The Devil Doesn't Bargain (MatD part 2)

Chapter THIRTEEN - Go Again

The world shifted suddenly across my vision as we stepped out into the cold. It whispered and whistled across my ear, sending shivers along my spine and deep within my bones. The ache in my chest sat pillowed atop a constant nagging - a consistent, caressing, suffocating something of a feeling. The wind, as silent and smooth as it was, simply brushed over our bodies, purring at our fingertips.

Our boots crushed against the dirt ground as we padded quickly out a door, headed to the nearest floo pillar. The castle behind us backlit with the piercing calm of the moon. It towered overhead, shadows of spires and lives still sleeping cradled against the dust.

Anne's arm was wound around Ominis', her shoulder nestled against his, the warm red light of his wand glimmering over their figures - entwined and supported. Sebastian's quiet mumblings and musings had simmered down, replaced with the grumbles and complaints of hatred for a particular stone woman.

The trip through the Floo system, as instantaneous as it was, left a delayed thrash of pain through my ribs. Traveling this way always seemed to wear on the curse. 

Sebastian eyed me cooly, the whites of his knuckles barred to the moonlight though he tried to keep them hidden at his sides. The small prickle of his jaw muscle the only other indication that he had noticed my discomfort. 

"What is it we are looking for exactly?" Anne's unornamented voice shuttered the silence. 

"I'm not sure-"

"Anything peculiar." Sebastian interrupted, gently brushing his hand over my shoulder as he stepped forward, eyes to the tree line. "This is the view depicted on the canvas that was left on the triptych. Isidora wanted us to find it for a reason-"

"Wanted Atley to find it." Ominis corrected.

Sebastian pressed on, tossing an unamused look to his blonde friend. "There has to be something here. Something out of place."

"What about the abandoned mine nearby?"

I turned to Anne who was watching Sebastian intently. 

His voice turned to the sound of hers. "You know this place?"

"You seem to forget we were inseparable during the years you insisted on exploring."

Sebastian's lips tipped up, a moonlit spark in his eye as he watched his sister. "How could I forget."

"A mine seems as good a place as any... a start at least." I offered though my voice sounded a tint too shaky as I shivered. I had never felt a cold quite as piercing as the one this curse brought - a relentless chill laced to each inhale.

"Oh yes. A dark, precarious mine sounds positively endearing." Ominis' sarcasm a welcome distraction. 

"Oh chin up Ominis." Sebastian swung his arm over the poor boy's shoulder, momentarily pulling his balance off center. "Perhaps it will be ominous too."

The mine itself seemed a particular sort of untouched from the outside, but the grounds surrounding it were beaming with dark figures and fire-cast shadows. 

Goblins.

Dozens of them crowded a small makeshift camp just outside the mine entrance. Its walkways were littered with mining tools, dirtied garments, goblin armor and the smell of freshly cooked meat. The campfire at the center cracked and popped in seemingly mocking calmness as the four of us crouched behind the closest wall.

"This is a good sign." Sebastian whispered, nodding to the creatures grumbling just beyond our hiding spot.

"In what world is a hoard of fight-prone goblins a good sign?" Ominis spat, his whisper creeping too loud and Anne pressed her hand over his mouth.

"It means there's something significant about this place. Perhaps they're searching it - the way they did Rookwood Castle and Isidora's manor?"

"So what do we do?" Anne's fingertips dropped tenderly from Ominis' lips, fiddling with the fabric of his sleeve haphazardly. "Do we fight or sneak inside?"

"You know which one I'd choose." Sebastian grinned.

I tugged his fingers under mine. "We do our best to avoid detection. I don't want anyone getting hurt if I can help it."

Ominis looked relieved, Anne nodded and Sebastian did his best to hide his disappointment with a tight lipped smile.

The four of us moved as a shadow, flitting through the darkest corners and hiding behind crates and clutter. Scattered lights from the goblins' fire danced beneath our toes, slithering in eerie pirouettes and reflecting blindingly off the shining metal of tossed aside shields and axes. 

"No one enters this mine," The goblins groaned among themselves. "kill anyone who tries."

Ominis, who had been following just behind me, reached out, knocking his fingers into my arm and fumbling down until he could pull my hand to his. I wondered if he'd mistaken me for Anne until he pulled forcefully and I stumbled backwards to his side, his other arm swung out in front to block any further advance. The four of us stopped, turning in confusion to the blind boy.

Blood instantly ran cold as Ominis held a finger to his lips, eyes wide.

My ears pricked up quickly. Sebastian pulled my body behind his, wand at the ready.

Something large groaned heavily in the distance from beneath the mine doors. It pulsed steadily, thrumming deep within my eardrums. I could have sworn I almost felt a prickle of ancient magic but it felt faint and far more subdued than what I'd felt before. 

The air here felt thicker too, laced with something not quite sulfur but strong enough to dig within and poke uncomfortably at my nose.

"What is that?" Ominis whispered, though not quietly enough. This time it was Sebastian's hand that clamped over his lips, eyes frantic as a goblin to our left whirled on its heal.

"Who's there? I know I heard you."

Sebastian pushed Ominis' body backwards into mine, my spine now pressed painfully against one of the  large wooden crates we had been hiding behind. My hands wrapped instinctively around Ominis' arms - a protective impulse though I knew he could handle himself.

Anne's wand split the air between us, her hushed cast sending the goblin stick straight and eyes wide before toppling over under the full body-bind curse.

"Oi! Someone's over there!" Another goblin from a few paces away snarled, feet darting madly in our direction. And it wasn't the only set of footsteps either. The entire camp was on alert now and I knew we had lost the leisure and concealment of the shadows. 

Here we go again.