Unleashed Fury (BloodRunes: Book 1)

by Laura R Cole

  Part of the ceiling seemed to break off and crash to the ground all around the pedestal where Layna had sent her tendril of energy. With her second sight, being still open to the power, Layna saw that it was indeed illusion, as was the entire hall, and she shuddered at the danger that was apparent through the magic vision. She quickly cut off the flow of power and brushed herself off. “Well, I guess that answers the question about whether or not the magic triggers are still in place.”

  “I don't know what you did,” said the boy, wide-eyed, “but don't do it again.”

  “No,” Layna said, “for sure.”

  The boy had stopped walking, and now turned on his heel and headed back towards the entrance. “This is as far as I go,” he yelled back over his shoulder, and Layna and Gryffon were left to go on alone. Layna took a deep breath and moved ahead again, trying not to look at the wonders that surrounded them.

  They came to a veil draped across the hallway, and Gryffon cautiously pushed it aside and stepped through. Layna followed a pace behind, and was hit by a sudden aroma that was both sweet and spicy.

  She took a deep breath as the smell washed over her and she looked at Gryffon with longing. Gryffon, however, was entranced by a sight along the edge of the hallway. Like the first stretch of hall, this one too had side rooms. Only this time they were filled with scantily clad women who were beckoning to Gryffon. His eyes seemed to be bulging out of his head and he watched eagerly as one of the women danced around, bouncing her ample charms seductively.

  Layna's offense at Gryffon's obvious interest in the girl overtook her desire to embrace him, and she regained control of her thought processes. Thinking of the treasure in the section before, Layna focused again on the girls, this time with her magic sight – though taking care not to actually touch any of them with the power in order to avoid triggering any more traps.

  She was disgusted to find that the rooms actually led to pits in the floor, pools of some nasty looking liquid, or even in one case what must have at one time been some sort of creature. There were the remains of a large something with a spiked collar around the huge neck bones attached to a very heavy chain. Whoever had built this place had certainly gotten creative with their booby-traps.

  Layna almost smiled at the reference as she watched Gryffon blindly walk towards one of these ‘booby-traps’. But seeing as how the situation was not at all humorous, and she found that she had gotten a peculiar pang of jealousy as she watched his fascination, she instead moved to intercept him.

  She put herself between him and the woman, and held out her hands towards his shoulders. He hardly noticed she was there until he rammed into her, and he shook his head with a soft, “Oof!”

  He looked down at her. Annoyance flashed across his face at first, then turned to confusion as if he was suddenly brought out of a trance. Then his eyes roamed up and down the length of her.

  Layna narrowed her eyes, though she was secretly pleased that he found her attractive as well. She removed her hands from his shoulders to snap her fingers in front of his face. “Hello Gryffon,” she said sarcastically, “Are you with me, Gryffon?”

  Annoyance once again took precedence and he made a face at her. “What?”

  “You don't see anything suspicious about these lovely ladies?”

  Gryffon looked around and squinted at the women, some of whom were now removing articles of clothing in their attempt to attract him. Layna could almost see his inward battle to not be drawn in again.

  She felt his mage sight extend towards the women. As she watched, she saw his tendril come upon a ‘wall’, and it was then interestingly misdirected back towards the illusion.

  “No,” Gryffon said, “They look very real to me. Although now that I think about it, it is strange that they would be here.”

  “You think?” Layna scoffed, still miffed that he had been distracted so easily.

  “Well,” Gryffon said defensively, “what do you see?”

  For an answer, Layna ripped off a part of the veil that had separated the hall with her knife, and dipped it into the nearest pit, which was filled with a steaming green liquid that burned her nose as she neared it.

  As the fabric touched the liquid, it immediately started to melt, letting off a disgusting stench as the acid ate it. With her split vision, Layna could see this happening to the fabric, but she could also see what Gryffon must be watching. He saw the girl grabbing hold of the fabric, and drawing her closer with it. Layna backed up a pace and held the smoking veil in front of her, dropping it to the ground as the liquid leeched up towards her hand. The illusion seemed to pale as she moved it away from the pit, and Gryffon’s mage sight now focused on the reality of the acid eating away at the fabric.

  Gryffon's mouth formed a silent 'oh' and he said aloud, “Well, moving right along.”

  He led the way to another veil which he once again pushed aside and ducked through. Layna followed suit, suddenly keenly aware of her stomach which had been growling for the last hour.

  They hadn't eaten breakfast this morning, and she was starving. Delicious aromas assailed her nostrils with a vengeance, and Layna quickly looked up at Gryffon. He was already halfway through the passageway, and it was filled with food on either side of her. Just a little taste won't hurt, right? She glanced ahead once more to make sure that Gryffon wasn't looking, and then she started for a table holding an assortment of breads that were making her mouth water.

  She didn't make it two steps, however, before Gryffon's voice cut through her trance. “And just what do you think you're doing?” he asked her.

  “I'm really hungry,” she answered sheepishly. “I didn't think a little nibble would hurt anything.”

  He gaped at her incredulously “After what you just showed me, you don't think that maybe this food is not what it seems?” He gave her a 'you must be crazy' look and made his way through the hall, glancing back at her to make sure she followed.

  Layna looked once more at the food, and then concentrated looking through the food to the real image beneath. Losing her appetite completely at the sight, and almost losing her cookies as well, she hurriedly followed after Gryffon. She was appalled that she had even been momentarily tempted.

  She took a deep breath before stepping across the third veil. Once across, she was immediately bombarded by a barrage of horrible accusations being yelled at her and Gryffon from people placed on little podiums in each of the alcoves.

  Layna could see Gryffon getting more and more worked up as the people continued their attack, some of them foaming at the mouth in their vehemence. One of them had an uncanny resemblance to Jezebel, and all were making pointedly accurate if negatively skewed comments. Layna shivered at the complexity of the spell that must have gone into the making of this trap to feed upon an individual's particular life events, and was equally chilled by the horrendous assortment of traps that awaited the person who allowed their anger to overtake them and took a swing at one of them.

  Layna let out a gasp and leaped forward to intercept Gryffon as he aimed a blow for one of the men. With her double-vision Layna saw a nasty-looking bear claw trap as the man's head. Gryffon's balled fist hit her hard against her shoulder, but luckily it was a glancing impact and most of the force was lost harmlessly in making him twirl around as he struggled to regain his balance.

  “What was that for?” he turned on her angrily and balled his fist once more.

  Layna didn't bother to try and explain, his current level of anger making him irrational, but simply grabbed hold of him and willed her double vision onto him in a desperate attempt to stave off the attack that would next be aimed towards her.

  His anger seemed to melt away as the truth of the room hit him, and he stared at her wide-eyed. “How did you do that?” he asked, and then interrupted himself, “Oh Gods, did I hurt you?”

  Layna shrugged it off, though the spot was still tender,
and he gave her a contrite look but said nothing else. The eerie quality of these hallways was getting to them both. Illusions that tricked both your senses and your thoughts were difficult to contend with.

  They passed to the next section silently and exchanged a puzzled look as the room became suddenly quiet, in stark contrast to the cacophony of insults they had just left.

  The hall was lined with mirrors of every shape. Some were tall and thin, lined with gems and jewels worth more than Layna could hope to ever have. Then there were plain mirrors, rusting brass frames with cracked glass, and warped mirrors that would change your appearance as you walked past.

  Gryffon let out a sigh and moved forward, and Layna once again followed behind. She nervously looked around with her double vision again, and this time saw no indication of foul play, but did not feel any better. In their short visit here, Layna had learned that not seeing the danger only meant that it was that much more dangerous. It was highly unlikely that the mastermind, or masterminds, that had made this place had put four rooms with unimaginable and cruel torturous traps only to be followed by a harmless row of mirrors.

  Layna looked around them as they walked and her reflection caught her eye. She paused to admire the way that the fabric clung to her figure, and as she looked she had to admit that it was quite a nice figure too. She turned to face the mirror, posing in front of it to see the outfit from different views. It definitely was not the most flattering, her skin tone and hair really would be complimented by a maroon...she gasped delightedly as right as she had the thought, her reflection suddenly changed to show her in a beautiful maroon evening gown. She happily thought how much better it would look with earrings and a necklace to match, and these too appeared. She smiled at herself in the mirror and found herself drawn into her deep blue eyes, how mysterious and lovely they looked.

  “Hey, take a look at this,” Gryffon's voice drifted into her reverie and she raised a hand as if to wave away a pesky insect. She twisted her body so that she could see the perfect curve of her-

  “Layna!” a voice shouted in her ear. She jumped backwards, cutting off her view from the mirror.

  “What already, why are you yelling at me?”

  “I've been trying to get your attention for the last two minutes,” Gryffon told her irritably, “and you've just been standing here drooling over yourself in the mirror. Come take a look at this,” he took hold of her hand, and led her towards the end of the hallway.

  Layna glanced longingly at the mirrors as they passed, yearning to stand in front of them to watch her reflection once more. She sighed as they passed each one, but Gryffon only quickened his pace and firmed up his grip on her. He pointed at the end of the hall, and Layna wrenched her gaze from the mirrors to follow his pointing finger.

  The last mirror, the largest in the hall, showed an image of a very handsome young man sitting with his head in his hands, gazing into the mirror in open admiration of himself. Layna snorted at his vanity, but then blushed, realizing that she had been guilty of the same only moments ago. Shame turned to another emotion and a chill went down her back as she finally really looked at the figure before the mirror.

  The handsome image was not a reflection of the man before it, but rather was what the reflection must have looked like when the man first sat down in front of it. By the looks of the skeleton draped in rags before it, that was quite some time ago.

  “I guess that's how this room gets you.” Gryffon gave her a knowing look and Layna blushed again, following him to the next room.

  Her guilt grew and Layna found herself wondering why Gryffon had not been affected by the mirrors while she had. Or the room with the food. Gryffon was so good at everything and was so sure of himself all the time, it just wasn't fair. Why can't I be strong like him? He kept glancing back at her with an odd look on his face until Layna finally stopped short as he glanced back for the tenth time, and she asked “What?”

  He stopped, and turned to face her. “I was just wondering how you were able to make me 'see' what you see with your mage sight. It doesn't seem fair that I have been working with magic my whole life and can't do half the things that you are capable of.”

  “Well, it's not fair that you got to work with magic your whole life. I've spent my whole life trying to make ends meet.”

  “It's so unfair that just because you're beautiful you get people to do things for you.”

  “It's not fair that just because you are a man and a noble you get more respect.”

  “I wish I were you!”

  “I wish I were you!”

  They made this last comment in unison, and the reverberations in the hallway echoed in the empty alcoves. They stared at each other for a long moment before either spoke.

  “I think,” Layna whispered slowly, “That perhaps we should continue on. I don't know about you, but I have the incredible urge to go on and on about how much better you have things, but something inside me is screaming that we need to leave.”

  “I agree,” Gryffon agreed tightly, and he turned on his heel to once more lead the way out of the room.

  Layna breathed a sigh of relief as they passed through the next veil and the overwhelming jealously she had felt eased. The room on the other side was filled with armchairs of every shape and size. Layna had never seen so many comfortable looking seats, not even in the very expensive household of the Lady Jezebel.

  She took a step into the room, and suddenly realized just how tired she was, and how inviting the chairs really were. We have been working awfully hard lately, we certainly deserve a chance to rest for just a bit.

  She took a seat next to Gryffon in one of the armchairs that the alcoves provided. Lazily she wondered if perhaps she should have checked to see if these were trapped as well. But she didn't really feel like doing it. She opened her mouth to comment to Gryffon about how comfortable the chairs were, but closed it again. It really just didn't seem worth the effort, so she didn't bother.

  The little voice in the back of her head was screaming at her once more that something was very wrong here, but she just couldn't muster the energy to concentrate on what it could possibly be. She relaxed a little farther into the plush chair.

  With great effort she glanced at Gryffon, and saw that he too was leaning back very comfortably. He looked as though he was about to take a nap, and she thought that seemed like a good idea. Layna was distinctly aware of just how tired she was; they had gotten up very early this morning for something. She couldn't remember and didn't care to try and think about what for, but she was very exhausted. She closed her tired eyes, letting the embrace of sleep close in around her.