An hour and five miles later, the evacuees walked under the steamed underground with only little lanterns to brighten up their pathway, the tunnel’s main emergency exit led to a trapdoor in the floor of the barn. At least tweeny people had already used this exit by the time Tommy came up the stairs carrying Cavin, on his back, and Damian, carrying Lanah, and on their back was Lady Aya carrying a basket of food and herbs and different bottled mixture. The barn, although wide, could hold no more than fifteen people; the rest had spilled into the barnyard. Men and women lay on the barn’s surface, where Aya dealt with the wounded and prepared doses of herbal mixture. But almost all of them halted what they were doing and glanced at Tommy as he brought in Cavin and Damian brought in Alanah and rested them on the floor.He trudged backward while three women crowded around their unconscious bodies. One local man stripped off Cavin's tunic and slid a vile concoction down her throat. The woman
Dark TunnelFinally, after so many turns and darkness that seemed like forever, Diana finally saw a decent light from the distance. She ran as quickly as she could and when she reached it, she was astonished by the grandeur of the gigantic door. Sparkling gems and glistening golds and pearls which appear to be a million pieces of stone embedded in the door itself and the sheer height was way bigger when she came close, it was more or less twenty feet high and twelve feet in width.Diana opened the slightly ajar door and was stunned by the brightness of the morning sun. Has it already been another day? She thought to herself, she must be walking in a circle for hours.The way out, naturally, was also a way in. It was a boundary between realms. Diana was unaware of her surroundings, she didn't notice a huge dark eagle circling up ahead, she didn't hear what it whispered to the others, 'well done on finding the door to the underworld, that takes real courage and takes a powerful blood t
Cornelius drew his sword and took his warrior stance as his vampire fangs elongated and glistened from the little sunlight that graced upon him. There was not much room to move on this wagon top.The cart unexpectedly hit a boulder and both of them had to catch themselves to keep from falling off. Snow clouds, silver and black, in a multitude of precious metal hues, adorn the sky as if they long to kiss the land but to Cornelius, it was like his death was near because he saw them as a warning.Cornelius looked down over the side to see the carriage was riding close to the boundary of the plain. If he fell over that side, he would hardly hit the bottom, he would fall an extra several hundred feet down the side of the ridge to his death with that thought, Cornelius shivered, and in that shiver was a moment of truth, a story of the emotions that no mask could ever hide. In the array of frozen heights, where the air kisses his lungs so coolly, the sudden blizzard tips the balance of his
UnderworldNear the Valley of DeathIn the afternoon, barefoot on the icy turf, Diana approached the black dense wilderness, filled with the uncertainty of what she had seen in her dreams when she took a nap by the little shaft, but also with the fear of what she saw last night at the underground tunnel, in fact, she was too confused about what happened back there, one moment, she was saving someone and the next, the man disappeared in her grip.Her enthusiasm about what transpired which has been concealed since then but all at once comes bursting up from within her now. She wondered what truly happened back there. Who was that man?Diana was in a state beyond mere apprehension. No word was sufficient for what she had sensed. Now she was at the dense shrouds, touching the gloomy cloud, so black, sleek, like a moonless night sky reflected in the sightless face of a shadow. She was practically as bewildered as she petrified, for it appeared to her that she was both at the dark tunnel an
The distant hills surrounding the barn reminded Damian of the mounts of Daisy Valley, his childhood home. Ancient oaks, birches, and maples covered the steep slopes, and thick scrub covered the forest floor. It was supposedly gorgeous in the fall, but in the summer it was a treacherous landscape, muffled with foliage.It's morning now and he and Tommy started their journey past midnight. They were crazy enough to journey when Goblins were everywhere, Damian sighed as he swung his arm to clear a path through the thickets, but he wasn’t moving fast enough. Tommy had been walking so fast in front of him that he had lost him twice now.Above them was two enchanted birds flew at about three miles per hour, watching for Goblins, it was Aya's idea, though Tommy could effortlessly beat that speed on a flat stretch, now he was slogging up and down the hills while the birds moved in perfectly straight lines above the treetops. They have decided to journey to Aya's cabin to infiltrate the tunnel
BarnDiana began to pace after hearing from the old witch that Damian and Tommy went to Aya's cabin to rescue her. It was an outrageous intention especially with the Goblins everywhere. But Aya had convinced her not to worry, as she already sent a flock of birds to advise them to come back. While waiting, Aya told her to take a rest and gave her a goblet of fresh blood.Meanwhile, a bald woman with raw stitches in her scalp was shearing off Lanah’s and Cavin's hair. She was dressed in a dark kilt and black cloak like the other local woman at the barn. The bald woman's face was blank as she ran the razor over Lanah's head, which was held inert by a cloth strap looped around her brow. She was laid in a makeshift bed fitted with other sashes that bound her wrists to the side and her ankles to the bed legs. Another woman was preparing a salve of herbal mixture. She asked about it and Aya told her that it was needed to make sure that Cavin and Lanah's would be trapped on their body after t
"But you know better than that Lucinda, we all know that right now she is the most important person in our community. After all, he was the only one who could open the portal to the underworld." Sullivan kept smiling. “I assure you, Lucinda, even Camellana tried to open it with the codex of the demons but she couldn't. She failed, and those rumors that some dark sorcerers of the church were able to open the portal with their version of the codex were all rumors and lies, to threaten us. Oh well! It's quite relevant. Didn’t you wonder how I learned that it was just a mere ploy? It’s because, like yourself Lucinda, I have spies everywhere and right now I am ahead of you in any way."Lucinda was deafeningly quiet for the first few minutes. She didn't do anything but stare at the orange glow that seemed to be buzzing more and more, not moving a muscle. The other chief, expressing their dissatisfaction, swung their head back and forth, their gaze alternating between Lucinda and Diana. It w
It's far more difficult to hide from your other hidden havens, such as Aya's farm and the Battleaxe tribe. If some of you manage to get past them, the Goblin will be able to track you down. And you just have a little more than three days until my dark force comes after you. So, after breaking through the farm's magical barrier and studying the grounds, we've determined that the situation is as follows...” Sulu takes one step back and inhales deeply, and his face becomes smaller against the blazing magical lamp. “Your predicament is quite challenging. But, happily, I am inclined to be of assistance to you.”Everyone sat and waited. Lucinda gave out a phony laugh, which ultimately caused her to lose her cool. Even though she was looking in a different direction than Sulu, her voice remained as serene as the beginning of spring, as if her heartbeat had remained steady. That was just the way the old witch was, born tranquil, and there was nothing anyone could do to change her or make her