A Younger Generation of Keepers

Chapter 4: Connected by blood (part 10)

Sebastian's pov

I was following Mia blindly through the massive hallways of the castle, observing all the previously empty rooms that were now crawling with goblins and Ashwinders. How did we get into this mess?

And now, Jess, my Jess, the love of my life is dead! Her screams were echoing in my head on a loop. It was all my fault, had I not suggested someone to initiate the lift, she would have still been alive. Why do I always have to cause chaos?

"We have to make it to the other side" Mia's voice pulled me out of my thoughts and brought me back to the present moment. I knew I had to get my act together, I was in a dangerous situation myself right now and grieving over Jess' death would have to wait until both Mia and I were safe. And where was Grayson? He disappeared after unlocking that metal door.

I looked around the room, half of the floor was missing, granting direct visual access to the room beneath us. There were a few wooden boards connecting both parts of the room. Only then had I realised what Mia was previously talking about.

I saw her walking slowly on the unsteady wooden floor. It was shaking, looking like it could tumble down any minute. However, Mia managed to pass through it and make it to the other side of the room without breaking the ramshackle wooden boards.

"Sebastian!" she shouted as goblins began entering the room by breaking the locked door behind me. I started to walk on the wooden platform, but the goblins had almost caught up to me. I turned around and casted Confringo on the door, exploding several goblins and knocking them out.

I realised that if I wanted to make it to the other side, I had to pick up the pace. Hence, I moved rapidly towards Mia, but the wooden floor started to shake even more intensely than before, resulting to it shattering down. The fall made my heart skip a beat and I soon found myself on the room beneath Mia's.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

I could not reply, my back was aching from the fall and no words could come out of my mouth. I looked around the room, there was no sight of goblins, whatsoever, but I could hear Mia walking and fighting on the upper floor, I needed to find a way to help her. I made my way to the door and walked out of the room, I was on the ground floor of the castle, not far from the main entrance.

I saw Mia running downstairs towards my room and before I could react, she dragged me back inside, barricading the door by putting a goblin's spear on its rusty handles.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" she let out while breathing heavily.

"Why are we hiding?" I questioned.

"There's too many of them!" she whispered.

Mia spotted a second door next to a window leading to a different room and left it open, hoping it would trick the goblins into thinking we escaped from that way.

"Now we need a place to hide" she externalised her thoughts, but they were interrupted when a loud bang on the door notified us that the goblins were about to come in.

Grayson's pov

The water's force was sweeping my body away, making me feel like I had no control over it. I was just moving with the flow until I reached some sort of land. I gathered my strength and pulled my body up, simply laying on the land, observing the place for a couple of seconds, it looked like a cave. Where was I?

I stood up and walked around the cave searching for an exit. The land was surrounded by water, apart from a narrow pathway leading to a small gap, where some dim light was coming from.

I took a deep breath and entered the gap; squeezing my way through it until I crossed over to the other side. I let the light guide me through the sand caverns, hoping its source would lead me to an exit. I walked a few metres further into the cave and as it turned out the light was coming from a seemingly familiar furnace next to a room.

The fire was still burning, someone was here recently; I walked into the room and I was shocked to say the least. There were cravings on the walls illustrating goblins and some words in Gobbledegook; if only Amit was here to translate all these.

I quickly realised what was going on, I was in a goblin mine. The goblins were searching for the castle, but they could not find it because the enchantment was making it invisible. Thus, they tried to find an alternate entrance from below. Why was it so important to enter the castle? What did they need from Larissa's sister? 

Mia's pov

The last few goblins left the room, while Sebastian and I were hiding under a staircase. The Invisibility potions that I brewed prior to our departure from Hogwarts, helped us remain unseen during the goblin raid.

"I think they're gone" I whispered as I walked slowly on my tip toes towards the door and looked outside; there were no goblins in sight.

"We've got to move!" I said but Sebastian did not reply. I turned around and saw him standing there, consumed by his own thoughts.

"Sebastian I understand" I tried to sympathise. He looked at me with his teary eyes.

"Do you?" he asked quietly, while sadness clouded his face.

"Of course I do, Jess is my best friend, but we need to keep moving" I replied.

I reached out my hand to help him get up, he was reluctant at first, but then decided to let me pull him out of the room.