Page 117 of In Between Darkness
We don’t have long to lick our wounds; there is still a final door, and after what lurked behind the last one, we are definitely apprehensive. I am still shaken up by the encounter, my breaths unnaturally heavy as we stand outside the door. It is much bigger than the others, and the steel is covered in symbols andEnchantra. The bolt is heavy, and even using all of my power, I cannot budge it. Ryder extends his arm and gauges its strength.
“They definitely do not want anyone to get in there,” Ryder says, looking at the fortress.
“Or maybe they don’t want whatever is in there to get out.”
I gulp, and we share a look, thinking about the being that almost tore through our flesh and bone like it was nothing. We were lucky there was only one in the previous cell. If more lurk behind this door, we don’t stand a chance. My grip tightens around Ryder’s arm.
“You ready?” he asks, and I nod at him, my lungs fighting my chest with each breath.
He puts an arm in front of me protectively, then yanks at the door with his strong arm. As if smothered with butter, the door slides open. My heart thumps again. Yep, they definitely wanted to keep something in.
Chapter Forty-Six
He fearlessly pushes at the door with strength, even after that thing tried to kill us. He was raised as a soldier, and I am reminded every time he barks an order and people follow, every time he enters a room with poise, leaving his panic behind him, and every time his fingers grip onto a weapon like it is a part of him, like he was born with them.
The door makes an eerie screech as it drags along the flooring. I hold my breath, my eardrums vibrating with my own heartbeat. Ryder enters first with his knife pointed at the darkness and gestures for me to wait behind him. Like a true soldier. The room is dark with almost no light in it. My footsteps, not as sure as Ryder’s, follow behind. The sound of our boots on the marble echoes, like we are in a warehouse. This room is much bigger than the rest. We pause for a moment, surrounded by a sinister silence, the inhaling and exhaling of our breaths, the only sound. Our breaths synchronise as we scope out the rest of the room. It looks empty, but we thought that last time, and we were painfully wrong. We make sure to look up to the ceiling, knowing that every wall is an advantage point for the creature. I let out a shaky breath. There is nothing here.
“Why would they have all this armour for an empty room?” Ryder looks puzzled, and I shrug in response. “There’s nothing here, let’s go,” he says, turning back towards the door.
But just as we are about to walk away, a deep, low grumble quakes through the marble, making the hairs on my neck stand on end.
Ryder instinctively stands in front of me, protecting me from what’s lurking in the shadows.
“What was that?” I ask with a shaky breath, fear taking over my senses, that didn’t sound like the creature we just saw.
“Wait here,” he says, worry lacing his words as he gestures for me to stand by the door.
“What?! I’m not waiting around while you get devoured by whatever made that sound. You might need me again,” I whisper-shout, sticking to Ryder like glue, and even though there is an immense darkness enveloping us, I’m sure I see him smirk.
“Fine,” he says. “At least stand behind me then.”
He uses his hand to delay me slightly so that he is in front of me. I don’t fight it.
“Can you create some light?” he asks.
He speaks to me differently; he does not order me like the others. I fight the urge to smile, not forgetting what could be lurking mere metres away from us, and create an orb to bleed some light into the darkness.
The low grumble shakes the room again, but this time I don’t tremble in fear. There is something different about this growl; it fills me with sorrow rather than dread. It rumbles again. A symphony of pain and hurt that pricks at my eyelids and weakens my knees. Tears well in my eyes.
“It’s okay, we’re not going to hurt you,” I say into the emptiness, placing my hand on the tip of Ryder’s knife, lowering it. Ryder looks back at me like I am batshit crazy.
“What are you doing, Asha?” he grits his teeth and works his jaw, but my hand does not waver from the stem of his knife.
“Ryder, put your knife down,” I say to him, but he still looks back at me confused at the idea, his fingers still caressing the shaft. The creature rumbles again, and Ryder stiffens.
“Seriously?” he questions, the rumble louder this time.
“Please, Ryder… You have to trust me,” I beg, the pain in its voice is unbearable.
Ryder’s eyes study me intensely as his fingers loosen from his knife, he drops it to the floor in an instant.
“I trust you.”
I know that he finds it hard to let people in, but he trusts me. Ryder Stormwood trusts me. Let’s hope I’m right about this.
“It’s okay,” I say as I approach quietly, trying not to startle the creature, whatever it may be. “It’s okay.” I walk nearer with my hands surrendered.
The rumble changes to more of a whimper, and I feel in my heart there is no threat.
