Separated in the Phantoms

Chapter 30

We walked towards the doors. I let my hand glide over the soft, dark wood. They were absolutely beautiful. My hand reached the handle. It’s cold metal pressed against my hand. The circular handle shone in the light of the surrounding candles. I looked back at Torin.
“Ready, Ruby?” He asked. I took a last, deep breath.
“Ready.” I said as I pushed open the doors.
The room was dark. There was a bad, scary vibe that filled up the room. I stepped inside. As I entered, the lights inside the room lit up. It revealed the blood-red colour of the room and its golden accessories. I immediately saw my dad, bound up and gagged, sitting on the ground, as Fyren Graves sat on the very left throne. He grinned as Torin and I walked in. Torin stood behind me. I glared at the short trickster, happily walking towards me. He gave me a maniacal grin as he signed for us to come further. We did as he asked. Like we had been doing this whole journey. My dad stared at me, worried that I had come. I briefly looked at him, before giving Graves my full attention.
“Well, I’m here now. Let my dad go.” I said, threatening. Graved giggled again.
“Come, come, dear Ruby. You know that is NOT how I work.” He said. His voice was deep, but a little high at the same time. He sounded like a true maniac. A psycho. So, his voice wasn’t very deceiving for his personality. Graves turned his gaze towards Torin.
“Well. Who is this fine gentleman?” He asked. Graves quickly added a psychotic chuckle.
“I am a friend of Ruby’s.” Torin said.
“Tut, tut, tut, tut. I meant a proper meeting. My name is Fyren Graves. And yours?” He said, once again, trying to get Torin to introduce himself. Torin sighed. I knew he wanted my approval, so I slowly nodded.
“My name is Torin Netyoive.” Torin said, clearly not comfortable sharing this information.
“What a PLEASURE to meet you, Mr. Netyoive!” Graves said.
“I wish I could say the same.” Torin said in a bitter voice.
“Yeah, yeah. That’s enough chit chat. Release my father. Now.” I said. Graves looked back at me. I saw that he wasn’t pleased with my tone, but I chose to ignore that.
“Well now, dear Ruby. You need to do one final, teeny tiny thing.” He said. I scoffed.
“What, exactly?” I asked. I assumed the worst. I was certain he wanted me to do something dangerous. I straightened my back and tried to stand as confident as I could. Graves grinned. He walked closer to me. I had to look down to look him in the eyes. I felt Bo shake from inside my bag. He had put Mo and Bo inside our bags when we entered the castle. No worries, we left a bit of the bag open.
Graves grinned as he had to look up at me.
“I am so glad you asked, my dear Ruby.” He said. He turned away, walking away from me. He stopped next to my dad. He wore an evil grin on his face.
“I want you to fight.” He said. My dad tried to say something, but he was gagged. Graves paid no attention to my father. Instead, he clapped his hands and demon-like creatures appeared all across the room. He was still grinning.
“Let the fight… begin!”