The next morning Lamia woke up to darkness. Even during the day no light ever filter through the thickness of evil.
"Dang..." She stood and stretched taking in a deep breath. She could have sworn she had a crazy dream about a ghostly woman ranting riddles and running into maze made out of shadows. "I need to sleep more...lack of sleep is making my brain crazy." She ran a hand through her hair and looked up into the sky. "What am I going to do? Was that a genuine warning? Or was that just...me being here in this hell?" Lamia went to grab her water canteen but instead felt coarse fur beneath her hand. She spun around and ended up screaming and jumping back, tripping over a rock. "WHAT THE...." There laying beside her bag and water canteen, protecting it, was the hellion she forgot about, who now stared at her like she was an idiot.
"Guess...I forgot about you." The hellion snorted in annoyance and got up. "Well...at least you're a plus side to this crazy hell." The hellion snorted again and stomped its foot. "What am I going to call you? You have to have a name..." The giant creature shook its head and continued to stare at Lamia. It's eyes huge and full of fire.
"Hmmm...." Lamia stared at the ground pondering different names. The first name was one Daemon had given to his steed but she dreaded even saying it. Giving it to another animal seemed unworthy and unfair but it seemed to fit. "Ashakiran..." The word came out so quietly the sound was barely able to leave her mouth. Memories flooded Lamia to the point of where she almost was knocked to the ground from being overwhelmed. Just one word sent her emotions into a tailspin of sorrow. Daemon picked the name cause of his pure white spotless, flawless stallion. The name meant ray of hope or last hope. For Daemon, Ashakiran was his saving grace. That stallion protected Daemon until its last breath. Unfortunately, even in the end, Daemon lost his life to the Prince's unholy hands.
"Ashakiran." Lamia looked the hellion straight in the eyes and gently put her hand on the stallion's fore-face. "You're going to be my saving grace. Aren't you?" She gave a small smile as Ashakiran pressed his forehead into her hand and gave a small stamp of the foot. "I'll call you Ash for short." She pressed her body against this hellion's strong muscled body and gave a small sigh. "And the journey begins." Lamia grabbed her backpack and canteen. "You ready to go? We have a long trail ahead of us." Ashakiran gave a small nod of his head and knelt down onto his front two knees. Motioning for Lamia to hop on. Without a second hesitation she flung her leg over Ash's strong back and steady herself. Once Ashakiran felt Lamia was set straight, he stood to his full height and started to move down the path through the woods. The next destination for Lamia and her hellion would be the Lake of Regret, a two day's ride out. The path would be rocky, uneven, and dangerous through out the entire journey. The Lake of Regret would be the next trial the Dark Prince had set up for Lamia. It would be here that Lamia would have to face her worse fears and the demons of her past. This wounded warrior already had issues with just barely thinking about people from the past, so being sent back would be something strong enough to crack her soul. If darkness could crowd and sink into Lamia's heart, spirit, and soul, the dark prince would have enough ground to rip her apart.
The closer Lamia got to the Dark Prince's castle and heart of his domain, the harder and more dangerous the trials would get. This hell Lamia was in was about to get a lot more personal and a lot more deadly. Nothing was the same and nothing ever would be. She was already an empty shell before she came to Lethum and now being back she was bound to break. The main question now is when?
