Innocent

Chapter 21 - Escape from All My Worries

"How do we get out of here?"  I hissed to Alexi, still pretending that I was the one dragging him off, not the other way around.

"That way I think."  He nodded to a tunnel off to the left, and I quickly rushed off in that direction.  My love potion afflicted heart beat hard and fast just feeling his hand tightly gripping mine.  I had never felt so wonderful before in my life.  

We kept running, Alexi occasionally nudging me in a different direction.  Adrenaline was rushing though me in the most wonderful way.  Normally, nothing made me feel more alive than to be in the presence of death, but right then I felt more alive than I ever had.

"The portal should be right around this corner."  He announced as he rounded the corner ahead of me.  I followed and promptly ran into him, smacking my nose into his shoulder blade.

"Ow!"  I rubbed my nose.  "Why are we stopping?"  

"Um...  I think I made a wrong turn."  He said, his voice sounded a little different.

"You what?"  I snapped, temper flaring.  "You got us lost?"  

"Hey, it's not like I wanted to come.  You made me come here."  He snapped back at me.  It became very clear what was happening.  The potion was wearing off.  This was bad.  Very very bad.

"Okay.  Fine.  We just need to figure out how to get out of here."  Panic was rising, slowly replacing the residual feelings from the love potion.  I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to sense the portal's location.  I made the portal, so it would make sense that I could feel where the magic was draining my energy, right?  Yeah, that's not how it worked apparently.  

"Argh!"  I yelled in frustration, kicking the wall.  The just made my foot start to throb.  "Ow, ow, ow."  My yells turned to whimpers.

"What do you want to do?"  Alexi didn't look at me like he had been before.  The "in love" twinkle was fading.  

"Let's just get as far away from here as possible."  Giving up on the ready made portal, I closed it and took off hobbling.  The pain in my foot shot through me with every single step.  I hoped I didn't break anything.  

He wrapped his arm around my waist for support when he noticed me hobbling.  I looked down at my feet so that he wouldn't see my cheeks redden.  The walls of ice slowly dulled from the appearance of sparkling diamonds to ice slicked stone.  We were headed in the right direction at least.  Every few hundred feet I would try to summon a portal, but so far no luck.

My good foot caught on a rock and I fell, sprawling out on the cold floor.  I felt a layer of skin peel off of my forearms and knees and I bit my lip as tears filled my eyes.  It felt like my skin was on fire.  I held out my hand for Alexi to pull me up, but he didn't.  He was just standing still, with a very confused look on his face.  Screaming on the inside, I hoisted myself back up to my feet.  

"Come on, Darling.  We've got to keep moving."  I took his hand, more gently now, and tugged him in the right direction.  We kept walking and about a hundred feet further on, I felt like it was a bit easier to breathe.  As I kept walking, I kept feeling lighter and more clear.  I tried to make a portal.  My magic flickered, but then went out.  We were so close.  Probably just a bit further.  

"There they are!"  I heard someone behind us yell.  I looked back to see a small group of guards in glistening white armor charging towards us.  

"Come on, Alexi.  Almost there."  I tugged at him more urgently now, fear spurring me on past the pain in my foot and arms.  

"I feel weird.  I think something's wrong."  Alexi stopped in the middle of the tunnel.  This boy was going to get me killed. 

I concentrated as hard as I could and called the magic once more.  This time a fully formed portal appeared.  It was a bit weak and kept flickering, but it would do.  

"Go!"  I shoved Alexi through, and with a quick glance back at the soldiers behind us, I followed.