PUREBLOODS #1 [+16]

Chapter 8

         Cold

         Yet bearable...

         The sound of water leaking in a far corner echoed throughout the cave. When the commander and his comrades made it into the cave, they had searched in every nook and cranny, but found nothing.

"NOTHING!" Harold was fuming. The other soldiers had already set up their tents in the cave and made a little fire for heat beside the tight, yet not too close. Ignoring their commanders' outburst, Derek called for him.

"Sir, you need to eat"

"I will not eat until this witch is fou--," he was dramatically cut off.

"Sir! Please, we all understand your distress but you need to eat. If you don't you won't even be able to get up and find the witch. We believe you now, we believe that the supernatural is real sir, but you need to eat," Derek reasoned as respectfully as he possibly could. Harold relaxed his tensed muscles and sighed.

"Fine," he said in absolute exhaustion before heading towards his comrades situated around the fire.

They did not talk.

They sat quietly and ate their meal and only when they retired to bed, did someone speak up.

"I can't wait to be rich," said Benji

Derek and the others chuckled and even Harold chipped in. Harold then yawned and spoke up.

"Alright guys, we've got an early night to head in because the search will begin tomorrow. Hopefully we'll obtain it just like the saying…. 'an early bird catches the most worms' !"

The positivity soared in their souls and hearts as they looked on with determination.

They Will find her.

Harold will be king!!

*****************************************

Harold heard the sound of whispering as he slowly opened his eyes. Squinting them, he expected brightness from the sun but instead of light, the cave was consumed with darkness. The once blazing fire was now completely diminished. 

That's when he realised it.

'This is no cave!!'

As his eyes adjusted to his surroundings, he could see himself and his comrades situated not in the cave in their tents, but sprawled on the floor.

 Of a home…?

'No, it couldn't be,' he thought. His mind would combust with thoughts. As his eyes lingered on everything in the room, from its size to its expensive materials he finally realized it.

A castle?!!

It could not be the castle in the East kingdom, Johns castle was always bright, but this? This was dark. It carried a gloomy feeling. So sinister. 

Grunting quietly he raised himself to his feet and tip toed to the door. Hesitantly he turned the door knob and to his surprise it opened. Slowly pulling it open, he took another glance at his trusted soldiers who were sound asleep on the floor  before sneaking out of the room and into a hallway, the only difference was the lantern on the floor. He saw a shadow move near the lantern and as his eyes traveled away from the light and landed beside it, looking higher he saw the outline of a person in the dark.

His heart skipped a beat and his blood ran cold. His palms were sweaty and the spine stiffened. Body rigid.

He could only see the person in a dark cloak, their face was obscured by darkness. 

"Hello?" He called out to the person.

"I am the commander! You cannot kidnap me!" He tried speaking with authority but his voice betrayed him and shook.

The figure still had not moved an inch. Gathering himself he stepped closer to the person and as he came closer he could've sworn he saw movement. The twitch of its hand was ever so slightly…

Still a few feet away he realised that he still had his sword, so he slowly withdrew it. Trying to think as sane as possible, he used his weapon to tap the 'thing' ever so slightly upon its shoulder. In a swift movement her face rose to his. He gasped and fell on his backside, trying hard to scurry back in that position.

The creature had no eyes, no nose, nor mouth. It had no facial features yet, Harold could see that, it was a woman. The light Brown shade of her hair peeked through the cloak but that did little to justify the grotesque looking scar that laid freshly upon the right side of her face. His saucer eyes looked appalled and his mouth widened as if he was about to scream, until he saw her lift her thin frail arm into the opposite direction to the wall she was close to.

Hesitantly he stood on his feet and with determination he walked towards the figure, picked up the lantern and followed her direction.

He felt as if his heart was in his hand and that he could easily drop it. He was afraid. The lantern provided dull light but it was enough to guide him through another hall where he saw another creepy old figure. Same dark cloak but the difference was, this one was positioned over a large pot with a big stick in her hands stirring its content around. The scent wafted to his nose and he bent over gagging. 

It smelled rotten and deadly. Lifting himself up into an upright position, he stalked towards what he assumed to be a woman. Guiding the light closer to her face curiosity consumed him. Unlike the previous woman she had one single facial feature, a nose. He assumed that was the smell…

What was that…?

He looked into the pot and saw a pot boiling green, slimy liquid and none other than two pairs of eyes, one single nose and two pairs of lips. Realisation dawned on him and he quickly stepped away from the pot holding his breath.

Sensing his presence the cloaked woman released the stick and pointed towards a door.

Walking towards the door, Harold slowly opened it and instead of darkness, the room was surrounded by light. It wasn't blinding light but instead soft ones, the room was decorated in picture frames and in the frames were beautifully painted flowers and other things of mother nature.

His eyes though, shimmer at the beauty that sat in a throne in the middle of the room. There sat a woman, lips as red as blood and pale beautiful skin. She was draped in a long, black, silky gown and a golden tiara rested on her bright red hair. 

As her eyes lifted to his, he lost his breath. Ocean eyes. With a cunning smile she spoke seductively.

"What is it that you truly desired….Harold?"

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Word Count: 1091