Hi guys:
Sorry this took so long. I know everyone's been waiting. I'm currently working on the next chapter and I promise it won't be nearly so long in coming. I'm going to remind everyone that the stuff happening in this chapter involved a previous revision that never made it to Lit. I changed some chapters around so you might get some repetition from the posted ch. 8 in this. It will all be coherent in the published version, so bear with me on this. Remember everything you see on Lit is a rough draft and the little and big things that need work will be ironed out in the published version available at excessica. But as always I welcome comments and feedback! I use more of your suggestions than you realize!
PS. Chapter 10 is finished and I'm uploading it at the same time. So check back tomorrow or so and you might see the next chapter up already… :p
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Rillan woke to the distinct odor of rotting flesh. It wasn't quite strong enough that a human would catch it, but it was more than enough to turn his stomach. Scowling and holding his breath, he sat up on his bed.
Did some animal fall down the shaft and die on my floor?
His eyes took longer than usual to adjust to the pitch black around him.
Where am I?
Lifting his hands from the bug infested mattress he was sitting on, Rillan slowly took in his unfamiliar surroundings.
I must be on assignment,
he thought calmly. It wasn't the first time he had been wounded and lost some of his recent memory. It would all come back to him. That small reassurance wasn't must consolation to his conscience when he saw the crumpled form in the corner. Horror like nothing he'd ever felt before crept beneath his skin and crawled through his body as he stared at the form.
"Mira?" The whisper sounded like a scream in his mind. In a flash, Rillan was next to the dead girl on the floor and lifting her to see her face. "Arial," Rillan breathed in relief, as he dropped the cold desiccated corpse to the filthy floor.
Memories flooded Rillan's mind, as he knew they would. Closing his eyes, Rillan slumped against the wall and let the torrent overcome him. He remembered assassinating his target, the boy in the woods, and killing Arial. "You should have listened to me girl," he said to the air.
It was taking more effort than usual for him to turn the guilt off.
This is what I am.
Rillan heard the shuffling footsteps coming before the heavy knock on the door echoed off the walls. It could have been the inn keeper looking for money or the girl. Rillan didn't stick around to find out. Before the door opened, he was out the window and vanishing into the darkness of an overcast moonless night. Whether it was the missing moon or his mood, the shadows seemed deeper than usual.
With the sounds, smells, and lights of Noviodunum far behind him, Rillan slowed his pace. He took his time finding a shelter for the day. The events surrounding this assignment weighed on him more than he was willing to consciously think about. He found himself finding ways to delay his journey home. Rillan's dreams and thoughts were plagued by vision of a lifeless form lying in his arms, staring up at him with Mira's eyes.
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Destructive crashing and the sound of splintering wood stopped Mira from opening the library door. Holding the lantern high in the air and staring off down the endless hallway, she called out weakly, "Hello?"
Fear balled in the pit of her stomach. Logically Mira knew that no one else was in the catacomb of tunnels that had come to be her home. Somehow with Rillan gone, her mind ran wild with every odd sound. At least she had known what the monster in the shadows was with Rillan. Now that he was on his assignment the unknown was somehow more frightening than he ever was. Not to mention there was the possibility of his return and what that might bring.
I never realized how scary this place could be,
she thought. An amused grin split her face, momentarily defeating her fears.
I wouldn't have thought I'd come to be that comfortable here.
Just then the scratching sounds returned and her grin faded.
Maybe Rillan's back,
she reassured herself, somehow knowing that he wasn't.
Mira tiptoed down the hall toward the noise.
Just go see that it's nothing so that you'll be able to sleep tonight,
she told herself. She wasn't positive where the sound had come from. Walking down the hall she shortly found herself at an unfamiliar t-section.
I guess I didn't realize how much of the cavern there was beyond the small area that I tend to stay in. I suppose there have to be quite a few things going on in this place that I really don't know much about. It's not as if Rillan and I ever talk about anything important.
Letting her mind wander a bit, so that she would stop thinking so hard about what could have made the sound Mira peered down one dark hallway and then the other, trying to decide which way she should go. Suddenly another crash from nearby and off to her right made her jump out of her skin.
Dropping the lantern Mira nearly ran back the way she had come. Light spilled across the floor and down the hallway. "Hello," she whispered into the black and was answered with another crash. Gathering all her courage Mira strode in mock determination toward the sound.
When a gentle breeze lifted her hair, Mira stopped dead.
The only way a breeze can get in here is through another shaft or maybe the cave entrance. That's back the other way, I think.
Suddenly more curious than frightened, Mira followed the breeze. As she reached the perimeter of the fading lantern light another crashing sound assaulted her senses, and she fell back a couple steps.
She could barely make out the shape of a door along the cave wall. As she stood frozen in place and watching for any sign of movement soft yellow light began to peek around the edges of the door. Shifting and faltering as if someone was moving it, the light slowly became brighter. Mira unconsciously stepped back into the protective shadows, mesmerized by the prospect that someone was breaking in to a vampire's lair.
Who could possibly be that foolish?
Slowly the door began to creak open and Mira stared wide eyed at the figure appearing, poking his head out into the hallway. All of Mira's fear and anxiety melted and was quickly replaced by pleased uncertainty. "Liam?"
The blonde man jumped as if he had been ambushed by a ghost and he drew a short blade from his belt, jerked the lantern up over his head, throwing light across the hall and brandished the weapon.
"Liam," Mira insisted accusingly. "What are you doing here?" Without another thought she rushed across the hall and threw her arms around the man's neck, hugging him warmly. "How did you get in?"
Breathing a long sigh of obvious relief Liam hugged her back, burying his head in her hair briefly, before pushing her away. "There really isn't time. I should have gotten here sooner. But it took too much work to arrange things, and then it was a lot harder to find a connecting tunnel than I thought I would be." Liam seemed to be talking more to himself than Mira and glancing nervously one way and then the other around the tunnels. "Come on, he could be back any time now." Liam grabbed Mira's hand and started to pull her into the room he had just emerged from.
