The Dark World

Chapter 25: Into the further we go

Cairn

F.uck did I have bad backache when I woke up, I had healed any severe injuries, but it would take another few hours for my werewolf healing to heal everything.

Marisoll rushed to my side when she saw I was awake. “Cairn! How are, are you hurting?” She fussed.

“I am ok, mostly a bad backache,” I laughed.

She helped me sit up and passed me some water. “Thank you, my lady,” I smiled.

My politeness threw her off slightly, I suppose I had been quite rude in how I addressed her, but I honestly was grateful and flattered that she cared so much for me.

Ezekiel came over with mystic Zerena and handed me some cooked meat, but I shook my head. “Thanks, but I need raw right now.”

“That won’t make you sick?” Ezekiel asked.

I laughed under my breath, “no, werewolf remember? Wolves eat raw meat.”

“Right, my apologies,” he mumbled and got a piece of uncooked meat for me.

“Do you guys mind if I eat this alone?” I asked.

“We won’t judge you,” Marisoll said, but Ezekiel understood I was not ready to share that much of myself yet and gently took her arm leading her away, “let’s just give him a little privacy.”

That was not all I needed either, when I finished eating, I got up and managed to sneak away while the others were resting. A few miles back we had passed a man who had been carrying black market items on him, I knew he was a seller, and I was hoping he would still be around.

He was, I ran up behind him and panted, “sir, are you selling?”

He spun to face me and a grin spread across his face, the grin all sellers wore when they knew they were about to gain some business.

“What are you looking for lad?” He asked.

“Blood.”

He did not bat an eyelid at such a request, none of them ever did, they did not care how dark or odd their items were, if they knew that item would sell, then they would gladly keep stock of it and ask no unwanted questions.

“I have a few bottles, what kind are you looking for?”

“Human preferably.”

I waited while he opened his big backpack up and started rifling through it. I could drink animal blood, but I had found human blood was best to heal and satisfy the wolf.

He handed me the bottle and I gave him one of mystic Zerena’s healing potions.

He quickly took it and rushed, “well, good luck on your journey lad,” and hurried off down the road not trusting that I might snatch the potion back.

Healing potions were incredibly rare to come by and desperately wanted by many, we were extremely lucky to have mystic Zerena with us, there were not many wizards left and those that were still alive were hard to come by.

I opened the bottle and began drinking the blood, it was thick and metallic, but it tasted so damningly good.

When I was finished, I hurried back to where we had made camp, but mystic Zerena was awake and waiting for me.

“Uh, hello my lady,” I smiled awkwardly at her, but she glared back with her arms folded.

“Where have you been?” She whispered.

“I just needed to do something, nothing to worry about.”

She walked towards me and hissed, “nothing to worry about! Cairn, there are monsters left right and centre out here, we are deeper into the darkness than we have ever been, on the very edge of the dark lord’s lair.”

“My apologies, I really did have to go do something.”

“And what was that something?”

I shrugged and looked at the floor. Losing her anger, she more softly said, “you can tell me anything, you know that.”

Oddly, I had always found it rather easy to confide in mystic Zerena, and I admitted, “sometimes the wolf needs blood and not just meat, I bought some from a seller.”

She knew I was not one for small talk so all she said was, “well next time tell one of us if you are going somewhere,” she turned to leave, then paused and quietly added, “and it is nothing to be ashamed of, you do not need to sneak around or hide it from us, we all care about you.” She wisely did not look at me when she spoke, probably knowing I would retort something and ruin the moment.

When we had all rested up it was time to face the dark lord, I was fully healed, and before I knew it, we were all standing before the big gold brass gates.

Ezekiel stepped towards them and pushed them open, and then we stepped inside.

Dry land stretched before us for miles with nothing in sight except for an opening in the ground. We all looked to one another and with a shrug, Marisoll jumped down there.

It was pitch black, with torches of fire hanging on the walls as the only source of light. It was huge and cavernous inside, different paths led down deeper into the pit of blackness below, Marisoll stepped forward and Ezekiel quickly grabbed her when she slipped and almost fell over the edge into the blackness below, we would have to be careful where we stepped.

With such dangerous paths where we could easily fall to our death, I knew our stakes just raised higher, fighting down here was going to be a nightmare, and it would be a miracle if we survived even the weakest of foes.

The further down we went, the darker it became, despair and hopelessness hung in the very air around us. It was a battle inside we had to fight too, the battle to push past the feelings of hopelessness, to not just give up and turn back.

Marisoll gripped my hand, she was struggling, and I gently squeezed her hand in reassurance. “We’ve got this,” I smiled, now was not the time for my banter or sarcasm, she needed me, so I would be there for her, and I found I needed her too.

Ezekiel held her other hand, and together we were able to push past the dark thoughts that threatened to consume us, mystic Zerena had her own gifts, and so she was not as affected as harshly as we were.

Light fluttered before us and I blinked my eyes a few times, nope still there, it looked like a thousand fire flies in the darkness, they twinkled in the darkness like glimmers of hope, beautiful and a reminder that even in the darkest of times there was still hope, still light at the end of the tunnel, that just as the light cannot be without the dark, the dark cannot be without the light.

It was a strange place to see something so pretty, but it helped us walk with new determination. We reached the bottom and climbed down the rest of the way careful not to slip on the loose rocks. The bottom was like a huge pit, it reminded me of an arena of sorts, walls all around and to the far right a big opening like a doorway, I did not even want to think what the f.uck would come through that doorway.

“Now what?” Marisoll whispered.

Her whispers echoed around the place, and she rubbed her arms, we were so far down and yet, there was somehow still a breeze in the air, a chill.

Torches lit the place up down here, and at first, we did not see anything, I focused my hearing and frowned as I listened to what sounded like a hundred legs skittering around the place.

“What the hell is that noise?” Marisoll hissed.

“Ezekiel looked up and answered, “spiders.”

“Ah f.uck,” I mumbled under my breath, I saw two spiders crawling down the walls towards us, they were huge, the size of a damn cow.

The light cast a glow on them and I saw they were red and black in colour, shiny too, and I shivered. Looking at Ezekiel, I asked, “you want to take this one and strike first? I made the first move with the sin eater, after all.”

Ezekiel glared at me and asked sarcastically, “why? Afraid of a little spider?”

I wanted to yell they were not f.ucking little and hell yeah, I was terrified. I hated spiders, big tough werewolf here would rather run away then face a spider, even the normal small ones, but f.uck was I going to admit that to Ezekiel.

I slowly pulled my sword out and swung it low and slowly, “f.uck you, I will fight them like I’ve been fighting all of our f.ucking battles first.”

Ezekiel rolled his eyes and then Marisoll snapped, “we do not have time for such petty arguments, we need to work together.”

She was right, and we quit arguing, we made a circle putting our backs together and watched as three of those huge f.ucking things came crawling towards us.

Mystic Zerena cast a spell and one of them literally exploded, blood and the gods knew what else landed on us.

“A more reserved spell, it will take too much time to regain the energy to cast another one, but hopefully this helps our odds a little,” she murmured.

One came so close I saw its creepy beady eyes looking at me, my reflection cast in them, did I look afraid? Pfft, of course not. I cut off one of its legs when it tried to strike me, Ezekiel was busy with the other one and Marisoll worked her way behind it and cut off one of its back legs, making it lose balance, it kept striking out at Ezekiel, and then I focused back on mine, dodging out of the way just in time as it sprayed some purple looking venom at me.

I stabbed it in the eyes, blinding it, jumped up on its back and rolled off, so that I was behind it, I ducked when it jabbed its stinger at me, I did not realise they had stingers too.

The spider Ezekiel and Marisoll were fighting sprayed venom too and a little bit hit Marisoll on her arm, burning her skin. She yelped and created more distance between the spider.

“Marisoll!” I called out.

“Don’t worry about me! I am fine, you stay focused,” she yelled back.

I gave a nod, only satisfied when I saw mystic Zerena rush over to her. The wolf in me wanted to run to his mate, protect her, I had been feeling things more intensely since I had marked her as mine, but I looked over at Ezekiel, and as much as we did not get along, I knew he was a good fighter, he would keep her safe for me, for us.

I had been much too distracted by Marisoll, giving the spider I was fighting the opportunity to strike me, piercing my shoulder.

I grabbed my shoulder and growled from the pain, dropping my sword, the spider tried to get close and spin me in a web, I quickly grabbed my sword from the floor slashing the beginnings of the web it had started at my ankles, then I slid across on my knees underneath its body and struck upward with my sword, dragging it across its underbelly spilling its insides to the floor.

Ezekiel drove his sword directly into his spider’s face and without hesitation he yanked it back out and cut off part of its head, its legs were still moving so Marisoll began hacking at them, cutting them off and stabbing it in the back over and over again.

Ezekiel went over to her from behind, he gently grabbed her arms, stopping her and whispered, “it’s ok, we are ok my love, it is dead, simply twitching after death that is all.”

He wrapped his arms around her, and she turned in his arms facing him, pressing herself against his body tightly.

She always acted so brave and strong that I did not think to realise that perhaps all this death and violence affected her deeply, she was a Druid after all, they enjoyed nature, earth, the animals and life, and our journey had been nothing but death and destruction.