror behind me and creating infinite Cinders in both directions.
Something growled from the entry, and I whirled toward it. A massive, jet-black German shepherd crouched, its lips peeled back over pointy teeth.
Doggo rule number one: Never make eye contact with an angry canine. I knew that, but it didn’t stop me from locking my gaze on its glittering yellow eyes.
“Who’s a good boy?” I asked in the softest, gentlest voice I could muster. My question earned me another growl.
I held up my hands and inched backward, deeper into the tunnel. “You’re Hecate’s guardian, right? I’m a witch, her faithful disciple. Have you seen her?”
The dog’s growl grew deeper, rumbling in its chest, and it took two steps toward me.
I slowly reached for the dagger strapped to my thigh. “Please don’t make me be the reason another dog dies.”
My fingers curled around the handle. The dog lunged. Dammit.
I drew my blade and swiped at the fluffy guy’s neck before falling backward onto my butt. Sharp pain shot from my tailbone to my skull, and I gasped. The dog was gone.
I jerked my head from side to side and scrambled onto my hands and knees. “What the actual eff?”
Still clutching my dagger, I rose to my feet and rubbed my lower back. Had I just obliterated one of Hecate’s beloved hounds? “Dear goddess, please forgive me.”
A deep, menacing, masculine laugh echoed in the chamber, and I spun toward the sound. The same dog…or maybe its twin…crouched, its weight on its haunches, ready to leap.
“Was that you?” I held the dagger toward the animal, and it growled.
A disembodied whistle sounded from behind it, and its ears perked half a second before it attacked. I lunged to the side, trying to avoid its razor-sharp teeth, and I crashed into a mirror, shattering it. Shards of magical glass rained onto the floor, and the glowing sigils on the mirror across from it dimmed, turning ashy gray before disappearing as if they’d never been etched into it at all.
The temple groaned in protest like it had felt the mirror break in its soul. And the dog…? Gone again. If it was really even there to begin with.
I gazed at my reflection in another mirror, tilting my head and furrowing my brow as an idea wriggled into my consciousness. The glass felt cool beneath my fingertips, and I blew from my throat, clouding the surface before drawing the fire witch sigil, a triangle inside a triquetra, in the fog.
The menacing, masculine laugh echoed through the chamber again, making my muscles crawl beneath my skin. “Whoever you are, you don’t belong here,” I said.
“Neither do you.” The voice sounded like it came from everywhere around me and from inside my head.
In the mirror’s reflection, a shadow passed behind me. Heart pounding, I spun, facing the opposite mirror, and the image of Tumult wearing crimson fatigues, so dark they were nearly black, appeared behind me. I gasped and spun again, slashing my dagger right and left.
He wasn’t there. Neither physically in the room, nor in the opposite mirror’s image. I turned again, and there he was, standing behind my shoulder.
“How the hell…?” I stepped closer to the mirror, narrowing my eyes at the demon. I could feel his presence as if he really loomed behind me: the lower vibration of energy, the shifting of the air as if someone moved, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end, reacting to…nothing, it seemed.
“Where are Discord and Hecate?” I glared at Tumult, tightening my grip on the dagger.
“Do you truly believe I would give you that information?” He inclined his chin, looking down his nose at me.
