Page 53 of Her Dark Powers

“Seems so.” Austin grinned. He took hold of the boulder with one hand and pushed it upwards into the recess where it had stood before. The entrance was open, and other than a small trickling sound in the corridor, no water rushed in.

“After you, my queen,” he said.

I smiled at him and then lay down on my belly and slid through the opening. The bag shot through after me, and I pulled it out of the way. I crouched next to the gap and took hold of the boulder myself. “You’re good,” I told him.

It felt no heavier than holding open a wooden trapdoor, and Austin slid through with no hesitation. It took him a minute or so to work his large form through the small gap, but I didn’t even break a sweat holding the boulder up. Once he was through, I lowered it to the ground again. I probably could have reached the wedges and propped it open again, but for some reason, I wanted to keep that room closed to anyone else. It was ours, full of our love and connection, and I wanted to preserve it. Standing up, I looked around for Kitty Cat. He sat grooming himself on the other side of the corridor. He was still his dark striped self, but now I could see a faint blue glow around him. If I hadn’t already been convinced he was more than a regular cat, that would have sealed it for me.

“Well, we’re here, Kitty Cat,” I said. “Sorry for the delay, but we’re ready now. Lead the way.”

He miaowed and set off back down the corridor, and we followed. We passed the broken wall, avoiding the deeper puddles. Our clothes were still soaked, and I wondered how long it would have taken for me to dry them out with my fire power. Too late now. We passed other passageways leading off into the darkness, some dark and empty, others flooded with dark water that had settled now that the deluge had passed. Eventually, we came to another dead end, but this one was smooth sandstone covered in hieroglyphics.

“Now what?” Austin asked. “It’s a shame Wesley isn’t here, he could—” He broke off as I stepped up to the wall. I slid a finger into my mouth and sliced it open on one of my fangs. I reached out and pressed my bloody finger to the cartouche that bore my name, and with a grating noise, the wall slid seamlessly away.

“Okay... How did you know how to do that?” Austin queried.

“I told you, I remember everything.”

“I guess you having all your memories back is going to take some getting used to.” He grinned. “Okay, then let’s go.”

He stepped through the door, and I darted forward, grabbing hold of his belt and the back of his trousers. His feet met nothing but darkness before he plummeted forwards into empty space. I pulled him back onto the stone floor, and he spun around, breathing hard.

“What the fuck?”

I pulled the torch out of the bag he held and pointed the beam towards the floor. Where the door had slid away, the floor ended, and beyond was a colossal pit sinking far down into the depths of the Earth. Austin shook his head in amazement and also reached into the bag. He pulled out a couple of flares and set them off. He cast them into the space, and we watched as the red flames disappeared down into the darkness.

“Well, that kind screws things up. How on earth do we get down?”

“We jump,” I said.

“Jump?” He looked at me blankly.

I grinned. “Don’t worry, Austin, we’re cats, and cats always land on their feet.” I swung the beam around the edges of the pit. It was circular and lined with stone, and every forty feet or so, a large stone platform jutted out from the wall. They continued that way, dropping in a spiral all the way down into the darkness where the torch couldn’t reach.

“Right...” Austin muttered.

I smiled and began to strip. He did the same, and within a couple of minutes, we were both standing in our lion forms. I rubbed my head under his chin, and he slid his muzzle along mine in a gesture of affection.

Come, I said. He backed up and looked at me. The confusion on his face was amusing, and if I’d been in human form, I’d have laughed.

How are you... Wait, how am I... We haven’t been able to do this for hundreds of years...

I guess I never lived long enough to regain my full power. Come.

I padded up to the edge of the doorway and looked for the first platform. A confidence I’d never had flowed through me like the most natural thing in the world. How had I resisted this for so long? Accepting every part of me hadn’t erased who I was. Tory was still there, just more powerful. I tensed my muscles and leapt. It wasn’t even hard. I landed in the centre of the first platform with ease, and then I looked back over my shoulder at Austin, and he nodded at me. Turning, I looked for the next platform and leapt again. Seconds after landing, I heard the soft thud as Austin landed on the first platform just behind me. We continued in the same way for a while, descending farther down into the dark earth with each leap.

Eventually, I saw a golden glow below. I looked up and could no longer see the doorway from which we’d entered the pit. I slowed my pace, approaching the glow with caution. As I got lower, I realised it was from torches fixed to the side of the pit. They burned with golden flames that sparkled in a way that indicated it was not normal fire. The smooth walls of the pit now revealed thousands of hieroglyphics, telling the stories of the gods. My heart ached for the fact Wesley couldn’t be here to see this. He would have loved it.

True, but we’d never have convinced him to leave again. He’d have spent the next four lives studying this place.Austin’s stood behind me, and I grinned inwardly.

We carried on downwards, and it felt like we were descending into the very centre of the earth. The steps flowed away down into the darkness, the fiery torches spilling golden light over carved sandstone. Detailed hieroglyphics told stories of those below that no human had ever discovered. The stories above ground were the filtered versions, but here in the darkness, truths and revelations spilled forth to those who knew where to look. I was one of those who knew the truth now, and we followed it deeper into the earth.

Austin followed behind me, now silent, as if sensing the sheer holiness of the place we descended into. I wondered if he felt the power that grew in strength as we got closer to our destination, or whether only us gods could sense it. The swirling, pulsing force moved through the air and stone and rushed around my body, pushing me back to defend those it guarded and yet calling me forth, as if it sensed I belonged here. My eyes trailed along the wall, seeing the rise and dips of the carvings, each spell wove into the stone with the power of words, getting stronger as we got closer.

Suddenly, the floor levelled out. The torch lit up the golden flagged floor that was covered with a fine layer of sand, but the walls opened out to darkness. I dropped down onto the sand and shifted back into human form. Austin landed lightly next to me and did the same.

“Why do I think that’s going to be hell to get back up?” he whispered. I smiled, but my attention was drawn elsewhere. I lifted my hand, and with a flick, a ball of golden flame spun in the air in front of me like a mini sun. I moved forward slowly, more out of awe and respect than nerves. Something about this place was like coming home. I raised the ball of flame as I moved forward, and out of the shadows loomed a huge, square archway. Gigantic columns carved to look like reeds soared above me, easily reaching thirty feet. Darkness lay beyond, but I felt a pull into that darkness and a welcoming sense of coming home, and I smiled.

“Whoa...” I heard Austin murmur behind me. “That’s not overkill at all. Mind you, I suppose from the people who built colossal pyramids to bury one man, it’s not that impressive.”