Asylum

by Kit Bladegrave

  “We’re going to,” Forrest assured him.

  A horrible bellow echoed from outside the walls, and I longed to reach out and see if Tristan was hurt. “We’re running out of time.” I turned to bolt back down the steps. They seemed longer going down than heading up, but finally we were back in the foyer. I wasn’t sure where to go next, but Forrest and Craig walked past me and down a corridor I hadn’t noticed.

  Clearly, the two of them together did not need me to find this Kate. I stayed behind them, sensing the connection they shared, a bond that stretched through time. When they paused to peer around a corner, I swore I glimpsed two different faces before me until I shook my head and it was the Craig and Forrest I knew again.

  A high-pitched scream sounded, and Craig growled as smoke trailed from Forrest’s nose. Actual smoke.

  “How many are in there?” Forrest threw back over his shoulder at me.

  “One, but it’s not like the others,” I warned. “It’s worse.”

  “Worse? How?”

  I wasn’t sure how to answer and didn’t. That seemed to be answer enough.

  We moved on down the corridor until it ended at a set of doors, also metal. They were cracked open as if inviting us in. It was a trap, they had to know that, but neither seemed to care.

  One of the dragon guards gave Craig a sword, and together, they pushed in without even figuring out a plan. Nice to know everyone was going crazy lately and it wasn’t just me.

  We hurried in after them to discover a cage in the center of a large domed room and the young woman I expected was Kate trapped inside. She couldn’t have been older than me, sitting on the floor, breathing heavily. She was hurt, but it wasn’t physical.

  A flare of pain shot out from her and hit me hard, making me double over as I gasped for air.

  “Kate,” Craig whispered, reaching through the bars for her hand. The second he had hold of it, a burst of power shot forth from the three of them and she bolted upright, staring into his face.

  “Craig? Forrest?”

  “Come on, we’re getting you out of here.” Forrest pried at the lock with his blade. “Someone find a damned key.”

  They spread out around the room, but something was wrong. This was too easy, far too easy.

  “It’s a trap,” I whispered, but no one seemed to hear me.

  The shadows in the room grew, inching closer and closer to us all. The voices rose to a thunderous clamor inside my head, like they were trying to tear me apart from the inside out. I wanted to scream at them to run, but all that came out was a groan of pain.

  A pair of fiery red eyes latched onto mine from the far side of the room, writhing in nothing but darkness. The shadows twisted and churned, forming into a beast more terrifying than the living statue outside.

  Horns curled from its head, two on each side, a long tail rested near its feet. Its skin was bronze, but it was those fiery eyes that burned straight through me and into my soul. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move.

  The cage door broke open, the others screamed to get out, but there was no leaving for me. I was trapped, held there by the demon’s gaze.

  “Well now, isn’t this a surprise,” a growling voice boomed.

  Everyone else came to a sudden stop, finally seeing what I did. Craig and Kate moved behind Forrest and the line of guards, one tried to move me back, but I was stuck fast.

  “Think you can run off with my prizes now do you?”

  “We’re taking our friends, and we’re leaving,” Forrest growled. “It’d be better for you if you didn’t try to stop us.”

  “Just… go,” I managed to utter. “Please.”

  “We’re not leaving you behind. Tristan will kill us.” Forrest moved to block me from sight, but as if an invisible shield blocked him, he couldn’t reach me.

  “Get out of here, run! Tristan needs your help. I’ll be fine.”

  The demon continued to leer at me, gripping a metal staff in his hands. A stone glowed a deep crimson atop it, and without understanding how I knew, I was certain he was going to kill them if they didn’t leave. For some reason, he wanted me to be here. If it kept him away from the others, then so be it.

  Where my sudden courage came from, I didn’t stop to wonder. This nightmare was real, and it could very well kill me, but I was done with seeing others in trouble and not being able to help them. This time I could, and I would.

  Forrest roared in fury but ordered his guards to leave.

  Craig argued, but I yelled at them to go before it was too late.

  I felt their confused gazes on my back, but there was no time.

  A door closed soundly behind me, and my gut plummeted to the floor.

  I was alone with this… this monster.

  Completely alone.

  “Sabella,” the demon said the second the others were gone. “My how you’ve grown.”

  “What?” I wanted to move, but whatever magic he had was too strong, and his words bothered me. I had only recently glimpsed those red eyes in my visions, and I was damned certain they hadn’t even known I was there. “You don’t know me.”

  “Oh, but I do. I know all who are touched by the darkness.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, psycho,” I spat. “I’ve never been touched by the darkness, whatever the hell that is. I’ve never even met you, hell, I didn’t even know what I was until a few days ago.”

  He clicked his tongue, scolding me like I was a child. “You dare raise your voice to me?”

  “I dare because I don’t care who you are.” Without knowing exactly why I said it, I added, “You’re not going to win.”

  He cackled louder. “Amusing, just like she was once upon a time. You know nothing of what’s happening here, and yet you claim to know how it will turn out. I wonder, have you seen this outcome?”

  Just like who was? I wanted to ask, but doubted I could trust anything coming out of his mouth.

  “And what if I have?” I lied, willing my feet to move, but where would I go? The door behind me was probably locked and sealed. There was no getting out that way. I could at least move away from him, but this room was only so big.

  At least they got Kate out, and she would stop being his plaything. I hated to think what had been done to her… and if he was about to do the same to me. “What if I told you I saw you were going to die?” I went on, hoping to scare him off. If only.

  His brow rose as he tilted his head, pacing around the room. “It would be an interesting idea. However I would be forced to call you a liar.” He circled around, finally reaching me. “I wonder how much you have seen? Care to share?”

  “Not with you, asshole.”

  “My, and such a temper. Tell me, what was it like being raised by humans?”

  I would’ve turned away if I could, but instead I averted my eyes.

  “Fine, keep it to yourself. I just thought you would want to share your hardships with someone who understands who and what you are. We are family after all.”

  I shouldn’t have done it, but I burst out laughing. What, I was a crazy person.

  He glared at me fiercely, but that only made me laugh harder. All this magic and monsters was too new to me, and though I was scared, I had no idea who he was or what he thought he knew about me. For all I knew, everything I’d seen so far was all in my head, and I was safe and sound back at the asylum, locked in the throes of a very powerful hallucination.

  “I don’t have any family,” I uttered through my mad laughter.

  “Is that so? I wonder then, what happens if I do this?”

  He reached out and before I could stop him, grabbed my chin in his fingers.

  At first, there was nothing, but a pinch of pain from his grip. Then my head flew back, and my mouth dropped, as my mind was yanked away from my body and flown through space and time.

  Images shot past too fast for me to even comprehend and then there was a face, a glowing, beautiful face staring down at me as if I was the most precious th
ing in the world.

  “Mom?” I whispered.

  She smiled for a brief moment before tears filled her eyes and excruciating pain erupted inside my skull, and all was darkness and that horrible cackling laughter.

  13

  Tristan

  Two wolves were down.

  I heard their whimpering cries seconds before they were cut off by the harsh sound of that damned bone whip whistling through the air. I sensed them still alive, but not for long if we couldn’t get them out of here. That demon statue was nearly impossible to damage. We’d bitten at him, clawed at him, but nothing. I needed Forrest back out here to see if we could burn it alive.

  Tristan. I see them. Boris called through our mental link. They have Kate and Craig.

  Thank the gods, at least one thing was going right today. We need to keep that bloody thing away from them, give them a chance to escape, but we need a dragon.

  Boris didn’t respond, and a second later I heard his furious snarl followed by that monster shouting as it stomped so hard and fast, dust fell from the columns, threatening to crumble around us.

  Only one lane over from Boris, I leapt against a column, pushed off, and threw myself over the next lane to land atop the statue’s massive shoulders, a split second before those whips were about to come down on Boris.

  Get out of here. Now.

  Boris slowly got back on all fours and threw back his head with a howl. We had no choice, but to retreat.

  The statue bucked its back and threw me off.

  I slid across the stones and into another stone column. The statue turned around and pierced me with those red eyes.

  “Tristan,” Forrest yelled.

  I swung my head around, noticing him, his guard, Kate and Craig. But no Sabella. I shifted back and grabbed him by his shirt front, slamming him into the nearest column as my rage grew.

  “Where’s Sabella? What happened?”

  “I’m not sure, but she was being held back by the darkness.” He gulped as he said it, his eyes darting back to the door. “She told us to leave her, Tristan, we tried, but she wouldn’t let us stay and then the doors locked behind us.”

  “She’s in there alone with that monster?”

  I dropped him and glared at the doors leading into the castle. What was she thinking? Was she trying to get herself killed, or was she really this insane? Leaving her behind was not an option, but that statue was killing my wolves the longer we stayed here.

  “You get them all out,” I ordered Forrest.

  “You can’t go back in there alone,” he argued, grabbing my arm as I darted toward the stairs. “Tristan. He’ll kill you.”

  That was a possibility, but Sabella had risked her life to find me, to save my people. How could I live with myself if I left her here to suffer the same fate as Kate, or worse.

  Prying his hand off, I moved toward the doors again, hearing the others yell for Forrest that they needed to get going.

  I shifted back into my wolf form right as I reached the doors.

  Boris, get everyone out. Get to the rope and leave this place, that is an order.

  We aren’t leaving without you, Boris argued.

  Do as I say, or it’ll be your hide. Now go.

  I expected the outer doors to be locked, but when I rammed into them with my shoulder, they swung open, silent and beckoning.

  I sniffed the air, following the trail that would lead me to Sabella. The scent trail led to a set of double doors, but when I rammed my shoulders into those, they held strong.

  At first, I heard nothing inside and feared the darkness had taken Sabella away from here already, but then she screamed at the top of her lungs as if something was trying to rip them out.

  I snarled, bashing into the doors over and over, but they held fast. Just when I was going to try and find another way through them, there was a sharp intake of air then the doors exploded outward, taking me with them.

  Debris fell around me, and I shook my head to clear it, dragging my body up and out.

  A grunt of pain sounded beside me, and I nosed a large piece of the door away to find Sabella. Her forehead was gashed open, but her eyes were open and staring right at me.

  I shifted back. “Sabella.” I finished unburying her, so I could pick her up in my arms. “Can you hear me?”

  “Have to… leave,” she whispered, and then stared past me toward the doorway. “No time.”

  I wanted to ask what she meant, or what just happened, but a yell echoed in the other room, and I turned, sprinting out of the castle, with her in my arms.

  She was slipping in and out of consciousness but tending to her wound would have to wait.

  Outside, there was no sign of Forrest or the others, but I heard their yelling, deep in the stone column maze. The scraping sound was deafening as I pushed my legs as fast as they could go, using my nose to guide me in the right direction.

  I slid around a corner, nearly dropping Sabella and smashing my head into a stone column, but righted us and kept going.

  Then I discovered the statue had Forrest against another column, preventing him from shifting, but he was breathing fire in an endless stream against the statue.

  “Boris,” I yelled, and he shifted, sprinting around the statue and coming back to me. “Take her and get out of here. I’m going to help Forrest.”

  Boris didn’t argue this time and rushed to join the others, following the rope that had suddenly pulled taut. Hopefully, Hank had managed to make it back from the castle and brought help with him.

  If they had hold of the rope, we might have a chance of escaping this place. I shifted back into my wolf form and looked around for a way to get the statue away from Forrest long enough for us both to get out alive, too.

  Forrest sucked in a deep breath, and the statue slammed his fist toward his face. He ducked at the last second, and the crumbling stone around his fist gave me an idea. All these columns were close to falling.

  They just needed a little push.

  “If you’ve got a plan,” Forrest yelled, dodging the bone whips the statue slung toward him, “I’d love to hear it. Fire isn’t doing anything to this bastard.”

  I couldn’t reply, but darted back down the path we were on and into the next one, keeping my ears tuned to the fight. I ran down a bit further until I found several columns extremely close together and looking fragile as hell.

  I shifted back and yelled, “Forrest. Bring him down this way.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Just do it.”

  I waited to shift back again and watched Forrest dart by, followed by the hulking figure of the statue. As soon as it was level with the columns, I yelled at him to hold him back with his fire again.

  The path was lit up with Forrest’s flames. I shifted and rammed my body into the columns. They shuddered, but didn’t fall. I backed up further and hit them full-on a second time. They trembled and started to go.

  I charged for a third time, and they toppled over, taking the statue down with them, pinning him to the path.

  I jumped over the pile, already moving and sliding around as the statue fought to get free, and nipped at Forrest’s hand so he’d get going.

  The rope was still taut, and I watched as the last wolf tail seemingly disappeared into thin air.

  We were close, so close.

  The stones rumbled behind us as the statue broke free and I flinched at the sharp sound of that damned whip coming for us. Forrest tripped, but I pushed him back upright, forcing him ahead of me. Then he was gone, and I lunged forward, sliding into grass and dirt, trees surrounding us.

  We were out of the maze.

  I scanned the woods and spotted Hank standing beside Lucy, as well as half my royal guard and more bearing the colors of Gregornath. He had certainly brought plenty of backup. I noticed Sabella, standing now thankfully, and was ready to shift back and figure out what happened in that temple, when her eyes widened in fear.

  She stared behind me, screaming a
t me to move.

  The whip whistled through the air a split second before it slashed across my side, sending me soaring into the brush.

  The pain was excruciating, stealing the air from my lungs and forcing me to shift back. Warmth covered my side, and I could barely lift my head to see what was happening.

  Then, I didn’t want to.

  The statue demon split the seam open wider and stepped through, whips firmly in its hands as those red eyes stared at all the new targets before it.

  “Run,” I tried to yell, but the word came out garbled.

  None of them heard me, and the statue moved in closer… Lucy. She stood just a few yards from it, and she faced it down alone. What the hell was she thinking?

  I stared at my guards, praying one of them would intervene. Two sets of hands were suddenly dragging me away as the forest fell eerily silent.

  “What is she doing?” I grunted and turned to find Sabella and Hank had been the ones dragging me.

  “Just wait,” Hank whispered.

  “For what? Her to get whipped to shreds?” I wanted to sit up, but Sabella squeezed my shoulder, shaking her head.

  Blood covered her face, seeping from the gash at her forehead. I couldn’t believe we were just going to sit here and watch her die.

  “Look at the grass,” Sabella whispered, nodding her head.

  At first, I saw nothing except the statue moving closer to Lucy, for some reason not yet attacking with those whips he was dragging through the grass. When I turned my head, I caught the glitter of a glowing crystal; no, not just one. A full circle of them.

  Lucy was luring the demon into a trap. Just when it was ready to step into the circle, the statue stopped, those red eyes narrowing on Lucy. I held my breath, watching, when the statue threw itself forward, both whips flailed, aiming right for the witch. Time seemed to slow. Lucy rolled backward out of the circle, the whips digging into the dirt right where she had stood. A glowing cage of pulsing power shot up from the crystals, surrounding the demon. It drew back for another attack, but the whips ricocheted, and it roared furiously. Its weapons hit the ground, and it banged its fists on the cage; the magic held.