The Darkness Within

Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Lorcan

"Get up." Guraund hissed. I swatted at him and turned my head away.

"Get up, you moron!" He said a bit louder and kicked my side.

"What the hell are ye on about? Why are--"  His hand clamped down on my mouth.

"If you want to live past this day, you'll shut up. Wake your girl up, and get the hell out of here. Fast." He replied solemnly as he lowered his hand from my mouth. He moved back, in the shadows of the cave. 

With my senses now clear I scanned the area. Something was coming down the tunnel, straight for us. I shook Caitirina gently from her sleep. She raised her head slowly from my chest and smiled up at me.

She frowned when she saw my expression. "What's th--" I stopped her from saying anymore by placing my hand carefully across her mouth. 

"Shh..." I pulled her up silently with me, and slid back into the shadows just as Guraund had. I was about to get rid of the fire when Guraund stepped from the shadows and shook his head violently. His head whipped to the entrance of the tunnel and he slid back in the darkness. That's when it emerged. 

 It looked like a large rat with the head of an ant eater. But it's body was contorted in a way that looked as if it had been thrown in a fire, many times. It was revolting to look at. The thing slid in on all fours it's long snout sniffing the air around it. I felt Caitirina stiffen in my arms, but she didn't make a sound. It stopped and it's head whipped towards the direction of the fire as the flames leapt up. It opened it's jaws wide, row upon row of extremely teeth gleamed as the thing lunged at the fire. It screamed as it landed upon the fire and it's mouth devoured the first set of flames. We didn't waste another moment.

"Come on!" Guraund yelled over the screeching. We dashed down the tunnel, the horses were gone. Hopefully they had run off. 

The clearing was full of them, they sat silently, until they saw us. For a moment they jsut stared, and then all at once, as if they were one being they lunged. A shadow swooped over head and then fire racked the first line of our attackers sending then all into a shrieking fit. 

The Dragon landed gracefully on the ground, and gestured towards it's back. 

We didn't waste a second. "Nice to see you again Bal." I said as I lifted Caitirina onto his back, Guraund and I followed suit. 

You didn't think I'd miss a good old fight would you? His voice whispered through my mind. Caitirina jerked around and stopped moving. She was staring at Bal as if she had heard him herself. Maybe she had a bit more in her than we thought. 

"Today would be awesome!" Guraund cried out. "Seriously, move!" 

Caitrina shook it off and climbed the rest of the way onto Bal's back. I was thankful she hadn't questioned what she just heard. I didn't think I'd be able to explain it myself.

I got on last and looked behind as Bal's giant wings moved the air violently around us. The creatures that had began to stand up again were knocked down by it's power. I laughed as they looked up and gave us a death glare.

Caitrina~ 

The sound of Lorcan's laugh did little to distract me. What the hell had that been? I swore I had heard Bal's voice in my head. But how was that possible? When I had turned I had noticed Lorcan and Bal looking at each other in a way that I knew he had been talking to Lorcan. But how had I heard? I decided I didn't need any other problems to worry about and shrugged it off. Maybe he had actually said it out loud, and I just didn't realize. A dragon talking, sure...well anything was possible actually. He was a man for God's sake! 

"Are you alright?" Lorcan asked as his arms tightened from where they rested around my stomach. I loved being this close to him. But I wished it were under different circumstances. Why couldn't I have meet him on normal bases? Besides the fact that he wasn't even from my time, but still. All I wanted to do was actually spend some time with this man without havingthe fear that someone or something was coming after us. 

"Yes, just thinking." I replied.

"About?" 

"Everything." So much was running through my head. Who was I, What was I, Would my life ever be normal, Where was Victor and..."Why haven't we seen any sign of Narishka or Victor?" 

"I don't know. They may be biding time, waiting for us to make the wrong move. Or maybe they just can't find us. Either way, it's making me uneasy. The sooner we get to Intuneric the better." He nestled his face in my hair and nuzzled my neck like the cat he was. "Don't worry, we're almost there. And then we can get this whole bloody thing figured out. I promise. 

I only wished it were that simple. I had a feeling that it was only going to get worse. And soon. 

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-Mlana