Anna raised head. “I am his childhood friend. I grew up in his home. It was shocking to hear from him after all these years. I couldn’t believe that Prince Declan would actually send people into the other world to capture him.”
“Yes. And that is how I got dragged into this mess.”
Now Eric spoke.
“No. That is not entirely true. Aren’t you from here? Our battles are your battles. I heard a rumor that you’re from a household.” Eric's voice was curious.
“I don’t know,” she lied. “Maybe one of my parents are from here.”
She could see that Anna was convinced. Her eyes looked at Emily sympathetically. She couldn’t believe that Anna believed her, but as she glanced at Eric, she could see that he wasn’t sure of her words at all.
“So, are there any more of you around here?”
“Yeah. His name is Silver.” Anna motioned upward. “But he is up there doing some business. He is always up to something. “
The moment Anna said those words, the trap door opened up and something landed on the floor in front of Emily. She jumped at the sudden intrusion. But from their looks of exasperation, Emily saw that Anna and Eric had recognized a friend. It was Silver.
Silver had a wiry, muscular build. For some odd reason, he was shirtless. He carried a sack that was strung across his back. Emily wondered what was in it. What shocked her the most, though, was his silver hair. And she couldn’t believe that when he turned toward her, his eyes were a deep violet color.
“Uh...hi?” It came out more as an unsure question. He looked intimidating. “I am Emily.”
Silver didn’t even glance at her. Putting the bag on the ground, he headed toward the end of the room and disappeared behind towering crates. She guessed that he wasn’t in the mood for talking. Like her, maybe he was exhausted.
“Don’t take it personally. Silver is not much of a talker,” Eric told her.
“Okay.”
Anna walked over to her and sat down on a long wooden box. She motioned to the space next to her. “Hey, why don’t you tell us about yourself. So we can get to know you better?”
“Well, I am 17 years old. My parents passed away when I was little. My aunt, or Wind Blade, raised me. As you know, I am from the other dimension and I got dragged into this one by Kator.”
“Trouble always follows that brat,” Anna grumbled. “I am sorry that you had to be held as a prisoner in that cursed castle.”
“Sure. But I learned some things.”
When Silver came back, he had a shirt on. He finished tucking in his shirt and said something to Anna. She gave him a reassuring nod.
“Silver says that the city is swarming with soldiers. We are not going to leave yet. They won’t find this place.”
Silver dropped something in front of Emily’s feet. It was a bundle of clothes. She picked them up and looked at them. Without a word, Silver walked away and headed back to the end of the room.
“You can get changed over there.” Anna pointed to a curtained off area. A small area of the room had been hidden by thick black curtains that hung on a line that was dug into the opposite walls. “Plenty of privacy.”
Emily put on the clothes and was extremely happy with them. They were very similar to the clothes that she first wore when she came to this world. The pants weren’t that baggy but she was still able to move around. She stepped out from the curtain, grinning from ear to ear.
“This is so much better than the dresses I had to wear. These are like my fighting clothes.”
“I am glad you like them.”
Emily noticed that Eric was rolling out a thin mattress. Three more mattresses were already on the floor. Silver was already on one of them, his legs crossed. She wasn’t sure if he was sleeping sitting up.
She whispered to Anna, “Is he asleep?”
Anna laughed. “Nah, he is just meditating. He is definitely the most spiritual out of all of us.” She yawned loudly and stretched out her arms. “We should get some sleep. It has been a long day.”
Agreeing, Emily laid down on the mattress that Eric rolled out for her. She wasn’t even hungry. The lights burned low, and the shadows flickered along the ceiling. She stared up at them and wondered what Wind Blade and James were doing. Where they also thinking of her? Did they miss her as much as she missed them? She closed her eyes, trying to sleep.
When she opened her eyes again, she didn’t know if it was still night or if it was morning. She noticed Anna was standing on the ladder. It looked like she was trying to listen for something.
Loud footsteps were heard pounding above them and they caused the ceiling to shake. Pieces of dirt fell from the ceiling and left a dusty odor in the air. Anna indicated to Emily to stay quiet. It sounded like multiple people were moving over the ceiling.
“Look around here, men,” she heard a muffled voice say.
She stiffened as she recognized the voice. It was Clover. With her skills, she would easily find them. They had to escape now. But they were trapped.
“It’s Clover,” she breathed softly to Anna. “She will find us if we stay here.”
Anna nodded in agreement.
“Eric and Silver, take her away now. Bring her to the other safe house. I will distract them long enough for you to escape.”
Behind the crates where Silver had disappeared, there was the opening to a small tunnel. Eric lit a lantern and went in first.
“We found something! It looks like a hatch.”
“Hurry!” Anna pushed Emily toward the entrance of the tunnel. “Go! Now!”
Emily squeezed into the hole. It was a small fit, but if Silver could fit into it, so could she. Behind her, she heard the trap door being forced open. Every part of her brain screamed at her for being a coward. Help her. Do not run away!
“Stop! You are under arrest! Do not resist.”
As she went further into the tunnel, the voices behind them faded. She could vaguely make out a commanding voice.
“Where is Emily?”
She froze because she recognized that chilling voice. It was Prince Declan’s voice. He was here. Eric seemed to sense her uncertainty.
“Anna will be fine; do not worry.”
The tunnel narrowed. She crawled along, her arms and legs digging into the dirt floor. The air was damp and the dirt beneath her clumped around her hands. A plan was already formed in her head. She knew what she needed to do. Once she was out of the tunnel, she would go and save Anna. She may not know her very well but she had a good soul. Prince Declan was still after Kator and she knew that he would do anything to find him. Emily was not going to allow the Prince or Clover harm to Anna in any way.
Chapter 12
“What are we going to do?”
They were currently hiding in an abandoned shack on the other side of the city. Once in a while, Silver would venture outside to make sure that the area was safe. Emily peered out the window streaked with grime, her face pressed against the cold glass.
“She was captured, I am certain of it!”
Eric rolled his eyes at her. “Listen. She would never allow herself to be caught. She would have escaped from them.”
Emily shook her head and sighed. “Clover was there and the Prince. There was no way for her to escape. Plus, the soldiers were everywhere! Just face the truth...”
Just then the front door slammed, making Emily and Eric jump. A lone person entered the room. Emily let out a sigh of relief as she saw that the person was Silver. Eric immediately ran to Silver and grabbed his arms tightly.
“Did you hear anything from Anna? Where is she?” he demanded to know.
Emily noticed that his eyes were wild. He desperately wanted to know that she was fine. By inquiring after her, as if there were a chance, he was behaving as if Anna would come back unharmed. Emily knew that this was pointless. There was no reason to lie about something that was as clear as day.
“Eric, she is captured. We both know it.”
Silver nodded his head in agreement.
Eric slumped to the ground, his shoulders visibly heaving. Emily gave Silver a concerned look and motioned toward Eric. What are we going to do, she mouthed to him. Silver just shrugged and sat next to Eric, putting his arm around him.
Emily stood there and watched them. Anna was in danger and she had to do something. Anger raged through her as she thought of Prince Declan, and of everyone in the castle. Eric, Silver, and Anna did not deserve this. They were dragged into this mess by James. And by herself.
Without saying anything, she left the room and headed toward the door. She had made her decision. She would have to go to the castle and find Anna. It was the least she could do. Behind her, she heard Eric ask where she was going. She didn’t reply. She didn’t want to pull them deeper into this mess.
Grabbing a cloak she found by the door, she flung it over her. She covered her face so no one would realize who she was.
The door slammed shut behind her and she headed into the empty streets. She glanced back at the ramshackle shed and then turned toward the castle that loomed over the city. In the late afternoon light, shadows extended their arms out from the buildings. She heard the footsteps of Eric and Silver coming up behind her.
“I am not sure where you are going,” Silver said. He moved closer to her. “You're not thinking of going there by yourself, are you?”
“I have to go,” she said simply.
A cold wind blew through the street, blowing up stray scraps of paper. They all shivered. Far away, they heard the jingling of armor. They froze and waited until the noise faded.
“It is my fault that all of you were dragged into this mess. I have to fix it.”
Eric looked into her eyes before saying, “Alright. But Silver and I are coming with you.”
“Nonsense.”
“You need us,” he said to her, and his tone left no room for objecting. “Silver is a great thief. He can pick any lock. And I happen to know a way in.”
“Alright, fine,” Emily said grudgingly. “But you have to follow my orders. Do not do anything rash, you understand?”
Not too much later, Emily was groaning. Silver, Eric, and she were hunkered down, each in their own barrel. It was a surprise when Eric showed her the barrels. She had to trust that Eric was right and that the cart that carried them was headed toward the castle. Eric had said he was sure they were among the many barrels that held supplies for the castle’s kitchen.
“What did I get myself into?” she muttered. At the moment, she was regretting her decision to allow them to come with her. “There could have been another way to get in...”
“Stop your whining and be quiet.” She heard Eric’s voice coming faintly from a barrel next to her.
The carriage sudden stopped and sent Emily’s head into the wooden sides. Gingerly she touched her head and winced. Not a great way to start off a rescue mission, she thought to herself. They were a group composed of a scrawny guy who couldn’t fight, much less hurt, a fly, a mysteriously odd, quiet person, and someone who had a head injury.
A bright light flashed and engulfed her as the container was suddenly jimmied open. Eric stared down at her with concern.
“I heard the bang. Your head alright?”
“I will be, once I get out of this thing,” she snapped and struggled to get out.
“We are here,” she said sucking in a long breath. Emily looked around. They were on the back of a wagon and the driver had hopped off and into the double doorway for deliveries. They hadn’t gotten caught. So far, the plan had worked perfectly.
“Do you know where we have to go next?”
Eric nodded. “Yeah, follow me.”
As she looked around, she noticed that Silver was missing. “Where is Silver?”
“He’s gone. He went to get Anna.”
“Alone? Is he crazy!?” she burst out. She lowered her voice because she realized how loud it was. “He will get hurt or killed if they find him.”
Eric raised an eyebrow. “Silver? Getting caught? He has been a thief since he was a seven-year- old. I wouldn’t worry about Silver. ”
Eric then paused and spoke carefully. “Our group is like this: Silver is the thief and spy, Anna is the fighter, and I am the strategist of the group.”
“I still don’t support the idea of Silver being alone in this castle.”
Just then, the sound of shouting could be heard. Quickly, they darted behind two pillars that held up the roof over the side doorway. Four soldiers were approaching with their swords drawn.
“Is anyone here?”
“No, the wagon has no one, Captain. But we found three barrels that were open and empty.”
“I want the rest of the castle to be searched. We can’t let the intruders escape.”
“Are you sure that the soul beast was correct? The wolf could have made a mistake,” one of the soldiers questioned.
Soul beast? A wolf? It hit her as she realized that they were talking about the huge beast that had attacked her. That all seemed so long, long ago. Fluffy.
Great, she now she had to rescue Anna and probably have to deal with a very angry bloodthirsty creature. He was probably not happy still about the incident in the forest, and Emily didn’t blame him.
The soldiers must have left the area near the entryway because all grew quiet. She peeked from around the column just to make sure that they were gone. Eric and Emily moved stealthily in through the doors to the kitchen. The huge, cavernous supply room had shelves stocked to the rafters with sacks, boxes and enormous jars of food. But it was empty of people, to their great relief. The driver was nowhere to be seen.
“Eric, we have to go quickly.”
Eric was following, but he was looking at her quizzically. Emily could see he was confused about the soldier’s conversation about the soul beast.
“The soul beast and I have some history. It must be in the castle. It smelled me, most likely, and alerted his master.”
She judged that the coast was clear. “Come on. We need to leave this area. It is no longer safe. Fluffy is looking for us.” She added, “That’s the shadow beast’s name. Don’t ask.”
The hallway was dark and desolate. She guessed that everyone was looking for them. She didn’t know why they didn’t check this area, but maybe they thought that intruders wouldn’t have been able to get that far into the castle.
“We are going to head to the room where I stayed. I have some stuff there that I need.”
“Lead the way.”
She remembered this passageway. It was part of the corridor that led to the stairs that she used to get up to her room. She pointed to the stairway.
“Up there.”
They hurried to the stairway and listened to make sure that there was no one along the stairs. As they inched their way up, Emily felt disoriented, even though it had only been three days since she had escaped. It seemed very different. She could catch the sound of Eric’s feet hitting the stone behind her.
Upon reaching the door at the top, she reached for its doorknob and turned. It was not locked and once inside, Emily saw that everything in her room was the same. It looked like nothing of importance was touched by the maids or the guards. The bed had been made and the floors swept clean. In her closet hung a pair of sparkling new dresses, placed so each delicate detail was highlighted.
But Emily’s eyes hardly registered the gowns; she was only focused on what she needed. The pike has been placed on its side at the back of the closet. This was what she had come for. This was the weapon that could save them.
She picked it up and it felt cold to the touch. She ran her thumb along the edge of the blade. Emily had missed training with it. Had the time finally arrived where she would use it in a real fight?
Eric was looking over her shoulder. “That is a nice pike. I can see why you came back for it.”
Outside the window, there was shouting. Eric rushed over to the sill and, straining to see over the portico roof below, let out a gasp.
“Silver
and Anna are down there right now! It doesn’t look good!”
Emily rushed to the window. Silver and Anna were below and backing up from the snapping jaws of a snarling shadow beast. It was Fluffy.
Could this get any worse? Emily thought bitterly. If they took the stairs, it would be too late to save them. The soldiers looked like they were not playing games. Their swords were drawn and Fluffy’s mouth was snapping and foaming.
Emily had to perfectly time the jump. If she missed, she would end up with broken legs. What she had to do was essentially very simple. All she needed to do was land on Fluffy. Emily gripped her pike tightly in one hand and with the other flung open the sash. Eric realized what she was doing. Before he could say anything that would change her mind, she jumped.
The Shadow Beasts: The Sunclaire Chronicles Page 11