The Crushed Mountain

Chapter Two: My Roaming Phantom

I was greatly confused. "Come... we must find the door way." "Door to what?" "The Border." he responded. I followed him down the hall and took a right deeper into the  castle. We followed the main hall till the window of the sun was to our left. The sun was nowhere to be seen but an eerie glow came faintly from the horizon, a red glow that bruised at the meeting of night. He turned sharply to the left. I paused confused. It was the magic room only meant for the king.

He continued to the end of the hall and swiftly unlatched the door. He took a glance back and waited for me to approach him. His eyes glimmered as he smirked. I paused. He became straight faced there after and ambled inside the room. I followed suite, frightened of William's body that could still be seen behind my eyelids. His horrid, blackened, warm, sweet face ruined by the disease of the Border's opening. "Wait!" I yelped. I came upon him in a couple of large strides into the room. It was dark and it was lit in portions where torches clung to the walls. Why am I so frightened? How? I'm a soldier! How could this be? I felt a hand clasp over my mouth. "Shhh...." I raised my brow at him. I wasn't speaking. "You think to loud my dear." At this point I watched him remove his halo. He turned to me and placed over my head. It became a necklace of gold.

I still had no clue why he gave it to me. I watched him mix things and throw things and occasionally spill things. This was the King's potion room. How could I think too loud? Freak. "Rude much..." he whispered. Before I could respond he swiveled to me. "Finished." in his hands, he held a flask of a gleaming orange liquid that faintly smelled of iron.

He pushed me out and shut the door behind him.

I frowned. The massive courtyard was suddenly dark. No moonlight, no starlight. "What am I doing?" I froze. I looked up to him as he continued to walk toward the garden gate. "Come... don't be afraid..." he beckoned me over with soft, glistening words as he poured the orange liquid onto the path of the garden. His voice lingered in the air like a harmony does in a theatre. The only light bounced from the torches that licked the walls like rabid tongues. His face looked sinister in the glow of the flames and glow of the liquid. A bolt of lightning shot over head, a rumble of thunder, and a low growl that clicked.

And I saw his face.

I ran. I just ran. No fight. No anger. Just fear. "Get away from me!" The rain stung my face, only the light of the torches lit my way and a large demon hot on my trail. Why did this start? How could have I survived? I breathed heavily into the air. "Mierah..." What is that? I tumbled to the ground. "Ahhhh!" The gift! It's burning me! My trembling hands frantically leapt to my neck to remove the sickening thing. My face felt the dirt of the road. I clawed my throat as I listened to deep heaving breaths get closer. I was turned over, "Let this fluid seep into your veins." He hovered over me with that sinister grin. "Ugh!" I forced my knife into his heart. He cried in anguish and stumbled back. I crawled to my feet and was grabbed by my hair. "Ahh!" I sliced into his face to the point where my knife was no longer long enough to penetrate his flesh. His eye was gouged out and hung by a measly tissue. He enclosed my throat with an iron grasp. I quickly removed my knife and stabbed his hand violently. He dropped me and I struggled to catch my breath. "You foul creature! You dare care yourself a creation of the One?" I panicked at the sound of the voice that constantly repeated my name. The demon's eyes glowed blue and his face began to melt to show what was really inside.

I stumbled to my feet and held my knife tightly. "Please follow me! Quickly!" the voice came from a dark shape that began to shrink as it moved away. I shuffled through trees and onto a beaten path. "Here allow me." I felt a hand grip my jaw and another grasp the necklace. It came off with a click. The shadow threw it into the trees and a blue wall appeared beside us. It took hold of my wrist, "I'm Nicolai."

I fell into a burst of light. Noon. The sun towered above me. I turned to see, the demon, The Being halted. "Mierah... this is The Border." I turned my head to see a tall young man. Jet black hair, muscular, and shining blue eyes. I took a step back. Blue...eyes. I clenched my teeth. He touched the apple of my cheek. "Mierah... it's me." he whispered  "Nicolai...?"