The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (47 page)

This made me momentarily forget about the gruesome wall behind me before it was too late. I backed up until I felt the moving wall
but before I could react, a myriad
of hands all reached out and grabbed a part of me. I squirmed and twisted to try and ge
t free but it was useless. Their
grips tightened
around my flesh and pinched my skin, making my eyes water.

“LET GO!” I screamed and I turned my head
a
round even though there was
a
hand around my neck. I came face to face with one of the soul’s heads and it looked as though it was smiling like some sadistic toy in a shopping bag! It snapped its teeth closer to my lips and the restrain
t
on my neck prevented
my head from moving away.
I tried to pull away with harder force but a pair of nails dug deep into my shoulder
cutting the flesh there
, making me cry out in pain and also remain still.
Hands pinned my arms and legs and others gripped my waist. The ones which couldn’t hold on to somethin
g just started stroking my trembling
skin as if I
was now a new pet.
They pulled at my clothes to get closer to my warm body and my sweater came off my
shoulders
.

As the snapping teeth got closer
,
I cl
osed my eyes to wait for the deadly impact
. I knew pain well but it never prepares you for the next round you face.
I tensed my face making it as hard as possible before I could just feel the air it created from it
s
violent movement. Thankfully it
s
breath was caught under the thin barrier but the smell of hot sticky skin filled my nose instead of its foul breath.
It was like being centimetres from the mouth of a shark, waiting for that precise moment to take you.

“Please don’t
!
” I whimpered
out
one last time before it
s
teeth ca
me into to contact with my face. T
hen a great roar filled the room making it stop in fear. It wasn’t the only one
,
as my body finally stopped struggling under demonic hands.
I opened my eyes to see a large fanged mouth open just over my left cheek but it was frozen thanks to the large figure that stood in the far end of the room. The voice came again barking another order out like the hounds of hell and slowly the hands and face
s
started to retract back into the wall. I moved away
quickly, but
one last hand
,
that had it
s nails still em
bedded in my shoulder scratched back taking some of my skin with it. My torn t shirt
showed four bloody lines where they had left their mark. I screamed at the pain that shot through me and when I heard a whooshing noise next to me I turned to discover who my saviour had been.

“Ragnar!” I flung
myself into his arms and fell o
nto his solid chest. I could feel the tears of relief rise up
and it was only when he grabbed my arms to gently push me back did I start to compose myself. Thankfully he had allowed me to get some of it out before finding out what I
was
doing down here.

He looked down at me from his great height as if to give me the once over. He eyed my wounded shoulder and a low growl escaped his lips. He then punched his fist in
to the wall that had
held
me captive, causing a wave of agony rippling among the souls. The thick skin like substance bubbled in and out of tortured faces
, like a stone thrown into a lake
and Ragnar started to curse at it in a different language. Before it could stop
showing its aftermath
,
Ragnar held me under the arm and started to
pull me back the way I had come
.

“What are you doing, we can’t go that way!” I tried to protest but his grip tightened making sure I was
only
going
to go the way he wanted me to
.

“You shouldn’t be do
wn here, what were you thinking?
” He tried to control his anger but this just enhanced my own.

“WHAT! Do you
know what I have been through?
” I tried to stop but against Ragnar it was probably like a fly bugging him.

“
I can imagine
!
” He said in a flat tone and glanced at my shoulder. I pulled my sweater
over it and said in my deflated
tone
,

“Its fine!”

“How did you even get down here? Draven
will not
be happy
!
” He just mentioned the magic words to bring me back from my tantrum.

“Draven…Is he alright, where is he? Does he know that Lucius is here?”
From the look on his face he did not! He was still pulling me around the room until we came to a door that I had not seen before. He stopped to look at me just before we went through it
and the shock at what I had just said was evident.

“My Master is fine
,
of course
,
and what is this about Lucius?” He said this just as he pulled me through an opening in the rocks and we wer
e both in darkness. I had no idea where he was taking me but the trust I had in him made all my worries fade, like waking from a nightmare and finding someone on the other side to comfort you. The dark tunnel would have been the end of me if it wasn’t for Ragnar’s secure arms that lead me through it with ease. It made me wonder if seeing in the dark was one of his Demon powers.
Of course I didn’t ask.

The dark didn’t last long thanks to Ragnar’s long legs
, giving that
I had to practically run to keep up with him. The end of the tunnel was also the end of all the prisons as now I found myself standing in the middle of an amazing
circular room that was like a smaller temple.

This one was all white marble
with a black and white diamond
tiled floor. The walls were cover
ed in black granite statues which
sat on thrones o
f gold in their
own little alcoves. Each one was different and they all represented different
forces. Wind and the O
ceans
both had great sapphires
and pearls
encrusted on their feet, while F
ire and
the S
un had rubies and amber, held in their hands. There w
ere others like Earth, N
i
ght and the M
oon all with various
gems embedded among
st
their figures.

The part of the walls that weren’
t paying testament to these godlike effigies were
,
in their own right
,
master
pieces. Covered with so many patterns and carvings you
didn’t know where to look. As though
your eyes couldn’t take in all the splendour they created. You just wanted to touch them, to run your fingers along th
e channels that formed integral
art. The room was bright like the day
’
s sun was getting
at it
somehow b
ut with no windows and the night not yet over, I couldn’t understand where it came from.

Ragnar realised I was no longer following like the good little sheep he expected of me and that in fact I had stopped dead in the middle of the room. He rolled his eyes
and raised his head before back
tracking to me. I was still
mesmerized by my surroundings, all jaw dropping and wide eyed like
,
when I felt his strong spade sized hand circle my arm and pull me in the right direction. We crossed the room towards a set of oak doors that looked like they belonged from a
n ancient
church. The wrought iron fixtures creaked as the door opened by two other men. A shocked gasp caught in my throat as I recognised the purple robes I had seen earlier.
Ragnar felt me tense at the sight of them and looked down to meet my panicked face.

“Do not fear, they will not harm you
.
” His voice was unusually soft and I nev
er expected that a creature so
big could even muster up a whisper. The
effect it had
,
made me calm
enough to be lead along through the doors into the next room. Howev
er this relaxed
state didn’t last as long as intende
d because as soon as I saw the T
emple I had fled from now opening up in front of me I started to struggle.

“What are you doing? LET GO!” I was trying to dig my feet down but Ragnar didn’t even feel my resistance.

“Don’t cause anymore
more problems
,
young one
!
” His voice was stern but his face looked guilty and now I knew why….He wasn’t here to help me….he was here to catch me!

He turned to face me
and his massive fra
me blocked out the view of the T
emple at the end of the room. We were now stood in a wide arched room that was lit by crude twisted wood that flamed at the top and was making cracking and splint
er
ing noises. I could feel myself well up and his features so
ftened through
a
watery
vision.

“Why cry?” He asked me
, but was he joking? I had been running from the T
emple for what seemed like an eternity and now the man I trusted or
,
more like
, who
was trusted to keep me safe was actually my enemy. Bef
ore I could answer his ridiculous
question a voice behind him brought those tears come crashing down my face.

“Bring her to me!” Ragnar moved to my side allowing the sight of
the powerful stance of Lucius
,
dressed still
head to foot
in his black robe with the long hood covering his deadly features. My head screamed for ideas, some way, some how to escape but it came up blank. I was faced with two colossal barriers in the form of powerful Demons. Ragnar sensing I might try to run had come up the back of me and when I took a frighten
ed
step back
,
I was met with his impenetrable chest. His two hands held me still, one on my shoulder (the one that wasn’t still killing me) and one on my arm.

“How could YOU! How could yo
u betray him
?” I screamed out in anger at my once loyal bodyguard. Meanwhile the black robe was coming closer and my heart sank further into the pit of misery that Ragnar held
me securel
y
over.

“
My Lord
!
” Ragnar’s head nodded in respect
,
the way he would have once done towards Draven and at this I couldn’t help shouting out “TRAITOR!” But Lucius started to shake his head before moving to
o
fast for my eyes to see. A black whirl was all I could make out before blinking twice, then
,
once my eyes had a moment to get back
into
focus
,
they were faced with the shadowed face looking down at me.
Wow
,
demons are fast!
His hand came up to my face and when I flinched away he gro
wled making me shiver
. He shook his head in what looked like disappointment
and then delivered the final blow to
my
mental state
,
making me want to cry out at the cruel reality when he said…

“Oh Keira, why did you have to wake up
?
” The voice was smooth as silk yet it cut through this nightmare like
a fatal blow
. The voice was masterful but with
a loving touch and
emotional
concern
. The voice was lo
st to me in a sea of questions.

The voice was
none other than that of....

Dominic Draven
.

Chapter 21

A Viking
’
s First Life.

I wanted to cry out at this cruel turn of events. It had been Draven all along. It had been Draven that had led that
sick display in the temple which
had resulte
d in the murder and sacrifice of
a young frightened girl. To say I was stunned didn’t even touch on the boundaries to describe my mental state! I was
,
however
,
clear on one thing
…
I was very close to
a
full
y
fledged
meltdown.