The walls around them were bloodied with the torch’s scarlet light. Their stark shadows followed closely behind them. In the silence, their every breath could be heard as clear as wind during a storm, and their footsteps echoed through the tunnel. The tunnel was neither narrow nor wide—Caelyn could spread her arms out and still not touch the sides. Its vaulted ceiling was tall enough that she had to stand on her toes and stretch her arm as far as she could to touch the stone above.
Heat of the torch brought beads of sweat rolling down Caelyn’s forehead. Her arm was beginning to get sore even though she had not held the torch for very long. But, she did not want Courtney or Charlotte to know of her weakness, so she endured burning in her arm without saying a word about it.
Alongside them, tunnels branched off into ravaged rooms, to stairs that ascended and descended to the same concealing darkness, or towards unforeseeable depths. Every room she walked by, she would peek her head in to look for anything of interest. Though, most of the time, the only things inside were moldy grain that had spilled out of torn sacks and empty barrels knocked over and broken. Sometimes though, the barrels had been filled with meat, which now covered the ground around them in a rancid marsh.
“What happened here?” asked Caelyn, kicking aside a pile of stained grain. “Did someone just decide to waste all this food? Look at that pile of—” she coughed and covered her nose with her sleeve, “—meat. If it wasn’t rotten, we could’ve carried it back to the others.”
Clasping her hand around her pendant, Courtney let out a sigh. “Whoever was stationed here must have left in hurry. Perhaps an enemy they felt inadequate against was about to attack, so they took whatever they could carry, destroying everything else as to leave nothing for their enemy, and fled. It is a reasonable presumption, is it not?”
“It does make sense, but at least leave something for us.” Caelyn shook her head and uncovered her nose, before immediately covering it back up after taking a sniff of the sour air.
Charlotte groaned. “How do you even have an appetite right now? If I had anything to eat in the past few days, I would have vomited it all up by now.”
“Who said I had an appetite? I’m just… so, so hungry.”
A growl came from a room they had passed. Caelyn flinched and jerked her head to look back, not daring to make any noise. Her heart pounded like thunder in her chest. The other two girls appeared just as frightened as she was, with Charlotte frozen in fear and Courtney biting the tip of the teardrop pendant.
The sound of steady footsteps approached the door until the head of large wolf appeared. It turned towards them and, with eerily calm eyes, stared at them before baring its long fangs and growling.
Caelyn ran, eyes fixed to the orange tinted darkness in front of her.
A howl echoed from behind, sending a shiver through her body. She could not run very fast, a fact she knew well. Sooner or later, the wolf would catch to her, pouncing and ripping her apart with its blade-like teeth. She had to hide, but where? It would be foolish to hide in one of the many rooms along the tunnel. Wolves had an excellent sense of smell and would find her eventually. She would be cornered and helpless.
A roar, not unlike the rumble of thunder, resounded through the tunnel. Glancing back to catch a glimpse, she saw Charlotte running close behind. Only Charlotte. Where was Courtney? A second glance revealed not even the indistinct form of the girl following in the shadows. Did the wolf get her? Another roar came, followed by a series of barks. The sounds got fainter and fainter as she ran. What happened? Why wasn’t the wolf chasing them? Her heart fell, and her head felt faint. No… no, no. Courtney…
Up ahead, a set of double-doors came into view. Using the weight of her body, Caelyn threw open the doors and let Charlotte pass before slamming them shut and pushing the locking bolt into place. They were in a great hall, illuminated by the sunlight that spilled in through the hall’s many windows. She closed her eyes to avoid being blinded by the sudden brightness. Exhausted from all the running, she slumped onto the ground, gasping for breath. The torch felt onto the stone floor and extinguished. Laying there, her entire body felt numb after running so fast for so long. She heard knocking against the doors.
Courtney… she had sacrificed herself bring them time.
“Open the door!” Courtney’s voice came from the other side. “The wolf will come any moment.”
Jumping to her feet, Caelyn unbolted the doors and opened them slightly to let the girl in, and not a moment too soon. The jaws of beast slipped through the crack between the doors, gnashing at them. With all her strength, she pushed the doors closed, not letting the wolf enter. Courtney joined her.
The wolf was too strong—they were beginning to give way.
But before it could break through and devour them, Charlotte threw a stone at the wolf, causing it to retreat. With the last modicum of strength, Caelyn and Courtney shut the doors and fastened the bolt, before dropping breathlessly onto the ground. The wolf scratched at the doors, threatening to break them down. But they held without a problem.
“I wish to never experience that again,” said Charlotte, falling onto the ground to join the two of them. “That wolf was huge. Was it a dire wolf or something?”
Courtney gasped for air a couple of times before responding, “Probably.”
“But I thought wolves hunted in packs.”
“Well, I am glad,” said Caelyn, “that it was a lone wolf. We would not be talking right now if anything more attacked us.” She took a deep breath and sighed. “What happened back there? I heard a roaring sound. Wolves… don’t roar as far as I’m aware of.”
“Oh,” Courtney shrugged, “I suppose if men can appear in our dreams and ghosts can walk the earth, roaring wolves are the least of the mysteries here.”
“What concerns me more is how we are going to return to others.” Charlotte, crossing her arms, rose and walked around in circles. “With the wolf blocking the path back, we have to find another way to the towers. But where even are we?”
Caelyn stumbled to her feet and looked around. Close to the walls stood thick pillars that reached towards the ceiling. At the center of the room was a long table surrounded by chairs, some of which were knocked over. Decorating the table, candles, melted to a stub, sat on simple metal holders, along with stacks of books and parchment. On their far left stood large, reinforced gates, while a modest door stood on the wall farthest from them.
“Where should we go first?” Caelyn’s gaze moved back and forth from the gates to the door.
“The gate,” said Charlotte and Courtney in unison. The two girls glanced at each other and nodded.
With all of them in agreement, the three headed towards the gates, stepping over the fallen chairs and the other debris that got in their way. Once they reached the gate, which was about thrice the height of Caelyn, opening the gates took all three of their effort. As the gates swung open, flame-colored sunlight flowed in like a stream of fresh water after a long drought. Walking outside, they found themselves in a well-sized courtyard surrounded by stone walls. Charlotte ran towards a row of five training dummies that stood off to one side along with a barrel of wooden swords.
Filled with giddy excitement, the girl picked up a wooden sword and gave it a couple of swings before whirling around and hitting as many dummies as she could with a single stroke of her sword. Courtney clapped every time Charlotte hit something, be it a dummy or a barrel or the stone. Though Caelyn was amused by the girl’s attempt at elegantly swinging the sword, she focused on finding an arrow for her bow. Why could she not find any arrows?
In an attempt to find a leftover arrow, she entered a corner tower and climbed up the stairs. Reaching the top of the wall, she tucked her hands into her pockets and gazed at the green expanse that stretched beneath her. On the other side of this valley, mountains stood taller than the ones they were currently on. The keep they had came out of was built into the side of the mountain but appeared as though it had emerged from the solid rock.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Charlotte! Courtney!” Caelyn waved both arms to get their attention. “Come up here. The view is great.”
“What?” Charlotte asked, before hitting a dummy.
“Come here!”
Swinging her wooden sword, Charlotte, followed by Courtney, disappeared into the corner tower and reappeared a few moments later strolling through the doorway onto the wall-walk. Eyes widening as she saw the lofty landscape, she even stopped swinging her sword.
“We are… so high up,” she said, backing into Courtney. “A-Apologies. But I prefer to be…” She disappeared and reappeared in the courtyard, fighting the dummy furthest away from the wall she had been on.
Caelyn sighed. “Well, I suppose it is getting late. It’s going to be dark soon.” Slowly, she shook her head and sighed once more. “It’s been a very long day. We should head back.” She turned to walk back down to the courtyard, her shoulders slumped from the day’s weariness.
“Indeed,” said Courtney, before following after her.
Once they returned to the courtyard, Caelyn called out to the girl playing with the wooden sword, gesturing towards the gates. With a sigh, Charlotte hit the dummy one more time with a halfhearted swing before meandering through the gates and back into the great hall. Taking a seat on one of the many chairs scattered around the hall, she leaned back and stretched her legs out, breathless. Drops of sweat adorned her rosy face. Indeed, she did look like a warrior returned from a battle beneath the sun.
Caelyn, stopping before the threshold, hands on her hips. “Well, suppose we lured the wolf into this hall and lock it here.”
“No,” groaned Charlotte, “we’d be devoured before we even fully opened the doors.”
“Then kill it with that sword of yours.”
Rolling her eyes, the girl pointed her sword at Caelyn and said, “Then shoot it with your bow. After all, a bow is a hunting weapon and a sword isn’t.”
“I would,” Caelyn replied, “but I don’t have any arrows.”
“And my sword is made of wood!”
“Come you two,” Courtney threw open the small door left of the gates, “look.”
Charlotte jumped out of her chair and stumbled her way, rather quickly, to where Courtney was standing. Hands tucked in her pockets, Caelyn followed, taking steady steps forward. Whatever room—or rooms—probably held more empty barrels and moldy sacks of grain, nothing of interest. The fortress had disappointed her. She expected treasures or artifacts, not dust and decay.
And she was tired of it.
The two girls had already disappeared through the doorway, leaving Caelyn alone in the hall. As she walked, her footsteps echoed with the timbre and rhythm of a drum’s beating. She felt insignificant beneath the soaring ceiling and the immense pillars supporting it. How did anyone manage to build such a place? And into the very mountain, no less. In fact, though the hall looked devastated, the walls themselves, and the pillars, appeared unblemished with no signs of age apparent upon those smooth, glittering surfaces.
With those thoughts in mind, she strolled through the doorway, which led to a short tunnel ending in a room tinted scarlet by the waning sun. Caelyn stepped onto the richly colored carpet and looked around. The room was well-furnished, and in much better condition compared to the rest of the fortress. Windows, to the left, let in natural light directly upon a desk situated at the back of the room. Beneath them was a simple wooden table with a wheel of cheese and a dagger, along with a couple bottles, and a comfortable-looking bed next to it. Shelves, filled with books of many widths and colors, covered the opposing wall. Papers and opened books covered the desk.
As Courtney rummaged through the papers, Charlotte was occupied by the sword, blade in its sheath, hanging on a wooden plaque fixed to the wall behind the desk. Caelyn, stepping over the discarded wooden sword, joined the girl’s side.
“I want to take a look at it,” Charlotte said, reaching up to take the sword down.
Caelyn, arms crossed over her chest, pouted her lips and watched. “Careful not to hurt your—.”
“Oh I won’t.” Taking the sword off the rack, the girl pulled the blade from the leather-wrapped sheath, revealing a portion of the polished metal, and held it to light. Snapping the blade back in, she, with an excited little smile, said, “It is beautiful. I do love it.” She drew the blade once more, this time to its fullest extent. “It’s… so sharp.”
“I can’t believe it.” Caelyn stomped away and threw up her hands. “You managed to find a real sword while I can’t even find an arrow. Not even a stick that somewhat resembles an arrow.”
Charlotte, giving it a few swings, shook with excitement. “It is such a nice sword. Such balance and sharpness. It is so sharp I think I can cut through stone with this. Through stone!” Sheathing the blade, she ran out the room. “I want to test it against those straw men.”
Sighing, Caelyn stared as the sword-loving girl turned and disappeared outside. “And she gets a sword…” Her gaze wandered to the uncut wheel of cheese sitting on the table. “I do wonder if that cheese can still be eaten.” She walked over and knocked it with her knuckles. “Let’s bring this back. Cheese can last quite a while without going bad. As for these bottles…” Twisting off the cork of one, she sniffed at its contents. A warm sting assailed her nose, and she recoiled. “Some sort of wine. I don’t know why anyone would drink this, but I do suppose it is good for cooking. We’ll bring it back anyways.”
“Yes,” said Courtney, who was still looking through the papers on the desk.
“What are you looking at?”
“Oh, nothing much, nothing much. Just some interesting texts. Look here, I found a journal detailing everything that happened here.” She picked up a thick book bound with worn-leather and flipped to the middle.
“Really?” Caelyn’s eyes widened—perhaps they would finally find answers. “And it’s in our language?”
“Seems so. The last entry was… I don’t know how long ago. Apparently, the commander of this fortress—his name is Gerald Elbert—departed one day, along with his best soldiers, to hunt down a demon.”
“A demon?”
“Yes, it says here the demon was plaguing the area for a while now, so they are heading north to a place they call the Sanctuary to get the necessary equipment before attacking the demon. The commander of the west tower would take leadership until Elbert’s return.” Courtney slowly nodded her head, in deep thought. “This is the last entry.”
“Well, I suppose that entity”—Caelyn shivered while saying that word—“was the demon this Gerald Elbert wrote about.”
Blinking, Courtney put the journal down. “Most of these papers are accounts of how many food and soldiers there are in this fortress. Too dry for me. Everything else is either in a script I don’t recognize or manuals about fighting.” She squinted at the wheel of cheese. “The cheese, take it… somehow. Let me take it.”
She pocketed the knife before hugging the wheel of cheese and, with a grunt, lifting off the table.
“You’re strong,” Caelyn noted, carrying the bottles in her hands and followed the strong girl out the room.
In the courtyard, Charlotte, a wide grin on her face, had already cut the heads off every single dummy in the training area. Some even found half their bodies missing, chopped off by a single swing. It surprised Caelyn how well the sword could cut even with the girl’s horrible technique. Truly, that sword was a fine blade indeed.
Seeing that the two of them had already left the room, the sword-loving girl examined the blade’s edge and put it back in its sheath, which she had tied around her waist. With a spring in her step, she came over to the two of them and, after a glance at the cheese, said, “Oh, where did you find that cheese?”
“On the table,” Caelyn said, “which you would’ve notice if your view wasn’t so focused on that sword.”
“Well as long as…” Charlotte trailed off, her expression growing fearful. “The wolf, it is still outside.” She took a step back, her breaths quickened. “Oh no, do you think it is still outside?”
A banging came from the door, followed by a muffled cry, “Courtney, Caelyn, Charlotte! If you are in there, open the door!” It was Cain.
Glancing at Charlotte, Caelyn rushed to the door, unbolted it, and opened it. Cain stumbled in, squinting his eyes while turning his head away from the light. “Where were you three?” asked the leader. “Everyone was getting—”
With a single bark, the dire wolf leapt out from shadows and onto Cain, knocking him to the floor. Caelyn dropped the bottles and ran towards the gates. If she could closed them, then she would be safe. The wolf would not get to her. Behind her, the wolf growled as it tried to bite the boy, who shouted nonsense as he struggled. Charlotte screamed.
Caelyn felt dizzy, everything became a blur around her. She ran outside and turned to pull the doors shut. Only then did she realize—there was no sound.
No sound of the wolf growling, no sound of Cain struggling, no sound of Charlotte screaming, only a couple ragged breaths.
She peeked inside. Charlotte’s hands were clasped on her sword’s handle. The wolf laid lifelessly on top of Cain, who was too shocked to move. The blade had penetrated through the beast’s skull, while its wielder stared at it with disbelief.
“Charlotte…” Courtney began, taking a step back from the pool of blood that began spreading from the wolf’s wound.
Letting go of the sword, its wielder took a few steps back, jaw agape. “What hap—” She shook her head. “Did I…?”
“You killed the dire wolf.”
Charlotte took a few deep breaths, twitching her head side to side, before she said, “What?”
“You stabbed that sword…”
“I can… see that. But how?”
Rolling out from beneath the wolf’s carcass, Cain laid on his back, gasping for air. “I thought… die.”
“Well… maybe this sword is magic,” said Courtney, pulling out the blade and wiping the blood off on the wolf’s white fur. “Or maybe you are.”
“Me?” Charlotte looked as though on the verge of tears, “I never used a sword before in my life until today.”
“Talent. I mean, you were cutting those dummies like a trained swordsman. I thought you really were. That sword, I do suppose it is a rather well-made, but that does not reduce how impressive you are for wielding it to kill this beast.” With a smile on her face, Courtney returned the sword back to the sheath and patted the girl on the back. “Let’s get this… oh bloody cheese.” She kicked the cheese away from the sea of blood and, careful not to dirty herself, spun it around on the carpet to clean off the blood..
Caelyn took a few deep breaths before walking over to Charlotte. “I do suppose a sword is… good for some things.”
Resting her hand on the pommel of her sword, Charlotte stared at the wolf’s bloody head but did not respond. Even as the crimson tide reached her feet, she stood there, eyes and body unmoved.
“Charlotte, let’s go.” Against her chest, Courtney hugged the cheese and strolled to the edge of the shadow-filled tunnel leading back to the tower. “Cain, if you may, please drag that beast back to camp. I haven’t eaten meat in so long.” She gave the wolf a glance of slight disgust. “It’ll have to do.”
Caelyn put a hand on the frozen girl, gently pushing her around the wolf and into the tunnel. Behind them, Courtney’s soft footsteps followed, while Cain’s groans as he dragged the wolf carcass faded away.