her to lead me forward. I cloaked myself in the invisible shield that would let me pass undetected and rushed through the battle. The space I’d cleared with my light was quickly closing, and I had to dodge swords and run past swinging axes to make it through to the other side. I glanced back one more time, catching a glimpse of Austin’s dark gold hair, but the others were lost in the chaos of war. I had to believe they could hold their own while I took on the Death Goddess responsible for all of this.
Venus and I sprinted to the dark obsidian walls. Not for the first time, I wondered how the Morrigan had made a giant palace suddenly appear from nothing. Regardless of how it was made, the defenses were solid, and I couldn’t see any way to sneak in.
“This way,” Montu’s voice whispered from my left.
I couldn’t see him, but I followed his unique signature of energy. As I ran to where I felt the other gods waiting, I saw a hole in the ground. Was this the path that would lead us into the fortress?
My stomach churned as I looked down into the crevasse filled with darkness. What was I about to walk into?
“This will lead us into the dungeons,” Vayu said quietly to all of us. “Stay close, hide your signature as well as you can, and don’t touch magic until we’re in the throne room. We can’t afford to let her know we’ve left the battlefield.”
I took a deep breath, but I allowed Vayu to lead me to the hole in the ground that could possibly lead into hell. I had to sit in the dirt and scoot forward to slip inside the narrow entrance to access a steep slope that would lead under the castle walls. I slid deeper into the damp earth for a couple seconds before I felt a hand on my ankle pull me forward. I almost screamed, but held it in. The grip was firm but not painful, so I had to assume it was an ally. It also wasn’t easy to hold onto the tall staff as I struggled to get through the narrow passage, but somehow I managed.
I popped out of the small tunnel into a dark stone cell. The dungeon was cold, and I heard the sounds of faint sobbing and clinking chains. I swallowed down my desire to run through the dungeons, freeing everyone I could, and instead focused on getting to the Morrigan. Releasing her prisoners now would only warn her we were coming.
There were no signs that she sensed us coming. No guards ran to stop us from jogging through the rough corridors of the dungeon, or from breaking through the iron gate that led up to the main castle. There weren’t any magical traps to navigate through, or anyone posted to guard the prisoners from escaping.
All of this seemed too easy. Our path was clear of any and all obstacles. Maybe the Morrigan had ordered everyone in the castle to take up positions to aid in the battle, but I had a bad feeling that we were being led into a trap.
Drake was the one person who knew of our plans to break in and take on the Morrigan ourselves. He’d given us direction on how to get into the castle, and he could have done so on the Morrigan’s orders. There was no way for us to be sure that he was on our side, but it was too late to turn back.
We couldn’t win this battle without defeating the Morrigan herself, and we’d already gotten so close, we couldn’t give up now.
We were running through the castle when we came to the first of the magical barrier that defended the Morrigan’s inner sanctum. I rested the staff against the wall as I caught my breath.
“This is it,” Vayu said in a low tone. “Once we break through this, there will be no hiding our presence. The Morrigan will come for us.”
Malekbel raised his chin. “And we’ll be ready for her.”
There were nods all around. Seeing our agreement, Vayu nodded and placed his hands right before the barrier. He closed his eyes, and I leaned forward, interested to see how he would take down this obstacle.
Magic seeped from Vayu and into the glittering black mesh that made up the Morrigan’s defenses. Slowly, the mesh disintegrated in front of us, leaving a doorway for us to walk through. It was interesting