Demon's Design

Chapter 28

They kept silent as they reached what used to be the small town of Tromwick which now held little resemblance of any sort of town. Almost all of the homes had crumbled away with nature reclaiming the land they once sat on. The few skeletons of the homes remaining weren't going to stand much longer. It was evident this place had been abandoned years ago, one of the first to go after the fall of Crowfall Keep.

"This place gives me the creeps," Henry stated as he looked around.

"Agreed," Henry said.

Zandra got off of her horse, and the other followed suite as they took a brief minute to soak up their current surroundings. The horses were left to their own devices at what would be the entrance of the village. They were well behaved and wouldn't wonder too far off as long as their reigns and saddles were still hooked up.

She moved with purpose as she tried to remember her time rushing through there when she was a child. Looking around she let out a sigh, it was going to be difficult to remember anything as there was nothing left of this place for markers of any kind. Not to mention she had been running for her life at the time and didn't take the time to look back. Instead, she just started looking around with caution with the other two following suit and watching her back in case there was trouble laying in wait.

It didn't take her too long to discover a small tunnel in a small patch of bushes behind a rotting shack. Henry and Fen hurried over when she signaled she found something.

Fen and Zandra looked over the entrance and inspected it for any potential damage that could make this more dangerous than they carried to attempt. Much to their surprise it looked solid and secure without any signs of water damage or water flowing within.

Once they were satisfied with their find they headed back to the horses and with a swiftness they grabbed their gear and loaded themselves up as much as possible. They each removed the reigns and saddle from their horses. Zandra gave Seri a small pat on the head and then pressed her forehead on hers. "Thank you," she said to her horse.

The each took a moment to give each of their horses a little bit of attention before they gave them a light swat and sent them on their way. Fen and Zandra watched the horses take off out of town and then their stomach dropped. This was going to be it, everything felt so final. It was hard not to think about the many ways this could go wrong and what might happen to any of them.

Turning back towards the tunnel, it was best not to beat around the bush, and they made their way inside. Both Zandra and Fen created a fire ball to help light their way was they walked through the underground tunnel. It was a little bit of a tight squeeze as Fen's shoulders were only a couple inches from the wall on either side. She could have sworn the tunnel had been a bit wider the last time she had been through, of course it could have been the difference in the memory of a child.

It took them about half and hour to reach the end of the tunnel. Zandra placed her hand on the stone wall and closed her eyes. She could feel something zap her arm which caused her to move her hand away with a quick reflex and shake her hand, like a quick heavy charge of static electricity.

"Everything okay?" Fen asked with concern.

She nodded as she responded, "Yea. Just a bit of energy." Putting her hand back onto the cold stone she closed her eyes once more and concentrated. It was just like back at the summer house, the energy from the estate was trying to connect with her. She allowed the connection to be made and willed the stone to move. There was a bit of a rumble and as she opened her eyes the stone started to move, it took a couple of agonizing minutes for it to create a four foot wide entrance.