Part 20
THE ATTEMPT TO GET IN, THE ATTEMPT TO GET OUT
“We are expendable assets, Nicholai. And we’ve just been expended.”
~Carlos Oliviera in Resident Evil: Apocalypse~
[Lunalea POV]
When I sat there alone in the damp chamber, the memory of my past started flooding my head. The memory of the night my mother died must had been some kind of plug; once it’s pulled, the other memories were just pouring out. Now I got a theory of why I lost my memory: my mother’s death must be so painful for me that my unconscious repressed everything from that point backwards.
I remembered the twenty years I spent with my mother, Arianwen. We live in a cottage just outside the border of Green Vista Village. When I was a little girl I used to go and play with the children in the village. I remembered my mother was a white witch whose main job was to heal people. The earnings weren’t that much, sometimes people even paid her with food, but somehow we could live. When I was old enough, I worked at a small manuscriptorium in the village, where I got to read some interesting materials. And then when I reached seventeen of age, I began having black-outs now and then; the demon side in me started to emerge. My mother and I spent most of the next three years traveling all over the kingdom to find for a cure. We had yet to succeed when Haelock and its underlings razed our house..
Thinking about my mother made me want to cry, so I pushed back the thoughts. There’s no time to grieve. I had a more pressing matter at hand: getting out of this place. I gazed down and gently caressed my belly. “I’ll get us out of here, I promise..” I whispered.
But first of all… I glanced at Arnvid’s head on the floor and tried to overcome the sudden agony and guilt that clutched my heart. At least I had to bury what’s left from the courageous hunter. So I digged the soil ground with my hands, since there’s nothing else I could use. “Farewell, Arnvid..” I whispered my parting words with great difficulty, holding back my tears, as I cautiously put his head inside a hole on the ground, “Thank you for what you’ve done for me.. and I wish you could forgive me..”
After the short unceremonial burial, I explored the chamber and found that the only way out was a hole blocked by a massive thick flat circular stone. By my physical strength alone it was impossible to remove the stone. Earlier when Vaughan was present, his oppressing aura made me feel weak so I didn’t bother to try using magic. Now that he left, I could feel my power returning bit by bit. So I waited anxiously until I felt strong enough—if only I got my tonic I could have recovered faster, but my canvas bag was nowhere to be seen. I kept reminding myself that Vaughan could be back at any second and the thought made me grow more anxious.
Approximately fifteen minutes passed, and I tried to spark a fire using magic. To my relief it worked. I got up and went over to the exit hole. I pressed my left ear to the stone, trying to pick any sound coming from outside. I heard nothing. I guessed it’s a good thing I didn’t use magic in front of Vaughan; I just hoped he thought I was weak as a human and therefore didn’t feel the need to place some guards outside this chamber.
I crouched and touched the soil under the blocking stone. I muttered a spell to lift up the ground. Slowly but surely, the circular stone began rolling to one side, forming a gap where I could slip through. Before I exited the chamber though, I took a peak to make sure it’s clear outside. It’s quite dark so I made a light orb and held it in front of me. Hm..alright, as far as I could see there’s no one.
As soon as I was outside, I noticed I was in some kind of tunnel. I held the light orb high above my head and saw that at one end there was nothing but darkness, and at the other end the tunnel branched into five. Which way should I go? Gambling would do me no good here. I tried to sniff the air in order to decide which way the smell was less foul, but I couldn’t distinguish it. ‘Is there any spell that can help me in this kind of situation?’ I asked myself. ‘I think there’s one.. Yes, a tracking spell.’ The spell would allow me to trace my footsteps; perhaps it’s the only way to get out.
I racked my brains to remember the tracking spell—I’d never used it before. Carefully I chanted the spell, hoping I remembered it correctly and that it would work.
At first nothing happened and disappointment was creeping into me. But then a silvery residue started to appear on the ground, seemingly glowing in the dark surrounding. It snaked into one of the tunnel branches. I braced myself for any possibility, sharpened my senses, then I followed the residue.
I treaded cautiously for I didn’t know how long. Time didn’t seem to matter if you could see nothing and hear nothing. The tunnels down here were like a maze; I was perfectly aware that I could get lost if I wasn’t careful. So far I was deeply grateful that I didn’t encounter any demon, but this too-smooth get away somehow make me more alert.
Eventually, after the dark tunnels began to make me feel claustrophobic, the track led me to some kind of a wide hall. And I stood frozen when I saw no less than three dozens of demons—big and small—filled the hall. The good news was, they appeared to be asleep. The bad news was, the silvery trace went straight through the hall, disappearing into the other end. I gulped; Now what was I supposed to do?
[Mikael POV]
“We’re not heading north.” I remarked as I noticed where Kieran was leading us to. Instead of heading north towards Adair Woods and Strangard Mountain, we went northeast, towards a volcano.
“Just trust Kieran!” Gabriel convinced me, though her voice didn’t carry her usual confidence.
When we reached the foothill Kieran halted and turned to us. “My Lord, My Lady, please wait here for a while.” He bowed his head. Before I had the chance to pose a question the boy had continued the journey towards the volcano, riding away his horse in an impossible speed, leaving me and Gabriel behind.
“What is that kid doing.” I muttered, staring at Gabriel.
“Just trust him.” The woman repeated, in a tone that clearly showed she didn’t know either what Kieran was doing.
We waited in unease for about ten minutes and I started itching to just leave, when suddenly a figure appeared on the sky in a distance. It seemed to be a bird of some kind; A big bird. As it flew closer, my jaw dropped and I automatically grasped the hilt of my sword. The creature was bigger than the size of an average house, with a pair of enormous wings and a tail that seemed capable to wreck a ship in one whack.
From beside me I heard Gabriel whistled in awe. I glanced at her and barked, “Ready your bow!” But she was relaxed and turned my glare with an amused look. I ignored her, unsheating my sword, ready for a fight when the creature dived down and landed in front of us with a thundering ‘BAM’. It stared at me and Gabriel with its brilliant huge green eyes, fumes emanating from its nostrils. Its scales that bore the color of green tourmaline seemed to shimmer under the moonlight. I didn’t realize I’d been holding my breath at the sight of this magnificent creature; a creature that I thought can only be found as illustrations in books nowadays. Dragons had long been extinct—or so they say.
As the dragon gracefully folded its wings on either side of its body, a boy emerged from the hollow between its neck and shoulders. Kieran, the beastmaster. I should had known. Counting the number of surprise I got this past 24 hours, I almost swore that from this point onward there’s nothing that could possibly give me a shock anymore.
“My Lord, My Lady.” Kieran spoke in a loud and clear tone, “If you could please jump on.”
I turned to Gabriel. “This is the means to get to the Underworld gate you were talking about; ‘the only option’??” I gestured towards the massive beast.
Gabriel nodded, “Yep. We figure that if we can’t get through Adair Woods, then we’ll fly over it. If I told you earlier you wouldn’t believe me. This is something you have to see for yourself.” She deliberately explained.
“I guess you’re right.” I remarked. I turned to stare at the dragon again, still trying to absorb the fact that this magical creature still existed.
“Come on.” Gabriel dismounted her steed and started walking towards the dragon. “My Faulkner and your Red Hare can find their way back to the castle.” She told me.
Without saying anything I jumped down from my favorite beast. I stroke its mane and stared straight into its eyes. Red Hare had been more than a mere stallion; it was my loyal companion in battle. “I’m sorry you can’t accompany me further.” I whispered. A tiny voice in my head murmured that I might not be able to come back from the underworld. I bit my tongue from saying a parting word; sentimental was just not my style. I just patted its neck, then turning around and striding towards the dragon.
Gabriel was already on the dragon’s back, sitting behind Kieran, looking excited and anxious at the same time. I glanced at the dragon’s eyes; they followed my movements tentatively, but I saw no threat in them, only wisdom and comprehension. I unconsciously bowed my head; I didn’t quite understand why, I just thought it’s the right thing to do. Perhaps its something about this creature that seemed ancient and needed to be respected.
Swiftly I climbed onto the dragon’s back, carefully positioned myself between the spines that ran along its backbone. I couldn’t hide my excitement as the dragon spread its wings and got ready to take off. It kicked the ground hard and jumped into the air. The dragon carried us up and up high in the night’s sky until we could see the massive stronghold, which was the castle. Harsh cold wind threatened to throw us off balance and I gripped the dragon’s scale to tighten my hold.
“Hey, what is that vast black smoke swirling just outside the castle’s walls? It’s not on fire, is it?” asked Gabriel suddenly, pointing her finger. My gaze followed the direction and I felt a sudden fear—which was very unlikely for me. One of the horrible scenes I had to bear witness during this war came into the surface of my memory.
“That,” I said gloomily, “is Lord Uriel’s Undead Army.”
***
A/N
Ah..I finally did it. Yay! The description of the dragon was giving me quite a hard time. I had to consult Eragon and Septimus Heap’s books; I hope it turns out okay.. As usual, my gratitude goes to those who read, comment on and vote for this story ^-^
And my special thanks goes to.. ~ladyoflitany~ a totally awesome writer and a very kind girl whose words always inspiring; ~shurtugal2~ a talented writer with fantastic ideas (don’t think otherwise, you’re a great fan indeed); ~Damonh~ a very nice girl whose smile brightens up my day and whose stories make my heart flutter; ~Sakura_riot~ who amazes me because she really takes her time to refine her work (I wish I could be as patient as you ;]); ~Mildor~ whose works are remarkable (glad I found you!) and whose support I greatly appreciated.