Her Darkling

Chapter 14.

We were handed new pieces of clothing after the meeting. I was the first to leave, followed by Eldrion who went to change somewhere else. We had been asked to be quick as time was no longer on our side.

I rarely wore feminine outfits but this one was really beautiful. A pale blue cotton top, almost reaching my knees with slits, reaching underneath my breasts clung onto my skin. It had silver buttons on the bodice. A pair of dark brown pants followed right after before I slipped my foot into my boots.

One thing I loved about this outfit had to be the mobility it gave me. I made a few moves, fascinated by how the posterior and anterior flaps of this dress moved in accordance with my body. I landed on my feet before pulling my hair up into a messy ponytail.

I was finally calm and my thoughts were collected. The anxiety creeped in once again. Stepping into the abode of demons was going to greatly trigger me and as much as I wanted to find the truth out, I was still very scared. Almost like the little girl who had watched her mother die a gruesome death.

The flap on the entrance was pulled open. Eldrion stuck his head in. "You're the one keeping us waiting," Then his eyes raked down my body, suddenly making me self aware. "Damn, you look good."

Clearing my throat, I ignored his compliment and walked past him, out of the tent but I could still feel the intensity of his gaze on my back.

A few warriors were still sitting around but the rest had probably gone to rest. Eldrion fell into step beside me and I caught sight of Senja. She stood beside Eamon, wearing a tightly fitted leather jacket and pants. Her feet were clad in heavy-duty boots, one that could snap jaws and crack skulls and yet again, her hair was piled up above her head, almost similar to mine tonight. She was really good at keeping this masculine identity.

As for Eamon, he was dressed like us all, in clothes fit for a feast but free enough to hide weapons and aid mobility. The strange man with him joined afterwards.

"There's a carriage waiting for us at the base of the plateau. Time is not on our side."

Nodding, we all followed behind Eamon and his companion, Senja followed behind us all. I didn't bother to look back no matter how hard I wanted to. We trudged down the plateau and rounded a large boulder before sighting a dark carriage meters away.

A burning torch was held by a man, all dressed in black and the neigh of horses wafted into our ears as we drew close. Dark horses. This was well planned. All was to keep our presence hidden, to blend us with the dark.

We all slipped into the carriage. It was surprisingly spacious here. It didn't matter if our legs were squished together. At least, it contained all five of us.

The ride began. Senja's left leg pressed into mine and I tried hard not to be aware of our proximity. The coach hit the horse and it began to move, the carriage rocking from side to side as its tires ran over stones and hit pit-like potholes.

We all sat in silence and it was obvious that we were all avoiding eye contact. The air was tense and we all knew why. Tonight was going to determine a whole lot of things and we were literally walking into a death trap.

We sat that way for almost an hour until Eamon cleared his throat and nodded at the man beside him. He snapped his satchel open and took out the potions contained in small bottles.

"Here." He handed it to each and everyone of us, leaving one with him. I looked down at the bottle and rolled it in my hand. "We're almost close to their territory. Gulp it down immediately so we don't get sniffed out."

Nodding, we all opened our bottles with a pop. Then emptied the bottles into our mouths. It tasted really awful and Eldrion didn't try to hide it. He pushed the window open and stuck out his tongue before pulling himself back in and comporting himself once again. Senja gave him a stern look.

We made a turn and when I looked out from the window, I noticed we were running through a wide path. One that had already been meandered through. The images of demons passing this route sent shivers down my spine.

The carriage finally came to a halt and immediately, Senja pushed the door open and jumped down like she didn't want to be close to me for another minute. I jumped down, right beside her, trying to act like I wasn't affected by how repulsed she was by me.

Eamon, Eldrion and the other man came to where we stood. He looked around, his eyes scanning the thick vegetation for any sign of impending danger.

"Let's go."

Eamon started to walk through the path and we followed behind. But the man who had given us the liquid elixir stayed behind with the coach.

We walked for a few minutes and we all maintained silence. It wasn't something we needed to be reminded of. When we walked, I was skeptical about the authenticity of this potion we had drunk. What if it didn't work? What if we were sniffed out by the demons and torn into shreds?

Eldrion must have felt my panic because he grabbed my wrist and slipped his fingers through mine, tightly holding as he smiled at me in reassurance.

He was going to protect me.

Twigs snapped, our boots squelched as we dug it into almost caked mud. We were getting deeper into the forest but as we did so, we noticed a large clearing come into view before a monstrous building appeared before us.

This was the manor.

It looked like an abandoned building, lost and never to be spoken of. But there were several traces of its past glory, only to be remembered by the few who set eyes on it.

There was a cloak of darkness hovering around the building and as we approached the wrought iron gates, my anxiety intensified. I could literally feel my body tremble.

Shit. I shed a sweat.

Two demons stood on either side of the gates, eyes glowing amber as they stood tall. I dared not look at them as we passed by for the fear of being detected as an alien. Passing through that gate took a few seconds but it felt like hours and hours of mental torment.

Once we passed through the gates, my paranoia heightened. I stole a glance at Senja. She looked unfazed. Eldrion was trying as hard as possible not to look afraid while Eamon kept walking.

From where I stood, I could see bright lights through the arched windows of the manor. Loud music played and voices floated towards us. It definitely didn't sound like a gathering of demons. One could only tell by the dark, strange feeling that made you feel empty.

We took the steps and once we stepped into the large hall, it felt like a dimensional shift.

We were no longer standing in the dark. The whole area was lit up with several lights, burning from the low hanging crystal chandeliers above our heads.

I held back my gasp of awe. This was definitely not what I had expected.

Large tables filled with drinks, beautiful decorations in the theme of gold and crimson. I saw the awe on their faces, too. Funk music played in the background and people danced like they were drunk to madness. Eamon led us to an empty table and thankfully, it could contain four people. I didn't want to be away from them.

A strange looking creature with a curved horn in front of its head and blood red eyes stopped by one table, slipping four glasses of red wine on our table.

Nobody touched it. I had a hunch that what was contained in the cup wasn't wine. More like it was blood. I didn't care. I wasn't going to take this wine.

"We need to spread out." Eamon finally spoke up.

"Why?"

Eamon was already on his feet. "We can't stay huddled together if we need information." He said through his teeth and nodded at one of the demons who clapped his back. I wondered what we looked like to them.

"Stay here, Nariel," Eamon commanded. "The rest of us will spread out."

I watched as Eamon assigned positions to the rest. They all walked in different directions, leaving me to sort myself out.

Well, I wasn't going to sit here and wallow in fear. I had to do something. It was why I had been chosen in the first place.

Picking the champagne flute, I tried to blend into the crowd, bringing the glass to my lips and pretending to take a sip.

I hadn't gone a few steps when my eyes caught a familiar figure. I leaned against the column behind me, a very good vantage point before trying to make out who it was.

Silver hair. A tall frame and a mask. This was too familiar.

He was the archer from last night. But that wasn't just it. There was something else that made me feel like we had encountered each other prior to last night.

My eyes were fixated on his hair. I took him in, something strange stirring within me like déjà vu. It was warping up a memory in my head but I couldn't even picture it.