Within the Walls [NEW VERSION]

Chapter 33

"I wonder if the lizard remembers the smell and mortal taste of his majesty's blood," I say with a snarl as I shoulder past him, heading back towards the north.

The clatter of teeth and the raspy whispers swell in intensity, different sounds and pitches overlapping one another. Water splashes up my legs as I run, dangling the lantern ahead of me.

The king barrels after me, gasping and panting with terror. I cannot see the lizards. But I can feel them. Their billowing presence, and the heat of their increased proximity. I drive my legs into the stone, propelling myself forward, skirting around corners, and stumbling down long stretches of darkness.

"Elle!" the king barks. "Wait up! Do not leave your king behind!"

But I do no such thing. We'd all be better for it if the creatures maul him to death.

His mighty roar of fury drives me onward. I cry out, pumping my arms, pushing myself faster, and harder, kicking up streams of frigid water in my wake. A shriek burrows into the cells of my blood and I glance over my shoulder. Finally, almost melting into the darkness around it, the first lizard hurls itself around the corner behind us, lunging down the tunnel. I curse, taking in the sight of the obsidian, scaly creature with no eyes, briefly recalling the way it almost ripped the king's face off.

The king's face, now, twists, turning violet with sheer horror. "Elle, don't leave me!" His voice crackles and I can't help but grin.

"Run faster, Your Majesty," I growl before breaking into a sprint.

I run until my entire body burns and screams. The three lizards stampede after us, howling and hissing and huffing.

Their breath, like rotting corpses, taunts and teases me like a cat playing with a mouse, the stench sliding down my neck.

Finally, I reach the steps below the palace and launch up the flights, until I burst into the chilled, stale dungeon. The king crashes in after me, slamming the door shut just before the monsters fling themselves at it. I double over, panting, taking sweet pleasure in the king's beet red face, and the sweat running down his temples.

"I didn't know you could sweat," I say with a grin.

The lizards toss themselves at the door for several more beats as we catch our breath, making it rattle and groan on its ancient hinges.

The king draws in a ragged gasp as he straightens, rage seeping into his face. "You snake."

I twirl another blade, arching a brow. "At least I'm not a lonely, miserable murderer. At least, I have friends, people who actually love me. Not subjects forced to exist and serve me out of fear. You wouldn't be so lucky to know about true companionship."

The king grabs a sword from a knight sculpture and roars as he swings it towards my throat. I jump back and then duck slicing my blade across his shins. His scream curdles my brain tissue. Blood streams down his calves, staining his pants.

I sneer as he winces and finds his balance. "Too bad the king didn't have the mind to dress in Tranquillity armour when he ran away to the tunnels like a big, pathetic coward."

The colour drains from his face as the pain weakens his muscles. But he growls and swings his sword. I bounce on the balls of my feet, smirking as we parry one another. His movements are heavy and fuelled with hatred whereas mine is sharp, trained, and calculated. But his lumbered slices work for him when his blade catches on my own, twisting my wrist backwards against the ligaments and tendons sending searing pain shooting up my forearm. I yell out and hurl the sword. It clatters against the dungeon walls.

Perfectly on cue, a flurry of Tranquillity barrel into the dungeon and swoop down on me like vultures to a sick rabbit. They snap my arms behind my back and pin me to the ground. I fling curses at them like blades but the half-dozens of them overpower me like a pack of hyenas to a bull. Then one of them clamps their hand over my mouth coated in a strange, icy blue powder. I cough and gag, but the herb has already entered my bloodstream.