by Sarah Noffke
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Laurel’s claws pierced Azure’s hand, but the queen didn’t let go. The sounds of ragged breaths and their feet slapping the floor were extra loud, because their hearing had gone into overdrive to make up for the blindness. If Azure had time, she would have pulled out her wand for light.
They rounded a sharp corner and Azure’s knee connected with the wall, but she kept her complaint locked in her mouth.
“Do you think Lorde will catch up?” Azure asked through panting breaths. “Could he be waiting for us wherever this ends?”
“No,” Laurel said, pulling them around another turn. “I know the underground network better than him—he’ll be lost in no time. I’ll only take us to the top when we’re outside the city and close to the cave mouth.”
Relief filled Azure. They were going to escape.
“But you said that real danger was waiting for us at the other end. What does that mean?” Ever said from behind Azure.
Laurel halted, and Azure ran right into her, but Ever slowed in time. In the pitch-black of the tunnels, the beating sounds of the city above them felt like a pulse. Two eyes lit up—Ever’s. The blue lights shone, making his face and theirs slightly visible. The effect didn’t seem to bother Laurel, who swallowed and turned her head to the ceiling.
“We’re about to go through a trapdoor above. We’re far outside the city, which puts our lives in even more peril. We are safe outside during the day, but when the sky bleeds just before the sun sleeps, we all find safety inside our homes,” she said, her voice vibrating with fear.
“Is it Lorde’s goons?” Azure asked, wondering what could be making the werecat shake. Her hand was still pressed into Azure’s arm.
“No, these monsters scare even Lorde. You see, we as wereanimals have retained some of our humanity. However, there’s a pack of werewolves who live in the ridges around Lancothy, and they’ve gone feral,” Laurel said.
“Werewolves? You’ve got to be kidding me,” Azure said, her soul stone growing hot on her chest suddenly. She pressed it between her fingers.
“Can we stay here for the night?” Ever asked, his eyes still glowing.
Laurel’s gaze darted to something over his shoulder. “I don’t think so. Lorde will continue to look for us. He’ll probably be taking refuge in these tunnels or the library since it’s not safe for anyone, even him, in the city after dark.”
“Well, if we encounter a werewolf, what do we do?” Azure asked, taking her wand in her hand.
“Do?” Laurel asked like that was the silliest question ever. She turned to a ladder that led to a trapdoor in the ceiling of the tunnel. “There is nothing you can do. You run like hell and pray that your death is swift and painless.”
“Well, since I’m not the praying type I’ll just run.” Azure waited until Laurel was halfway up the ladder before she started to climb.
Evening light made the green hills of the countryside glow yellow as they disembarked from the tunnel. They were far outside the city, and ahead of them Azure recognized the cave mouth through which they’d entered Lancothy. The sun couldn’t be seen since it had set, and the mountain walls only caught remnants of light from overhead where the peak was gone and through the fissures on the side. That was the western side of the mountain, Azure realized now, which allowed for more sunlight to be captured. It also created a strange effect as the waning sunlight filtered over the city and ridges.
“Here, this is yours now.” Laurel thrust a leather-bound book with a thick spine into Azure’s hands. It smelled of dust, and the thick pages were yellowed from age.
“Thank you,” Azure said, and then added, “For everything.”
“Thank me when I get you out of Lancothy alive.” The werecat’s green eyes scanned the hills and stopped on a ridge to one side of them. They were roughly half a mile from the cave entrance.
“I can hold the Book of Branches for you,” Ever said, extending his hand to Azure.
She shook her head, although the book was large and took up a lot of room as she held it across her chest with one hand. This book was her responsibility, and the answers it held could potentially save her people.
“Let’s go,” Laurel said, her eyes on the sky that could been seen through the fissures on the western side. “We don’t have long.”
“What about you?” Azure asked as they set off in a quick trot. “Will it be safe for you to sleep in the cave tonight, or can the werewolves get in there?”
Laurel’s eyes scanned the hills. The sky overhead was yellow mixed with burnt orange. “The werewolves were cursed long ago by a shaman and can’t enter the caves, leave Lancothy, or break into a dwelling of a wereanimal inside the kingdom.”
“That’s why you all stay in at night,” Ever said, piecing it together.
“Yes,” Laurel confirmed. “However, anything not behind closed doors is free game. And they’ve proven too many times that they will show no mercy.” A haunted expression lingered in Laurel’s eyes.
“Well, I guess we should be grateful that the werewolves can’t leave Lancothy.” Azure noticed that the animals that had grazed these hills before were gone, presumably locked away for the night.
“Grateful?” Laurel’s voice was loud with offense. “My people have been menaced by these werewolves for centuries. Do you know that I’ve never seen the night sky? Most in Lancothy haven’t. And we can’t kill the werewolves without destroying Lancothy.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any offense,” Azure said.
Laurel shook her head. “No, I realize you didn’t. It’s just a sensitive subject. Long ago—when Lancothy was first established by our ancestors—two shamans came here. They warned us that cutting ourselves off from the rest of Oriceran civilization was wrong and unnatural. Our leader at the time, a werewolf, took great offense to this. He slaughtered one of the shamans. The other shaman demanded that we punish our leader, but our ancestors refused. The shaman cursed us all, saying that we had divided ourselves from Oriceran and therefore we’d remain divided inside the mountain of Lancothy. He turned all the werewolves feral. They now own the night, and we are given the day. If we try and hunt the werewolves, or even hurt them in defense of our own lives, the mountain of Lancothy will destroy itself. We can’t fight back, only hide. Therefore, the werewolves remain separated from us. We were afraid of living outside Lancothy because of prejudice, so the shaman said we would live only half-lives and the biggest danger would be ourselves.”
A cold breeze swept across Azure’s neck. She shivered, and only realized that Laurel had halted when she’d taken several steps past her. “Laurel, is everything all right?” Azure asked, turning back to the werecat. Her sharp eyes were fixed on the sky.
A vibrant red was taking over the sky where the orange had been.
“Is that what you mean by the sky bleeding?” Ever asked.
“Yes,” Laurel said, twisting around with violent fear in her eyes. “The werewolves have been invited out.”
Azure shot her gaze to the green peaks bordering the cave. The ridges and peaks of the mountain were sharp, not rounded like the mountains around Virgo. To her relief, the area was empty save for the long green grass.
“Come on. We don’t have far now.” Laurel indicated the area up ahead where the cave ladder was.
A long and loud howl pierced the approaching night, sending a shock of fear down Azure’s spine. She tightened all over, and dared to look back at the mountains. Staring at them from the lowest ridge were five werewolves, their teeth bared. They were roughly a hundred yards away. The beasts were huge, easily the size of Lorde, but where he somewhat resembled a human in his features and posture, these werewolves were all animal. They stood on all fours with menace in their glowing yellow eyes.
“Fuck my life,” Azure whispered, gripping the book tighter to her chest.
“Run!” Laurel commanded, taking off at a sprint.
Azure and Ever broke into a run behind the werecat, wh
o was much faster than them. They heard something tearing after them a second later. When she glanced over her shoulder, Azure was stunned. The werewolves were fast, and had already cleared half the distance between them. She was still fifty yards from the cave wall.
“Keep going!” Ever screamed.
Azure realized he wasn’t running. She sprinted on, wondering what the hell he was doing, and kept moving even when the ground rippled under her feet. She turned back to find Ever facing the approaching werewolves with his hand outstretched. The ground under the werewolves buckled, throwing them off balance and in several different directions.
“Come on!” Azure yelled to Ever, realizing he’d bought them some time. Some. Not a lot.
She waved her wand at him and then her foot, muttering an incantation that would speed up their progress, then turned back around and sprinted faster than before. Laurel was already at the cave wall, but she wasn’t climbing. Instead, the werecat was pushing aside brush and rocks in a shallow depression in the rocky wall.
“Help me!” Laurel screamed when Azure was only a few yards away, her feet on fire from the quick run.
“What are you doing? The ladder!” Azure said, pointing to the wall beside them.
“We’d never make it up in time, but there’s another trap door here that leads to a chute that will take us out of Lancothy. However, it hasn’t been used in several centuries, and plants have blocked it.” Laurel clawed at the vines and dirt obscuring the door.
“Help her,” Azure ordered Ever, who had arrived beside her. A growl that was worse than any nightmare cut through the air. All three of them straightened, but only Azure dared to turn around. Five black and gray werewolves stood only a few yards away, with a ravenous look in their eyes and their mouths dripping saliva.
“Hurry,” Azure hissed, holding her wand at the ready. She could attack the werewolves with magic, but that would trigger the curse and cause Lancothy to destroy itself. With fear beating a drum in her head, she heard a voice in her head…her gran’s.
“Don’t fight an army when you can pit them against each other,” the old witch said in Azure’s mind.
The werewolves were watching her, waiting for the perfect moment to attack. Azure took a single step back, conscious that Ever and Laurel were trying to open the door. The werewolf at the front took a step in her direction, his head held high and murder in his black eyes. He had to be the alpha. Azure flicked her wand in the direction of the werewolf beside him and yelled, “Uvećanje!”
The werewolf enlarged suddenly, his bones extending until he was taller than the alpha wolf. The beast hulked over the smaller werewolves.
“What in the hell are you doing?” Ever asked at Azure’s back.
“Creating a war,” Azure said breathlessly, her wand vibrating in her hand. Ever reached for her waist, yanking her back to the rock wall just as the gigantic werewolf lunged for her. She slammed into the rock, her left shoulder taking the impact. The werewolf loomed over her and Ever, the drool from his mouth landing at their feet. The beast’s canines were the size of her head, his breath was hot, and the growl in his throat sent violent shivers through Azure’s arms.
The monster narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to howl, but was suddenly knocked to the ground. The alpha wolf had crashed into the side of the enlarged animal. The pair rolled, and the other members of the pack jumped onto the gigantic werewolf.
Ever pulled Azure away from the wall. Laurel yanked once at a door that had been revealed in the ground, but it still stuck. The werewolves yelped in pain. Frantically Laurel fought with the trapped door, and the rock wall vibrated from one of the werewolves being tossed into it. Azure chanced a glance at her back. Two of the werewolves had the large one cornered. One lay slain at his feet. A werewolf leapt for the larger one, but was knocked to the side immediately and joined its dead fellow on the ground. The other werewolf took off in a sprint for the mountains.
The giant werewolf raised himself to his feet, narrowing his eyes in the direction of the three. He took a step forward, a growl reverberating from his throat.
“Come on!” Azure yelled, realizing that they were moments away from being slaughter.
The werewolf sank back on his haunches, his eyes crazy with hunger.
The trap door flew back, sending Laurel back on her rear end. Ever dove forward, grabbing her and pushing her through the narrow tunnel. Laurel fell through and Ever slipped into the blackness after her. Azure raised her wand at the werewolf, who was about to attack. He sprang off the ground, soaring through the air at her. She shot a blast of wind out of her wand, knocking him back several feet, but he immediately scrambled to his feet. Azure didn’t chance another glance at him, but instead dove for the chute.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Azure picked up speed as she moved through the chute. It was like a slide, one covered in mud and rocks. Her heart met her throat as she went faster. After a sharp drop she hit the ground hard, bruising her tailbone. Her fingers and elbows had been ineffective at slowing her progress.
And then bam. She rammed straight into something, halting immediately.
“Ouch!” Ever said from in front of her.
Not something. Azure had rammed into someone.
“Fuck!” Azure tried to untangle her body from Ever’s. She attempted to push herself back up to get away from him, but they were fighting gravity.
“This is where the chute ends, but the exit is blocked,” Laurel said breathlessly. “I’m trying to open it.”
Azure raised her wand and lit the tip, sending light around the small tunnel. Ever’s eyes squinted at the sudden brightness.
“That helps, thanks,” Laurel said, scratching at something in front of her. Ever was perched nearly on her back. They were all packed in tightly at the bottom of the slide.
Azure lifted her wand to peer above them, but saw only the slanted dirt chute. “Well, at least we’re not going to be eaten alive by werewolves.”
“What were you thinking, enlarging that werewolf?” Ever asked, still trying to dislodge himself.
“I was thinking that if we attacked the werewolves then Lancothy would suffer, but if they attacked each other, the land would be safe,” Azure said. She felt like she was running out of air, and in a tight dirt tunnel that was a real possibility.
“That was genius, actually,” Laurel said, continuing to claw at the ground under her, panting as she did.
“Yeah, I’ll give it to you. That was smart. I thought you’d lost your mind,” Ever said.
“Well, I have, obviously. However, I know that wolves are constantly fighting for pack order, so I turned the beta into a threat, banking that the alpha would find defending his position more important than feasting on us.” Her forehead was sweating—the temperature was rising in the chute.
“Queen Azure, you are one savvy witch,” Ever said with a whistle.
“Thanks, but unfortunately I did have to assault the gigantic werewolf with a bit of wind to escape,” she said.
The scratching stopped. Laurel turned around. “You did what?”
“Well, it was that or be eaten alive,” Azure said with a shrug. “What will happen to Lancothy?”
“The same thing that’s happened every time we’ve attacked the werewolves,” Laurel said, her voice haunted.
Azure was about to ask another question when the ground around them started to shake. Dirt sprinkled into their eyes and drifted into their mouths.
“No,” Laurel cried, furiously scratching at the exit.
“It’s an Oriceranquake,” Ever yelled, throwing his hands to the dirt above them. They were about to be buried alive.
“No, it’s an assault on Lancothy. We have to get out of here. Outside the mountain, the quake won’t happen. This is the punishment for attacking a werewolf,” Laurel said, digging for the exit.
If the quake was specific to the mountain, it would affect Gillian and Monet. The gnome would figure it out and get them down the mountain.
Azure held her wand up and whispered an incantation that would reinforce the tunnel, but not for long. She considered using magical energy to explode the exit, but that could have serious repercussions. In the end, she decided to do the only other thing she thought might save them.
“Help!” she screamed at top volume.
“You have lost your mind,” Ever said, his arms lighting up as he drew in magic to reinforce the tunnel.
“Monet! Help!” Azure screamed.
“You’re betting a lot on thinking that he can hear you,” Ever said, shaking his head as symbols formed on his arms and neck.
“He’s headed to the base, which is hopefully where this tunnel lets out,” Azure said, and drew in a deep breath. “Gillian! Monet! Help!”
“You will remember this is a closed-in space and I have incredible hearing,” Ever remarked, clapping his hands over his pointy ears.
“Help!” Azure yelled, ignoring the Light Elf, who was still way too close. After they got out of there she was going to demand a lot of personal space.
“I can’t get the door open. There’s too much dirt and stuff on the other side,” Laurel said, her voice defeated.
“We’ll get out of here,” Azure said, her tone reassuring. Just then the ground rolled under them and her head flew back and smacked into the dirt behind her. The movement jarred Azure and her teeth knocked into each other.
“You and I can keep these walls from breaking, but not for long,” Ever said, his voice shaking from the movement all around them. The ground buckled under them and the three became even more squashed together as the dirt shifted and shook. A moment later the violent shaking lessened until it was just quiet vibrations.
“HELP!” Azure screamed even louder than before.
“We’ll run out of air soon,” Laurel said in a hushed voice.
“Which means, stop using our reserves up by screaming,” Ever said, throwing a contemptuous glance at Azure.
“I think we need to climb to the top,” Laurel said.