I peered nervously through the archway, my feet frozen in place.
What would communing with the all-knowing links of the universe be like? I only had my own small experience, and the idea of joining with something that had known about my life from the moment of my birth seemed like it would be too much.
But the answers lay on the other side of that arch. If I could join the Chain, even for a few brief moments, I might find something. All roads had led me to this time and place.
I steeled myself and finally forced my feet to take a step, then another. I passed the Chainling, walking into a darkness so complete it was like being swallowed by a void.
But this void, unlike Azazel’s, was not full of stars to light my way. It was complete and utter blackness, swallowing even the Chainling’s candle flame until it sputtered out.
I found myself unconsciously holding my breath, like breathing in this place would draw some of that endless darkness into myself.
Then there was a brief flare of light, a soft glow lighting the way like a beacon. I forced myself to walk sedately, not hurrying towards the welcoming light. If the Chain really wanted me, it wouldn’t harm me.
I wasn’t sure what I’d expected from the Chainlings’ temple, but I finally stepped out of that dark tunnel and into a forest of silver.
Chains, of all metals and colors, hung from the ceiling. Some of them hung limp and straight, but others were moving, twining around each other like snakes, giving off faint clinks like music.
I watched in fascination as a gold chain wove itself lovingly around a dark iron one, the links melding together to form an endless loop. Then, with a sharp crack of breaking metal, the rest of the gold chain broke away, leaving a few gleaming gilt loops on the end of the iron.
The Chainling stepped up to my shoulder. “We’re in a holy place, my Lady. It senses your presence.”
That was easy enough to tell. As soon as I’d walked into the temple, many of the chains had stopped in their wandering and began to reach for me. It almost like I was walking through a nest of metal snakes as the Chainling led me forward, moving carefully around the chains to avoid being ensnared in them.
The room itself was a large, rough rectangle, but there was a raised dais of obsidian at the end, obscured by the chain forest. Chainlings sat around it in circles, their hands linked together, some of them silent and others muttering under their breath. A little velvet cushion rested on top of the dais, with something dull nestled on its surface.
I squinted through a wreath of incense smoke, taking another step forward. “What is that?” I asked, speaking low so no one but my guide would hear me.
He followed my gaze. “All we have left of our first queen. Her bracelet. The links of silver were… appropriate.”
The Chainlings were starting to sit up, hoods turning in our direction. I hesitated again, feeling pinned by their gazes in a way I’d never felt before.
Possibly because I’d never understood the why of them, or the force they worshipped. In this temple, it felt like the chains were pulling at my soul.
Two of the Chainlings closest to the dais unlinked their hands and moved apart. Another brought a black cushion and laid it on the floor between them before resuming her place in the endless line.
“My Lady.” My guide motioned to the cushion. “It’s time to join us in communion.”
This was it, the place the High Priestess had guided me to. I felt like I had no choice but to step forward and settle myself on the cushion, folding my legs beneath me and looking up at the dais.
The Chainling to my left took my hand, being careful not to prick my palm with his claws, but the one to my right had a softer, slightly calloused hand like mine. I was oddly grateful that my hands were dry instead of clammy.
My guide leaned over my shoulder. “Don’t fight it,” he said softly, almost in a whisper. “Let it guide you. It means no harm.”
With that, he vanished into the circles of Chainlings that made up the links. They shuffled around to make room for the new addition to their ranks.
And then there was silence. I stared up at the dais with the rest of them but saw nothing but ranks of hooded heads against the softly flickering lanterns. The minutes passed in silence as I attempted to meditate with something I didn’t entirely understand.
The scent of incense was so much stronger down here, making my head swim a little. I felt Sarai flip around, a soft, burbling feeling in my stomach, but then she went quiet, too.
Then it happened.
The hum that had been building in my bones, an almost imperceptible tug at my heart, intensified until I felt almost seasick, like I was being pulled out of my skin and off the floor.
But I felt the pillow beneath me, the solidity of the ground. I was still in the temple of the Chain… and yet somehow, my soul was being pulled out of me, exhaled on my breath and spiraling into the swirls of incense overhead.
The Chainlings’ chanting grew stronger, a murmur that built on the echoes of itself until it sounded like distant thunder.
My head spun. The entire room swam, and I closed my eyes to reel in the dizziness, to block out the sight of the chains weaving like snakes and the flash of eyes in the dim light.
I exhaled again, feeling the tug in my chest shift and move, and the Chain ripped me away.
11
Melisande
I tore upwards, ripped straight out of my body and into the stone overhead.
The temple flashed by, followed by the arena, and the Chain yanked me through Dis, bits and pieces of everything flashing by. It felt like it was wrapped around my incorporeal body, holding me tightly bound as I raced along invisible paths.
Tiny glints of light caught my eye as I exploded through Dis, straight through buildings, demons, and into the desert. I was sure I was screaming, my lungs exploding from the lack of air, but all I heard was the wind rushing by.
The little sparks of light grew brighter, tracing the pathways, and I realized what I was seeing.
Chains.
Chains everywhere, long, short, connecting demons and places. Some were gold, others silver, iron, ebonite… it wasn’t a forest, but a massive tangled web, so dense that once I realized I could focus on seeing them, almost everything else was obliterated by their light.
Some of them extended far into the sky overhead, but the Chain that had a grip on me kept pulling me further and further from Dis, far from being able to see where they went.
The air tightened around me, becoming almost thick like glue, but still I flew through everything, seeing slivers of time long after the fact: a god of night reaching for the stars, a goddess crying a river into existence, a woman with golden hair, stripping off her jewelry and clothes as she passed under seven arches in a wasteland darker than Dis…
The wastelands vanished as I zipped and jerked through the massive web, riding the links to who knew where, and suddenly there was green everywhere. Green grass, leaves on trees, a blue sky with the sun overhead…
My chest tightened in a way that had nothing to do with the Chain itself when I realized what I was seeing. It was a world I thought I’d never see again.
Earth.
Earth as it was before the Apocalypse, before the final days when blood filled the rivers and oceans, before everything was eaten to dust, before Wormwood fell and the bodies piled like mountains…