The Darkness Within

Chapter 33

Sorry I haven't posted in a while! 

Chapter 33

Caitirina

"We've entered Hargoss territory." I shook myself awake as I was startled from my trance of fatigue and worrisome by Guraund's voice. The only reason I didn't fall off Bal was Lorcan's protective arms still around me. 

"He has to drop us here. They shoot him down if he flies over." Lorcan replied. 

Guraund sighed deeply. "Damn. I'd rather not have to socialize with them." 

"Why is that? I've met with them before, they seemed kind enough. At least the elder sons are." Lorcan replied.

Guraund grunted in return. I turned to try to read his expression, but he turned away. 

I gasped as Bal suddenly tiled forward and headed down to a small clearing in the woods below us. He landed smoothly on the ground. Guraund jumped off quickly and started pacing the ground. Lorcan landed smoothly on the ground beside Bal and reached up to help me down. I turned back towards Bal and gasped as he was suddenly in his human form. 

"How'd you do that so fast?" I asked.

"Practice. I'm a bit old." He replied and smile. He looked past me towards Guraund. "What's up with him?" 

Lorcan and I both turned around. Guranund was pacing back and forth across the ground. He looked up and stopped as he caught sight of us looking at him. "What." He snapped.

"Nothing." We replied in unison. 

"Good, then lets get going the faster we get going, the faster we get out of there." He replied and stalked into the trees.

"What's his problem?" I asked.

"No idea, lets go before we loose him." 

We head off into the woods and walked for a bit, Guraund not far ahead of us.

"So, who are these people. What's a Hargoss?" I asked Lorcan. 

"They are an ancient tribe. Very personal with the dark arts. But don't worry, must of them are very kind, not letting the "dark" take over them." Bal replied. He looked back at Lorcan and I. "Oh, sorry. You weren't talking to me." He muttered about catching up to Guraund and jogged away. 

Out of the corner of my eye I saw something move slowly through the underbrush. "What was that?" 

"Just their watchers, they like to know who their dealing with without letting them near all their people." 

I nodded and continued walking. "Is what Bal said true?" I asked.

"Yes, though they all seem to have very bad tempers." 

I was about to ask him to explain, but was cut off as a terrible scream ripped through the trees. 

"What was that?" I asked. Lorcan didn't answer he just grabbed my hand and took off running towards where the scream had come from. 

We broke through the trees to find a large clearing the sprouted a large town of sorts. The source of the scream was found in the middle of the town. A woman was atop Guraund her hands wrapped around his throat as she bashed his head into the ground repeatedly. 

"What the hell is happening?" I asked. "Get her off of him." Bal came over from where he stood close to the scene. "Why aren't you helping him?"

"Men do not harm their women here." Lorcan replied.

"So what we just let her beat on him? For no reason?" 

"Oh no, Hargoss don't fight without a reason. Guraund must have done something to piss her off." Bal replied. "All we can do is wait till she stops." 

"Well guess what, I'm not a man." I ran towards the women.

"Caitirina no!" I heard Lorcan yell out, but I didn't stop. The women looked up right before I attacked. I plowed into her knocking her off of Guraund and onto the hard ground. She let out a terrible snarl and threw me beneath her. She was just about to plow her fist into my face when she suddenly stopped. She placed her hand carefully on my forehead.

With a gasped she jumped off me. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't realize!" She helped me off the ground and carefully brushed me off. I looked in confusion at Guraund who got up from the ground with a scowl on his face. He shrugged and stood awkwardly apart from the group. I heard some struggling and turned to find Lorcan being held back by at least 6 guys. 

"Let me go! I won't hurt her!" The men slowly let go of him, and almost lunged at him again when he ran toward me. But the woman that had attacked me waved them off.

"Are ye alright?" He asked as he ran his hands across my face.

"Yes, I'm fine. She barely touched me." 

"I am truely sorry, if I had realized who you were...I would have never have even thought to hurt you princess."

"Princess?" A voice broke out from the crowd. "Did I hear you right, Ilukai?" She turned to confront a tall man that had made his way through the crowd and now stood before them. His long black hair fell nearly to his waist it accented his tanned skin. 

"Yes, Isay. She is here at last." 

"At last?" I asked. 

"Yes, we had thought that we would be seeing you at some time. You are heading to Intuneric, then?" 

"Yes, but how did you know..." 

"Come." He turned back the way he had came and the crowd parted for us. Isay lead us to a small building that sat in the middle of the village. Compared to the others it was much more visually appealing. And seemed to be well taken care of. 

Isay walked up the intricate marble stairs and opened the beautifully carved wood door. He stepped back and gestured to the door. "Please, do come in." 

I took a step towards the entrance but Lorcan stopped me. "I will go first."

"The ever great protector, you are." I whispered. 

When we entered the room I couldn't help but gasp at the beauty of it. The walls were marble which had beautiful murals of people and other creatures I couldn't name. Candles were lit around the room and cast an eerie glow. But it was the floor that really caught my interest. 

A cletic knot desisgn made a large circle withing the room. A symbol of the tree of life filled the circle. Not very uncommon, but I had only seen both designs together once before. 

"Caitirina. I was wondering when I would be seeing you again." I stiffened as a familiar voice came from the back of the room that had been shadowed until now.

"Ava?" 

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Hoped you liked it! I know it's not much, and wasn't very exciting. But I hope that this cliffhanger keeps you coming back for more.

Look for Chapter 34 to find out just who this Ava is...

Comment/Vote/Fan if you like! 

-Morgan