The three left the next day on the woodsy path toward the Descent. Keisha’s movements were sluggish as she wobbled along the rough terrain. She had to stop several times to catch her breath and not throw up.

A cold, wet snout brushed against Keisha’s hand. She looked to see Celra in her large Wolf form that stood forty inches tall and six feet long by the shoulders. She petted her midnight black fur and stroked her behind the ears.

“I’m…fine, Celra…Just need a bit of rest. My chest…” She was interrupted by a tightness and pain. Her throat clamped close, and Keisha gagged from the smell of rotten eggs in the air. She was growing dizzy, and the metallic taste on her tongue threatened her stomach.

“What’s…happening to me?” she gagged.

“It must be what happens when an Earthborne is in the Inferno. Your body is trying to adjust to your Malia and the Inferno’s atmosphere too.”

Celra growled at Verona, baring her fangs. Keisha looked at her and back at Verona.

“She…She’s saying, I think, what about our imprint?”

Verona raised her brow. “Tch, Now you can understand her?”

Keisha shook her head. Her brow was coated with sweat, and her legs gave from underneath her. “N-No…there’s an overpowering sensation and…I guessed.”

“I’ve got an idea,” Verona sighed. She walked to Keisha and moved her hair away from her neck.

“W-What are you doing?” Keisha questioned, trying to steady herself on the trunk of a tree.

“I’m going to make a temporary seal to give you ease.”

The tips of Verona’s fingers touched Keisha’s neck, sending shivers down her spine from her warm touch.

“C-Can you do this?”

From the corner of her eye, Verona smirked.

“It’s not that I can’t. It’s illegal—hold still,” she said as she parted her lips to say the disguise Verse: “travestimento.”

The pressure that had been building inside of her slowly faded. The tightness in Keisha’s throat released, when she took big gulps of air, and the metallic aftertaste disappeared.

“How do you feel?” Verona asked, stepping back.

Keisha nodded. “Better. You’re good at that, Verses and all.”

Verona shrugged. “My father taught me everything I know.” Again, Keisha recognized the tightness in the way she spoke when her papà was mentioned.

They walked along the path again.

“Thank you again, Verona, for helping me find my mamma. I wouldn’t have made it in here if it wasn’t for you.”

Verona was silent for a moment before speaking again in a soft tone, “No one should have to lose a parent—let alone two—and it was my fault that I couldn’t catch the cloaked figure or close the Veil in time.”

“I just hope that I can save her,” Keisha somberly said. “I don’t know anything about being a Legacy. I couldn’t properly command my Stanza. What if everything I’m doing isn’t good enough?”

Verona stopped walking, almost making Keisha trip. She turned to face Keisha, sighing

“What you do isn’t good enough? Keisha.” She looked at her with a hard gaze. “You didn’t have to go jump through the Veil. You did what no sane person would do. Everyone can be scared, but that does not make you a coward.

“I…I’m sorry I lost my patience back there at the inn. I’ve never had to be someone’s mentor or guide, but Celra was right. My training for you needs to be different because people learn at different paces—and that’s okay. You are unique and have more power than you realize.”

Keisha smiled, nodding. “Thanks, Verona. I appreciate that.”

A deep blush settled on her cheeks. “Yeah, well, we should keep going while we have daylight.”

The three continued their trek, and the path grew darker and eerie.

Celra growled at something in the distance.

Keisha rubbed Celra’s head and peered into the darkness. They saw a faint bob of yellow-green light.

“Verona, what’s that light?”

Verona stepped back, eyes widening. “It’s Wytchsprites—run.”

“What?” Keisha exclaimed, and with no warning, the three broke out into a run through the beaten, trodden path.

It wasn’t until a desert storm obscured Keisha’s surroundings that she was separated from the others. She raised her hands in front of her face as the sand made it hard to see.

“Verona! Celra!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. There was no response amid the storm. “Ver—” She stopped, seeing a figure and a fading light in the distance.

“M-Ma?”

There were no mistaking Bea Alighieri’s dark curly afro and bright amber-colored eyes. Her square jaw was set into a loving smile, and she reached out, beckoning Keisha to come toward her.

Celra jumped from the sandy mist and attacked the imposter that transformed into the Wytchsprite and disappeared from the attack.

“Celra!” Keisha cried out. She wrapped her arms around the large wolf, and Celra shielded her protectively. “C’mon, we have to find, Verona.”

Celra led Keisha through the sandstorm. Meeting up with Verona in the wake of the storm. The three of them stumbled across a sign that read ‘The Savage Way’ near the tunnel of a mountain.

“Thank goodness you’re safe. I lost sight of the both of you through the storm, and I couldn’t see anything.” Verona’s voice wavered for a moment. Her knitted brows were still creased together in worry. “Let’s get as far away from the Wytchsprites as possible. The Mortal Light should be on this path.” Keisha nodded. She did not want to see another false image of her mamma again.

***

THE TUNNEL THAT THEY had gone through was dark until Verona cast the ball of light from her palm. The cave walls and ceilings were made from dolomite, where strange drawings and weird languages were written on the wall.

Keisha and Celra stayed together as they peered at the eerie surroundings. It wasn’t until a disembodied voice greeted them, and Celra growled at the mysterious voice.

“Who’s there?” Verona commanded at the voice and stood at the ready.

A light shone at the back of the cave. “Stay on your guard. It could be Wytchsprites,” Verona warned them. The three of them crept toward the light until they saw three tall figures standing around a cauldron filled with white light.

“Welcome Daughter of Virgil, Daughter of Dante, and Celra Lucca.” The figures greeted them. They stood at ten feet with purple skin, wearing blue cloaks and a white cloth over their eyes.

“You know who we are?” Keisha questioned.

“Yes,” the figures said in unison, but they did not open their mouths. “We are the Benedicts of the Mortal Light, and we know you have come to seek knowledge.”

Keisha stepped forward. “You already know what I want to know.”

“Beatrice Alighieri—the wife of Dante. She was taken by the Black Hand.”

“The Black Hand?” Verona exclaimed with a frown. Keisha looked at Verona then back at the Mortal Light.

“Who is the Black Hand, and what do they want?” Keisha asked them.

“A vicious troupe, with dark Maleficio at their beck and call, that have turned wicked and led by a tyrant ruler. They have been waiting for Dante and thought they had their chance when they found him again.”

“Found?” Keisha’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Two years ago,” Verona whispered. Keisha looked over to see Verona thinking. “That must be how they tracked your location—through the veil that my father used to retrieve Dante.

Keisha was lost for words. She shook her head as her mind reeled with questions that she didn’t have any answers to.

“B-but where are they keeping her? Where is my papà? What did the Black Hand want from him?” Keisha bombarded the Mortal Light with questions.

The Mortal Light said nothing.

Keisha tightened her hands, stomping her foot. She shouted, “Well?” The ceiling shook, and a flurry of rocks rained from the ceiling before stopping.

“Keisha, you need to stay calm,” Verona said by her side, taking her shoulder in her hand. Celra, too, stepped forward and nuzzled her snout into her hand.

The Mortal Light finally spoke:

“For everything has a time and purpose: Powerful and Ancient, hope has no name. Raised by those hated, forgotten, and slain. In the body of the Fifth child, shared by the blood of the Judas, they will bring the Light in the Darkness.”

“What?” Keisha exclaimed. “What does that even mean? Who is the Judas? Who is hope? Is that supposed to be someone I need to speak with? I don’t understand; you aren’t making sense!”

The Mortal Light continued, “You must retrieve it before the Black Hand does. Journey through the perilous Illicit. Bea resides in the ninth level in Black Kingdom. But Dante’s was last known to be on the Eastern region of the Inferno—in Perdito, the second region in the Inferno.”

Keisha’s heart leaped in her chest, finally knowing where her parents were after all this time.

Verona took a step forward. “And do you know what killed my father?” Verona asked.

The Mortal Light shook their heads. “The anomaly killed Virgil Maro, but its power is unknown, even to us.”

Verona frowned. “So, why did it kill him and take only Dante?” Her shoulders stiffened, and her voice rose, glaring at the Mortal Light.

The Mortal Light was silent for a moment. “We do not know.”

Slinking back into the shadows, Verona's shoulders slumped.

Celra nuzzled Keisha’s palm, needing her to speak for her instead: Oh, and where are Celra’s pack? Are they alive? Where in the Inferno?”

“The path to find the one’s you seek, is hidden among the rocky mountains of brimstone and ash.”

Celra and Keisha were baffled by the Mortal Light’s riddle. Not even Verona knew what it had meant.

Having thought all their questions answered, the three tall beings looked at them, waiting. Keisha unclenched her fists and took a deep breath, and released it.

“How do I get to the ninth level?”