the Aeternae, the Rimians, and the Naloreans. She’d drawn her conclusions already, and she’d shared them—not only with the crew, but also with Eva, her closest friend.
Nethissis was convinced that the Aeternae were hiding something. Based on the handmaiden’s warning not to explore the prohibited sections of the palace, I knew she was preparing to do just that. Only, unlike the others on her team, Nethissis had the ability to turn into a small copperhead snake, able to move freely through the dark corners and nooks, to explore and get to the bottom of the mystery.
For a moment, I wondered if my issue and hers were related. What are the odds that they’re not? I asked myself. Over a thousand years as a Reaper had taught me that there was rarely such a thing as coincidence.
“Okay, here goes,” she murmured.
Her bones cracked. She grunted and gasped as her body changed. The copper scales on her skin spread, and her form shrank into that of a snake. The silk robe dropped on the floor, now empty. The reddish brown head poked out from between the soft folds, her amber eyes glistening in the candlelight. Nethissis was ready to explore, and I was in awe of her snake form. Even like this, she was beautiful, slithering across the floor as the dark brown spots danced along her body.
Her forked tongue slipped out. She analyzed the smells, the chemical composition of everything around her, and I was compelled to follow as she snuck under the door. Nethissis wasn’t a regular, large copperhead like the ones I’d seen on Earth. No, she was significantly smaller, but that allowed her to sneak around virtually unnoticed.
Maybe my instincts were right. Maybe we were both searching for the same thing, so I decided to stay close to her, just in case. I wasn’t allowed to interfere in the affairs of the living, including hers, but I doubted I’d be able to resist the temptation. This wasn’t just anyone. This was Nethissis. I’d gone to great, unethical lengths to stop her from dying as a sacrifice to Eirexis. I wasn’t going to let anything happen to her on Visio, either.
She moved through the hallways, keeping to the shadows. Leaving the more populated sections of the palace behind, Nethissis made her way into the west wing, descending a service staircase. The access doors to it had been locked, but that didn’t stop the feisty little copperhead. She slipped through and reached a dark, damp, and filthy corridor—the complete opposite of everything I’d seen above in the palace.
We were underground now, and I realized I hadn’t seen this area before. It was strange and cold, with barely a flutter of pale light at the far end of the hallway. Water dripped down the walls, forming puddles over the stone floor. There were many doors along this corridor, most of them locked. I peeked through some of them—empty cells with rotten wood benches; dark pantries, their shelves loaded with jars and tin boxes, each smellier than the other; and storage chambers filled with old armor and swords and shields, dating back two to three million years ago, at least.
Nethissis kept moving, constantly testing the air with her tongue. She’d caught the scent of the pantry chemicals, as she, too, had checked these rooms out, albeit briefly. There wasn’t anything that either of us could consider a red flag.
At the end of the corridor, a maze of narrow hallways opened up, each leading in a different direction. To say that I was intrigued would have been an understatement. It was time to hone my omniscience again. My energy levels were pretty low, but I had just enough for a nighttime exploration task. I split into three versions of myself, the weaker one staying with Nethissis. In her snake form, she was practically impossible to spot, and we had yet to come across any signs of life.
It quickly became a challenge for me to focus, as my two other selves continued their quest through the adjacent corridors. More cell rooms, stinky pantries, and storage boxes. More dampness and darkness. More water dripping down the rough stone walls. Soon enough, we were both on to something.
Guards patrolled these underground sections. Not silver or gold, but black-armored guards, with short swords and belts loaded with small leather pouches, different from other soldiers I’d seen so far. They moved slowly up and down the corridors, occasionally checking the heavy locks on each of the doors. What