“We’ll have to let the Masters get them out too. We can hardly carry them all out, especially when Stefan might wake up and Godan might be here too. We don’t know how to get them out either. Sangel said they’re in some sort of stasis. I don’t know what buttons to press on those tubes to release them without causing harm. Do you?”
Elijah shook his head.
Joelle just wished there was another set off Uqari cuffs to place on Stefan in case he woke up before they got to the Masters.
“C’mon then,” he said. “If we don’t manage to escape, no one will ever know about this place.”
They hurried from the room, Joelle locking the door behind them.
“Walk as fast as you can, but as quietly as you can,” she instructed. “I don’t want to run straight into Battlebeard, or…”
“Cera,” Elijah said. “You think she’s here too.”
“Yeah,” she nodded slowly. “Her father probably wanted to keep her close. Let’s just hope we don’t run into her either.”
They walked briskly through the house, their feet rustling slightly on the thick carpet that covered the floor.
She would’ve used the Mutemove spell to make them soundless, but her sorcery was still trickling back, and she’d used a lot of it earlier in getting to the mansion. Joelle figured it was better to save what sorcery they had to fight their way out of here.”
“Do you think we should look for our weapons?” Elijah asked.
“Not especially, we’ll have to rely on our magic. We do need to find that paintbrush though, and paint a doorway out of here as soon as we locate Jed.”
Elijah nodded nervously.
They reached their first door. It was open a crack. She shot Elijah a look of warning and silently nudged the door open with her foot. They both held their breath as the door creaked open, but all it revealed was an empty sitting room, with two armchairs and an empty hearth.
“Okay, let’s keep going,” she whispered. They moved on, Joelle keeping her ears pricked for any signs of an approaching giant. Perhaps Godan had returned to the city already. But that still meant Cera could here somewhere.
She and Elijah reached the end of the corridor and entered into a hall. A spiral staircase stretched up to their left, whilst another door was to their right.
“We definitely shouldn’t split up,” Elijah said.
“Agreed, let’s stay on the bottom floor of the manor for now,” she said quietly. “It’ll be easier to escape through the front door.”
This time it was Elijah who quietly nudged the door open. Beyond was just another empty corridor. Joelle hurried in first, her body full of anxious energy. She felt like she did after seeing a giant spider, her skin crawling with unease.
This corridor twisted into another empty passage, and then another. They passed three more doors, all of which contained empty rooms too.
“Rueda, what if Jed isn’t here?” She voiced her fear out loud. “What if Battlebeard took him somewhere?”
“I-wait… what’s that?” Elijah whispered, pointing at the wall.
“What?” She looked but saw nothing on the wall except a large hanging tapestry. It looked royally expensive, red silk imbued with pictures of centaurs in gold thread.
“I think there’s a door behind it,” Elijah said, edging closer and gently tugging the tapestry back.
He was right, the tapestry had been concealing a small and circular wooden door with a large gold handle.
“The glint of gold caught my eye as we turned into this corridor,” Elijah said. “As it was hidden, maybe it’s our best shot at finding Jed.”
“There’s one problem,” Joelle said, pointing to the keyhole beneath the handle. “The only other door we’ve passed which had a keyhole was the door to the basement Sangel had locked us in. This door is probably locked too.”
“Damn, you’re probably right. But we might as well try.” Elijah crept forward and placed his hand on the handle. His face then lit up as the handle turned smoothly and clicked.
“Heh, I guess it is usually locked, but not today.”
“Maybe Mr Sangel forgot to lock it,” she said, “but was too distracted by our arrival.”
“Okay, get ready,” Elijah warned. “If this room is important enough to conceal and lock, it’s got to have something important behind it. If not Jed, then maybe we’ll find that paintbrush we need to get out of here.”
“Or maybe Cera’s so insane that he has to keep her locked up,” Joelle said.
“You’re not helping keeping me at ease you know,” Elijah muttered.
“Oh sorry, I didn’t know my job was keeping you calm.”
Elijah grinned weakly. “Okay, let’s just dive in here, and hopefully rescue Jed.”
He then pushed the door open and they both stumbled into the room beyond.
All Joelle saw was a softly lit room with four-poster-bed in the corner, before the horrendous stench assailed her.
Elijah choked in his sleeve. “Eurgh, what the hell is that?”
She put a hand over her mouth, scanning the rest of the room, but other than the thick carpet, there was nothing there.
“Ushk, Jed’s not here,” she said, her voice muffled behind her arm.
“Yeah, but I think Cera is,” Elijah said in a voice.
She looked over his shoulder at the four-poster bed and saw that he was right. Someone was sleeping in the bed, their body covered under a red veil. At least Joelle thought the person was sleeping, but she soon saw the chest didn’t rise and fall. Which explained the stench.
“Oh no,” she gasped, her lip trembling. “Elijah, I… I think Cera passed away.”
Curiously, tears prickled her eyes. She didn’t know why. She’d never been particularly close to Cera, and even though she’d betrayed Veneseron, Joelle couldn’t help but feel sad at her terrible end.
“No,” Elijah said, barely audibly.
She looked at him, her heart going out. Elijah had known Cera a lot better than she had. She couldn’t imagine what Elijah was feeling.
He edged toward the bed.
“Eli, what’re you doing?” she hissed.
“I have to see. I have to know if she’s truly dead.” Elijah whispered back, leaning forward to pull back the veil.
Joelle held her breath as he gently lifted the cloth. At first she saw Cera’s dark hair spilling across the pillow like spilled ink. Then she glimpsed Cera’s dark brown skin, then-
She realised with a jolt, it wasn’t Cera, but a woman, long dead. Elijah retched beside Joelle as she shrank back.
The woman’s skin had started to grey, and her opened eyes were glassy and vacant.
“Noooo!” A man howled in anguish.
She and Elijah leaped to the side as Stefan tore into the room and flung his body over the corpse.
“No, my love. Don’t touch her, don’t you dare touch her.” Mr Sangel sobbed as he draped himself over Cera’s mother.
Joelle merely stood, not knowing what to do. Elijah looked shell-shocked.
“Are you happy now,” Mr Sangel snarled. “Have we not paid enough for betraying your beloved Veneseron?”
“Wha-what happened?” Elijah croaked.
“Demons,” Stefan snapped. “Whilst we were on the run, the run from you. After your lot killed our only ally in Lord Kurrlan. We had no choice but to roam the realms, seeking shelter. Seeking anything that might help us. But the worlds are not kind to us. All the civilised realms I knew were forbidden to us, if we were spotted Veneseron’s many spies would’ve reported us. We had to stray into worlds full of monsters, or nothing at all. Well one pack of demons got my Monica. It was only a scratch, that was all it took. A single scratch from a Hellclaw demon has enough poison to kill anything. My Monica survived for nearly two days afterward. I could’ve saved her if your kind would’ve let us back into Veneseron. The Doctors in Veneseron’s Infirmary have the antidote to Hellclaw’s venom. But no, she died. Because of Veneseron.”
“N
o, because of you,” Joelle replied quietly. “You could’ve brought your wife back to Veneseron, Mr Sangel. You know Vanderain and the Masters would’ve tried everything to save her. But then you and your family would’ve been imprisoned. You let Mrs Sangel die so you didn’t face punishment for your crimes.”
“You glarqing bliak!” Mr Sangel growled. “I’m afraid dear, that my next experiments upon you will likely kill you. You fool, if Veneseron imprisoned me I never could’ve cured Cera.”
“You aren’t curing Cera now, you mad man,” she cried.
“You know nothing little girl,” Stefan threw himself off the bed and lunged at her. His fingers only brushed her arm, however, before Stefan was thrown back by Elijah’s air spell.
“Run!” Elijah roared.
*
Jed sucked in his breath as he tried to shake off the immense pain in his wrists. Seconds before, he’d bashed his cuffs against the stone window sill, in an effort to break them. Evidently, it hadn’t worked.
He quickly looked back at Cera, but she was still unconscious. His eyes kept darting back to her, just to make sure. For the past couple of minutes, he’d scouted e room for a weapon, or a way to get the damn cuffs off, but to no avail.
It was time for him to venture out into the mansion, before Cera woke up. He had to find Joelle and Elijah and get out of here.
Jed slipped through the door and into a corridor full of nothing but stone busts of orcs, trolls and various other creatures. On a whim, he turned left and walked as quietly as he could. Without his magic and his axe, he was next to helpless if he ran into anyone other than Elijah and Joelle.
The corridor opened up into a landing above the first floor. The set of spiral stairs on one side, and wooden railing running the length of the room. Beyond the rails he could see a large hall on the first floor.
Jed was about to descend the stairs when a door creak open behind him. He whirled to see the confused face of Godan Battlebeard as the Mandon peered round the door.
“What’re you doing here? You little-“ Godan bellowed, stomping toward him.
Jed prepared to run, but the giant moved faster than his anyone his size should, and grabbed him by the collar.
“Get off me,” Jed yelled, turning to bite Godan’s hand, which was the size of a dinner plate.
Battlebeard yelped and pulled his hand back. Jed capitalised by seizing a nearby bust, of a Mandon ironically, and lobbing it at his head. The stone bounced off Godan’s nose, causing him to grunt in fury. As Godan reared back, he noticed a paintbrush sticking out of the giant’s belt. Jed quickly snatched the brush and then turned to scarper, but Godan swung one of his heavy arms, clipping him in the side of the head.
Jed flew to his left, banging against the stair railings as a ringing sound exploded through his head. He struggled to his feet, just in time to see Battlebeard charging at him like an enraged bull.
Jed leaped to his right just in time. The giant flew past him and crashed through the wooden railing, smashing them apart as he charged right over the stairs and fell down to the first floor with a disturbing thud.
Jed hastily, crawled over to the broken railings to see Battlebeard sprawled across the foyer floor. He’d hit the stone ground face first and was now unconscious, maybe worse.
Seconds after Godan landed in the foyer, Elijah and Joelle raced into the room.
“Guys, guys, I’m up here,” Jed yelled.
They both looked up at him, fear on their faces. Jed didn’t know why they were so scared, until he saw Mr Sangel burst into the foyer after them, his sword unsheathed.
“Quick, up here,” Jed roared.
Elijah and Joelle hopped over Battlebeard’s body and ran up the spiral staircase.
Jed pulled himself to his feet, only to have something jump on to his back.
“You’re bad!” Cera shrieked, her fingernails digging into his neck.
He swayed this way and that, trying to shake the girl clinging onto him, like a deranged piggyback.
Finally, he got a hold of her shoulder and hauled Cera off of him. Elijah and Joelle ran on to the balcony beside him, and Jed quickly grabbed Cera and threw her down the spiral stairs as her father ran up them, causing the two of them to collide in a tangle of limbs.
“Quick follow me,” Jed yelled to his fellow Venators. He had no idea why he was acting like he knew where to go.
Unfortunately, as the three of them fled, he could hear Cera and Mr Sangel begin chase.
The three of them scarpered through the mansion’s second floor, racing up a second set of steps.
“I’ve got the brush,” Jed shouted out.
They ran past the bust of a Unicorn’s head as they entered the last room. There was nowhere else to run. Jed looked everywhere, and spotted a window in the centre of the ceiling.
“There, we’ll have to go through there.”
“Okay,” Joelle said, “let me use a spell to-“
“No need,” Jed interrupted, seizing the unicorn’s bust. “Take cover!”
As Elijah and Joelle leaped back, he threw the unicorn’s head as hard as he could. The stone bust smashed into the window, causing shards of glass to shower across the floor.
They use the spell to leap up.
“Wait! You’ll have to pull me up. I’m still wearing the cuffs.”
They do it, Jed hovered up the ten feet to the ceiling, banging his head against the wall beside the window instead.
“Sorry,” Elijah cried.
After a second of flailing his arms, Jed grabbed hold of the ledge and they ceased their spells.
“Thanks,” Jed gasped breathlessly, pulling himself up. He moved his hands up to grab the roof tiles as his upper body rose through the window, but before his legs could pass, something heavy seized hold of them, yanking him back down.
Joelle and Elijah grabbed one of his hands each, stopping Jed from falling back through the window. He looked down to see Cera hanging from his legs, he kicked them out wildly.
“Get off me, you maniac!” Cera, obviously, ignored him, trying to scramble up his legs like a spider.
“Hold on,” Elijah roared, pulling on Jed’s arm with all his strength. Together, Elijah and Joelle hauled him up through the window, but with Cera still clinging to him.
“Cera.” Elijah bent down to take hold of her shoulders, gently prising her off Jed. “It’s me, Elijah, remember?”
Cera hissed like a cat and scratched Elijah across the cheek before scurrying away across the roof, glaring at all three of them.
A second later, Mr Sangel soared through the window, using his own air spell. He landed on the roof tiles with a thud, smashing several of them.
“You glarqing Venators are going to ruin everything,” he roared. “You don’t deserve your magic, not when my Cera has to go without it. I was just going to use you for experiments, not kill you. But now, your deaths will be your own fault. You drove me to it.” Mr Sangel advanced toward them, his sword glinting in the sun.
Jed was closest to him, and Sangel wasted no time trying to cut his head off. Jed ducked just in time, then replied by smacking both of his cuffed fists into Mr Sangel’s face, like a club.
Jed tried to back away then, knowing he was severely outmatched, but Sangel swung his sword quickly, slashing for Jed’s stomach. He was already moving back, but not fast enough. The edge of Sangel’s sword cut cleanly through his hand and one of Jed’s fingers went sailing through the air.
He watched his forefinger roll across the roof tiles in disbelief. Is this really happening? The stump at his knuckle gave him an answer, spouting out blood like a water gun.
“Oh,” he heard himself say, only vaguely aware that Elijah and Joelle were battling Mr Sangel nearby.
Jed turned and frowned as he saw Cera run and kick his finger off the roof.
He hastily stuffed his other hand over the wound gushing blood everywhere. He balled his good hand in a fist, but still the blood wouldn’t stop running.
; Mr Sangel evaded the shock spell Joelle shot at him, then forced Elijah back with his own exploder spell, which hit the tiles instead, smashing many to pieces.
Elijah backed up right into Cera, however.
“Go away!” Cera screeched, running at him. Elijah threw out his hand as Cera ran into him, punching her in the head. Cera dropped like a stone, unconscious again.
“Oh god, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Elijah stammered to her, as if she could hear him.
Mr Sangel screamed in rage, holding his sword like a spear as he stepped toward Elijah, aiming to plunge his blade through Elijah’s chest.
Jed yelled out a warning, but Joelle had already launched an immense energy spell. The blast exploded into Sangel’s side, throwing him through the air and right off the roof.
Jed gasped, stumbling to the edge of the roof to see Mr Sangel had landed amongst the army of Drylilies.
Even as he struggled back to his feet from the fall, the Drylilies were on him.
“No, let go. Let go!” Sangel roared, struggling fitfully as flower after flower leeched the life out of him.
Jed had to look away as Sangel sank to the ground, buried under a multitude of ravenous fauna. His cries of fury, and then agony, didn’t last long.
“Jed, Jed, are you okay?”
He turned toward Elijah’s voice, stumbling. Blood was still trickling from the fist clutching his stump. He’d left puddles of blood everywhere he walked.
Joelle was calling out to him too. Their voices slid together and bounced around his ears. Jed wondered if he was passing out from severe blood loss as everything went dark.
Chapter 46- Midnight Meetings
Thoughts of Falawn filled Arantay’s mind as he sat outside long neglected church. It was bitterly cold outside but his body didn’t feel it, he only knew by the way his breath misted out before him.
He was in one of those moods. One of those moods that often occurred in someone who had lived as long as he. It was a mood of deep reflection, where he considered the point of it all. Now more than ever these dark thoughts took a hold of him.
His family dead, his brother worse than dead, and still, as always, vampiric blood flowed through his body. A body that had once been fresh and spirited, back when he had been an elf of the forest, a very creature of the forest, now he only tainted those trees he had once felt apart of.
Moonlight War- Act II (The Realmers Book 3) Page 21