Between the Willow Trees [NaNoWriMo 2013] (Editing)

Chapter 10: Elethoria

Chapter 10: Elethoria

Standing in the living room where I last saw Thorne I turn the hands on the pocket watch to seven o'clock. I expect him to materialise straight away but for a minute the silence in the house is deafening as he doesn't show his face. Perhaps he's not going to show up? Maybe we left it too long and he gave up all hope on me contacting him. Just as I'm having my doubts his familiar tall dark figure appears out of thin air.

"You called?" he says with a smirk. Immediately I realise how much he's changed since I last saw him. He's certainly not the kind man who used to stick plasters to my grazed knees when I was seven and would tell me what to say to bullies in the playground to threaten them. Now his very being is consumed by this overpowering evil. All signs of his friendly smile have gone and now it's replaced by a smirk that makes me want to hit him. This is finally the real Thorne on show to the world, not that compassionate figure I knew when I was little. His appearance and stance finally lives up to his evil villain status.

"I did," is my simple reply. This is the crucial moment where I need to reassure him that I'm now on his side. I can't screw this part up or else the mission will be over before it even begins. I need to be confident.

"So you want to come to Elethoria with me? What made you change your mind?" he says with yet another irritating smirk. I take a deep breath to calm myself down. I can't get angry with him.

"As soon as you left me here all I could think about was you. I immediately regretted my decision to just let you leave. I should have insisted that you take me with you right then but I was scared. I wasn't ready to travel to Elethoria with you. Then Levi found me, he's on your side. He taught me to be stronger, told me that I was missing out on all the fun. He'd guessed your plan from the very beginning, when we first showed up at the potion shop. He regrets driving us away and came looking for us."

I take a step towards Thorne. "He said you need friends to help you."

I take another step. "You can't rule the world with just an army of demons."

And I take another step closer. "You can trust Levi and me to always be there for you."

One more step and I'm just inches away from him, biting my bottom lip. I look up into his green eyes, which fade purple as I pull his face down towards mine as though I'm about to kiss him. Automatically his arms wrap around my waist, holding me closer. Just before my lips touch his I finish my speech. "Take me with you to Elethoria."

And with that we're travelling through the time stream until we land in a place very unfamiliar to me. I wasn't sure whereabouts in Elethoria I had expected Thorne to take us, but I certainly wasn't expecting a place like this.

We'd materialised in a cold, dark corridor with no windows. Everything is built from grey bricks which look damp and there's an eerie dripping sound coming from somewhere. When Thorne leads the way along the corridor I eventually realise we're in some kind of dungeon. For a second I begin to panic. Perhaps I haven't been convincing enough and Thorne doesn't trust me so he's going to lock me away. Maybe he knows I'm lying and he's going to try to torture the truth out of me. I try hard to steady my breathing as Thorne carries on walking.

Every now and then we pass a man or a woman standing by the side of the wall. Each of them has blood red eyes which lets me know that they are demons. I realise that they're acting as guards, keeping an eye on the prisoners.

"After leaving you I realised that you were right. It seemed a little too boring to just kill Queen Eletha and crown myself king. So, instead I had her captured and locked away in the castle dungeons." he turns around to face me and gestures around the room with a hint of a smile. "Which is where we are now." He turns back around and continues to lead the way.