7 Deadly Instincts (The Sinfire Chronicles Book 1)

It was two hundreds steps at least to the bottom. The staircase would come together on landings overlooking the stygian darkness below. The railing on the landings were made of carved stone and showed various demons animals—the animallix—following behind the regalia, which were demon lords in various outfits of finery. The time it took and the detail there was truly exceptional. And unlike other places, the ravages of time weren’t apparent.

At the bottom as another broad avenue like main street up above outside of the labyrinth.

On either side of the avenue were the palaces, which looked like castles, only they ended in the rocky ceiling above. And they were enormous, with giant windows and gargantuan doorways.

If all the lanterns and torches had been lit, the entire place would’ve been magical underground world. And there was water running down gutters on either side of the street.

According to Tomi, the water was for the dead gardens, though the pipes had been busted and all the fountains were dead there.

Walking past the dozens of palaces, finding a single idol in all those rooms seemed impossible. They could see the lights from the other squads, searching the palaces, and they could hear the chatter. The Lucky Bastards, the Golden, and the Savage Seven certainly weren’t being quiet.

“Fuckers,” Froggy cursed. “Well, no mouth pleasure for any of them. Now, one idol is going to be in those dead gardens. The other is going to be in a palace around here. We could split up. But then, would you get attacked?”

“Possibly,” Gray said. “But I think we should risk it, given the circumstances. Let’s just keep in touch.”

The orc girl on Froggy’s Thunder roared with laughter. “Good! Yes! I didn’t come here to guard your fucking squad, Gray. I came here to pass the Testing. I guess we’re going to do that, and with a bronze medal to boot. Right, Steffy?”

Instead of talking, Steffy frowned and nodded. It was clear she was still angry about being dropped.

The bears went to Tomi, and they discussed something in low voices before Froggy left them. They were going to check out the dead gardens which lay in the center of all the palaces. Walking by the dead mushroom trees, the empty fountains, and the dead grass put a bad feeling in Gray’s belly.

Above, he saw a flash of wings—dragons. From their pale scales, it was one of the Magnifica sisters from the Fire /Flyers. She landed on the other side of a row of low buildings.

Tomi saw the dragon as well. “She’s landed over by the auditorium. There’s a stage there, which begs the question—what kind of fucked-up plays did the demon lords put on? I would love to find some kind of text for that. Can you imagine? Maybe all their plays were about kittens and puppies and unicorns? All comedies all the time.”

“I doubt that,” Gray said. “Let’s start at the last house on the block Who knows? Maybe we’ll get lucky and find something right away.”

They went to a grand castle at the very end, built not just into the stone to the right but filled the entire cul-de-sac—and had rooms that overlooked the dead garden. It was by far the biggest palace on the extravagant block.

“Everyone be on guard,” Gray said. “It’s just us now. If we’re going to get attacked, it’s going to happen.”

Pinch’s sword turned red. “And I will slaughter anyone who fucks with us. We don’t have a statue. If we are attacked, it’s to kills us, and I will defend Squad 23 with lethal force.”

“Yes, we will,” Rynn said, nodding at the fae girl

Pinch smiled.

Rynn smiled back. “You really have forgiven me.”

The elf girl laughed a little. “I really have. It’s more than that, Pinch. I feel safer with you because I know how truly violent and sadistic you are.”

“I’m more sadistic,” Ames murmured.

Pinch rolled her eyes. “I better not call you a fucking idiot. Can you really throw your pain touch?”

The Quelling elf nodded. Her smile made her look psychotic. Well, that wasn’t much of a stretch.

It was funny. Gray did feel safer with Pinch.

“I like that, angel,” the fae girl said. “I like the sound of my name on your lips.”

Midj lost it. “You crazy girls better not be talking about mouth pleasure! Mother’s oven, I’ll die of awkwardness if you do!”

The main entrance to the final palace lay in front of them, up marble steps leading to a wooden door made of wood and reinforced with iron fittings. It was cracked open, just a little. Gray checked the floor. There was dust there—no footprints. No one had been the palace for a long, long time.

Gray put a hand on the aged wood. “We’ll close it behind us. That way we’ll know if anyone comes in. Locking it would be ideal.”

Moving the door was harder than it first seemed but working together, they could open and close the massive doors. The hinges screamed like the lost dead.

Tomi snorted. “Don’t need to lock it. And we have our alarm system. Problem is, now everyone in the Underdwell knows where we are.”

The entryway was like a palace all unto its self. The marble on the floor had a mosaic showing any number of demon lords standing together. Ornate lanterns hung from massive iron wall brackets on the wall.

“How old is this place?” Rynn whispered.

“It’s anyone’s guess,” Tomi said. “Above us…way above us. Best not to think about it. Fuck. Am I really underground? Fuck!”

Midj took hold of the cat girl’s hand.

That seemed to calm her. “Above us in the seven cities, during the Third God War, that was the rise of Shuddertown. Remember, the third big divine war was between angels and demons and it was Akazel the Bound that sealed the Weeping Well closed with the seven towers.” She shot Ames a look. “I know, I know, some say it was a coalition of Cambrosians who aided Akazel. Let’s not argue.”

“My mouth doesn’t want to speak words,” the Quelling elf said. “I don’t want my mouth getting in the way of my eyes. We need to find the idol.”

“Good point,” Tomi said. “I’ll keep this short. Historians knew about Shuddertown. We didn’t know about the Underdwell, not until a few years ago. And from what I understand, the Magistrate isn’t too keen on scholars coming down here to study. He likes that it’s just one more coliseum for his games. What a gigantic asshole.”

“But it’s not new, is it?” Midj asked.

“Like recently? No. Most, if not all, of the demon lords—the regalia—were killed in the Third God War. The rest were driven back into the Weeping Well. Except for the Troublemaker of course. But Princess Cassandra took care of him. Though it cost her everything.”

They wandered down the long hallway where there were corridors and staircases going this way and that.

Gray led the way with his squad drifting out from behind him. They had their bloodless blades drawn and charged, fully charged, glowing with a red light.

“Now this is a palace,” Lilian whispered. “It’s even bigger than mine.”

That made Tomi laugh. “Palace envy is such a sad thing.”

“I’m not envious,” the princess protested. Then, “Well, maybe a little. Everything is so big. Were these demon guys giants?”

“Looks like it,” Tomi replied.

“We could split up,” Gray suggested.

“No!” all the women shouted. It seemed almost sacrilegious to make any noise in the giant mansion.

He went with his gut, found the uppermost hallway—three stories above the ground—and went to the right. They walked to the end of the corridor. They could start in the upper right and work their way across the top floor, then do the second floor, and then the first. That was Gray’s plan at any rate.

They found the corner room, which had to be the grandest bedroom that Gray had ever been in. Even the doors were fancy—there were normal doors, yes, but also ornate iron gates you could lock. Everything glowed with a low level of mana—from the canopied bed to the desk to the plush chairs facing each other. Things hadn’t been built for normal humans—they weren’t giant, just bigger. For example, Gray could get on the bed, but he’d have to do some climbing. There was no way he could use the desk effectively, however.

On the walls were mirrors, but they were dusty and a few were broken. It was like someone had left the room in a hurry and never returned. The mana had kept everything exceptionally well preserved and cleaner than it should’ve been without the magic. There was a whole world of enchantment for Gray to explore—he’d have to bring back some object for Emerilia Stone to examine.

On the desk were a pile of papers and ink wells, long dried up as well as a key—that had to match the iron gates.

“We have to study this place,” Tomi whispered. “It’s a gold mine. But instead of gold, it’s like, history.”

Lilian laughed sarcastically. “Good thing we have you with us, Tomi, or how would we ever find the vocabulary to describe this creepy, creepy place?”

Ames whirled and gave the princess the meanest look imaginable.

“What?” the princess asked innocently. “I’m grateful for our squad’s kitty cat. She’s funny and smart and kinda tragic.”

“Only kinda,” Tomi breathed.

Scarlet drapes hung from massive iron bars. Several were tied to the wall, revealing archways that led out to a grand balcony. The archways also had gates you could close and lock, probably with the same key that could lock the front gates. Was this some kind of prison? No, more likely, it was that the demon lord who owned the palace was worried about security. Being surrounded by ancient evil entities would make anyone paranoid.

Rynn had wandered over to it. She gasped. “You have…it’s…you have to come and see this.”

They all went to her and were soon out on the marble of the balcony.

In front of them was the abyss of the Weeping Well—they were on the very edge of it, as were the other palaces on that side of the street. It was a dozen degrees cooler—at least—and the winds blowing up from that darkness were chilly. And smelly—like the gladiator outhouses in Cradleport’s arena.

Way across the abyss was the far wall, but they were too far underground they couldn’t see the night sky. Gray could only imagine what would happen if he leapt out into that darkness. Would he be destroyed or would he fall forever? Or would he fall into hell?

Lightning flashed far, far, far above them—it was the crack that allowed the animallix demons to enter the world. He’d seen it first hand when Settie had taken them to see the Weeping Well. It had almost killed them.

“Enjoying the view?” A voice cut through the room.

Gray turned.

There stood an odd collection of recruits—Blythe Donnarumma and Tillwick Duskdrop from the Winners, Kabe from the Wrath City Raiders, and everyone from the Fire Flyers—their leader, the squat dog woman Phillapalla Kech, the orphaned sister Limborda, the red-headed lust manamancer Flaraminda, Fugg Gruntpiss the orc and former Raider, a tall fast man that Gray didn’t know the name of, the two dragon sisters, Varonnna and Deedaena Magnifica.

Gray’s eyes went to a bone-white dagger in Deedaena’s belt—it glowed with a nasty black mana. It was a powerful magic item, without a doubt. But all of the assassins had enchanted weapons. They had come armed to the teeth.

Kech held the Status Instinct Idol. She smiled. “Find any idols here?” It was an innocent question. It was also a lie.

Those recruits weren’t there to win the Reckoning.

It was hit squad.