Page 30 of Owned By the Fae
I bring up the rear, staying in my invisible form. We go up the small winding staircase, skipping the broken steps. There are just enough intact to get to the next floor—what's left of it.
‘Stay to the side,’ Dane murmurs. ‘The beams are rotten through.’
We skirt around the edges of the floor, listening to it creak beneath us. Dane waves a hand, and it stops making noises. I assume he's reinforced the boards with magick somehow.
‘What are we looking for?’ Dane says, sounding annoyed that he’s still in the dark about what we’re doing here.
‘A box.’
Dane lets out a harsh breath. ‘What does it look like?’
‘Like a Gate box a bit.’ Rikoth shrugs. ‘The last one I saw was made of iron, so perhaps it'll be the same.’
Off to the side is a bed chamber, and we enter it slowly. We start looking around the room, but there's not much here that's survived the elements, as the roof has caved in at some point over the last few hundred years. Beyond it, though, there’s a small anteroom with a collapsed bed by one wall.
I follow the others, staying a few steps behind and I think I hear a noise at my back but when I turn around, there's nothing there. My eyes narrow. Something is stalking us through the ruins.
‘Here!’ Rikoth says, making his way to a cabinet in the corner of the room. ‘It’s locked.’
Vern uses his strength to tear it open when Rikoth can’t get the door to budge. Considering the rest of the place, it’s in remarkably good condition, I think as I give it a cursory scan. But I stay by the doorway to watch for whatever’s lurking out there.
Inside the cupboard on a shelf is a small box.
‘I think we’ve found it,’ Rikoth murmurs.
‘What's in it?’ Dane asks.
‘Not your business,’ Vern sneers.
Dane shrugs.
‘We should get out of here,’ I say.
Their eyes narrow when they hear me.
‘You've been following us the whole time?’ Vern asks.
‘Of course,’ I say, letting them hear my amusement. ‘Did you think I was going to stay outside? You should probably know that something is following us around. I haven't seen it yet, but it's just biding its time, and it’s Dark Realm through and through.’
Rikoth eyes Dane, who purses his lips. ‘I don't feel anything.’
I step closer to my friend, whispering into his ear and hoping I can trust him with this secret. ‘I can feel its thoughts,’ I whisper, and his eyes widen slightly.
‘Where is it?’
‘I don't know, but it's watching us, and it's waiting. It doesn’t want us in its domain. Itwillkill us if it can.’
‘Fine.’ Dane grits his teeth. ‘Let's go.’
We go back through the rooms and down the steps, and just as we turn the corner to re-enter the hall, something dark moves out of the shadows. It's huge and hulking, a black mass with no discernible shape.
Dane throws a conjure at it, and an explosion rocks the castle, making the rest of the floor cave in around us.
‘Run!’ someone yells as the creature lets out a piercing scream of anger and perhaps pain as well.
We flee as fast as we can, bolting out into the overgrown courtyard. The others run for the way out, and I watch their backs, waiting until they’re clear before I pass through the wall. At first, I think the thing isn’t going to follow, but then I hear it burst out of the castle ruins with a roar that makes my ears hurt. Stone shards fall around us, lodging themselves in the hard ground of the path and in the trees, narrowly missing me.
‘It's coming,’ I yell as I meet the others outside the wall.
