Requiem Run

Chapter 27

Tarja's route from the king's chamber led Rhys and I down several flights of stairs and through so many hallways. Of course, we had to stop every now and then when guards would come by, but we'd always hear them coming and Tarja would hide us, either behind a tapestry or in an armoire, which worked until a very specific moment.

A single guard was coming, so Tarja had us hide behind a tapestry. She gave her same spiel to the guard about leaving me in a room to rest, and he seemed to accept it, until he said something that made my blood run cold.

"So why is that tapestry moving a little?"

I froze, and I could feel Rhys do the same.

"Well, it must be just the wind." said Tarja. She sounded pretty calm, but even I could detect the hint of fear in her voice. The guard said nothing, then there was the clanking heading straight in our direction. Felice and I slowly reached down for our sword, ready to pull it out and put the guard down if we had to.

Then the guard grunted, there were several clangs, a whooshing sound, a big thump, and Tarja said, out of breath, "You can come out now."

Rhys and I pushed the tapestry away and were shocked when we saw the guard on the ground, unconscious or dead, and Tarja with her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath.

"Mama, are you okay?" Rhys asked.

"Haven't had to use combat magic in a while," said Tarja, "This knocked the wind out of me. Does not matter anymore, we have to keep going!"

Tarja took a step, then doubled over in pain. Rhys caught her before she could hit the floor, and I rushed over to help as well.

"Don't worry about me," Tarja said, "You two need to get out of this castle, before you get caught!"

"Screw that!" I said as I hooked my arm into her, "Rhys, get her other side!"

"Gotcha." said Rhys, and she did so, allowing the two of us to pull Tarja to her feet and half-carry her down the hallway.

"That guard's gonna attract a lot of attention," I said, "Not to mention that bitch Sallaena's gonna wake up sooner or later, and she's not gonna be happy. The sooner we're out of sight, the better. Just guide us where to go, Tarja."

"Okay." said Tarja. Her strength was coming back slowly, but Rhys and I helped her along as she told us which turns to take and staircases to go down when we needed to. Eventually, we were going down a single corridor that led to a large, metal door.

"This is it," said Tarja as she pushed away from us, her strength having apparently returned, "This is the door to the dungeon. Hold on..."

She rifled through her pockets while I pulled my sword and held it in front of me as I faced away from her, just in case any stragglers decided to come by and see what was going on. Fortunately, no one showed up as Tarja opened the door.

"Here we go!" said Tarja, "Everyone in!"

Rhys and I followed the elf through the door, allowing her to close it behind us and lock it from our end. I noticed an immediate change in scenery from well-cleaned stones and plush carpets to metal floors and walls, all stained with rust. At least, the stains looked like rust.

Rhys and I followed Tarja down the hall until we were in a big corridor with cells on both sides. As we went passed them, I couldn't help but look in as we passed each cell. No one was in any of them, but there were some pretty suspicious stains on all of them.

"Don't pay them any mind, moor-acu." said Felice.

"Come on." said Tarja as she took my hand while I took Rhys's, "We have to get to the exit."