Cerberus Rex, Nameless

Cerberus Rex, 35

"Where are we going?" Noarwin shouted as he slammed the door shut behind him to the banquet hall.

Asinis cringed under the shouts and screams of battle ensuing behind them. He ground his teeth and reached for the door. He wanted to blast a spell through, but he couldn't think of anything to annihilate the creature the others fought. "The dungeon," he shouted from Dar's shoulder.

Noarwin leapt down a set of stairs and waved at Dar. "Let's go, buddy!"

Dar's legs merged with the stone under him, and he traveled through it to catch up to Noarwin leading them down one descent after another. The wide steps turned in abrupt angles and passed hedges and statues before opening up to a cobblestone courtyard with barred entrances on all sides. Potted hedge trees cut to a point framed each one, a few accompanied by marble statues of men and women warriors lit by the two closest moons. How could something so terrible happen on such a clear and beautiful night? They should have been enjoying themselves under the stars on the balcony of their new home. Not being silent spectacles forced to battle a creature none of them knew how to fight.

"Did you see where in the dungeons it is?" Noarwin shouted as he crashed his saber against one of the cell locks. It screeched under the blast of mettle and burst open as Noarwin yanked the bars on their hinges. They bent a little, but the formidable prison did less than moan under his attempts. He waved Dar over who, balancing Asinis on his shoulder, parted them enough that he could enter.

Asinis shut his eyes and delved his arcane mind underground. "It's more like I see fractals of light in shadow. I see shapes indicating cells and entrances, arches, people. It's somewhere low underground but directly under the banquet hall."

"Low? That means maximum security." Noarwin led them in and ran through the halls, Dar having to turn sideways to fit through some of them. They dashed inside, looking in all directions for danger. The fresh air of the entrance turned stifling and became humid and warm before turning into a stench Asinis had experienced once at Isenvel.

"Where is everyone?" he whispered.

Dar, a hand on Asinis's back to keep him in place, turned his head and then cried out. Noarwin gasped and grabbed Dar's free arm.

"Don't look, Dar," Noarwin said.

Asinis frowned, and then the iron scent of blood hit him. Bodies lay under flickering torchlight. Their orange glow licked and caressed the corpses lain in the faceless shadows. Asinis looked away and covered his mouth and nose. Noarwin pulled Dar, and they traveled further down, the humidity growing heavier but the warm air turning cold until they shivered. Everywhere they passed were bodies, whether in the hall or cells. Some looked as if trying to flee, but no one had gotten out.

"What did this?" Noarwin hissed.

"Could it have been the creature upstairs?" Asinis asked.

"Those wounds were done by blades," Noarwin whispered. "Dar, be on guard. There might be something down here with us."

They crept, Dar with a stealth advantage because of his merge with the stone floor. Asinis held his breath on Dar's shoulder. Noarwin walked heel to toe, every step deliberate, his breath even and silent. Then, pain cut across Asinis's cheek. He shouted and slapped a hand where he felt the warm smear of blood.

"Dar, hold onto Asinis," Noarwin shouted over his shoulder.

Asinis looked opposite the way Noarwin turned and saw in the bit of firelight a dart sticking out from the seam of two stones in the wall. Dar spun Asinis off his shoulder and cradled him, his arms a shield that encompassed Asinis like a tortoiseshell. Asinis peeked out from Dar's hand and pointed a finger out from their cracks, but he couldn't get a visual on who attacked. He heard a clang next, and Dar shifted, so Asinis could see Noarwin engaged with a person whose likeness he had never seen before.