The Spaces in Between by Chase Henderson Read Free Book Online Page A

creatures of Disney mythos. The creatures that lived by the Fae roadside were the most malicious, but Cameron was sure he was packing enough heat to cut a path of fire right through the country. But persistence pays off in Fae, because all the roads lead to the same place – where you’re headed.
    And where Cameron was headed was the court of Lilith, Queen of the Underworld and keeper of its gates.
    Fae was in perpetual twilight, but had a full moon so bright that you could read by it. This was the best light for Lilith’s complexion. The millennia of living in the Twilight had paled her to snowy white. She was not a native to Fae, but in fact the first woman. She sought sanctuary in Fae after rejecting Adam and hence God. With a mastery of sorcery and the Tree of Life from eating the Forbidden Fruit she became the Queen of the Underworld.
    “Why Dread Pirate you’ve returned in a most insulting fashion,” Lilith said from her open-air throne. “Bearing cold iron and in that filthy flesh.” Her court of assorted Faeries, Hobgoblins, Gnomes, and Elves cowered about their bon fires where they eternally reveled in the Queen’s honor.
    “I’m afraid I’ve come here for business not pleasure this time,” Cameron said, “but it’s not with you. I just need you to open the gates. There is a disease spirit I need to talk with in there.” Cameron concentrated with all his might to maintain eye contact and keep his eyes from wondering to her cleavage blanketed in hair as black as space. It went beyond ample to the realms of supra-ample threatening to break out of her bodices to fly into orbit.
    “I think I know of the disease you speak. He’s running amok in my ex-husband’s realm so I don’t see why I ought to allow you to stop it. Name a price.”
    Some of the Fae a few centuries younger screamed when Cameron drew his flintlock pistol from his belt. “For opening the gate I won’t shoot off one of your tits.”
    “Oh, you old romantic.” Lilith grinned maliciously. “You certainly know how to talk to a woman.”
    “I thought you dropped that title centuries ago.” Cameron pulled back the hammer on his flintlock. “I’m a horrible shot, but there’s not much aiming I’d have to do here.” Lilith smirked and leaned forward with an eerie grace. The hammer fell.
    Fae hit the ground all around them. There was screaming and pandemonium. But the only a soft click ran through the air. Lilith threw her head back and her chest heaved in her roaring laughter. “I’ll open it. You’ve always known how to make me laugh, Dread Pirate, and that’s more than I can say for any other man.” She recomposed herself. “I need to warn you that thing is not part of Creation. Normal means will not bind it. You know, Cameron, you could stop this inane quest and stay with me forever. I’ll tell you how to keep your powers.”
    “I might be a lot of things, but not a sell-out.”
    As he passed through the wrought iron gates Cameron replaced the shell in his flintlock muttering something about duds. Noremac guided him through the Underworld, but it wasn’t very hard for Cameron to find Fillipre ’s disease on his own. Its trail was marked with the path of dead flora and fauna on the borders of the realms of the Death Gods. They finally pinned it on the banks of the river Styx where the spirit was ambushing souls seeking passage there along with their spirit guides.
    The river divided Adam’s kingdom from the Necropolis, or Land of the Dead, or Limbo, or Summerlands, or Hel (but not Hell), or whatever the culture calls it. It wasn’t Heaven, but it certainly wasn’t bad. It was more like a locker room where souls could wash up before their next life. To gain entry would require passing the trials of whatever Death God, and it wasn’t really that hard. Those who were intentionally cruel were cast into Hell for a while to cool off, but that’s for another time.
    The creature thrashed on the banks, screaming in