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With a snap of her finger, Alice summoned another ball of purple arcane energy to light her way. She ventured down the steps, one hand on the wall as she shied away from the edge.
On and on, she descended. It could have been a few minutes. It could have been an hour. Time lost all meaning. Her senses were all off. It wasn’t hot. It wasn’t cold. It was disorienting, no doubt a design to keep those like Alice away from the place they sought below.
The uneasiness weighed on Alice’s mind. Each step down was less sure than the one before. Each step, each lunge down, the thought of losing her footing weighed on her mind. She could tumble all the way down or spill over the side. It would end her trip to rescue Hugo. Her knees grew weak. She stopped.
Alice took a moment to catch her breath. She leaned her shoulder against the stone wall. Her legs burned. Even though she was descending, her legs tired from catching her body on every step. If she took one more, then she would surely fall. She had no choice.
With her free hand, she opened the black satchel she carried. Inside were the remaining potions Sylvia didn’t destroy. Three vials ofDrink Me Juicein case they needed to sober up quickly from any influence. A flask ofLuckbecause she needed all the luck she could get. And finally, a flask ofAir Walk.
The potion helped her out against her fight with the vampires and Savinos. She had hoped it would come in handy if she and Hugo were in a jam. But if she didn’t take this potion now, she wouldn’t have the leg strength to reach the bottom. She had already traveled for what could have been miles with untold miles to go. Alice had to try. She pulled the cork with her teeth and downed the wine.
Alice took a deep breath and exhaled. She pushed off the wall and fell over the side, down into the dark below. She fell at a controlled rate. The spiral staircase encircled around her.
Down and down, she fell.
She moved faster than walking down the steps. The purple ball of arcane energy lit her way. Deeper into the darkness shefell until the bottom became clear. She controlled her descent, touching down at the bottom with ease onto a stone floor.
An arched doorway greeted her at the bottom. It led to a wooden dock at the side of a river. A lantern bathed the dock in the soft glow of yellowish-orange light. Alice scanned for any signs of life, but there were none. There was no ferryman. No one waiting for her. There was only a post with a hanging bell.
Alice stepped out onto the dock. She dissipated the ball of energy. The thick soles of her boots echoed as she stepped onto the wooden planks. The dock was in pristine condition, not rickety or broken, but well-maintained as if it were brand new.
A stone cavern with high walls encircled the river. Alice could see the ceiling of the cave above the dock. The stalactites above shimmered in the yellowish-orange glow of the lanterns’ light. The river disappeared around the bend in both directions. Brackish and dark. No signs of anyone waiting.
Alice approached the bell. A rope hung from the side, worn and weathered. She gripped the rope and pulled. The bell rocked back and forth, calling out for anyone to hear. Over and over, Alice rang the bell. The sound echoed off the stone walls. She stopped and waited.
A boat appeared from out of the shadows to her left. A lantern was fixed to the front of the boat. A cloaked figure stood in the back, its face shrouded in an inky darkness. Its skeletal hands gripped the long oar as it dipped into the water to propel the flat-bottomed gondola forward. The boat maneuvered toward the dock and stopped. The ferryman turned to Alice with its hand out.
Alice gulped. She stood tall and said, “I seek passage to the land of the lost. I do not offer you my soul for this passage. Instead, I offer you my unique gift. My gift of the arcane. My gift of magick.”
The ferryman nodded, not uttering a solitary word. He pointed to the seat in front of him with his skeletal finger.
Alice stepped off the dock and into the boat. A shiver ran through her body as if a part of her had peeled away. She snapped her fingers to conjure a ball of arcane energy, but one did not appear. She snapped her fingers again. Still nothing.
She was devoid of magick.
A coldness ran through Alice. For the first time, she was without her magick, without who she was, and it terrified her. She drew her shoulders and arms inward and took her seat.
The ferryman drove the long oar into the water and pushed away from the dock. They ventured into the black darkness, guided only by the light of the ferryman’s boat.
Stave Four
THE SPIRIT REALM
Chapter 21
Alice in a Not So Wonderful Land
Alice’s eyes focused on the dark, the unending dark. She scanned for any light, any signs they were emerging from the cavern, yet there was none. The only light was the soft glow of the lantern fixed to the end of the flat-bottomed gondola.
The ferryman drove his long oar into the water and propelled the boat forward. He made no sound. No grunting. No straining as he shifted back and forth from side to side to push the boat forward. Nothing. Only silence.
The river stretched out before them, twisting and turning as it guided their journey into the darkness. Time stopped. They could have traveled for minutes or hours or days or years. Alice lost track of any sense of time. As if she had stepped onto the boat and the dock was right behind them, yet they ventured miles away. Everything was disorienting since she had stepped onto the stone steps.
She glanced back over her shoulder to see the ferryman’s face—an inky, dark void. There were no distinguishing features. An unease fell over her. Her heart raced. She desperately wanted to get to their destination and find Hugo.
“How much further?” she asked.
The ferryman didn’t respond.
