The King of Stars and Storms

Chapter three

They had been travelling for a couple of days, stopping to eat, rehydrate and water the horses. Their weapons at their sides. Elizabeth had been unusually quiet for the majority of their journey, both the boys had noticed it but it wasn't until they had stopped for the third night that Christopher decided to say something. They had found a perfect spot to camp and Elizabeth was tying her horse to the tree not noticing that Christopher was walking up behind her. "You've been quiet, Lizzie. I thought you would be more excited." he glanced back at Alfie. "You are finally getting what you've wanted most for the past five years." Christopher placed a hand on her shoulder. Elizabeth looked back at him, giving him a slight smile. "I know and I am. It's just that after a while I thought that it might not happen. And I don't know what I am going to do now that I have the chance."

It was the middle of the night, the fire was still going and whilst the boys slept, Elizabeth laid on her back staring at the stars, unable to fall asleep. A hundred thoughts racing through her mind, what was she going to do once she got to the faerie realm, was she making her parents proud or was she doing the right thing? All she did know is that someone had to pay for all the lives that were taken five years ago and she knew that if no one else was going to avenge all those people, she'll just have to do it herself.

A few more days had passed as they inched closer to their final destination. Their foreheads dripped in sweat due to the sweltering heat of summer. They had stopped to fuel up and make sure they were hydrated so that they didn't pass out from the heat. Elizabeth left her horse by the lake and walked over to join the others. "It's not that much further. The entrance is just on the other side of the hill." She stated. "Okay, so when do we leave?" Alfie asked. Elizabeth took a deep breath in as she looked in the direction they were headed. "An hour." She replied and walked back to her horse stroking its neck before taking a seat next to the water and staring into space. Both boys sat on either side of her but neither one wanted to speak up. "What?" "We were just curious... and worried," Christopher spoke softly and then Alfie carried on. "We just wanted to know if you had changed your mind?" There was a bit of hesitation from Elizabeth then she scoffed. "No. I'm just trying to take it all in."

They came to a halt at the top of the hill and Elizabeth immediately spotted what they were looking for. The blinding light in the middle of a grove of trees. She turned to face her company and pointed to what she had found. "There that is what we are looking for." Christopher sighed. "Are you sure?" She nodded vigorously. "The Supreme said we would know when we had found the entrance. The light from the sun would reflect off of it. That's it." She had taken off before she could finish her sentence. The boys looked at each other and then raced after her. Elizabeth came to a stop once she had reached her destination and dismounted her horse. Whilst she waited for the others to catch up she drew her sword and studied her surroundings to see if she could spot potential lookouts and then noticed the glowing light coming from the tree closest to her. Elizabeth put her weapon away, crept up to it as the boys climbed down from their horses and examined it.

Whilst brushing her hand over it, a sudden clicking sound of locks startled her. Elizabeth jumped back and watched as the tree transformed into an entrance. Elizabeth gazed between Christopher and Alfie and chuckled before walking through the archway with the boys on her tail. She descended the spiral staircase until she came to a junction, three corridors stood in front of her. She waited until she wasn't alone to make her decision. Elizabeth looked over her shoulder at Christopher. "What do you think?" She pointed to the three choices in front of them with her head. "Which way do you think we should go?" He paused for a moment. "There is sound coming from the middle that is the way we should go." Elizabeth bowed her head in agreement, drew her sword and slowly walked down the dark corridor. She noticed the green vines over the stone walls and the bright white flowers that grew in random places. She had to admit the place was rather beautiful even if it was home to killers.

Alfie was behind her and Christopher was ahead of her, Elizabeth heard the chatter of voices coming from behind a slightly open door. She felt the belt on her waist checking that she still had her daggers, she drew her sword closer to her chest and slowly pushed the door open. Once it was completely open, she was faced with an elegant looking woman upon a throne, whom she immediately assumed was the queen, she glanced around the room and noticed that she had a few guards. One of them ran up to her swinging his sword back, she quickly raised her sword to meet his, then spun and dragged her blade across his waist. The guard doubled over screaming in pain. By the time Elizabeth had stood upright another guard was racing towards them, she ran towards him but before they could bump into one another she dropped to the ground and slid under his legs, stood and kicked him in the back making him drop to the floor. Before she could apprehend what was going to happen next, her sword was sent flying out of her hand. She spun on her heels and saw a fist heading in her direction but she managed to miss it by crouching down. Where the hell was Alfie and Christopher? She thought. Surely they had heard what was going on by now. Elizabeth punched the guy in the gut and once he was distracted punched him in the face so that he ended up on the ground like the other two. But once she straightened herself up she noticed that she was surrounded. "Great!" She mumbled to herself. Two guards lowered their weapons and grabbed her by the arms so she couldn't escape. She tried to wiggle her way free but it was no use, their grips were strong. That was when the queen approached her and grabbed her chin to make her look at the woman.

"What are you doing here?.." The queen paused letting go of Elizabeth. Walking away ever so slightly. "And who sent you?" she asked in a demanding tone. Elizabeth let out a shaky breath. "Your army killed my parents and my village. You need to pay for what you did?" The queen let out a chuckle. "You are foolish aren't you little girl. You thought that you could defeat my army?" Elizabeth laughed to herself. "Yeah well, I thought I would give it a try." "Well, it didn't get you very far." The queen nodded to the guards. "Take her to the dungeons." The guards dragged her out of the throne room and down the hall in the direction she was headed. She wasn't even that far out the room when she spotted two heads poking out from the side of the wall. When they spotted each other she mouthed, "Get out of here." Christopher shook his head, but Alfie pulled him in the other direction.

Once they were in the clear, they took a moment before carrying on. "What the hell Alfie? We need to go back and get her out of there." He whispered angrily. "She told us to go. We need to come back with bigger forces. We can't defeat those men by ourselves. Just look at Lizzie." Christopher nodded his head in agreement. Then they ran back to the entrance once they heard voices heading their way. They had to get back to the masters and get help. They couldn't let Elizabeth rot down there alone.

When they got to the Master's compound, they raced through the hallways and burst through the doors of the Supreme's office nearly collapsing on each other. Their leader snapped her head towards the door spotting the two out of breath boys. She indicated for her company to leave before turning her attention to the people who just burst into her office. Deeply sighed, placing her hand on her hip. "What are you guys doing? You know better than to burst into here." They got up and composed themselves. "We are sorry but we ran into some trouble," Christopher said, trying to catch his breath. The supreme was confused. "What kind of trouble? And where is Elizabeth?" The boys both looked at each other before Alfie spoke up. "She was captured."

The guards threw Elizabeth into a damp, cold, dirty cell. Once they closed the door, she took in her surroundings. The cobbled walls were trickled with water. She then stared straight ahead, looking passed the metal bars. "I am in trouble." She told herself. Elizabeth then sighed in defeat.

ⒸSashabarrow1999