Undaunted

Chapter 26: Lifelines

Harlow and I race down the cement stairs to the catacombs together, Harlow leading the way. She stops at the bottom of the stairs to look around the corner of the cold stone wall, stone archways resting across from the stairway and lining a long corridor that leads both left and right. Harlow waves and the two of us run towards the right. After going right, we take a left and continue going straight until we reach another pair of stairs on the left that lead down. We take the stairs and Harlow stops at the bottom again to scan her surroundings. Eventually, we end up in front of a pair of old wooden doors with iron bolts that have long rusted and broken off. Harlow grabs her wand and gently pushes open the door to peek inside. A few seconds later, she fully pushes open the door and I find myself gasping.

The room we end up in has a beautiful girl with long red hair and blue eyes in a white dress hanging from chains above a well, archways to the left and right of us that overlook the rest of the catacombs. The girl lifts her head upon hearing the door open and her eyes widen, and I'm able to clearly see the blood and dirt smeared on her face and arms. Her dress is also slightly tattered and my heart clenches to see her like that.

"Leave!" She cries out and pulls on her chains, swaying around slightly, her eyes wide with urgency. "Go away! They'll be back soon!"

"We are here to help you and to help save others," Harlow says as she runs up to the young woman and takes a step on the rim of the well. "We will not leave."

"You don't understand," she shakes her head. "You need to leave. Even I couldn't...I can't..."

"You could not fend yourself from them because the Dark Lady has imprisoned you, not them. They have simply kept you imprisoned in these chains. Your curse is partially influenced by these chains you are being held captive by. Once her protege is defeated, the curse will fully be lifted and you will be free. Let us first free you from these chains," Harlow says and aims her wand at the chains.

"No!" The woman yells out and shakes around again. "Don't do that! You must not do that! You don't understand!"

"Quit making so much noise. You will attract unwanted visitors much faster than they would have originally arrived," Harlow scolds.

"You don't get it," the woman lowers her voice, "if you break these chains, I will die and the Dark Lady's powers will be restored."

"The Dark Lady is dead," I frown. "You don't mean that they would go to her bloodline, do you?"

"Dead?" The woman says, "the Dark Lady lives."

"What?" Harlow's eyebrows furrow as footsteps echo in the background.

"I should've known you would figure it out eventually," Augustina sneers as she walks through the doors, wand in hand. "It's a shame. Now I'll have to get even more blood on my hands."

Simultaneously, Augustina and Harlow cast spells at each other, one using ice while the other uses light. The two stand their ground as their magic wars against each other, creating a bright flash of blue and yellow as their energies clash repeatedly.

"Augustina! Stop!" Solstice shouts as she and Tempest burst through the doors and my eyes widen upon seeing them.

Solstice attempts to cast a light orb at Augustina, but Augustina whirls and turns her magic on Solstice. Tempest, however, steps in the way and Augustina's eyes widen. Augustina immediately turns her wand to the right so that her magic slams into the wall and breaks apart some of the stones while Harlow's ice bolts hit against Augustina's back and make her fall to her knees a few feet from where she was standing.

"How did you know what was happening?" I ask, directing my gaze to Solstice and Tempest.

"Tempest told me she didn't trust Augustina and she wanted to follow her around, so I went with her. When we noticed her sneaking to the catacombs, we knew something was wrong," Solstice explains.