Songs of Fallen Stars

15

Elara.

It’s less than an hour's walk before we come up to a huge stone castle. Two of the men have come with us, they push the doors open and Rion holds his hand out to me, I take it and we walk up the stone steps.

The inside is terrifying, there are stone statues that look like angry serpents, everything is wet and it smells like mildew.

He walks ahead of me, one hand on his long sword and the other dragging me along. The other two men stand near the door, afraid to come inside. I look back at them, wishing I were outside those doors with them.

“Keep close to me” He tells me with a low voice. I grip his arm as we walk through the long corridor. He pushes open a set of doors, dragging me through them, they close behind us with a slam.

He steps forward, pulling himself free from my grasp as he pulls his sword free. The room is dark, I can barely see a thing, but I hear something. Slithering, coming closer to us. Something lashes out at us, all I see is a flash of teeth before I hear it shriek as he chops it’s head off. It falls to the ground by my feet and I step backwards to get away from it. Another one rushes forward, coming towards me this time. I scream and stumble backwards, I grab for my small dagger and hold it in front of me. A splash of blood hits me in the face as he cuts it down, just a few feet from me.

He looks towards me, our eyes meet and he lowers his blade. A bad move, he has his back to the room and I see something move behind him, my eyes widen. A giant snake-like monster towers over him, “Rion! Look out!!” I scream.

Rion spins around, but he’s too late. The monster latches onto him, grasping his arm, he drops his sword as he cries out in pain. I am paralyzed with fear as I stand there and watch. He struggles with the monster, his sword flies across the room as the snake thrashes against him.

My eyes are slowly adjusting and I can see a bit better now, I look around for his sword. It lays at the foot of a statue, I slowly back up into the wall, sliding along it getting as close to the statue as I can before I slide to my knees. I reach for his sword, my fingertips gripping at it, something stings my hand and I pull back with a hiss of pain. I cradle my hand against my chest, I can see the faint marks of a bite. I grip my dagger in my other hand and try again, slowly inching forward. I see it this time, a small eel is slithering around in a small pool of water. The sword is half in the pool, the eel protecting it. I stab down with my dagger, missing it my first swing, it launches forward and I try again. I stab the eel and it wiggles uncontrollably for a moment before going still. I grab his sword and drag it across the floor, it is very heavy and I can’t pick it up, my injured hand still stings.

I crawl back against the wall and make my way over to him. He is still in a wrestling lock with the giant snake, wrapping itself around his leg, trying to immobilize him.

“Rion!” I call out as I use all my strength to throw his sword at him. He reaches out and catches it by the blade, uncaring when it digs into his hand. He hits the snake with the hilt of the sword, making it snarl at him and shake it’s large head. It is just enough of a distraction for him. He twists in the snake's grasp and buries his sword into it. The snake hisses and whines before it starts to thrash, he starts to swing at it, slicing it over and over until it lays unmoving on the floor.

He slums down to the floor and huffs, “Are you alright?” I ask as I move a bit closer to him. He’s soaking wet and looks exhausted. I am not much better myself, I smell like a wet dog and blood.

“I’m the one who should be asking you that. You’re hurt” He moves beside me in an instant, taking my hand from when it’s cradled against my chest.

“I’m alright.. An eel bite me but I’m fine”

“Eels have poison… I need to get the venom out” He says as he stretches his neck from side to side.

“I need you to be very still.. And trust me”. He looks me in the eyes and I nod in agreement.

“I do trust you” I say. It’s not a lie. I trust him more than I’ve ever trusted anyone in my life.

He takes a deep breath and opens his mouth, small fangs emerge from his teeth and he lowers his head and goes to bite my hand. Before he can sink his teeth into my skin, the room starts to flood from all sides. There doesn’t seem to be a source for the water, it’s like magic. The walls seem to be made of water and they are caving in on us.

He curses and within seconds we are underwater. He grasps my hand firmly and I see a teal glowing light engulfing around him.

The next moment, I am in a bubble of air. I breath and cough up the bit of water I nearly swallowed.

He pushes my bubble down, the floor seems to be gone. It’s disappeared, in its place is nothing but ocean. I watch him as he swims, pushing me along in front of him. I grip my dagger in my non-injured hand. Just in case.

The water lightens up and I see an entire city unfold before us. I look back up at him and he looks at me, a small smile on his face as he swims us forward. We reach another castle. This one looks a hell of a lot more terrifying...

The doors are small, I don’t think my bubble is going to fit through them. He stops pushing me and steps into my bubble,

“You will need to hold your breath for a few moments. I promise inside those doors you will be able to breathe, but the air down here is stale and you will probably feel unwell after a short time. We will be out of here soon” He tells me.

I already feel unwell, but I don’t know what it’s from. Maybe all the excitement has been a bit much.

“Okay” I say as he takes my hand, it hurts and I flinch back for a moment. I don’t have time to say anything because, in the next moment, he pops our bubble and I hold my breath. The water is freezing cold and I feel heavy. All the furs weigh me down now. He pushes me towards the door and they open for us.

He enters behind me and the doors close, the water levels lower and we are left standing in a foyer with soaking wet clothing and I’m freezing cold. I don’t feel well and I keel over and vomit all over the floor. My energy seems to be fading more and more by the second, I lean against him. He looks at me very concerned but he doesn’t say anything, he just picks me up and carries me.