Halfling (editing in process)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Javen woke in a pile of bones. His arm throbbed underneath him, the pain from it telling him he had likely broken it. He slowly sat up, seeing Aria lying under Marcus, who was twice the size he usually was. He was curled around her protectively, the girl looking relatively unharmed except for the fresh scars on her back. There seemed to be a strange marking around her neck, but didn't seem to be bothering her any.

"Aria." Javen croaked, holding his arm close to him. "Aria wake up."

He winced as he reached down and snapped the bone back into place, the sound he made causing Marcus' fur to bristle, a low growl leaving him. Both of them quieted as a high pitched shrieking noise pierced the air. Marcus and Javen both got to their feet quickly, Marcus gripping Aria's dress with his teeth and flinging her to rest on his back. Javen was surprised when the hellhound came to him next, a string of long curses in elvish leaving him as the dog flung him in the same fashion as Aria. Javen gripped onto Aria as the dog bounded off into the darkness, holding her head in his lap as he hung onto the fur of the devil dog.

"Aria for Goddess' sake wake up." Javen groaned, taking out his dagger and cutting his shirt down the middle. He carefully pulled the top off his body and tied it, putting his arm into the makeshift sling.

Aria groaned softly and slowly opened her eyes, looking up at Javen.

"What happened?" She muttered, her head moving back onto his leg, exposing the band around her neck.

"What is that?" Javen questioned, moving his hand to her throat, watching as Aria flinched back.

"What is what?"

"There is a band around your neck; it wasn't there before you got hit by that spell."

Aria's hand moved to her neck, feeling the band, the skin lightly raised. She paled and tried to sit up, her head spinning. She was silent for a few moments, a small frown coming onto her face.

"I can't call my magic." She whispered in horror. "I can't call my magic! Either of them!"

Javen grabbed her before she could fall off the horse-sized dog, which was still running around frantically. He held her close as Marcus went through corridor after corridor, making sharp turns and twists that had both Javen and Aria clinging to him for dear life. The dog finally stopped after a few minutes, a soft whine leaving him as he let them both get off his back.

"Where are we?" Aria questioned, looking around wearily.

They were in a large circular room, filled with dust, tables and bookshelves. Skeletons lay here and there, bottles and other odds and ends scattered about. There were several openings that led into other hallways, some going up, some down, and some continuing flat. The only thing illuminating the room was Javen's light sphere, still illuminated above his head.

"There has to be some way out, or to the relic. We need to mark we've been here just in case we stumble back on it, start marking paths. We don't know where we are and how many tunnels there are." Javen replied, looking at the skeletons wearily before shaking his head. "Scout around and see if you can find anything of use, especially since you can't call upon your magic. I will make us a marker and we'll choose a tunnel."

Aria looked back to Marcus, who had shrunk back to his normal, smaller size. He stayed by her side protectively, licking her hand lightly as she walked. She found an old sword by one of the skeletons; she put it on her belt carefully before continuing to look around, looking back at Javen as he mumbled to himself. A small plant grew from the stone he was touching, easily noticeable and slightly luminescent.

"You found a weapon?" He questioned, getting to his feet. "Let's go. I don't want to be in here long."

They chose a tunnel, and they continued forward. Room after room, hallway after hallway, they ended back in the room they started a few times, after a while, Javen began to trace their progress by growing luminescent vines against the walls as they walked. On and on they walked until Aria was about to collapse from exhaustion.

"We're in a labyrinth Javen." She groaned, sitting down against a wall, grunting lightly as Marcus plopped into her lap, the hellhound shrinking to that of a normal dog before wagging his tail at her. "I don't know how we are going to find our way out of this, it would be easier if I had my shadow magic and we could just slither around here or my win-"

She jumped up, causing Marcus to yelp and huff at her. She tried to call her wings to her, tried to get them to spread out, but they didn't comply. She looked down at her arm, seeing there was something missing; one line that should have traveled around her arm, but it was gone.

"What did that wall do to me?" She whispered in horror. "I can't use my magic... I've lost my wings... We are going to die down here." She whispered, sinking to the ground.

Marcus cuddled up to her, whimpering lightly. Javen knelt in front of her and gently cupped her face, making her look up at him.

"We are not going to die down here Aria. We are going to find the relic and get out of here, I promise. Just relax for me, okay? Here. Have something to eat; we'll rest for a little while before we continue."

He took out a bit of dried meat and bread from his pack and offered it to her. They ate in relative silence before resting for a few hours before setting off again, drawing further and further into the maze.