Discover L (Book 2) | Editing |

~~ A Bit Too Easy ~~

L eventually considered the powers of an air Elemental, of being able to phase through a solid object in a non-corporeal state. She was annoyed she hadn't thought of it sooner, it wasn't magic so she should be able to do it. She dropped to the ground and focused on using the ability correctly, Maeve had warned her of the dangers- and she did not want to end up stuck in the ceiling, half impaled. She slowly began to phase, feeling her whole body ripple, and jumped with Vampire strength, the grate came up fast and L braced herself, just in case she did it wrong and crashed into the metal.

Thankfully, she managed it correctly and popped up on the other side. She quickly returned to her solid state and landed on the ceiling of her prison with a thud. L rolled to the side, wishing she hadn't when her head began to spin, but she crouched in the darkness. She was in a small nook to the side of what appeared to be a series of tunnels, branching off in all directions. There was no sight, sound or scent of anything or anyone, in any of the tunnels nearby. L shook her head in confusion, and an attempt to get it straight again.

She felt strange, like her mind wasn't working the way it should. L had a vague idea of what might be wrong, a concussion was possible after such a knock to the head. She tried to stand but her legs wouldn't comply, she'd used too much energy to get out. L knew she had to find Bryce and Robbie, and sooner rather than later. But crawling wasn't the answer and she certainly wasn't going to start shouting their names in the hopes of hearing them shout back.

L found herself curling up into a ball where she was, she knew she shouldn't sleep right now but her body didn't seem to want to listen. She was hidden by the shadows and no longer a prisoner, something was shouting in the back of her mind not to fall asleep but L was also starting to think she could benefit from a nap. She nodded and laid her head on her arm, using it as a pillow. Her eyelids drifted closed despite the voice in the back of her mind screaming at her not to do so.

L awoke suddenly to the sound of banging and loud grunting, at first she couldn't remember where she was and she didn't understand what was happening. It took a few minutes this time for everything to start coming back to her and she knew she was in trouble. She shouldn't have fallen asleep, if it hadn't been for the banging she knew she might never have woken up again. L calmed her panic, scanning the darkness in an attempt to figure out what was going on around her.

She could finally hear more than just her own breathing and footsteps. Something was moving around, shifting things loudly and grunting nonsensically. L still couldn't smell them through her blood caked nose, nor see them at that point but she knew they were close. She wanted to poke her head out of her hiding place to get a better look, but she wondered if she was faster than her captors. Their altercation in the forest would suggest otherwise.

After a moment of hesitation she decided to chance it, she wouldn't get anywhere just hiding out in the dark. She quickly shot her head out of her hiding spot and back in again, she managed to get a good look but there wasn't much to see. The grate to her prison was open and she could guess the noise was coming from down there. Someone knew she had escaped by now, why had they come back for her though?

L wasn't going to stick around to find out, she readied herself mentally and ran out of her hiding place. She ran past the grate and kept on running, she had no idea which of the tunnels would take her to Bryce and Robbie but she had to find a way. She took a left and then a right, she kept running while her senses were alert for the tiniest change. All of the tunnels looked identical and L was soon lost even to where she'd already been.

She slowed to a walk and wandered the tunnels for some time, she had no idea if she was going the right way but luckily she didn't bump into anyone. Was it luck? Or was that something she should worry about? Why weren't there more of her captors? Shouldn't they be running to search for her now that she'd escaped? L rubbed her forehead and stopped in a dark recess of a wall to marshal her thoughts.

What should she do? She couldn't keep wandering the tunnels aimlessly, she needed a plan. She remembered in films she'd seen, how characters in mazes would find some way to mark the paths they'd taken, but L had always seen the flaw in that plan. If she knew which way she'd gone, so would anyone who was following her. She needed a way to mark the paths without being too obvious. She could sense that her magic still wasn't working, so that wasn't an option.

That's when a new plan struck her, a trick she now knew thanks to the Jötnar's vision. The Menehune had a talent for divining the past through the ground, if L could adapt that ability she could find her way through the tunnels. It was a long shot and since she hadn't been taught the inner workings, all she had was the knowledge in her head and what she'd seen. It had to be worth a try. She knelt down and pressed her hands to the ground, bringing up the information she needed to perform the action.

L closed her eyes to concentrate, she could see how it was supposed to be done and knew the dynamics behind it, but this was an ancient ability that she didn't fully understand yet. It would take training and practice to master it, she just had to hope she could pull it off. She focused harder, squeezing her eyes shut, but it was no use. Either she didn't have enough to go on or this place was different in every way possible. L punched the dirt packed ground, ignoring the pain in her knuckles.

This was starting to seem impossible. She wouldn't quit but her anger was starting to get the best of her. L stood up and began racing through the tunnels again, she made a multitude of different turns, not stopping to figure out if she'd been in them already. She just needed a safe way to blow off her frustrations. If she ran fast enough and long enough, she was bound to come out somewhere new eventually- or find herself in more trouble. Either way she needed something to happen.

She ran as fast as her feet would carry her, and a moment later she saw the faintest glow of light in the distance. L followed the light, it steadily grew brighter, until suddenly she was standing outside in the bright sunshine. It took a moment for L's eyes to adjust, she could see nothing but hills and forest, she had no idea where she was. L pondered what to do now, she could keep running in search of something familiar and find help, but she couldn't just leave Robbie and Bryce here, her thoughts were already slipping towards something dark.

What if they weren't here? What if they'd been taken somewhere else? Or worse, had no need to be taken anywhere. No, L couldn't think like that, she needed to believe they were okay and being held somewhere. She growled under her breath in anger, forcing a bolt of magic to shoot from her hand and blast a nearby tree. Her magic was back, but how? And more importantly why was it fine out here but not down in the tunnels? She would have to find answers to those questions another time, she had things to do. She tapped into her magic in an attempt to find Bryce and Robbie.

Despite the fact that her magic was working out here, it wouldn't pass through the tunnels. She felt the magic dissipate the moment it hit the strange rock, as though it was resistant to magic entirely. L knew of certain spells and talismans but they didn't usually cover such a large area. This had to be the work of a Witch or Warlock, it was their particular brand of magic. But why would they do such a thing? And what was grunting back in L's cell?

L was sick of having so many questions and no way of answering them. She was about to run back into the labyrinth of tunnels when her enhanced sight caught movement in the distance. It was too big to be an animal and too wide to be an ordinary person, but whoever it was they were heading her way. L ducked around a nearby tree and used her magic to turn invisible, it wouldn't last long but she hoped whoever was coming would be someone she could use to find the guys.

L peered around the tree and watched the figure moving closer, she felt her jaw drop when she finally managed to make out who, or rather what, was coming. A Troll, a tall, grey, ugly looking Troll was heading straight for the tunnel L had just exited. It had a ponytail of black hair sticking out of the top of its head, a gormless look on its knobbly face and held an unpleasantly familiar club in its giant hand.

L reached up to rub her head, a small bump had formed there, that and her blocked, bloody nose were both reminders of what this creature had been capable of. L didn't know Trolls could do that, they weren't known for their speed or accuracy, usually they just fought each other and big predators for their food. How could this creature have caught her, Bryce and Robbie unaware and so easily? They didn't have magic, or any abilities really, so how did they come to be here in these tunnels?

This Troll walked straight at the tunnel and headed directly inside, just as L re-materalised. She exhaled a breath she'd been holding and quickly decided to follow the Troll, it appeared to know where it was going and might reveal more of what was going on.