As if on cue, the snakes dunked into the open space on the cage floor, sinking into the river of lava beneath.
Alaris didn't bother to try to think about what must have called them back. Instead, he raced over to Belladonna to find her there on the cave floor, her body still; the sandglass on her arm had lost its glow.
It had stopped counting. They had failed and she was… no.
Eli didn't sacrifice for nothing. She cannot be… no!
The loud pounding of his heart killed his ears, boiling rage consuming him as he held her in his hand, he could feel his beast rise from a deep slumber within him, his eyes golden with its presence.
Her name rang in his mind, but he couldn't speak; his throat was tight with anger, his muscles filled with rage.
Nightshade.
“You have run out of time.” A voice said from the dark.
The Killer.
It was the Killer.
Alaris tensed, seeing murder. His claws itching to yank a heart, his being thirsty for blood and agony.
Today, he would kill everyone.
“Oh, what shall you do?” A mocking chuckle followed but it didn't last.
Alaris pounced on him, bringing the murderer to the floor, his claws quickly sinking into where his heart should be, flames lacing his fingers and pouring into the man’s heart.
“You killed her,” he gritted. “How dare you?!” He sank his claws deeper, blood splashing on his face as he did. “You camouflaged bastard! DEATH IS YOURS, GAYA!”
“Gaya is my wife, unfortunately,” he said, relaxed, as if claws weren't being dung into his heart, as if he wasn't bleeding out in pain. “I am the Gardener. As for your lover, she is merely asleep.”
Alaris frowned.
Liar!
More flames poured through his fingers into the man.
A gray-haired man with wrinkles all over his face, his black eyes filled with amusement that did nothing but increase Alaris’ rage.
“How dare you?!”
Those snakes sprouted out from the floor again, one hitting him and making him stagger back, his claws dripping with blood.
Alaris stood up quickly, his eyes not leaving the black-hooded killer. He ignored the gigantic snakes that stood behind him, along with their sharp hisses.
All he could see was murder.
“She is merely asleep.”
“She isn't breathing!”
“She is,” he snapped his fingers, “now.”
It was easy for Alaris to check on Belladonna, he was standing right next to her. With his eyes still on the Killer, he knelt and placed his finger below her nostrils.
Then he felt it.
His Nightshade was breathing!
Going against his better judgment, he looked at her to ensure that she was actually the one there.
She was.
“How?” This didn't make any sense. He had watched him kill her. When he held her in his arms, she was lifeless. So how? If he hadn't killed her, then… “What did you do?”
“She had Gaya in her, and I took care of it.”
“Do not speak lies!” Alaris snapped.
If Nightstand was possessed, he would have known.
He was no fool to listen to the lies of this creature!
What even was he?!
“Haven't you noticed that things became strange after you ate of the tree? Did you not realize Gaya forced you to have no choice but to eat its fruits? She does that with every one of you strays.” He paused petting one of the snakes that were now certain to be his. “All she needs is one victim, the weaker one that carries around time. It was too easy.”
Alaris looked down at Belladonna, who, although still asleep, was certain to be alive.
Indeed, they hadn't been able to eat of anything but the Tree of Life, and it was true that after that a lot of things had changed.
“That part of Gaya in her needed to die. I killed it, not her. I helped you.”
Help? In Gaya's Garden?
If that help was true, it was certainly not for free.
Alaris was more anxious about what they would have to give in return for this “help” than figuring out what this creature was.
“Name your price.”
“I am only but an ally,” the old man said with a smile.
“Name your price!”
“An ally in need of help,” he continued like Alaris hadn't said anything.
“What help?”
Slowly a couple of chains appeared around the man’s wrists, which extended further into the cave, a distance that could be measured with the deepest of the seas away, till darkness could allow Alaris to see no more of them, even with his enhanced sight.
“Freedom,” this time when the man spoke, his voice was completely devoid of humour.
For how long had he been a prisoner?
“If you help me get free from these chains, I will get you the Life Gem you seek and grant you freedom from Gaya’s clutches.”
Grant? Who was he? But that wasn't of significant relevance to their freedom. So Alaris asked the better question.
“How?”
The Old man looked at the roof of the cave, and Alaris followed his gaze to see sleeping bats hanging upside down.
“A prisoner only has so much liberty of words.”
Alaris’ frown deepened. Explaining every detail would probably contain words that would awaken the bats and send a message to his jailer, who could be no one but Gaya.
“With what do you need me to break your chains?”
“The chains cannot be broken by violence. Only that you trust me and do as I say. Will you do that?”