Escape from Aelendor

Chapter 4

My breath caught in my throat. My heart began to thud and now I could read Amari's expression. He was shocked just as I was.

I unconsciously started backing up to get out of the situation but walked right into a suit of armor on display. Amari's hand pulled me back but the damage was done. The armor squeaked, tilted slowly, and crashed down, metal pieces clanging and bouncing across the hall several feet away. The sound was earsplitting, echoing through the building. It was almost as loud and horrible as my morning alarm. Almost.

The silence was deafening. I swallowed hard and heard Amari tsk lightly. Before either of us could react, the door swung jarringly open, and out came an elderly, elegant lady. She wore a crisp blue suit with a golden label on her lapel reading "President Lumin". Her blonde and gray-streaked hair was in a perfect bun. Her lips were downturned, giving the impression that she never smiled. Her icy gaze eyed us up and down. For a moment, there was nothing but our shallow breaths and her judging stare.

"I caught someone past curfew," Amari spoke up first, breaking the tension. His voice was impressively calm. "I came to turn her in."

"I w-was going to the garden," I supplied. I cringed inwardly at the shiver in my voice.

Her gaze turned sharper. She lifted her head. "Is that so?" she replied in a sweet voice. It was a question, but it sounded like a threat.

"I'll get going. Thank you for your time." Amari bowed his head and tried letting go of my hand but I held on to him desperately. He resisted but stayed put. Panic crawled up my throat and while part of my brain couldn't believe he had the audacity to leave me. I wasn't sure what was happening, but he got me here. If I was going down, he was going down with me.

The President seemed to notice this and gestured towards him. "Stay here." I then made eye contact with her. It took all my willpower not to crumble under her stare. For a second it seemed as if her eyes were green, and suddenly a shooting pain traveled through my forehead. But I blinked, and it was gone. Her blue eyes were still bright despite the dimness, and I figured I just wasn't seeing right. She continued to stare at me with an unclear expression, and yet I strangely felt as if she was pulling out my deepest, darkest secrets with one glance.

She then broke eye contact with me and looked at Amari, whose face hardened. A moment passed and a look of understanding crossed the President's face. "Ah..." she said in a satisfactory tone. "This will be interesting."

Suddenly, she leered at us. I blinked again and there was...a stick in her hands? The silver item gleamed warmly in the torchlight, and I realized she was holding a 3-foot broadsword. I frowned, convinced I was going insane. But my suspicion was reaffirmed when Amari sucked in a large breath and tensed under my grasp.

As she stared at us, the woman's eyes transformed. No longer a frosty blue, they morphed into green slits. The more she smiled, the more black her teeth became until there was an oily, dark substance oozing out of her lips. It dripped across the pants of her suit, burning the fabric at instant contact.

"I'm sorry, illegitimate spawn..." she muttered in an inhumane voice. The sound seemed to come from all directions, coiling across the hall before trickling into my ears. "...but you must die."

My legs started to shake. Within a second, the woman began floating towards me more quickly than I expected, and my heart nearly jumped out of my body. Faster than I could accept death, Amari shoved his torch into my hand, grabbed the nearest piece of loose armor from what I knocked over, and chucked it at her with great force. Before it even reached her face, he seized my arm and whisked me away.

We dashed back the way we came, entering another hall. And another hall. I wasn't keeping track. I was only aware of the ringing in my ears, the vibrations of our footsteps as we ran for our lives, and the warmth of the torch weighing down my arm. At some point, Amari pushed my head down as something came hurtling above me. Other than that, everything was a blur. I was simply following him blindly.