Beyond the Glow

Chapter 7

After awhile, my disguise fades back to normal, and the lamp stopped moving, my real feelings coming out. I let the anger heat the lamp until I was sweating, and when someone tried to pick it up again, I made sure they left with a burn. It was my last act of defiance. Len can take me anywhere he wants, but he never wished for me to go willingly. 

I pace the floor in frustration, knocking things over and making a mess. After awhile, finally tired, I collapse on my bed and fall into a deep sleep. 

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

 I wake when the lamp is not-so-gently slammed down on something. The sound of the copper connecting with a hard surface echoing around my room. The floor is a mess, the covers on the bed twisted around me, half on the mattress, half off. The rugs on the floors are all twisted and no longer lay smooth anymore. 

My heart nearly broke again when I realized why I had caused all the damage. Still enslaved to Cynthia, because she wasn't dead she still held power over me, and now forced to go wherever Len wanted me to follow him for eternity. I could feel her like on the other end of our connection, nothing much, but she's alive. 

"Get out of there!" A very loud, very angry, voice echoed around my lamp, making me clutch my ears in an attempt to protect them. A loud bang on top accompanied the yell. Moments later arguing could be heard outside my walls. Wearily, I stand up, and go over to the hole in my wall; I'm for some good old eavesdropping. 

The voices from outside echoed into the spout of my lamp, and concentrating, I could make out what they were saying. Lens voice echoed down the spout, reverberated into my ear. 

"Be gentle! She really isn't in the best of moods right now!" 

"Well neither am I! The last spy we sent was caught! Obviously we need magical help, and now you've angered the only magical deity in the city!" 

"My orders were clear, set her free, and bring her back."

"And you messed up both of those simple jobs!" I grin, I like this person, whoever it is. The voices drop in volume, and I sigh, sticking my arm through the barrier. I can't hide forever. 

Len stood in a dirt room, his only company a dirty, run-down man. He wore a simple stained old t-shirt, and trousers held up by suspenders that stretched over his slight beer belly. His face has slight dark brown stubble covering his chin and bushy eyebrows hung over bright eyes a strong nose, and puffy lips. His hair was short, cropped close to his head in a choppy fashion similar to Len's.

We must be underground, the only light comes from a lone candle sitting next to my lamp on a small table pushed up against the wall. Wooden beams hold up the dirt above our heads, probably the only things keeping us from being crushed, and a single door seems to be the only exit in the room. 

"You have changed nothing." I say quietly. My anger simmers, and my voice takes on a hidden edge I didn't even know I had. "I still belong to Cynthia, even if I am out of her home. As long as the Crawdove lineage survives, so does my curse."

Len stares at his feet in shame, hiding from my angered gaze. "I couldn't kill her." He looks up, his eyes hurt. "Besides, I was being beat up by that Hangar fellow, and by the time he was unconscious, she was gone." 

"She will do whatever it takes to get me back." I say, grinding my teeth. "Or did you not see that room?"

Len stays silent, anger of his own appearing in his eyes. "I thought this would be different." He mutters, before turning around and leaving the room. The other man stays, watching the show with interest.