Amir blinked his eyes open sluggishly and took in the room. He was bound to a chair with a complicated knot that Casteel and Lyria had never heard of, but Tariana assured would hold anything up to a ghost leopard.
"Hello, Amir." Lyria said slowly, approaching the chair, a saccharine smile on her lips. Amir took one look at her and Casteel in the corner, darkness swirling around him and gulped.
"Now I wanted to ask you a few questions, is that alright?" Amir bared his teeth and spat at her feet. Lyria's grin didn't falter but Casteel's hand clenched and a spear of darkness shot towards Amir. Lyria tipped the chair so it missed him but Amir was looking terrified.
"Cas! What did I tell you? We gotta ask him the questions before we torture him, OK?" Casteeel mumbled something under his breath but nodded.
"Sorry about him, he's kinda trigger happy. I'm going to let you in on a secret, Cas over there wanted to skin you alive, but I reminded him that we need you. The thing is, if you don't give me what I want, I might just step out of the room, give you a little alone time with Casteel." As if on cue he cracked his knuckles. Lyria had to stop herself laughing, but the threat seemed to work as a wet patch was spreading across the front of Amir's pants .
"You don't want that, do you Amir?" She purred and he nodded quickly.
"N-no." Lyria clapped her hands together and Amir flinched at the sound.
"Good! Now, tell me what you know about the Vīsava Yätarī and where it is." Amir went pale and shook his head as something flashed across his face.
"The Vīsava Yätarī is a myth." Lyria tutted and gestered, Casteel sent a dagger of darkness into Amir's hand. The man screamed and hot tears poured from his eyes as he looked frantically at the weapon in his hand.
"We all know it's not just a myth, now, tell me what you know and we can heal you and send you on your way." He clenched his jaw and Lyria motioned to Casteeel. Another dagger materialised in the air and Amir broke.
"Fine! I-It is rumoured that the first part of the dagger is buried with the Sorcerer's lover. H-here in Anielle."
"Where is the tomb, Amir?"
"The south graveyard, r-row forty on the end." He said quickly, too quickly. Lyria turned to Casteel who shook his head.
"There is no such thing as the south graveyard, there is only the east and west. And both of them end at row 35 and 36 respectfully."
"Are you lying to me Amir?" She turned slowly back around and Amir turned a disturbing grey colour.
"I promise you there is. I came to Anielle to find it too! I-If you let me go I can take you there! Otherwise you will never find the tomb. It took me three years to find it." Lyria tilted her head.
"Fine. But if you're lying to us, your going to wish we had killed you." Casteel barked a warning but Lyria was already undoing Amir's restraints.
"If you try and run, we will kill you. If you try and hurt us, we will kill you. Do I need to continue?" She warned and Amir nodded, rubbing his wrists.
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"And here!" Amir said and with a flourish pushed four points on the mausoleum wall. The stone shifted to form a dark doorway. Amir dusted his fingers on his pants. Lyria shivered in the cold, gods she hated graveyards.
"After you." He gestured and Tariana scoffed.
"And let you shut us in there? No way."
"How about you stay out here to guard then, make sure I don't trap anyone. You saw which points I pressed on the wall." Tariana nodded slowly, still looking suspicious. Casteel was wearing a similar expression.
"Relax, guys! We are going to find the dagger and then go home. Stop worrying." Lyria assured them and missed the crooked grin that spread across Amir's face. She turned to enter and before Casteel and Tariana could stop him, Amir reached out with his hands aiming to shove Lyria. Except she twisted at the last minute, sending Amir careening through the door. As soon as he entered the threshold, blue runes lit up on the floor and Amir froze. His mouth was open in a silent scream and his beady eyes swept across them in panic.
"As would be excepted, being the tomb of a Sorcerer's lover, there's a spell guarding it. I just couldn't figure what kind of spell. I realised what it was when you were all too happy to help us. The spell demands a life sacrifice. That's why you were going to push me in first."
"Those are death Wyrdmarks!" Tariana exclaimed pointing at the floor and Lyria smirked.
"So I was right. Well, it was nice knowing you Amir." The runes flared red and Amir slumped to the ground, dead.
"Is it safe?" Lyria directed the question at Tariana who studied the runes for a moment and nodded.
"Those runes are surrounded by sacrifice ones, once the sacrifice is given, the flow of energy is directed away from the death runes and into the sacrifice ones." Lyria needed no further encouragement and stepped gingerly through the door. Immediately torches flared to life, illuminating a narrow passage. Lyria froze, waiting for some sort of pain but relaxed when nothing came.
"You guys coming?"
"I'll stay back and guard." Tariana offered, eyeing the passage with fear. Casteel nodded and followed Lyria into the darkness.
YOU ARE READING
The Damned Princess
Fantasía"It wasn't my fault she ran into my knife, repeatedly." After her stay at the Night Court, Lyria was eager to get back home. Only to find herself one thousand years in the future. The Damned Princess follows Lyria and Casteel, as they struggle to f...
