Alice tried to rise, but Martin flicked his wrist. A shard of wood shot into her throat. Blood gushed as she gasped, choking, clawing at the wound.
"Alice!" Quentin screamed, rushing toward her, but she collapsed in seconds, lifeless in a pool of crimson.
Margo's eyes filled with tears and rage. "You fucking monster!" She hurled curse after curse at him, words dripping venom and grief.
"Oh, quiet you," Martin said almost lazily. With a snap, her neck twisted. Her body hit the floor with a dull thud.
"No!" Eliot howled, his body convulsing with sobs. Quentin's screams tore through the cabin, raw and broken.
Martin only laughed. His voice filled the space like a death knell. "Oh, how beautiful this is. You see, Quentin, it was never about killing you quickly. No. I savor this. I savor your suffering. Watching you lose the people you love, watching you drown in despair. You see it makes eternity almost bearable. And when you're finally hollow, when nothing of you remains, then I'll end you. Because pain, my boy, is the only teacher worth keeping."
He turned his head toward Julia, a wolfish grin spreading across his bloodied face. "Shall we begin with you, my dear?"
He raised his hand only to freeze.
A sickening sound pierced the air: the sound of flesh tearing, bone crunching.
Martin's eyes widened as a hand erupted through his chest, blood spilling down his fine clothes. He gasped, twisting to see the arm protruding from him.
"…You," he whispered in shock.
A voice, low and mocking, growled behind him. "How about we don't, my dear walking dead."
The air shimmered, bending like heat waves, until Kai stepped into view. His expression was hard, his eyes locked on Martin with icy fury, his arm buried in the Beast's chest.
Quentin, Julia, Eliot, and Penny stared in stunned silence, their tears not yet dry.
Kai's gaze flicked to Margo and Alice's crumpled bodies on the floor. His jaw clenched, his face tightening. He looked back at Julia and Quentin, their eyes red and wet, Elliot shaking, Penny trembling.
"Where the hell have you been?" Penny rasped.
Kai's voice was cold. "He sent me into a trap."
Martin coughed, blood spilling from his mouth, but his lips curled into a smile. "…How?"
Kai's features began to shift, his aura darkening.
"Hmmm…"
————————
A while ago
Kai reached for the cabin door when the world around him blinked out. He staggered forward, but instead of wooden floors and dim interior of Christopher plovers writing room, he found himself yanked down into darkness. When his vision steadied, he was on his knees, iron chains locked around his wrists and ankles, pinning him to the stone floor.
"What in the hell is this place?" Kai muttered, tugging at the restraints. His eyes darted downward and caught the glow of a rune etched into the ground beneath him, pulsing with unfamiliar symbols.
From the shadows, a voice slithered out. "Hell? My, my… this isn't Hades, child of earth. Think of this as a more unsavory abode. One… tailored for you."
Kai snorted, tilting his head as though he wasn't bound to the ground. "Cute. Real atmospheric. Let me guess, you're about to tell me you're the concierge of this little nightmare?"
A laugh rumbled through the chamber, low and amused. The darkness shifted until a figure emerged. It was tall, lean, with the elongated face of a fox, amber eyes gleaming like embers, and a grin lined with too-sharp teeth. The creature wore a patchwork coat of velvet and leather, mismatched boots, and a dangling chain of gold coins around its neck like a con artist who never quite gave up the carnival.
Kai blinked, then burst into laughter. "Wait. Cheshire? Is that you? What the hell are you doing so far away from Wonderland?"
The fox's grin faltered. "What?"
Kai smirked. "Oh, my mistake. Sheesh—you've got a face only a mother could love."
The fox's ears flicked in irritation. "I know of no Cheshire."
"My bad," Kai said with a shrug. "Though maybe you should check in with your dad, see if he fathered a few fox-babies in another dimension. You look like the side project of a cosmic one-night stand."
The fox's expression hardened. "Enough of this nonsense. I am Zyntheris, Keeper of the Crimson Den."
Kai tilted his head, eyes narrowing playfully. "Zyntheris, huh? You wouldn't happen to be related to Raynard the Trickster God, would you?"
The name landed like a stone in still water. The fox stiffened. "You know of my lord?"
"Know of him?" Kai chuckled darkly. "We recently had a little heart-to-heart. Believe me, mate I'm well acquainted." His smile turned sharp, almost diabolical. "By the way… where the hell am I?"
Zyntheris raised his arms, gesturing to the cavern around them. The walls stretched endlessly, riddled with bones and strange claw marks. "You are in the Crimson Den, my playground. An extension of Fillory itself. And you… are my guest."
Kai raised his brows. "Guest? That's a stretch. Pretty sure I didn't RSVP for this little party."
The fox circled him slowly, tail swaying. "You were given to me… by the new caretaker of Fillory." Kai's smile thinned. "That would be the Beast, if I'm not mistaken. Tight."
Zyntheris smirked. "Indeed. Though I prefer a certain… taste in offerings. Women. Virgin women, mostly."
Kai glanced around the den, noting the piles of skeletons stacked in corners like discarded toys. He clicked his tongue. "Mmm, yeah. Just like your god."
"Precisely," the fox grinned.
Then its voice lowered. "But we should play a game, you and I. Three challenges. Win two, and I let you leave. Lose…" Its grin widened until it nearly split its face in half.
Kai stared back impassively. "Go on, then."
Zyntheris raised a clawed hand. "The first game is simple. Before you are three doors. Behind one, freedom. Behind the second, endless torment. Behind the third, well…" His eyes gleamed as three doors manifested on the wall. "Your soul, stretched until even your screams grow tired. You have one choice. Choose wrong, and the game continues… with less of you each round."
Kai tilted his head, lips quirking into a smirk. "That sounds… rigged."
The fox waved a hand dismissively, pacing away. "My game. My rules. You'll play, whether you want to or not."
The chains rattled suddenly but the sound was off. It felt louder and oddly closer. Zyntheris whipped his head around. The rune-circle on the floor was empty.
A laugh echoed in the darkness.
"Oh," the voice purred. "I've got a better game. It's called… peek."
Zyntheris spun in circles. "Show yourself, child of earth! This is my home, and you shall obey my rules. You will not—"
"A" whisper brushed against his ear. "Boo."
The fox barely had time to flinch before Kai lunged from behind, sinking his fangs deep into its throat and ripping it open with a vicious tear. Blood sprayed as Zyntheris stumbled back, claws clutching at the wound.
"Mnnnh." Kai's eyes fluttered as he licked his lips. "Wow. Surprisingly, your blood tastes… sublime."
He stepped into the light. His face had shifted with veins dark beneath his skin, eyes blazing, a demonic mask overlaying his features.
Zyntheris gasped, staggering. "You're no ordinary vampire…"
Kai licked his lips slowly. "No, mate. I'm the Original. And before I was interrupted, I was saying that I know your god. I'm looking for him, actually. Last time we met, I turned him to stone."
Zyntheris shook his head violently. "That's not possible—you cannot—"
"Why am I even wasting my time here?" Kai muttered, cutting him off. As the fox rambled, he crouched and pressed his hand against the rune carved into the floor. Slowly, deliberately, he pulled at its magic. The symbols bled away like sand in water.
The den shuddered. Walls collapsed inward, fire snuffing out in waves. Zyntheris screamed as the sub-dimension tore apart.
In a blink, they were outside again and back in front of the cabin. Zyntheris stumbled, clutching his throat, gasping in confusion as he looked around.
Kai was gone.
Then, in a blur, he was there again standing with something clenched in his fist. Zyntheris looked down and froze. His chest was hollow. His heart was gone.
"Oh," he whispered weakly.
Kai smirked, dangling the dripping organ. "Thought I'd give you your god's specialty. You know, heart to heart." With a casual flick, he tossed the heart aside, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and turned toward the cabin.
"Now…" he said, voice calm and cutting. "Let's try this again, shall we?"
And he stepped inside.
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