Darkest Death

Chapter Seven - Penelope

Ice entered my veins as I realized, what Monsieur De LaCroix was saying. He wanted to sell me to my cousin in order to stay out of the conflict. I shook my head, opening my mouth to talk, but before I could say anything a loud bang erupted through the halls.

I jumped, as my gaze flickered around the room. The big wooden doors were on their hinges, barely holding on. Behind them, three figures had appeared.

Eirirea looked wilder than ever. Her hair was messy and the yellow eyes were glowing dangerously. Beside her were two small figures I recognized in an instant. The pixies Twebig and Yona, who I'd mistaken for regular children when I first saw them, were hissing at Monsieur De LaCroix and the Dragomirov lady.

"Ah great, who let the fairies in?" the Dragomirov hissed.

Eirirea lifted an eyebrow at her, but her glance quickly moved to Monsieur De LaCroix. "Get away from them, necromancer." She turned to look at the redhaired Dragomirov again. "You too."

I caught Maia's glance and knew we agreed silently. I slipped off the chair, I sat on. Maia did the same, and it wasn't a moment too late. Guards erupted into the room. Guards and undead people summoned by Monsieur De LaCroix and his family. Eirirea threw a slim knife at the redhaired Dragomirov, who barely avoided it. She hissed at Eirirea as fangs shot out. Yona the pixie jumped about the entire 10 meters forward from the doors to Monsieur De LaCroix, where she bit down into his arm. Twebig followed her example. Eirirea, who had brought up her bow, was shooting at the guards, making it possible for Maia and me to escape through the doors. A guard jumped towards Eirirea. The blade of his sword cut her shoulder and she hissed before she in a quick move pulled out her sword and cut the guard in half. Vomit entered my mouth but I forced it down and focused on running towards the faerie. When we reached Eirirea, she shouted something in an unfamiliar language to the two pixies, who were somewhere deep in the chaos, then she took our arms and left the room, sealing the door behind us.

"It's becoming quite a habit for me to break you out of trouble." She smiled at me. "I don't know if I like it."

I smiled slightly, "We still have to get to Noah."

I turned towards the hallway Maia and I had been brought through. Eirirea frowned slightly, then bowed her head.

"Which way?"

*****

We ran down the many halls, finally finding our way back to the small room, Noah was in. He was awake and pacing around the room. His wound was pretty much healed, though I was happy, that the big bandage still was on.

Noah turned when we opened the door. The sight of him awake and walking was too much for me. I slammed into him, holding him tight, as my hands felt his soft hair below them.

"Noah."

It was barely a whisper but saying the name blurred my vision, as he held me tight, breathing into my hair.

"Penelope! We need to get out!" Eirirea hissed. I broke away from Noah. His eyes were glinting in the light. He was sending me a look, I hadn't seen in a long time, making my heart jump.

Maia looked at us with a thoughtful glint in her eyes, though her face told me she agreed with the faerie next to her. "Eirirea's right, we need to go!"

So, I led Noah out of the room and we ran.

*****

Chateau De LaCroix, as Noah called it, was a maze. We turned corners, followed green exit signs made for tourists, and hid from guards and undead corpses. My heart was racing as I followed Noah, who lead the way. He was watching us through everyone in the castle, including Maia.