AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Concern surges through me, and I reach behind Durr for my cape. I have an idea why Lana would go there on her own accord. It was the coin that landed her in this mess, and she likely assumes that if she rids herself of it, she can be rid of the associated bullshit.
Except, Lana isn’t a demon, and her inclination toward empathy likely allows her to be fooled. Especially if she is driven by blind hope.
I know demons, and I know ones like Lord Egretz. He will remove the coin at any cost, even if it means ending a human visitor’s life.
“Show me where she went,” I order Durr as I tie on my cape.
“You’re going there?” he inquires as I push him out the door. “But she went there willingly.”
I shake my head, my patience running thin. “It doesn’t matter. She is still in grave danger, and I can’t let anything happen to her.”
“Why is that?”
Durr’s question is innocent and childlike. It makes me stop in my tracks before following the pink moon, my heart rattling inside me with a knowing I had refused to acknowledge before.
I gulp, both with a harrowing terror about the words hanging on my tongue and a soothing relief.
“Because I love her,” I confess. “I love her, even if she doesn't love me. And I have to save her.”
Durr nods like I told him I wanted to go out for dinner, then trots in front of me. He is a simple creature but has been infinitely useful in dire situations.
We walk across the ashen fields with nothing but the whistle of the wind accompanying us. Lo and behold, Durr guides me to the outside of Lord Egretz’s lair, the same spot where Lana had just saved me from.
I tell Durr he can return home, but he refuses, shaking his head like a loyal ur’gin pup.
“I will wait out here for you,” he says casually. “Just in case anything happens. I’ll wait until you make it out.”
My heart sings, and I feel a wave of regret about the horrible things I have said to him in the past. He might be a bit slow, but his intentions are always pure.
“If there’s any fighting, don’t get involved,” I say to him, trying to be firm.
Durr looks off into the distance and nods. That is the most I am going to get through at this rate.
It was easy escaping the keep through the tunnel Lana had found, but I don’t want to risk pushing my massive body through there again. There is a likelihood that I could get stuck, plus I don’t know the map of the castle enough to get out of the keep and locate Lana in time.
It will serve me better to make a straightforward approach following Lana’s scent through the open hallway.
I think to cast an invisible spell over my body, which, of course, doesn’t work with sound, nor does it work for a long time. I consider taking out a few of the guards with my stealth, but it would be better to slip in without any risk of getting caught.
I cast the spell just outside the entrance as I crawl forward, noticing the three guards standing outside. They are quite oblivious, just as Lana had mentioned before. But I take extra caution, tossing a stone in the opposite direction to sneak past them into the front entrance.
I walk into the lobby area, which is large and dank. A few guards are standing around, chatting casually, and I move quickly for as long as the spell will last. I detect a hint of her familiar scent coming from the main dining room area, so I scatter my feet, making light pattering sounds over a long carpet.
I move without thinking, like swimming through water. I know without knowing that she is close, and my body begins to ache, thinking about how I had gotten her into this situation, all because of my selfish willingness to have her taken out. I must get to her before Egretz and his minions can.
“No!”
A scream echoes through the chamber hallways, and I follow it. It is a painful, agonizing shriek, and I know in my chest that it is Lana. They have already gotten to her and are going to take the coin whether she likes it or not.
“I’m coming, Lana!”
I call out, even though she isn’t going to hear me. She is a strong woman who will struggle until the very end, but even her tenaciousness cannot keep her from the power and greed of a demon.
I run as fast as my six limbs can go. The lair is giant, and I kick in a few doors without caring about the guards anymore. Still, no one notices me, and I continue along, finding two large, thick doors decorated with the lord’s family emblems.
I try the doors, finding them locked, then shake them madly. When they don’t budge, I back up, go onto all six of my limbs, and charge it like a bull facing a matador.
My skull crashes into them, and they falter, instantly crashing inward. I can hear the blood-curdling screams of my beloved, and it blinds me to my movement. My love urges me forward, and my feet fly across the floor like a bug in the wind.
