AllFreeNovel
Share Us
At the end of the hall, I take a right, heading once again for the hallway with more doors on it. The first three are locked once again, so I move on to the fourth. Surprisingly, it opens and then I hear a thwacking noise. I dive instinctually out of the doorway, somersaulting and coming up in a squat, ready to pounce. I look across the hallway and see a massive spear quivering in the wall adjacent to the door I just opened.
The traps seem to be getting more elaborate. Good. That must mean I’m getting closer. It’s only then that I notice the slight stinging pain in my left shoulder. I look down and see a gash just above my collarbone where the spear must have grazed me. The wound looks almost black and smells like rotten meat. If I were a human, I’d likely have died instantly, but my superior immune system seems to be preventing the magical infection from spreading.
I get up onto my feet and continue down the corridor. There’s no time to waste trying to bandage it up. The wound is minor, so there’s no chance I’ll bleed to death, though the magical effect of that spear worries me slightly. If it’s going to kill me, I must find Ariella first.
My sense of urgency spikes even higher, and I begin to run. I pass through several corridors, always taking the one with more doors. On the third one, I’m forced to leap high in the air to avoid a razor-sharp set of spikes that come jolting up out of the floor. I barely even register the distraction as my protective instinct drives me through the labyrinth.
As I continue, I find myself at a full sprint. Time is running short, and I must reach Ariella soon. All of a sudden, I feel myself slowing down despite my full exertion. I peek down and realize the floor is shifting beneath my feet. The formerly sleek black stone is quickly turning into a sticky black substance that grasps desperately for my legs, trying to lock me in place and pull me under.
Instinctually I leap up for the wall, sticky black goo clinging to my scales. I hit the wall with my feet and use the combination of my momentum and the grip of my claws to run along the wall. I reach the end of the corridor just as gravity drags me back to the floor, and I collapse on blessedly solid stone. Panting, I pick myself up and keep running, determination stronger than ever.
When I reach the next corridor, I have another decision to make. Neither hall has any doors or any clues as to which direction I should be going in. I consider turning around, but then I’d have to run along that hall again, and I fear it might drag me down this time.
Suddenly, a familiar scent reaches my nostrils. I walk toward the scent and my heart begins to soar. It’s Ariella. I’ve found her. I’m sprinting again before I realize it. Down one corridor, then another. Arrows fly out of the wall in the next corridor, but I dodge them without a thought. The scent is growing stronger.
I turn the corner and suddenly there she is, locked behind thick steel bars with only an inch or two of space between them. I stop dead in my tracks as soon as I see her, the symphony of unfamiliar emotions in my heart preventing me from taking another step. Then I begin to sprint again.
Ariella looks up. “Zyranth,” she exclaims. “You found me,” she continues in a choked voice.
“Of course, I did,” I say through the thickness of my throat. “I could never leave you behind, Ariella. Never.” I don’t know why, but I know that’s true. “Now, let’s get you out of here. How do I open this?”
“You have to have the key,” she responds in a dejected tone. “As far as I know, Lord Everan has the only one. The bars are enchanted, there’s no other way to open it.”
“We’ll see about that,” I say. I touch the bar gingerly to make sure it won’t burn me like that door did. It doesn’t burn me, so I take a firm grip on the door, one hand near each of its hinges.
“Stand back,” I warn Ariella. “A piece of one of these could come flying back at you.”
“Zyranth,” she says in a pleading tone. “I told you these bars are enchanted. You won’t be able to…” Ariella trails off as the steel bar connecting the door to the rest of the cell snaps cleanly in two with a loud twang. I rip the door off its hinges, tossing it aside.
We stare at each other for a moment, before leaping into each other’s arms. We stand there in a long embrace, Ariella letting out a brief sob into my shoulder.
“I feared he would kill you,” she says. Her bravery leaves me speechless. She wasn’t worried about herself being tortured, only that Everan would capture me as well. She truly cares for me, I realize with a jolt. And I care for her.
I take her head in my hands, looking directly into her sparkling eyes. I can see the pain she’s been put through there and feel our connection grow even stronger. I know that pain, for I’ve lived through it myself. Our bond is solidified now. She knows my fears and pain and I know hers. But there’s a long way yet to go if we’re going to make it out of this alive.
Reluctantly, I lower my hands and grab hold of hers. “We must go, Ariella,” I say in a soft voice.
“Yes, we must,” she responds. “I bought us some time with Lord Everan, but he won’t stay distracted forever. We need to go before he realizes you’re here.”
I nod and we step out into the corridor.
“Hold on,” Ariella says suddenly. “Zyranth, you’re injured. Let me see.”
“It’s nothing. Let’s go, we need to keep moving,” I say.
“But that looks serious. At least let me have a…”
“No,” I cut her off, perhaps too briskly. “We have to keep moving, Ariella. A little cut on my shoulder will be the least of our concerns if Lord Everan returns.”
She looks ready to keep arguing but sees the truth in my words and nods her assent, so we step out into the corridor together. I consider taking us down the path I took to get here, but I fear those traps will have reset and I’m not sure if I can protect Ariella from them. Luckily, Lord Everan’s men neglected to blindfold Ariella when bringing her in, and she’s able to guide us in the general direction of an exit.
Unfortunately, we don’t know every turn to take so we find ourselves racing down corridors until Ariella sees something familiar for us to follow. As we journey through the darkness my protective instincts are on full alert. I am prepared to kill, to rip elves apart and gorge on their flesh. But my emotions toward Ariella confuse my instincts somewhat.
I don’t know how to reconcile my growing care and tender concern with my instinct for violence. I want to stuff my emotions deep inside myself but don’t know which ones to hide. I’ve never felt whatever it is I’m feeling for Ariella, and I couldn’t bear to lose that. But my predatory instincts and proclivity for violence could be the only way to keep her alive.
My internal struggle goes on silently as we dash through the darkness, fear and determination driving our bodies to their limits. We turn the corner frantically and both let out a slight gasp. Three guards in lightly armored elegant uniforms stand at the end of the hall, looking right at us.
18
