Page 36 of Wolf Trap

Which I guessed they did.

I cursed. “I knew it! I bloody well freaking knew it was cursed!”

Unlatching myself from Hakon, my fingers danced, the heat swirling inside of me as sweat broke on my face. I could feel the magic like lava in my veins. I cast a whip of the fiery magic from my fingers, across the armour, scrunching my eyes as I visualised it looping around their weapons.

The loop worked, then tightened, loosened and came hurtling back towards us.

“Get down!” I yelled, glancing at them.

Anthony was chanting, his fingers weaving. He crouched just in time, but beside him Hakon dragged Lycaon down, Lycaon’s eyes glazed over.

Oh no, not again!

“Look for another way out!” Hakon cried as he dragged Lycaon by the arm, who seemed dazed.

We turned back. More enchanted armour blocked our way through the vast hallway. Grinding metal on metal, the metal clad boots pounded on the floor, axes thrust at waist height. We were being surrounded.

Anthony whispered frantically. I could see the whirlwind of black smoke as he opened a portal, but a blast of hot air shot over us. Another voice seemed to chant, something all around us, quiet at first, like a whisper in the wind. Then it grew louder, like a group of people whispering.

“Through there!” I screeched.

The double doors to the room that housed the trunks. My palms were sweaty now. I gripped the handle, fighting it open, and another gush of wind blasted us into the wall. All the while,some malignant magic sent the suits of armour closer. Now as they shifted their helmets up, piercing red dots, eyes glowed from inside, as their gloved hands spun spiked balls on shafts, or sliced the air before them with their blades.

We tumbled into the room, looking for another door.

There was no other door!

Anthony shouted, his claws extracted. Lycaon had seemed to recover and was morphing, half man, half wolf as Hakon hissed, revealing his monster teeth.

“Can’t you get us out of here?” I yelled in panic to Anthony.

“No! They’ve blocked our magic, or as you saw, sent it back to us. Holy hellfire…There’s no way out.”

The armour quickly gathered and blocked the doorway. They marched forward in heavy footsteps that sounded like death, making us fall back against the wall. The stench from the trunks filled my nose, shuddering. How can tooth and claw fight metal and steel?

One suit of armour stepped forward, standing apart from the others, and pointed to the corner of the room. We all looked in the direction, waiting, bracing our breath.

A silver outline, a doorway, appeared, a warm breeze coming through it. Suddenly the scent of sweet orange blossom and grass washed over me, and a gold and copper light shone through the portal, a doorway to another place.

Straining, I gasped, “We have to take it. Or be pummelled and sliced to death.”

“It’s a trap,” Hakon hissed.

“Of course it is. But it’s our only salvation right now!” I ran towards it.

The others hesitated briefly before following me through a liquid barrier. I stood at a crossroads with a big silver moon in the sky.

11

MAIDEN, MOTHER, CRONE

The last to leap through the doorway, Hakon yelled as it closed behind us.

“Well… where the heck are we?” Hakon snapped.

Dryly Anthony responded, “At a crossroads, in a portal, somewhere else. The only question now is, do we go left, or do we go right?”

Lycaon gripped my hand. “Are you ok, Elsa?”

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