Blood & Cinders- Choose your Own Adventure Story

Chapter 6

The outside of the castle dwarfed her small frame, and she craned her neck to get a view of its spires. Stone stretched up as far as the eye could see. Intricate carvings of knights on their charges, brandishing swords toward dragons and curled horned demons with gaping mouths weaved a dark tale over its arches.

There was one creature in particular that reminded her of the beast in front of her. A stone head hanging just above the pointed arch of the door. Its gaping wolf-like mouth could gobble a child whole while gray stone eyes looked down on her with a hungry glare.

Dull suits of armor, which had long since lost their shine, flanked either side of the entrance with sharp-tipped spears that pointed to the cloudless night.

An armored helmet creaked, its rusted gaze turning her way. A mouse-like squeak parted Isabelle's lips as she shuffled back in fright, until the feel of Adam's claw-tipped fingers poked into her back. She tried to peer through the slats to gauge what type of creature could be lurking inside, but the large metal coverings kept her guessing.

"Sire." The armor tipped its covered head her way, nodding his respects, and tickling her curiosity. It was the second creature that night to address her new master with such decorum.

The other suit of armor twisted its torso with a creak, pulling at one of the iron latched handles on the right of the grand double wooden doors. Ironwork vines snaked around the hinges and outer frame of the door inviting passage and reminding Isabelle more of an overgrown garden trellis than the entrance to the house of the damned.

Adam pressed her forward into its stone arched mouth, swallowing them both. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the dim candle-lit foyer. A grand chandelier cast flickers of lights across the high porcelain bricked ceiling like tiny dancers across a gray curtain.

It was far cleaner than she had expected. She wasn't sure why she thought it would be dusty, filled with cobwebbed corners and cloth-covered couches like a forgotten summer home. Instead, it was bright despite the low lighting. White bricked walls stretched all the way to the arched ceilings while pillars rose up on either side of the foyer creating a path to a rather grand-looking set of double doors with figures guarding either side casting long shadows that stretched their fingers on the white marbled floor.

The pillars veered left and right down wide halls that stretched into darkness. Spirals of leaf-covered vines decorated their columns, carrying inside the same pattern as the iron filigree on the entrance. The palace was opulent, even under the cover of twilight.

The door slammed shut behind them, echoing rumbles of thunder down the halls of the grand space that would soon be her living tomb.

The massive paw pressed at her back, guiding them down the left corridor. She scarcely had time to take in the curved windows that gave passing glimpses to the world outside. A glass-domed building behind the castle. A courtyard fountain.

One window showed a torch-lit garden, hedges tall as the creature beside her, and curving paths leading behind green veils of shrub, tempting her to take a stroll through its mysteries.

She continued on for a step before she noticed Adam stopped in front of an arched wooden door, not nearly as grand as the ones before.

He gave a soft rap, and the door creaked open. A middle-aged woman poked her head out. She had soft, round cheeks and warm brown eyes that filled with surprise.

"M-my lord," the woman stammered, fiddling with the white bonnet atop her head and trying to tuck the stray auburn curls peaking out. She was entirely human, and Isabelle was grateful for it.