Felisei swiftly padded up the stairs. A vague light spilled out through a cracked door up ahead. Once up, she slowly approached the door. The narrow shaft of light illuminated the colourful carpet and stuffed chairs along the walls. She peeked inside. Neither seeing, nor hearing anyone, she carefully eased the door open.
The big room looked like some kind of office. Some of the furniture was draped with white sheets to protect them from dust and bleaching by sunlight. The bookcases mostly yawned empty but a few tomes and scrolls still lingered. An unlit fireplace took up most of one wall and on the big and beautifully painted mantlepiece rested some fine glass dragons.
A heavy, ornate desk stood in front of the opened windows, and behind it, a woman in a long green dress. Her long wavy blonde hair cascaded down her back to her slim waist. Felisei noted the tips of pointy ears sticking out from the golden locks. Minira? She leaned against the windowsill, oddly still.
Felisei opened her mouth to call out when she noticed something to her left. In a chair further into the room, sat another woman with her eyes closed. Her mouth moved silently, her long red hair halfway obscuring her face. She wore the same purple robes as the man they'd met downstairs. Felisei froze. A mage. Of course, someone had to watch the elf.
A small ball of golden light hung in the air above her, illuminating the room, not the fireplace. How had she missed that? Cold sweat trickled down Felisei's back as she stared at the woman. She also wore the Eye of Im on a silver chain around her neck, just like the other mage. They were two. If she had known, she'd never gone here alone. Had Sern known? She dismissed the thought. No. He wasn't her enemy, whatever he was. He'd never do anything to hurt Ranloo, she thought with a slight sneer. He'd even acknowledged that Ranloo liked her. Though, she'd caught Ranloo watching Sern when he thought nobody looked sometimes. It made her unsure.
The mage fiddled with a large ornate ring on one of her fingers in deep concentration. Felisei glanced back to the elf. She still leaned out from the window, staring into the dark courtyard, unaware of the rogue behind her. Who's side was she on?
Carefully, Felisei took another step into the room and almost yelped in surprise as the elf woman suddenly shouted something out the window. At least she thought it was her. She heard Ranloo's name, but the rest was lost on her. She didn't speak elven. She strained to see out the window, but the elf was in the way. She had no idea what was going on out there.
Felisei looked back to the mage. No reaction. She didn't seem to care at all, still mumbling to herself in the chair. Taking a deep breath, Felisei lifted a vase that stood on a pedestal beside the door and weighed it in her hands. Heavy. She'd only get one try. Stealing closer to the mage, she lifted the vase. When she was only a step away, the red-haired woman opened her blue eyes and focused on Felisei. Gasping, she shot to her feet.
Felisei threw the vase at her head. It splintered and the woman fell back into the chair with a yell, blood running down the side of her face from a deep cut. But she wasn't knocked out. Felisei drew a dagger and lunged at the woman, yelling furiously.
The mage shouted something as Felisei stabbed her with the dagger. It felt like striking a rock. Confused, she raised the dagger for another try when the woman shoved Felisei backwards with both hands. She stumbled back a few steps before catching her balance. The mage gesticulated, drawing glowing traces in the air while speaking strange words. Then she disappeared. Winked out of existence, just like the other one had done.
Felisei shouted and threw the dagger. It hit the empty chair. Nothing. She spun around, looking about the room. The elf woman was gone too, but she had no time to worry about that. The mage had probably made them both invisible. They were on the same side then, she thought grimly.
Felisei blinked and stared. The walls moved. ´What? What!` she yelped. They closed in on her and the floor trembled. Gasping, she bolted towards the door. It closed in front of her face with a loud bang.
´No! Help!` she yelled in sudden panic. She hammered at the door with her fists, but it didn't budge. The walls bulged closer. She twisted around. A sound droned through the air. Strange words. She ran towards the dagger in the chair, her heart hammering in her chest, stumbling on the slithering floor.
Grabbing the hilt, she yanked it out and in a smooth motion threw it towards the sound of the voice. The dagger sliced through the air with a ripple, and lodged itself into a wall with a thunk. The chanting stopped. The mage was still there.
She charged. Maybe she could overwhelm the woman with pure aggression. She bet everything on it, there was no middle path here. Everything twisted around her, the floor heaved and she stumbled as spikes poked out of the moving walls. Felisei stared at them. There was no escape. Panting heavily, she tried slashing for the invisible mage but only got air. The spikes in the walls grew. One of them flew at her.
With a frightened yell, she dodged and it lodged itself into the floor where she had stood moments before. Frozen, she stared at it for a second. The floor looked odd where it had impacted. The hole was larger than the spike, and with burnt edges. She looked back to the other spikes on the wall, long and sharp.
´Stop it!` she cried. ´Please, stop! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!`
There was no answer. Think, she scolded herself. She listened for the sound again. It came from behind her, towards the door. She spun around, just in time to see another spike fly at her. She flinched as it speared into her. A whine escaped as she stared at the sharp object protruding from her belly. Instinctively, she reached for it to pull it out. Her hands passed right through. She tried again. Nothing.
´What?` Gasping, she looked up, searching for the mage, desperately wanting to hit her one last time. ´Curse you! Show yourself!` she yelled.
More spears flew at her from the walls. She threw herself behind a small cocktail table, toppling it to create a small shield. The spears connected with several loud thunks, cracking the wood.
Grabbing a small knife from her belt, Felisei peered out behind the table and listened. There it was. She threw the knife at the sound. The mage yelped and appeared, standing in the middle of the room with a shocked expression on her face. A smile flashed across Felisei's lips before she remembered she was now unarmed, and new spears already formed in the walls. She lunged for the chair by the table, lifted it, and flung it towards the woman with adrenaline-driven strength. The mage shouted and raised her ringed hand towards it. The chair exploded as an invisible force hit it. Felisei gasped and crouched to avoid the splinters.
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The spikes in the wall grew longer as the mage yelled strange words. They flew out, following her pointing finger towards Felisei. She ducked behind the table again but only managed to shield herself from some of them. They came from all directions. One crashed through the table to pierce her right thigh, another punched into her left shoulder, unprotected above the wood, a third into her chest as she dropped it.
Screaming, she fell to the floor. This wasn't supposed to happen, she thought as her blood pooled on the floor around her, flowing freely from open wounds. There was no pain, not yet. But she knew it would come soon, when the shock passed.
Felisei spotted something on the floor, grabbed at it. A piece of the broken vase. She threw it weakly towards the woman in purple. It hit her legs but only made her snort and kick it aside. Felisei screamed at her, venting her frustration. The mage frowned and chanted again, her hand raised. The ring gleamed. Felisei grimaced, knowing she couldn't avoid the spears this time. Still, she tried. Crawling away, bleeding and hurting, she glanced back fearfully and cried out as they pierced her.
Shuddering, she dragged herself into the corner beside the hearth. She bled everywhere, gaping wounds in her back, her legs, her chest. Gasping and crying, she pressed her back into the corner, protecting herself with her bare hands from more spears. She closed her eyes and waited for the finishing blow.
Silence.
She kept her eyes closed, not daring to look. The silence stretched into infinity as agony set her ablaze.
When she dared open her eyes again, the light had gone. Struggling to breathe, she shivered with cold. The room looked normal again, a plain dark room. No spikes, only holes where they had connected, in the table, the floor, herself. Dazed, she stared around her. Nobody there. The mage had disappeared, only the curtains by the windows moved. The door to the hall stood open, slowly swiveling back on its hinges.
Felisei coughed up blood. She was completely covered in red from the gaping wounds of the spears. Where were they? They'd disappeared somehow. She tried to stem the blood with shaking hands, but it ran between her fingers. Blinking, she tried to keep her eyes open. Vague yells echoed outside the window. She wished she could have helped, but she hadn't done anything. She had failed. A sob rocked her and she moaned as the movement caused a flood of pain to course through her body, rivulets of blood to flow from her wounds. She couldn't keep her head up. Her chin fell against her chest and her eyes closed. She struggled to breathe. Everything hurt and her ears rang. Strange, she thought, there had been no loud noises.
* * * * *
´Felisei,` Ranloo said softly. ´Don't speak.`
She tried to focus on him, but her eyes didn't quite cooperate. He looked terrible, she thought, but he was alive. She smiled. At least she had succeeded with one thing. She squeezed his hand and heard him sob.
´I did one thing right,` she whispered.
´You did nothing wrong,` he replied.
She almost laughed. But every move was blazing agony, so she kept still. ´No, I did,` she insisted. ´But I did one thing right. I helped save you,` she wheezed.
´Yes,` he whispered. ´You saved me.` He forced a smile, tears running down his face.
She smiled again and let her head rest against the wall behind her. She couldn't see anything anymore. Strange. She felt his strong hands around hers. So cold. But that was alright. At least she had gotten to see him one more time. She drew a last deep breath, then let it go, and with it the pain.
Ranloo and Listarl sat in the dark, neither speaking for a long time. The only sound was that of the rain outside, the water dripping on the windowsill and pooling on the floor.
Ranloo shot to his feet and roared, his one eye blazing red.
Listarl blanched and scrambled up, quickly stepping away. The vampire grabbed a chair near Felisei's body and flung it into the wall, breaking it into pieces. Cursing loudly, he grabbed the desk next and heaved it out the window, breaking glass.
Listarl stared, not sure if he should stay in the room or run. He carefully backed away from Ranloo as he rampaged through the room, screaming and throwing things, tearing down bookcases and breaking tables. He coughed and wheezed between the screams, tearing up his wounds again, bleeding more.
´Ranloo! Stop it!` Listarl called. The elf turned a dangerous glare on him and he stepped further back. ´You have to stop. This isn't helping,` he tried again as Ranloo kicked the other door to the room down. Listarl flinched at the loud slams and flying splinters. ´We have to go!` he yelled. ´It'll be morning soon. We need to go now!`
´Then go!` Ranloo roared and flung a book towards him.
Listarl barely evaded it, his eyes wide. ´You need to calm down,` he said in a low voice. He didn't know how to deal with the vampire when he was like this. What would Sern have done, he wondered as Ranloo began hitting the walls with his sword. Sern, he remembered. He lay unconscious on the floor downstairs.
´Ranloo! Stop!`
Ranloo turned towards him again, the sword raised. ´Leave me alone!` he howled, a wild look on his face as he advanced towards Listarl, sword leading the way.
Listarl stumbled back, out of the room, lifting his own sword, ready to parry. ´We have to get Sern back to the guild!` he roared. The vampire stopped and Listarl gasped in relief. ´We need to get him back,` he repeated slowly. ´And you have to get there too, before morning.`
The darkelf stared at him, his eye blazing, lips pulled back into a snarl, revealing his sharp canines. His shoulders heaved with each rattling breath.
´Don't let this all be for nothing,` Listarl spoke in a hushed tone, trying to calm his breathing down. ´Don't let her death be in vain.`
´Don't use her as a means to get me to leave!` Ranloo cried and stabbed the sword into the air, towards him. But tears ran down his face and the glow in his eye dimmed.
Listarl patted the air with a hand and lowered his sword towards the floor. ´Please, listen,` he said. ´Sern still needs you, and she wanted you to live. Come.` He turned to leave, not sure if he would follow or not. But he thought it best to get to the boy before it was too late. Maybe Ranloo would come.
Leaving, he hurried down the stairs and back through the dark corridors. A piercing shriek echoed down the hall followed by another distant crash behind him. Listarl flinched at the sounds but didn't stop. He couldn't do anything if Ranloo didn't want to listen.
Listarl found Sern still on the floor and lifted him with a grunt. The boy wasn't heavy, but his sore muscles screamed with the exertion. He had to get back to the guild too, needed to rest and treat his own wounds. He walked out of the house with the boy when he heard shuffling footsteps behind him. He smiled grimly to himself. So, the elf wanted to come after all.
He glanced back when he had gone far enough from the hall that he couldn't see it anymore. Ranloo staggered behind him, clutching his midsection with both hands, his one eye still glowing faintly. Listarl nodded at him but didn't say anything. There were no words he could say that would make anything better. Instead, he hurried through the rainsoaked streets.
A few blocks away from the guild Listarl heard a heavy thump, followed by a soft groan. He stopped and looked back. Ranloo had fallen to the ground and lay where he had landed, face down. Listarl stared at him for a while, expecting him to get back up, but nothing happened. The rain fell steadily.
´Damn you,` Listarl muttered to himself. ´How am I supposed to carry you both?`