The Princess Quest

Chapter 18: 3 Days

To give a you guys a better visual, I based the dark zombie creatures on two things. One half like the dead Asgard warriors from Thor: Ragnarok that Hela reawoke (above right) and one half like the Ra'zac from Eragon (above left).

Three days. It had been three days since Damien had shut Arawn in darkness. Three days since Roya, Calypso, and Andrel had begun their walk to 913 Myrkur Road. Three days since Arawn had eaten.

Arawn

Darkness was all Arawn had known for three days. His stomach growled with hunger. Damien brought him water everyday, but no food. Arawn was growing weaker and weaker. The second day, he had mouthed off to Damien and had gotten ten whip strikes and three punches as a punishment. He was bloody, dirty, hungry and weak.

And he was beginning to lose hope.

Roya, Calypso and Andrel

"How much longer?" Calypso whined. 

"Two more hours," said Andrel.

They were headed deeper and deeper into Miraelin, and the further they went the more dark and dangerous it became. The ground was turning more and more into dark stringy sludge, and the trees were black, and leafless. There were no birds, or animals of any kind. The water was all black, and as they walked, Roya began to notice the sky turning darker and darker. 

The small town they were in was probably the most dangerous in Miraelin. It was called Rancor, and the people there were not very nice at all. Everywhere you looked were men sharpening knives, men mugging passersby, men with missing limbs.

Roya, Calypso and Andrel kept their hoods up, and walked as fast as they could without seeming suspicious.

When they reached the outskirts of the town, they came across a fork in the road. One side was rotting, the infection had completely destroyed it. Black, twisted thorn bushes poked out from everywhere, and faint but bone-chilling noises could be heard from the depths. The other side was overgrown with vines, but the ground was still dirt and grass, and tiny flowers bloomed on the leaves. 

"Which way?" Roya asked.

"I hate to say it, but that way," Andrel said, pointing to the rotten path.

"Uh...yeah, no," Calypso said. "Walking in there would be suicide."

"If we want to find Arawn, it's the only option," Andrel said, taking a deep breath. 

"If we walk in there we won't find Arawn!" Calypso said. "In case you didn't hear me, it would be suicide!"

Andrel ignored her and smiled at Roya. "Ladies first."

Roya gave him a glare, and ducked inside. They walked for a while. Everyone's nerves were totally shot, but nothing horrible was happening. 

"Hey, Andrel, there's a butterfly on you!" Calypso said. A yellow and red butterfly had landed on Andrel's arm. "Finally something beautiful in this dark, demented kingdom."

Andrel looked wide-eyed at his arm. "Oh no. Someone get it off please," he said, his voice rising two octaves higher than normal.

"Why?" Calypso asked.

"It's not actually a butterfly. It's a stinging spiderbee. It's exactly what it sounds like. A spider with a stinger and wings so it can fly. It shifts it's appearance to a butterfly to make itself look harmless, and then it stings you. I'll tell you more when you GET IT OFF ME."

Roya picked up a leaf, and gently brushed it off Andrel's arm. Once it was off, she grabbed a rock and squashed it. 

"Thank you," Andrel said. "Now if it had stung me, I'd have roughly ten minutes to live. First the venom goes to the brain, and pretty much shuts off the senses. Now you can't see, hear, smell, taste or touch. Then it works it's way into the bloodstream. Once it reaches your heart, it eats away at the valves and pumps, so the heart can no longer pump blood. By that time, your lungs have already been collapsed for about a minute and a half. It basically shuts off your body."

"Let's get out of here NOW," Calypso said. The three started running through the tunnel, tearing through spikey bushes and brushing away branches. None of them felt fatigued, and they ended up running for a long time. When they finally reached the end of the tunnel, they burst through into a clearing.

"There's nothing here," Calypso said. Roya looked around. There really wasn't anything here.

"Wait," Andrel said. He went over to a cluster of vines, and gently brushed them away. 

"Look, it's a sign," he said. 

"Does it say anything?" Calypso asked. 

Andrel peered at the sign. At first glance, it looked to be attached to a small tree, but Andrel saw it was actually removable. He pried the sign off the tree.

"It says," Andrel said, "913 Myrkur Road. This way."

"Which way?" Roya asked.

Andrel looked up, confused. "Down."

At that moment, the ground beneath them opened up, like a trapdoor and the three plummeted into darkness.