Tess went ahead of the others into the next resting room and then touched the west side door hopefully. Her smile vanished and everyone froze when they saw what symbol appeared. There in the middle of the door was an engraving of a hellhound head—Malluk’s symbol. The door slid open and Tess jumped aside, out of the way of a hellhound that came bounding out, it’s enormous body covered in course black hair and its eyes burning like embers in a fire.
It turned to snap at Tess with huge glistening fangs, but before she could do anything, Matt stepped up and touched its head. “Pirlaq,” he said firmly. It calmed a little but still snarled at her. Matt grabbed its ear and jerked it, getting the dog to look at him. Even on all fours the beast was a little taller than Matt. “Pirlaq!” he repeated. When the dog just looked at him. “Vaslaad.” The hellhound sat. “Besna’roq.” He pet it and it nudged his hand before giving a single, happy-sounding, bark. Suddenly, it vanished.
“Was that the test?” Tess asked.
“You know Ancient Presbelic?” Ayden asked in disbelief.
“Just prayers and commands,” Matt told Ayden, then answered Tess, “It won’t be that easy.”
“Wouldn’t have been that easy if you weren’t here,” she said.
Matt said nothing and looked into the room where the hellhound had just been.
There was no information stone, no text of any kind, just a man in plain brown clothes standing in the middle of the room. He had long dirty blonde hair that was pulled back so his young face was in clear view. He looked about twenty, though his face was hard and determined, and his hazel eyes filled with purpose.
“Who are you?” Tess asked, staying where she was.
“I am here to guard this door once it is closed again,” he said, his tone was quiet but resolute.
“So we just have to kill you?” Tess asked.
“You need to speak a single word to leave,” the man told her.
“So tell us what it is and you get to live.”
The man crossed his arms over his chest and stood his ground.
“He won’t tell you,” Matt said darkly.
“Then how do we get it?” Tess asked.
Matt’s blue eyes were hard and icy now. He looked directly at the man and nowhere else. “Stay here.”
“But—”
“I’m going alone,” he told everyone quietly. “And don’t ask,” he added, his voice now completely devoid of emotion.
Sera could feel him pushing everything away, leaving himself cold and callous, steeling himself for what he was about to do. She touched his arm lightly. “You don’t have to do this,” she whispered.
He shrugged her off and walked into the room. The door closed behind him.
Sera put her back to the wall and slid down until she was sitting on the floor beside an armchair. She pulled her knees up to her chest and took a deep breath, already hurting for him.
“What’s he doing?” Tess asked.
It was Ayden who answered. “Malluk prizes pain.”
Tess gasped. “Torture?”
Ayden nodded grimly.
“Is that guy real?”
“Do you know how to make a fake one?”
“How can he do it?” Tess whispered. “I thought with his birthmark gone, he…”
“The birthmark didn’t make Matt the way he was,” Sera told her. “No more than mine makes me. It just clouded his conscience. It brought out the evil that was already there by pushing back the good. We all have that balance in us. Having Malluk’s mark just helps to tip that scale.”
“But he has a clear conscience now,” Tess argued.
“Yes,” Sera agreed, “which is why this is so hard on him. In a little while, that man’s pain will end. Matt, however, will carry this along with all of his other horrific memories. They will continue to plague him, constantly reminding him that he’s a monster.”
Tess shook her head. “But he’s not that person anymore.”
Sera nodded. “But that’s how he feels. He’s always in pain, always tormented by his past.”
“He doesn’t show it,” Tess said. “Even at the library… he seemed okay.”
“He’s strong,” Sera told her. “Much more than people know.”
“And you feel all of that,” Tess realized miserably. “Constantly.”
“Yes.”
“And you stay with him,” she whispered, amazed. “You endure that.”
“I love him,” Sera answered simply.
“Love knows no bounds,” Korin said reverently.
Tess sat beside her cousin and pulled her into her arms. “Oh, Sera,” she mumbled.
They fell into silence, waiting. The heavy iron door that separated the resting room from the trial room was enough to muffle noises, to make them seem distant, but it didn’t stop them from hearing the chilling sound of the man’s occasional cries.
Time dragged on. No one spoke. They were all seeing Matt in a new light, realizing just how much he was capable of… still. Though Sera and Vivyka had seen his memories, it was different to be there in person, to hear it from the next room, to know what he was doing now, without some evil mark.
Finally, the door opened. Sera got out of Tess’ arms and hurried to Matt, but he pushed her away immediately. “Ayden can heal him,” he told her flatly. In the room, beside the altar and dagger that were both untouched, the man lie on the floor, bloody and whimpering.
Matt saw the blood on Sera’s arm, there because he had touched her. His jaw tightened. He looked down at his red hands with disgust.
“Matt,” Sera whispered.
He ignored her and walked across the room. She followed. “Get away from me,” he ground out and closed his eyes as he put his head back against the wall. She didn’t listen; instead, she touched his arm. “Damn it, Sera!” he growled, it came out as a low, deadly rumble.
Sera didn’t move.
Tess shivered as she grabbed her cousin and pulled her away.
Meanwhile, the door remained open, but Ayden hesitated as he stared at the floor.
Korin touched his shoulder. “I will heal the guard.”
“Thank you,” Ayden mumbled, embarrassed but grateful.
While Sera continued to struggle in her arms, Tess directed Ayden to get a rag out of her pack. He did so and took it to them, wiping the blood off Sera’s arm. Then Tess nodded to Matt and he slowly walked over to him. “Here,” Ayden said quietly, holding the cloth out to him.
Matt opened his eyes but didn’t look at anyone. He grabbed it and wiped the blood off his hands. Ayden took it back when he was done and summoned a fireball in the hand that held the dirty rag. He dropped it as soon as it caught fire and it burned into ash on the marble floor.
Matt watched until the flames died out, then he pulled out his silver case. He lit a cigarette and stared down at the engraved angel for a moment before putting it away.
Tears slid down Sera’s cheeks as she watched him from within Tess’ unyielding embrace. The room stayed silent until he dropped his cigarette, stepped on it and sighed.
“You can let her go, Tess. It’s okay now,” Vivyka said quietly, knowingly.
Tess opened her arms and Sera rushed to him, putting her hands on his face, even though he tried to move away from her touch. “Look at me,” she told him. It took a lot of effort to force himself to do so, and still he couldn’t look for more than a second. “It’s okay,” she murmured. “You had no choice.” She put her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest. She stayed there for several minutes before he finally hugged her back. She looked up at him. “Matt, I love you.”
He shook his head slightly, his eyes now soft and tormented.
“I love you,” she repeated firmly. “Always.”
He swallowed hard and looked at her. “My angel,” he breathed, sounding broken. She reached up on tiptoe to kiss him. He squeezed his eyes closed as he kissed her back and held her close, clinging to her as if she were his lifeline.
