Luke Swan and the Laistrynians: The Flood

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

~Mission Escape~ ~Commences ~

To tell the truth, Zyra seemed more frightened than me.

Not that I wasn't frightened. As we swam closer to the cliff-face that the fortress was situated on, my heart started beating like an epileptic rabbit. And I knew it wasn't from the cold. But Zyra's eyes were so full of terror, that I knew certain death lurked in that giant black building above us.

The waves crashed against the cliff with such force that large chunks of rock crumbled away each time. I didn't really want to get any closer. Zyra had other ideas.

"I shall now demonstrate some of the powers I possess as an air goddess," she announced, like I was a child in a cheesy magic show rather than her partner walking into a death trap. She started floating a few feet above the water, her arms outstretched a little.

"I'm still floating," I pointed out.

"He who is patient reaps the sweeter rewards. And by sweeter rewards, I mean not getting yourself killed. Just keep swimming for a few minutes. I'll try and find a safe way in." She shot up like a rocket, a really silent, really deadly rocket.

I waited. I floated. I could feel my feet getting numb. My waterlogged clothes didn't do much good against the cold. Finally, my silent but deadly rocket returned.

"Would you like the good news or the bad news?" She asked.

"Er, good news, I suppose," I answered.

"Well, Selenos didn't guard his towers very well," she said, "so we can access them without being detected."

"And the bad news?"

"It's still the most dangerous part of the whole palace."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, Zyra turned me into a human rocket too.

"Just hold still," she told me. After a few moments, I could feel the air churning underneath me, so I was suspended a few feet in the air.

"Now, just concentrate on going up." She left me again.

I imagined myself flying upwards. Nothing happened. I started to panic. Minutes passed and still nothing was happening. Zyra wasn't coming back. I tried a different approach: reverse psychology.

"Ok," I whispered to no-one in particular. "I do not want to go up. Please do not bring me up.

It actually worked!

Before I knew it, I was shooting skywards at breakneck speed. I just hoped there was nothing above my head.

Zyra was waiting for me, looking up at the fortress. She wasn't speaking. I landed beside her.

"That was fun," I announced.

"Yes," she said, still looking up.

"I presume we can't just waltz right in," I guessed.

"That would be suicide," she confirmed.

"Isn't this suicide?" I asked.

She sighed, and started walking around the fortress. I followed her to a rough, rocky wall.

"Now we climb," she said, and she started to scale the wall.

"I can't climb all the way up there!" I protested.

"It's sticky," she said, like that solved all my problems.

I touched the wall. It was sticky: I had to fight to pull my hand away. So, I started to climb.

I saw that Zyra was much better at wall climbing than I was. She had to wait a few minutes before I managed to haul myself over the edge of a balcony.

"He still has the altar," she breathed. I saw that a huge slab of stone lay on a black dais in the centre of the room. Looking around the room, I saw a gilded throne on another dais at one wall, some black and gold tapestries hanging against another wall (which also happened to be black) and huge, black double doors just across from us. I looked up and saw a crystal domed ceiling.

I realised that Zyra was talking about when she got captured a few days ago. So that altar... that's where the evil king was going to kill her.

Zyra looked over at me. She was shaking more than ever. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. It must have been terrifying for her to be back in the place she had come so close to death. With her eyes still closed, she reached out and clutched my hand. I looked down at it with surprise.

"Well…” I cleared my throat. “Lead the way.”.

She walked shakily to the huge double doors, still clutching my hand, and put her ear to it. She seemed satisfied, because she opened one carefully walked through.

We walked through several hallways and down a few flights of stairs. Everything in the fortress was black: black walls, black ceilings, black art. It was eerily silent. Nothing stirred. I had a terrible feeling that this evil place was actually waiting for us. Zyra stopped in a circular room. We had reached a dead end.

She was shaking so badly now, I was afraid she was going to pass out. And then I realised: she had said she was probably the most powerful being on earth. If whatever lurked in here made her this scared, I didn't think I would like to meet it.

She let go of my hand and walked right to the centre.

"Keep--keep watch for me ok?" She looked back at me pleadingly. I looked down the other hallway. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her feeling the air. When she was satisfied, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ok," she said. I noticed her tone of voice was much more calm and level. "The second door is here. If we just-"

She couldn't finish that last part. Something dark grabbed her from behind and dragged her up. At the same time, something put a cloak over my head and dragged me back down the hallway we came.