ꜱᴄᴀʀ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴋᴇʏꜱ

Chapter 33: Reylyn

 Reylyn tapped her foot anxiously and nibbled on her fingernails as the doctor walked towards her little sister with a needle. Nadinewas screaming for help, but Reylyn couldn't move. Her brother was gripping her elbows as she thrashed around to try and grab her sister.

"Let me go!" she cried as Nadinescreamed louder. "He's gonna hurt her!" She yanked forward hard, almost faceplanting. Ethan tugged her back.

"He's not gonna hurt her," he tried as he loosened his grip on her elbows. "This is normal for kids her age, Reylyn. She'll be okay,"

Ethan covered her ears to muffle the screams of her baby sister. He also tugged her head away. They weren't just 'shots'.

Reylyn raised her chin and glared at her brother. "You know darn well those aren't normal shots!" she screamed and tried to yank free. All that did was cause Ethan to hold her tighter. "This is sick!"

Her brother sighed at her refusal to settle down. "Hey, she'll be out in a few hours, okay? It's fine. Shh,"

Reylyn turned her head slightly to where her sister was just a few minutes ago. "Where is she?" she screamed. She finally yanked hard enough to get away. Reylyn rushed out of the door, suddenly the halls closed around her.

Reylyn felt someone shake her shoulder aggressively. She began to drag her gladius suddenly placed in her hand across the dirt in a way to scare the person off.

"Reylyn, you don't need to threaten me," the voice of Scarvern comforted her nerves. "I already know how threatening you are," he chuckled lightly.

Reylyn grumbled amusely at his humor and opened her eyes. They were now in a cold castle. There were multiple silver benches across the walls, along with a few portraits of the kings from the years. One portrait caught her eye. She stood up and walked over to it, limping slightly.

Reylyn recognized those sharp eyes.. She felt a wicked feeling through her. "I will slice your throat with this gladiator if you do anything to us again, got it?" she muttered to the portrait, as if it could hear her. "And I won't regret it either." Reylyn stepped away from it.

Scarvern shuffled up behind her, his eyes slightly droopy.

Reylyn fidgeted with her hand to resist asking him what had happened. There was no way she was asking him that. They had a mission to do.

"I've always wondered what this castle is like," he muttered.

Reylyn turned around. "What castle? You know this castle?"

He nodded. "I heard from people you tend to get dreams from this castle," he studied the walls and the portraits. "We're in the castle of qulam," His eyes darkened. "It essentially causes people to live their worst fears in the form of dreams. Or relive their fears. Some cases it's a prediction of the future,"

Reylyn remembered the memory of Nadinenever coming back pretty vividly. She made a 'hm' sound at his comment. "Which family owns this?"

"The royal family of Vadelin," Scarvern walked over to the portrait of the king she was studying just a minute ago. "This is the prince. The next ruler of my kingdom,"

"The prince? I could've sworn that was the king," she blurted.

He smiled at her bluntness. "The prince is identical to him," he traced his hand across the wall.

Reylyn walked over to the portraits of queens. She raised her finger to one of them slightly. It looked like her fifth great grandmother, or her in a younger version. She traced the frame.

"You know, you look a lot like her," Scarvern muttered suddenly behind her. She jumped a tiny bit.

"Yeah. She looks like how my parents described my fifth great grandma. Grandma Reysola." She smiled at her namesake. The door of the castle creaked open and they froze.

Scarvern's eyes scanned the area around them frantically for a place to hide until she pointed to a slightly slanted portrait to the side of the wall.

"It's a castle, isn't it? There has to be some magic involved here," Reylyn muttered softly, she walked over to it and checked there for a hole of some sort. Sure enough, there was a hole in the wall. She lit up flames in her hand to signal Scarvern's to follow her.

"I go first," she smirked at his slightly annoyed expression. "Safety precaution," She titled the portrait to the side more and hopped into the hole. She waited a few seconds for Scarvern to join her. Instead there was a sinister laugh.

"Well, well. Look what I found!"