The Fanged Throne

Chapter 8

It was early morning when Banu and Elora had almost reached Istath. The landscape around them had started to change, Elora huffed as they climbed the steep path. The trees were sparse in the area, the steep hills were covered in large grey rocks with small shrubs that peeed from under them. Elora wrapped her coat closer to her body and watched as pufts of hot air floated from her lips. The snow had become thicker the closer they had gotten to the mountains; their peeks were hidden behind a white cloud. Elora let out a yelp as her foot slipped against a loose rock, Banu didn't have the same trouble walking up the steep path as she did. His boots were steady on the rocky ground and his thick coat kept out the cold.

Elora was exhausted this morning, from both the tiring journey and from her pitiful slumber last night. Banu had been dead asleep when she had woken up last night. Her skin had been covered a thin layer of sweat and her coat tangled between her legs. Again, she had been back in that red room, the walls were dark and heavy with blood. She had been standing in the room when she had heard a faint knocking. A door was built into the wall behind her. The knocking had become frantic, calling her closer.

Her hand had wrapped around the handle and she pulled. The door did not move. She had pulled and pulled desperately on the handle as the banging on the door had become louder. A word was being shouted over and over again. A word she had never heard before nor one she understood. She had not noticed until too late, the walls were growing thicker, filling the room up with dark blood. Elora had opened her mouth wide to call out for help when she had woken up.

Banu didn't stir as she had sat up and stifled a scream with her hand. Her bare feet that were illuminated by the moonlight were covered in dirt and grass. The most terrifying part was the dark maroon liquid that had dripped off her feet. The coin that had been in her pocket was lying discarded a few feet away from her, it too had been covered in blood. Terrified, she had stood up on her shaky legs and looked around for her shoes. They had sat near the fire that had died out. Elora had then noticed a pair of footprints ahead of her, stepping carefully she had placed her own foot in the print. A perfect match.

She rembered looking behind her to make sure Banu was asleep before silently following the footsteps. She thought she must have been sleepwalking, she would have remembered going for a walk in the night. Her footprints had led her through the trees, in a curved and winding path. They had carried on for a long distance before they suddenly stopped. Confused at the abrupt halt, Elora had looked around. They had stopped at the edge of the woods, the tall mountains loomed ahead. For some inexplicable reason she had the strongest urge or feeling that she needed to go there. The wind had tugged gently at her hair as a word had echoed in her head.

Khogassek.

When she had gotten back to their campsite after washing her feet in the small river, Banu had still not awakened. With her feet back in the slippers she had spent the rest of the evening tossing and turning as she tried to make sense of what had happened earlier. The strange word replayed over in her mind until she had eventually fallen asleep.

Now, Banu had stopped walking and was waiting for her to catch up. He lifted his arm to point ahead. "We're not too far now, up there is Istath." He started moving again. "My friend's cottage is just before the mountain. Come on." Elora groaned internally at the thought of more walking, especially up the sharp hills. Up in the distance she could make out a few buildings dotted halfway up the mountainside. The buildings were grey, blending them into the landscape. Below the mountain sat a small stone cottage, a thin plume of smoke signaled its position. The closer they got to the cottage the colder it became. A thick mist had settled in, blocking the large mountain from their view.

Banu stopped a little before the cottage and turned to face her. "I must warn you, Mirild can be a bit ..." He paused, struggling to come up with the right word. "Difficult."