Frost Fire

Chapter Six

                                                                 Chapter Six 

Allai made it halfway back to her room. Then she found the nearest garbage can, dumped her food, and headed for the Manor’s wine cellar.

It was cliché to have a dungeon in what was basically a basement. But her dad didn’t care about being cliché; he cared about convenience. And the most convenient place for a dungeon was the Manor’s small, arid wine cellar. 

Allai followed the steps leading down to the dungeon door, counting the echoes her shoes made on the concrete floor. Her fingertips trailed along the rough concrete of the wall, and she tried not to let her heart beat too fast. She hated these walls. They were confining and narrow, and gave her a tingling feeling of claustrophobia.

The dungeon door came into view, and she hedged back a single step. A young Charger guard glared at her from in front of the door, his claws half extended and his wings flared just enough to look threatening. He took a moment to lazily examine her face. His lip lifted in a snarl when he recognized her.

 “I want to see Drake,” Allai said. There was no point bothering with a greeting; it wouldn’t be returned.

 “You’re on a first-name-basis with Rhaize’s son?” The guard scoffed. “Figures.”

Allai straightened to her full height. She felt a little stupid, trying to intimidate this guy with her four-feet-ten-inches. “Let me through. Or I’ll have you doing a job worse than guarding the dungeon.”

He growled at her, and for a moment she felt just a little guilty. She didn’t usually use her dad’s status for leverage. But she didn’t feel like playing games with this guy, and she wanted in that door. Preferably without being sliced to ribbons.

“Fine.” The guard stepped to the side, allowing her access to the entrance. “You can go in. But if Ardus ever asks, tell him it’s not my fault I let you in, and that you threatened me.”

“Sure.” Allai yanked at the steel door, glaring at him when he didn’t help open it. “I’ll be glad to tell your superior you just got manipulated by a Nox.” Before he could respond, she slipped inside and slammed the door closed behind her.

The Manor’s dungeon didn’t look cliché. No dank dirt floors, no rusting iron bars. And it didn’t have any resemblance to a regular wine cellar, either. It looked more like a bunker, with its concrete and steel structure. The military-grade cells were the only way to contain the Demon occupants.

As far as she knew, Drake was the only resident prisoner. The Sentinel didn’t take many captives, and when they did, people didn’t last long down here. The dungeon was really more of a holding cell, until enemy Demons were either released or killed. Usually the latter.

It was a straight shot through the narrow entranceway to the first cell, but she still had to take deep breaths to calm her nerves. It was creepy down here. Commercial fluorescent lights hung from the ceiling, and they never flickered or wavered. It gave the dungeon a vibrant, dream-like feel that made her shiver despite the unusual heat. She made a mental note to never, ever get on the bad side of the Sentinel. She’d hate to stay down here long.

Her dad would also hate that. Well, he’d just hate having her down here. No one was allowed in the dungeon without the accompaniment of a guard or a Sentinel superior. But the guard on duty didn’t look like he had any interest in keeping her alive, and she wasn’t about to go fetch Luke. He’d just scold her with a bunch of panicked swearing, and then drag her back upstairs.

She approached the first cell cautiously, her footsteps growing lighter and more hesitant. She really had no idea what she was doing down here. The cell would prevent her from talking to Drake and solving the puzzle surrounding him. She’d be able to see him through the small ballistic glass window on the side of the cell, but that wasn’t worth anything. It’d just be sickening to see him paralyzed by venom, slowly and painfully transforming into a Persequor.