Fire Falls Into the Depths: Book Two of The Brimstone Archives Read online

  Fire Falls Into the Depths

  Book Two of The Brimstone Archives

  R. A. Cooper

  Copyright © 2021 by R. A. Cooper

  Fire Falls Into the Depths: Book Two of The Brimstone Archives

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Edited by Joel Pierson

  Ryan Schwarz, The Cover Designer, www.thecoverdesigner.com

  Published in Weir, Texas, USA

  ISBN 978-1-7362138-2-7 (ebook)

  www.racooper.com

  For my Family

  Character Profiles

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  Also visit www.racooper.com for more.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Thank you for reading!

  Interested in more?

  About the Author

  Also by R. A. Cooper

  Chapter 1

  In three days, my life went from tracking down the Jags to being hunted and saving my friends from the lion-headed vultures. I’d saved Leirgab, my former dance partner, but Houpor and Cee were brutally killed before my eyes. Despite my new fire powers, I could not save them.

  Houpor’s spirit connected with me when I used the selenite crystal he left behind. Hope lingered that I would find Cee again. He was planning something for me, urging me to cross the gates into the Cerebral Realm. It was then that I discovered I was the key, the chosen one who could open the gates and enter the new dimension. But I still didn’t understand. Why me?

  The spray of stardust swept across Aiesha’s face. Her adrenaline surged throughout her body as she glided through the celestial sky of the Cerebral Realm. She glanced at Leirgab, whose jaw continued to turn agape at every glowing orb that floated by them. The darkness was like a midnight sky lit only by the shifting stars, glowing orbs, and cosmic streams of light that danced above.

  The experience was like their ride in the Great Abyss, but this by far was unimaginable. The sky filled with the sound of trumpets blaring unheard-of tunes, echoing in the vastness. It was the collision of happiness and fear all in one location. Laughter intermixed with cries. Yet somehow, the atmosphere was mesmerizing.

  Leirgab stepped forward, risking himself to fall into the darkness. Aiesha grabbed his shoulder, ready to pull him back should he tumble into the depths. But each of his steps forward met a steady surface that did not falter. An invisible road in the vast darkness, devoid of reflection from the light orbs above, appeared beneath his boots. Leirgab jumped up and landed with a thud a foot away from Aiesha. “Check it out. No matter where I step, it’s a solid surface.” He danced side to side and altered steps upward as if climbing stairs. The road followed his every move.

  Aiesha yanked on his leg before he was out of reach. “Not so fast.” The road of stairs he formed cracked underneath. His body tumbled down, and his face smashed next to Aiesha’s boot.

  “Well, apparently you can break the invisible road,” he mouthed through a smashed face as it pressed against the glassy road.

  A disembodied voice echoed in the distance, redirecting her attention. The message amplified with clarity. “You must cross the road to find your way to me.”

  “It’s Cee,” said Aiesha as she felt her pouch vibrate with the sound of his voice. She reached her paw underneath the clasped fold, gripping the talisman that Gander had laid out before her final journey, leaving Puunlo’s Paradise.

  Leirgab pushed himself up and asked, “Is that what you felt vibrating as we passed through the gates of the Cerebral Realm?”

  She held the leatherbound talisman in her paws. “Yes, I think so. But I’m not sure what it is used for, let alone how to use it.” She pulled at one of the loose leather strips and slowly unraveled the top tier of the elongated oval. Beneath the leather revealed a sigil bearing the tau cross. She further unraveled the leather strips, revealing the lower half of the cross. There was a green sheen to the talisman, the color of an evergreen.

  They heard Cee’s voice in the distance again as the talisman vibrated at a low frequency in her paw. “Follow the sound of the horns.” The talisman simultaneously stopped vibrating as his voice ceased.

  The beckoning call of French horns faded in the distance, north of their location.

  “Well, the talisman must be good for finding what we’re looking for, at least when it comes to Cee.” He waved his paw in front of him. “Guess that’s the direction we should go into this void.” He sniffed above his head and stretched up onto the tips of his boots. He shook his head. “Not any scent of food in the air.” He stepped forward and lifted his leg higher to leap but instead found himself standing on an invisible staircase that appeared before his boots. “Shall we travel up then?”

  Aiesha laughed as her sea-blue hair fell forward, framing her face. She leaped next to Leirgab, and another stair step formed as her boot landed. The surface that formed was transparent like glass but felt sturdy and hard like cut diamonds. Aiesha lifted her paw and lit a fireball in the dimly lit sky. The stairs beneath them glistened for a moment. She dropped the talisman back into the pouch before proceeding. Orbs of light bounced along in the distance. “Let’s go. We’ve got to find Cee.”

  Another orb of light flew near Leirgab’s long snout. He leaned to the side and smacked it with his right paw, expecting it to shift forward in front of them. His eyes widened at the sight of the glowing orb bursting into smaller liquid molecules of light that floated down the path it was originally traveling. “Hmm, wasn’t expecting that. Pretty cool though.” He jumped up to catch another orb between his two paws, smashing it overhead. Again the tiny particles burst like a snowball colliding into an object. Trumpet horns blared in the distance. He ran forward again, leaping across the darkness, stairs forming along the way with each step and tiny molecules bursting as he reached for each light orb that came near.

  Aiesha slowly walked behind him. She glanced back, watching the celestial sky with new tiny red particles floating in a pattern across the sky. “Hey, Leirgab,” she called out with her paws beside her mouth. He stopped with a sliding halt, boots forming an elongated strip of walkway.

  “Whoa. Yeah, what’s you thinking about?”

  “Look, the light orbs are flowing in a pattern along the sky. Even the ones after you pop them into smaller pieces. It is a river of light. I wonder if this is the Celestial Road that Cee referenced.”

  “Could be. It would have helped if he were more descriptive. It’s not like there are any signs to help us navigate this black void. Well, these stepping stairs are interesting though.”

  He slipped forward with both legs and dive-rolled as the glass s
teps appeared along with him.

  The echo of trumpets resounded closer. “I wonder if we can cross this road somewhere once we reach the horns?” she asked.

  “Not sure, but I’m having fun along the way.” As he finished his statement, a dense cloud of red light orbs floated in his path. He leaped in the air with a roundhouse kick, wiping out a few more orbs. The light stretched across the sky in the form of a rainbow but with varying shades of creams and scarlet red. He turned to look at Aiesha, smiling, appearing to admire his own amusement at bursting the orbs into smaller sources of light and watching them continue on their path down the Celestial Road.

  “I’m glad you can have fun anywhere. But I’d rather find Cee so we can get out of here.”

  She took off in a sprint, leading the way across a flat surface. Leirgab followed, leaping periodically in the air to smash a light orb, creating colored variants in the sky that mimicked flickering fireflies.

  An image of Cee appeared in the distance upon the Celestial Road. He was no longer old or robed in the filthy, blood-drenched cloak he wore in the Azaro Jungle. His face was smooth without wrinkles, and his chestnut-colored hair was well groomed, casually laying atop his head. Aiesha smiled and sprinted faster toward him. Only when she arrived closer, his image disappeared. “Am I seeing things?”

  Leirgab, panting as he finalized his approach, said, “Well, I saw an enormous pile of grub up ahead, but it disappeared. So, if you see that, then we must be seeing things.” His stomach grumbled. “This is rather disappointing.”

  “Must be a mirage then. No, I didn’t see food. I saw Cee standing there.”

  “Seems our minds are on different wavelengths at the moment.” Leirgab’s stomach grumbled louder. “Make it known that my stomach has a mind of its own. I am really interested in finding Cee too. But it seems my stomach has other plans.”

  Aiesha rolled her eyes. “We must be getting closer. The orchestra of horns is becoming louder.” She slowed her walk but kept at a decent pace, following the light orbs. A ribbon of light streamed in the distance. It was fluid and not dotted like the orbs that flowed overhead. “Do you think that could be it?” she asked.

  “Is your talisman vibrating?”

  “No, it’s not.” Aiesha pawed her pouch. “But it has to be something. This doesn’t seem like it would be a mirage, especially if you’re seeing the light too. It is smooth and ripples like a ribbon. See, there. It is a wavy light in the sky, streaming from something. I can’t tell where it originates.” She started running in a sprint again toward the light stream. Leirgab huffed behind her.

  The light stream disappeared as they approached. Leirgab coughed with a heavy breath. “Ah, see, another mirage.”

  “I guess you are right. But it seemed so real.” Her paw ran through her hair, feeling a faint coating of sweat. She pulled the talisman out of her pouch and reached down further for the wooden box. She sat down for a moment on a stair step that appeared beneath her. The talisman was warm as it laid on her lap. She opened the wooden box, revealing the small selenite crystal, which she clutched in her paw. Houpor, are you there? She closed her eyes and focused on her breath. She listened to Leirgab’s breathing slow as her heart beat from within her chest. The sounds of French horns echoed, and she felt the talisman vibrate on her lap.

  “You are close.” She heard a voice in her mind. Houpor? she responded.

  She felt her hair move beside her face as if being caressed, causing her long ears to wilt at the sensation. Her breath stopped short. The voice was gruff. “You will need to use your powers soon. Be careful, you may encounter lies along the way. The metamorphs are invading the Cerebral Realm, and they will shapeshift into your deepest desires or haunted memories.”

  “I know I thought I saw Cee, but it wasn’t him,” she said aloud.

  “That was nothing compared to what you can come across. Don’t let the metamorphs get to you.” The talisman vibrated once more on her lap. Houpor’s voice continued, echoing in her mind. “Keep the talisman close. It will provide protection and healing powers.”

  She breathed and nodded to herself. “I wish I could have saved you.”

  “I am not the one who needs saving. I am only serving the purpose to ensure your safety and allow you to move forward. Remember who you have become along the way, and it will lead you to transcendence.” His voice softened to a whisper, disappearing with the last word.

  She exhaled and opened her eyes. Leirgab was nearby, leaping into a cloud of light orbs. The selenite crystal fell into place as she clasped it shut. She lifted the talisman again to examine the inscription. Persepolis Kia. The encircled six-sided star appeared to glow as she read the inscription, and she felt a calming wave encompass her body.

  Leirgab punched one more orb, breaking it into pieces before he noticed Aiesha standing next to him. “Ah, that was rather quick. I only got a five-minute workout in.”

  “Oh, really? It seemed a lot longer than five minutes.”

  “Nope. You sat down, had a few breathing exercises, muttered a few things, and then done.”

  “I was speaking to Houp —” Her statement was cut short by a sudden rush that forced her backward, hitting her head on the ground.

  Chapter 2

  Aiesha’s body transported into a memory. It was not her memory, though. She caught a glimpse of another human’s reflection in a puddle of rain. Seeing through the human’s eyes, the image was similar to Cee’s, but with different features. He looked similar to Cee, with dark-brown hair atop his head, swaying with his movements. He was walking down a large city street, buildings towering on either side of him. Someone waved to him as he passed by a shop with a sign that read Furbabies. Aiesha’s own arm was heavy with a phantom wave as the human’s hand jutted outward in front of him.

  She continued to be engulfed in the human’s mind as she observed the human’s every move from within his body. He turned a corner down a dark alleyway at the distant sound of rustling. Aiesha could feel his anger reverberate within her as her own body blazed with heat. There standing in front of him was a darkened figure draped in black, cowering over what appeared to be another human frantically scuffling back up against a wall.

  Aiesha listened as her human’s breath quickened. He leapt from the ground, kicking his feet off the alley wall, and somersaulted, gripping a metal garbage lid. In sync with his body, a dizzying wave from his body’s motion flowing forward swept over her as he thrust the loose lid across the back of the dark figure’s head. The figure fell to the ground. The other human let out a cry and scrambled to their feet, running past Aiesha, or rather the body that she was within.

  The dark figure rolled over on the ground, grunting as it pressed its arms against the broken asphalt surface. As its head lifted, the face was masked, much like one would see in Puunlo’s Paradise, but not as colorful and extravagant. Rather, it resembled muted multicolor hues, much like the figure’s presence.

  It rose upward with ease. The eyes were sunken with a deep purple beneath each. It lunged, but this human body she was viewing from inside dodged to the left and encountered the figure’s gut with an uppercut. The masked figure’s body folded, sputtering a wheezing cough. The figure stumbled back, pivoted, and sprinted through the back alleyway, blending into the darkness.

  Aiesha returned into her own presence as the figure faded away in the distance. She clenched her paws, feeling the pressure of extended claws against her skin.

  “Watch out!” she yelled as a beam of light whizzed over their heads. Aiesha flung herself on top of Leirgab, forcing him to the ground.

  Chapter 3

  Aiesha looked in the direction from which the light came. Another stream of radiant light hurtled toward them. She rose to a kneeling position and sent her own set of fireballs colliding with the stream in midair.

  Sparks spread across the vast dark sky like a burst of fireworks. Another light stream swirled in loops nearby, followed by the sound of high-pitched laughter. A hooded figur
e approached from the distance with swirling light beams surrounding its legs.

  Leirgab leaped to a fighting position while Aiesha hurled a series of fireballs from her paws. Without hesitation, the hooded figure beamed lights at each one. The sky lit up above them with each collision. Aiesha squinted her eyes in that moment, catching sight of the now-visible face that hid beneath the cloak.

  A glimpse of a curly-haired feminine wolf peeked out from the corners of the hood. Its mouth pulled back, revealing gritted teeth that formed the shape of a smile. A laugh echoed from the figure. “You are a lot of fun. Wish I had met you sooner.”

  Aiesha and Leirgab stood in silence before another series of laughs erupted from the wolf. Leirgab slid forward, dive rolling toward the wolf. A beam of light swirled around his quills as he approached. Aiesha quickly bounded behind Leirgab with a stream of fire from her paws. The beam of light and fire stream collided once again, sending sparks into the air. Leirgab’s body rolled at the foot of the wolf, almost in reach, but the wolf leaped with a staggering step into the air as a set of stairs appeared.

  A tornado of swirling light wrapped around Leirgab’s legs and lifted him upside down below the celestial sky. Aiesha bounded up, shooting flames toward the wolf. A second swirling beam cast around Aiesha’s body. The wolf laughed as Aiesha’s body swung next to Leirgab.

  Aiesha felt her pouch vibrate next to her hip, as it had when she crossed the gates into the Cerebral Realm. She thought to herself, I am the key. She felt her body grow warm, and a white aura glowed around her, intermixing with the light beams. The aura shattered the encircling stream, bursting into an erupting star in the midnight sky. She dropped to the invisible road below.