Different Worlds

Narrow Escape

I usually thought that traveling to places by magic was a great time saver. A couple of days travel could be done in under a minute. However, at this precise moment I was not liking it. I was hating it. This was the one time where I would have been happy to do the five days hike it would have taken to get to Neeros' castle. Anything to put off the inevitable.

Just a minute ago, we had been standing in the ruins of the old castle, and now we were in a corner of Neeros' castle courtyard that was hidden in shadow.

I could hear Sienna beside me, breathing hard. I knew she was scared, and there wasn't anything I could do to help her feel better. And it was only going to get worse.

"This way," Daniel whispered, nodding his head to the east. We followed him silently, my hand never leaving the hilt of my knife. I was beginning to feel uneasy. Something wasn't right.

"Where are all of the guards?" I whispered at Daniel.

Daniel came to an abrupt stop and looked back at me. Then he quickly looked over the empty courtyard. "Perhaps they're all inside."

"Isn't it strange that there's nobody out here?" I persisted. "No king would ever leave the outside of the castle unguarded, its common sense. Where are the sentries? I'm telling you, something isn't right. We need to get out of here."

"We can't turn back now," Daniel whispered back stubbornly. "We've come this far."

I was shaking my head. All of my instincts were screaming danger, and I didn't want Sienna here.

"We need to go," I insisted.

"No." The look on Daniel's face was desperate. We both turned to look at Jarvis. He glanced from Daniel's desperate face to my imploring one.

"As Daniel said, we've come this far," he finally whispered. "We might as well see this through."

I ground my teeth as they turned back around and continued on.

"Are you going to follow?" Sienna asked quietly when I didn't move. I looked down at her trusting face.

"I don't care what they say," I said quickly. "There is definitely something wrong."

"Devon!" I looked ahead at Daniel and Jarvis who were waiting impatiently. "Come on!"

"We can do this," Sienna said. "Follow them."

I have her a long look before grabbing her hand and pulling her forward. I didn't like this at all. Daniel had been trapped in between worlds in suspended animation for centuries, and Jarvis was a sorcerer, he wasn't a warrior. He didn't have a  warrior's instincts for danger - not like I did.

"In here." Daniel had stopped at a large door that let into the castle. He pushed on it, and it swung open. He walked in with Jarvis right behind him, and I reluctantly followed. We found ourselves in an empty hallway lit up by torches on the walls. We followed the hallway to the end nad it opened into a large room that was decorated with rich furnishings that screamed elegance.

"I don't understand," Daniel said as we walked further in. "Where is everybody?"

"Waiting for you."

We all spun around as an uninvited and unwelcome voice sounded from behind us. King Neeros stood before us, dressed in kingly splendor and a glistening crown of gold on his head. Behind him, soldiers marched into the room, sealing off any means of escape.

"It's so good to see you all again," another voice intruded. A snarl escaped from between Daniel's teeth as Netiri entered. She looked at each one of us, not showing any surprise when she came to Daniel.