When we got to an opening with a cavernous ceiling, Azrael stopped walking. Three tunnels were leading away from the cavern. He stood in front of one across the way. There was a second smaller tunnel to the right, and there was the way we had come from.
"Now then," He said, his eyes glinting dangerously. "I think we are in the perfect place for you to tell me who you are."
"Isn't that my own business," I said. I was ready to fight or flee, whatever I had to do.
15
The Lost Shrine
Azrael was blocking one of the paths and I didn't even know which way I was supposed to go to get out. His face was in an arrogant smirk. "Perhaps it is your business who you are, but in this case, your business is my business."
"Why is that?" I demanded.
"Because I know how to find what you're looking for." He smiled. I wanted to rip his face off.
"What is it that I'm looking for?" I said.
"Come now, you don't think I'm that stupid do you?" He asked. "You're in Umbrion but you are neither Viator nor Exus. You are clearly looking for something and you are asking a demon a bunch of questions about Anchors."
My stomach dropped. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Sure you don't," He said sarcastically. "In any case, the demons following you are most likely trying to capture you, either to take you to the venerable Lord Morningstar," He sneered the title. "Or they want you for their own uses. The blood of the Guardian of the Gates is very valuable after all." So he did know everything.
"So what do you want?" I asked.
"Not much, just a promise." He whispered. Did I catch a note of desperation in his voice? "I will tell you how to find the Guardian's shrine if you promise that one day in the future you will provide me with a favor."
"That's a hard promise to make isn't it?" I matching his calculating tone. "When I don't know what kind of favor you are going to want?" I asked.
"I suppose that's the choice you have to make." He said and stood silently before me. My instincts were telling me not to make a deal with a demon, but I wasn't sure what other option I had. I had to get to the shrine. I felt like I was digging myself deeper into trouble in the Liminal World, but if I could find my mother, she would be able to set things right.
"Take me to the shrine and you have a deal," I said.
"So it is you after all." He said.
"Yes, I think so," I added. It was all so new, but I was starting to realize that things were very different than I realized when I was at the academy.
"The catacombs are this way," He said, entering the smaller tunnel. The walls were entirely made up of bones in this section of the tunnel. I couldn't help but feel that these souls were better off than the Exus, who would just stop existing. At least they would be remembered in some small way.
I followed Azrael for a long time until we came to a door. I could hear a faint sound behind me. At first, I thought it was only the dripping of water onto the cold stone floor, but then I realized it was footsteps.
"They found us," I muttered. It was never-ending with these people.
"I don't think they ever left us," He said, with an ironic tone. His eyes went out of focus for a moment, and his pupils dilated before flashing back to slits. It was both hypnotic and unnerving. "It seems your friend is not what you thought." His lip curled as if he derived entertainment from telling me the bad news.
"Who?" I thought back to my time here. Then I remembered. "Annabella?"
Her voice echoed from down the hallway. "That's right." She said. "It was so easy. You made it so easy to find out everything I needed."
I was stunned. She was a really good actor if nothing else. "You didn't come here to..."
"What? Have my spirit consumed?" She laughed. It was a harsh high-pitched sound. I stepped backward toward the door. She took a step forward. "Don't think you'll be walking away from this." She ordered me. I was afraid if I took a step she would bolt toward me.
"Are you working for Lord Morningstar?" I asked. I had to distract her.
"No." She said, "I'm a free agent, but his servants are paying me to bring you in. I wouldn't expect you to understand. You clearly don't have the best judgment." Her eyes flicked from me to Azrael.
Azrael leaned into me and whispered, "I suggest you get on with it." He moved in front of me.
"What do you have to gain from protecting me?" I asked.
"We'll find out one day," He said, referring to the favor I would owe him. Then he paused, "And I'm bored." It didn't make any sense, but I wasn't in the mood to question my good fortune.
Annabella lunged down the hall and I wrenched open the door behind Azrael. I heard a sound like a whip, and I could only imagine that Azrael had used his power on Annabella. I could remember the inky black power that the demons wielded. It was ironic that I was now in league with a demon somehow.
"Go." He shouted.
"Thank you," I said.
"Don't worry, we'll be even soon." He said, and I wasn't sure that I liked the glint in his eyes.
I stormed through the door. I could hear the struggle going on outside. There were shouts, and I heard someone slam against the stone wall.
The room was cramped. The walls were almost caved in, but in the center of the room stood a strange monument. It was the missing shrine and it was constructed entirely of bone. It was a fitting edifice for the city of the dead. I walked up to it. It was ornately decorated,
