Their light orbs glowed brightly, banishing the long shadows that reached for them. Triss walked slowly along, watching carefully for the deadly creatures that inhabited the woods.

"Stop." Thomas whispered. She paused, her foot an inch above the stones of the path. After a few seconds, she began to wobble, her foot shaking above the ground. "Put your foot down, idiot." She complied.

Thomas studied the path in front of them. "Ten more paces." He said.

"Are you sure?" She hissed back. The words drifted around the woods, dying as they were captured by a light breeze.

Thomas chuckled. "Reasonably."

Triss cursed quietly, then started walking again. One. Two. She counted off the steps. At eight, she felt Thomas's hand on her shoulder, and she stopped again.

"Turn here."

She turned to her left, towards the trees. "You're sure?" She whispered.

"I'm not going to keep answering that." Thomas said in a low snarl. "You want to live? Just do as you're told."

Triss closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and stepped forward. Nothing happened. She opened her eyes, and realized she was still on the path. Suddenly she was shoved forward. She stumbled into the woods, falling into the gross wet leaves covering the forest floor.

"I'm not waiting all night." Thomas said. "Get up."

Triss got as far as her hands and knees before she saw it. A patch of leaves about two feet in front of her that looked...odd. A breeze was dancing through the leaves, twisting and turning, sending them floating up and down. The leaves in the patch didn't move, like they were glued in place. Her stomach tightened as she realized what the patch was. Slowly, she moved backwards, standing up and stepping back until she ran into Thomas. She looked up into his confused expression. "Vanisher." She whispered, pointing.

Thomas peered around her at the patch she was pointing at. The leaves rustled again, and Thomas's eyes went wide. "Back!" He hissed.

They both hurried backwards onto the path, neither taking their eyes off the lid of the vanisher's trap. "Damnation." Thomas said quietly as they stood. Then he closed his eyes, his lips moving soundlessly, as though he were talking to himself. Triss briefly considered pushing him into the vanisher's lair. But to take a life? She couldn't bring herself to do it. Not even for someone like Thomas.

Thomas's eyes snapped open. "Two more steps."

Triss eyed him suspiciously. "You're sure now?"

"Sure enough to send you through. Move." He shoved her down the path. She stumbled her first step, then took a cautious second. Thomas directed her into the forest, and she carefully stepped off the path. At his direction, she continued along beside the the path, watching carefully for other areas of dead leaves. She saw none, which should have immobilized her in fear. Instead, she continued stepping forward, one slow step at a time. She wondered idly if that was a sign of growing strength, or if her time in this frightening world had simply broken her, made her numb to the fear. She hoped it was the first, but worried it was the second.

A hand on her shoulder stopped her progress. "Path." Thomas whispered. "Carefully."

"I am being careful." Triss said through gritted teeth. "Dumbass."

Thomas seemed confused by the insult, as though he hadn't heard it before. Well, that was fine with Triss. Introducing new insults was, as far as she could tell, her only real lasting impact in this world so far. That and getting her friends in trouble. Thomas's shove interrupted her introspection, and she started towards the path.

They made it safely onto the stones, and began the trek out of the forest. She walked a little quicker now that they had passed the dangerous section of the path. Soon they emerged into a field bathed in lavender moonlight. "There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Thomas said, a half-cocked grin on his face. It seemed to Triss to be bravado. He was just as scared as me. Maybe more. She thought.

She didn't bother answering him, instead walking faster, heading for the distant castle that shone with reflected moonlight. Thomas hurried to keep up with her. When they reached the thick wooden door of the castle, Triss stopped. Almost two months since she had walked out this same door. Her mind was filled with memories. Jonal, teaching her how to run the shop. Reuniting Elder Nert with his daughter. Soldiers bleeding on the ground. She shook her head to clear it, then grasped the handle of the door and pushed.

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

The ungreased hinges groaned as the door swung ponderously open. Her shadow stretched long into the room, the sparse moonlight glinting faintly off the unlit orbs in the entry room. She stepped forward, and the wall orbs came to life. "Where to?" She asked, once they were inside with the door shut again.

"Percival should have a library somewhere. A personal library."

"Yeah, he does."

"Good. Let's go." Thomas said. Triss didn't move. "I said let's go. Come on."

Triss laughed. "You think I know where it is? I can't even get to the kitchen from here."

"But you lived here, didn't you? Nert told me you used to live here."

"This castle is a maze. I have no idea where anything is." She replied.

He cursed, and Triss found she enjoyed his frustration. "What in the twelve hells are you grinning at?" He snarled when he noticed. He grabbed her dress by the shoulder and dragged her along. "If we need to search the castle we need to get moving."

Triss grabbed at his hand, trying to pry his surprisingly powerful fingers off her dress. "Stop pulling. You're going to rip it." She complained as she struggled to keep up.

Thomas laughed, but let go. "You're worried about saving that?" He asked.

Triss looked down at the once yellow dress, now covered in grass stains, dirt, and soaked in places with Percival's blood. "I don't want to rip it too." She said defiantly.

Thomas stepped close to her, towering over her. She suddenly realized exactly how foolish it had been to follow this man, but knew she would make the exact same choice again to save her friends. Odd. When had she began to think of Percival as a friend too? She looked up at Thomas and gave him a withering glare. A smile spread across his face, dark like a gathering storm. "Scared?" He asked.

"No." She lied. He studied her for a moment, the tension building. Finally, he barked a short laugh, then turned and headed down a random hallway. "Keep up." He ordered. Triss hesitated, but then started walking. It wasn't like she could outrun him. That gave her an idea though, if she could find an opportunity.

Thomas placed his left hand on the wall, dragging his fingers lightly as he walked. He opened doors when they came to them, checking briefly to see what might be inside, then leaving the door open and continuing on. Whenever they came to a corner he continued left, and when they arrived at the end of a hallway he turned around and went back, hand always to the left side.

"Why are you touching the wall like that?" Triss asked, more to break the silence than out of any real curiosity.

"It ensures I see everything. If I follow one wall I'll travel the entire castle without getting lost." Thomas replied. He paused to open a door and peer inside, then kept walking. He didn't add any more, and Triss decided not to ask. She looked in the room as well as they passed, and saw it was a storage room of some kind, completely empty. Dust nearly an inch thick covered the shelves. This room apparently wasn't on the list of rooms that Reginald cleaned.

They walked for what felt like hours. Her feet hurt, and she complained constantly, mostly just to annoy Thomas. He ignored her. He took every flight of stairs that led upwards. "The library is likely near the top." He explained when she questioned his shift in tactics.

They were somewhere on the third floor when they came across a familiar room. Triss nearly gasped when they walked into her bedroom. It was exactly as she had left it. Actually, looking around, she realized there were a few oddities. For one, it was clean. There wasn't a speck of dust on any of the furniture. The bed was made, a large fluffy blanket spread across, turned down at the top. On a small table beside the bed was a vase filled with brightly coloured flowers, their petals open and vibrant. Triss's heart hurt, and a wave of sadness and regret flowed over her. She promised herself that no matter what, she was going to get back to Reginald.

They carried on, moving down the hallway again. This floor seemed to be mostly bedrooms, though all were dirty and dusty. They found another staircase, and climbed it, this one a narrow one with a door at each end. It tickled her memory slightly, and she realized they must be getting close to the ritual room. She kept careful track of all the doors they passed, waiting for an opportunity.

As they approached another corner, Triss began to slow. Not enough to be noticeable, just enough to out a couple extra feet between her and Thomas. The second be rounded the corner, she turned and ran, extinguishing the light orbs with a thought.

Cursing erupted in the hallway behind her, but she ignored it, running as fast as she could. She summoned her light orb, dim as possible and directly in front of herself to block as much of the light as possible. She hoped that Thomas would summon his own orb brighter, making it difficult to see her far in the distance.

She turned a corner, counting doorways as she fled. Down the stairs and through another hallway without slowing. She nearly fell down the stairs in her haste, but she carried on regardless.

She reached her room, jumping in and closing the door behind her. Then she ran to the bed and crawled underneath. It was clean under here as well. She shimmied up to the wall, placing herself as far under as she could go. Her throat was raw from her labored breathing, and her muscles screamed in agony. She forced herself to breathe, to get her body under control. She didn't think he'd look under the bed, in fact she thought he would just carry on with looking for the library. But just in case, she needed to breathe quietly so she didn't give herself away.

As she hid under the bed, she really wished she had a watch. She probably wouldn't be able to bring it up and read it in the cramped space though she realized. She had no idea how long she had been there. It felt like ten minutes, but she suspected it was less than one.

Faintly, drifting in the air, she heard a sound. She strained, trying to hear the sound over the hammering noise of her own heart. The sound grew slowly, until with horror, she recognized Thomas's voice, calling out.

"Triiiissss. Where aaree you?" The voice drifted in hauntingly. "You promised not to run, remember?" He was in the hallway somewhere, the call coming louder and louder. "Triss?" She heard the quiet scraping noise of footsteps. Suddenly, the footsteps stopped. The door to her room creaked quietly as it swung open. Triss realized her mistake instantly. Thomas had been leaving doors open, and she had shut hers. She might as well have put up a sign that said "stupid girls hiding in here!" She cursed to herself.

The soft noise of steps on stone floors sounded as Thomas made his way into the room. Her heart pounded so loud she felt it would give her away at any moment. "Triiisss?" Thomas called, his voice sickeningly sweet. "I wonder where you could possibly be?"

The steps drew closer and closer, until they stopped at the edge of the bed. Stupid stupid stupid. She thought to herself. There was a thudding noise that she felt in the floor more than she heard. Suddenly a hand grasped her ankle. She screamed as she was pulled out from under the bed. She tried to grab for something but there was no room to bring her hands up. She was pulled into the room, the bright light of Thomas's floating orb casting his face in shadow. "Found you." He snarled.

He bent down and grabbed the front of her dress, pulling her up into the air. He turned and slammed her into the wall. Her legs collided with the bedside table as the air forced out of her lungs.

The heartbreaking noise of shattered glass filled her ears as the vase of flowers burst upon the floor.