Unleashed Fury (BloodRunes: Book 1)

by Cole, Laura R

  “Psst,” said a voice from a dark alley, and Layna jumped.

  Gryffon turned towards it slowly. He craned his head around to try and get a view into the shadows where the voice had come from. “Who's there?” he asked warily.

  “I overheard youse at the tavern the other night,” the voice said, “I knows a way in.” A hand snaked out into the light beckoning to them, revealing itself to be that of a young child.

  Layna glanced at Gryffon who gave her a shrug before carefully following the boy into the alley, ready to turn and run should it be a trap.

  The little boy came into view as their eyes adjusted to the dim light in the alley, and they saw that he was an unfortunate fact of life in any city, and more so here in Dunlop which had been in its prime hundreds of years ago. He was a street child. His clothes were tattered and torn, and the tunic and boots he wore were much too big for him. At least he looked well-covered and well-nourished for living on the streets.

  His eyes darted around as he moved, and he walked in jerky motions, as if trying to evade pursuit though none was chasing him. He reminded Layna of a mouse; moving from hiding spot to hiding spot, searching for crumbs, ever watchful for the hawk that might suddenly come plunging down from above. He led them down to the end of the alley and looked around, glancing behind them to make sure that they weren't followed. He slipped around behind a gate. They followed and emerged in a small area between two buildings. The nook had been turned into a shelter by piles of crates, old clothing, and by the looks of it, anything else they could find. A small fire was being tended in the back by an older woman who scowled at them as they entered.

  “Who are you?” she demanded rudely, looking up from the fire which she had been huddled up against.

  “They're with me,” said the boy. He brought another blanket over to the woman, and laid it around her frail form.

  “I wasn't talking to you, boy,” she growled, taking a swing at him and dislodging the blanket he had just brought for her.

  He dodged the blow deftly, and replaced the blanket with a shrug before turning his attention back to them. “Me mum's a bit ornery in this weather, it makes 'er bones ache.” The woman grumbled something impolite and turned her back to them. She hummed softly under her breath as she rocked back and forth in front of the fire.

  “So youse wanna get into the ruins, do you?” the boy asked, his voice thick with an accent that Layna couldn't place.

  “Yes,” said Gryffon guardedly, and he waited for the boy to go on.

  “Well,” the boy said, “I can gets you at least parts way.” He paused and gave them a grin, revealing blackened teeth. “For a pretty penny, of course.”

  “Nothing in life is free,” quipped Gryffon and nodded to the boy, indicating that he understood that the information would not come without a price.

  The boy nodded happily back and went on, “I's been around in them foothills since I were a little, and cans tell you that without a knowin' which caves are which you could find yourself in a tomb yourself, if you catch my meaning. Supposedly there's another entrance that the Darkies use, but I ain't never seen it. I can lead you to the main doors through the tunnel maze, but then you're on your own. Ain't nobody in town here that'll take even half as close as me.”

  “Darkies?” Layna asked, and was given a long stare before he explained.

  “Darkies are the ones who still follow the ways of the Dark King,” the boy said softly, as if afraid he'd be overheard. “They's say that the followers are still servin’ his spirit, and they've been seen in the woods in these parts. We don't go out at night if we can help it here, it be dangerous alone in the dark.”

  The woman was starting to fuss. Her humming was replaced with curses and the boy hurried to continue, looking at her with trepidation.

  “Meet me by the big oak behind the smith's tomorrow at sunrise. I'll show the way.” He shooed them out, calling behind them, “And don't forget to bring me a little somethin’.”

  The next morning they awoke in darkness, and prepared themselves for the trek to the caves and the possibilities of answers that lay within them. Gryffon handed her a dagger and she fastened it to her belt solemnly. They found their way to the kitchen and left money with the innkeeper, telling him that they were going to be camping out of town for a bit so they wanted to pay up their bill.

  Layna stifled a yawn as they made their way to the smith's, and she shifted the weight of her pack to a more comfortable position. They found the oak that the boy must have been referring to, and settled in underneath it to wait for their guide. Layna had just closed her eyes and was hoping for a little cat-nap when the boy appeared, seemingly out of thin air beside them.

  She jerked awake and he grinned sheepishly at her. “Mornin'” he greeted them. “You brought somethin' for me?”

  Gryffon nodded, and held out his hand with a few coins in it. The boy looked at it and narrowed his eyes and Gryffon added another.

  The boy reached out and took the coins with a satisfied nod and set off without a look behind him. Gryffon and Layna hurried to follow.

  The hike to the caves was long, but not overly difficult. The winter's snow was already melted, making walking easier. Layna grew more nervous with every step, fear growing inside her of the danger that awaited them. It was easy to fall into Gryffon's easy-going attitude that everything would go alright when the plan was in the distant future, but now that they were headed into danger, she wasn't sure that she had quite as much confidence in their abilities as Gryffon did. Why would we be able to succeed where so many others have failed? And not only failed, but paid for their failure with their lives. She tried to break this train of thought by focusing instead on winding the power around her like a cocoon, trying to create a sort of barrier between her and anything that might try and hurt her.

  Just as Layna's feet were beginning to ache, the boy leading them stopped and pointed to a small cave entrance up above them. “I'll lead youse in as far as I've gone,” he told them, “but after that you’re on your own.”

  “How do you know it's the right cave if you haven't gone all the way in?” Layna asked.

  “You'll see.” was the only answer she got. He scurried up the sharp incline of rocks ahead of them, and disappeared into the cave. Gryffon followed behind, and turned to give Layna a hand. She took it, and heaved herself up as well. They squeezed into the dark opening behind the boy and found, to Layna's surprise, that inside was a somewhat large cavern.

  The boy was holding something glowing and Layna looked curiously at it.

  “Glow worms.” He held them up for her to see. “Someone magicked ‘em to stay inside these globes to light the way. Pretty good talent to last this long, huh?” He turned, and the light followed his movement, casting eerie shadows along the cavern walls.

  A bat was startled by their entrance, and it detached from the ceiling, fluttering off into the darkness. “Watch your step here,” the boy said pointing to where a portion of the floor seemed to be indented in an oddly circular shape. “I think it's already been triggered, but youse can never be too careful.”

  “Why do you think it's been triggered?” Layna asked and the boy pointed once more. Layna's vision followed where he pointed, and she sucked in her breath. As his hand swung around to show her, the light followed to illuminate a section of cave that had previously been in the dark. The scene it revealed was grisly: A skeleton was pinned to the opposite wall, held in place by a hundred daggers that had been buried inches deep into the rock wall.

  “Whoa,” she whispered.

  “Yeah,” the boy said, “I wouldn't wants to be wrong. There’s all sorts of things likes that so I’d stick close.”

  Layna decided that perhaps she wouldn't ask any more questions.

  The boy led them around several other booby-traps. He pointed out the triggers and another skeleton, this one crushed under a huge stone. “I think some of them were triggered by magic,” the boy said, “I couldn't find any other way the
y would have been, so hopefully any other magic ones have worn off by now.” He didn't seem overly confident about this statement, and Layna glanced at the globe of glow worms, still shining brightly.

  “What made you come in here,” Gryffon asked him curiously, and the boy shrugged.

  “Same as the rest; hoping to find something worthwhile,” he paused to look back at them with a roguish grin, “I just happen to be smarter than they are, and I let them go in and get it. Then I comes in to take it off them once they don't need it anymore, see?”

  “How nice,” Gryffon commented dryly. The boy didn't seem to take notice of the sarcasm.

  They came to a doorway, the man-made object looking out of place in the natural cave. It was elaborately carved wood, polished to the point of gleaming and strange symbols were carved into it. Her breath caught in her throat as she caught a glimpse of the symbol matching the mark on her neck. A glance in his direction told her that Gryffon saw it too, and he raised his eyebrows at her but said nothing.

  The boy walked up to the door and laid a hand on several of the symbols. The door swung open with a squeak, a great ball of dust billowing out as the air around it was disturbed. Layna waved a hand in front of her face and coughed.

  “Don't touch anything,” ordered the boy, and he entered through the doorway. Gryffon and Layna were close behind.

  Walking through the doorway was like entering a whole other world. The path became illuminated with their movement, and suddenly the cave became an actual hallway rather than the rock corridor they had previously been following. There were more of the strange symbols along the walls. Every now and then, there was a hollowed out section of wall where an ornament; be it a golden goblet, a crown, or in one case what looked like some sort of animal's talon, displayed in a glass case. Gryffon moved closer to the talon to inspect it, but heeded the boy's warning and did not touch it.

  “Tempting, isn't it?” the boy asked. He sighed, gazing longingly at one of the gold pieces. “Must be a fortune in here, but no one's ever been able to get them off the pedestals without dying so I'm not abouts to try.”

  “No, I wouldn't think so,” Layna agreed. They started forward, moving through the treasure more quickly, the appeal suddenly diminished for Layna knowing that these too were traps. For all they knew they could really only be illusion.

  Curious at the thought, Layna reached for the power and touched one of them lightly with a magic tendril of energy. A huge crash sounded and she jumped backwards, tumbling into Gryffon, who caught her and then swung around to face whatever had caused the noise.

  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 mak
ing 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.