Chapter 1

The beginning of the end.

She always had a meeting on a Sunday. It was supposed to be a day of rest, but maybe as she didn’t follow any of the religions that imposed that, she wasn’t allowed one. Always did she spend her time wandering through the stalls in this expansive market place thinking about all the things she could be better doing with her time. From lying in to terrorising small villages. Though of course she hadn’t done the latter in centuries - ever since laws had been imposed and she had started to view herself as a law abiding citizen. (Not that she was one, of course.) She was also racking up way too many feuds but she liked to imagine it was the first and not the second that had stopped her. Right now she knew that her sister would be sat in the limo either texting her boyfriend or dosing, which seemed to be her only two habits at this point in time. But she was grateful that her sister had something so mindless to pass the hours with, when around her it was practically a bloodbath some days. But she shouldn’t dwell on the horrors that had been, but on the horrors that were yet to come. Like this meeting for example. 

Celeste walked through the market before her meeting to make sure all was going well down in the cavern. She always like to arrive early to her meetings so that she could get a feel for who she was going to be dealing with. She would occasionally stop at a stall that caught her eye to chat with the vendor and ask how business was. A few she stopped at to find out if they had the money they owed her and if not when it was going be there. If they did, all was well and she even bought something off of those stalls as a sign of gratitude. And if they didn’t then they had a threat against their life if this was the second or third request for it. If it was anymore than that then they would be dragged out from behind the stall and their necks would be snapped right there in the cavern. This was both a good way of preventing people from skipping out on fees and for encouraging those that could pay to pay right then and there. Also it was an excellent show of power if she was ever needing one, which amongst these folk she often did. There was a careful balance that had to be kept and if it wasn’t then things began to go wrong. Crime would go up, the government would start implying that they were going to start making their existence illegal. That kind of bullshit that just made everyone’s lives harder. And that was not the end goal with this situation. This market allowed for people to exist happily in an environment that was out to kill them and unfortunately, before this was set up that had been the case. But that time was over and every one was at least happy putting up with everyone else and coexisting that way. 

There was everything down here, from the more mundane to the truly spectacular. At one stall there were some small bones - that were undoubtedly from a small fairy child - that were almost glowing and at another a painting that was almost definitely an original, not that she would doubt that there were more than a few places that did forgeries down here. The dark was constantly shifting as those with the gift took from it and try as she might, Celeste just could not afford to keep the tall cavern as lit as she might like. 

Celeste could just see the witch she was here to meet with when all the lights went out, even the candles floating low above them. The ceiling started trembling and people started screaming. To begin with they were small screams that were more out of shock than anything, but as the trembling turned into all out shaking more and more of the screams began to sound terrified and the next thing that she knew the ground above started collapsing in wards and taking out the stalls and even some of the vendors who couldn’t defend themselves. Thankfully Celeste could so she just continued walking, only slightly fazed by what was going on around her. There were a few people that she stopped to help but as the cavern continued falling for more than a couple of seconds there was only so much she could do until she reached the pair she was trying to meet with. But when she arrived at their obliterated stall they were gone, as were all of their wares. It was as if they had never been there. 

Eventually though the room did stop shaking and the dust cleared and those who could, got up to check on those who couldn’t, old rivalries forgotten for a second as they were all brought together over the moment that would change everyone’s lives forever. 

Author's Note

I have had a few friends review it and they can only come up with a couple of issues. Please be brutally honest, but at the same time only helpful. Thank you.