Bound In Blood (Bound In Blood - Book One)

Chapter Seventeen

I didn't know how long it had been but when Conner and I finally let go of each other, I felt weak and wobbly. His face was flushed and he couldn't seem to look me in the eye.

"Thank you..." he murmured. I shrugged, backing away a few steps.

"We should keep movin'," I told him. He nodded, regaining his usual composure, his bow at the ready.

Entering the corridor the nightwalker had emerged from, we were almost completely engulfed in darkness, the only light coming from the occasional wax candle sitting in an alcove dug into the walls of the cavern. From this point onward, there was only those undead fiends who were feared by all. The two of us were wary as we traversed through the sea of black, feeling our way around. From somewhere in front of us, we could hear hushed voices.

"Where is Catarina? She said she'd only be a moment."

"I'll go check."

Conner and I both stiffened, not moving a muscle. We bore our weapons, waiting for the nightwalker to approach. Though the cavern was as black as pitch, it was impossible to miss their eyes which shone through the darkness and pierced our souls. They were lustful, seeing us as nothing but a meal.

"What have we here?" Her voice was both soothing and sinister. Her companion joined her, bearing his tapered fangs.

"Looks like our food came to us," he jeered. His eyes shot to our weapons then back up to us. He took a step forward, his face becoming visible in the dim lighting coming from a single flame behind us, flickering pathetically. The right side of his mouth was upturned, appearing superior and in control. As he came nearer, the air around us seemed to become even colder, causing me to wrap my arms around myself. Conner became tense as the nightwalker approached me, standing a mere two feet away, eyeing me up. "Did you deal to our Catarina?" I didn't answer. "Not much of a talker, eh? That's alright. You won't be talking after I rip out your throat." I gulped subconsciously, just trying to focus on my breathing.

"You shouldn't speak like that to the one who killed your sister," Conner told him from beside me. "Unless you wish for the same fate." The nightwalker snarled, abandoning me and approaching him instead. I saw Conner's hand holding an arrow near the tip, ready to stab the beast.

His companion then walked toward me, smelling the air around my body. "What business does an assassin have here?" she asked. "Surely we're not on one of your contracts?" I remained stony-faced, not daring say a word.

Conner looked to me and I, toward him. We gave each other a brief nod before turning to our targets. Simultaneously, we took our weapons and dug them into the nightwalker's throats. They both gargled, grasping for their necks. However, neither had much of a chance to do anything as while I slashed the female blood fiend's neck, Conner pulled out his dagger and did the same to her companion. They both fell to the ground, losing consciousness, allowing us to finish the job. Holding our breath, we stabbed our blades straight through and cut their heads from their shoulders, their bodies quickly becoming ash.

We didn't bother hanging around and continued our journey in search of the master's chambers, tackling countless nightwalkers in the process. As Conner and I came to a small bedroom lined with coffins, we saw three of them still resting. Without needing to say anything to one another, Conner and I took out our makeshift explosives and lit them using the matches Cassandra had given to us and hurled them toward their coffins. They created a hefty explosion, igniting everything in sight and sending us staggering backward. The nightwalkers immediately awoke, their skin burning away. They cried out in hysteria, patting themselves but to no avail. One by one, they each collapsed amongst the flames. We watched as they burned everything they could, leaving the room in an irreparable state as the supports caught fire and disintegrated, causing the room to fall in on itself, suffocating the rest of the flames. Feeling a sense of satisfaction, we both grinned wildly to one another, replenishing our explosives on our hips.