62 Into The Darkness

Baron Koufer was sleeping soundly in his bed. The luxury of the room was masqueraded by the darkness of the night. But there was something eerily different tonight.

For starters, there was a shadow looming over the sleeping Baron, not to mention the smell of fur in the room.

But as Baron Koufer was sound asleep. It was the pressure he felt over his body and the dripping of liquid onto his face that caused him to stir awake.

He slowly opened his eyes. It took him a while for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room. But as soon as he realised that there was a huge wolf looming over him, the Baron stared at it with his eyes wide open.

He thought it was all a nightmare, that he was still in his dreams. But he could feel the sharpened claws digging into his blanket and his arms. He could smell the breath of the wolf. It's saliva dripped onto his face as it continued to stare down on him in silence.

The room was silent, the only thing that could be heard was their breathing. The Baron gulped down his saliva as sweat trickled down his forehead. He did not dare to speak, for he feared that anything he said could result in his immediate death.

-Where is the boy?- Vy asked the Baron through telepathy.

"What… what boy? I… I don't know who you are talking…"

Vy's claws dug deeper into the blanket, putting pressure onto the Baron's arm. He winced in pain and shivered in fear. He desperately wanted to reach out for the sword that was next to his bedside, but he could not move. Baron Koufer was trapped.

Vy bared her teeth at the Baron and lowered her head ever so closer. She was glaring at him with great ferocity.

In a calm and chilling voice, Vy threatened out loud, "I will not ask again. Where is the boy you took from Timbretune?"

"He….he's in the dungeon."

As soon as the Baron finished speaking, Vy opened her mouth. The Baron feared for the worst, closing his eyes cowering in fear. But instead of feeling the excruciating pain of death, all he heard was the sound of shattering glass.

When he opened his eyes, he realised that he could move. He sat upon his bed, his heart pounding in his ear. He looked to his left to see that one of his room's windows were shattered. Glass shards scattered all across the carpet and the ground.

The Baron ran to the window but he could not see anything or anyone. Just then, there were loud knocks on his room door, startling him. Three guards came rushing into the room.

"My Lord! We heard a commotion! Is everything alright," one of the guards asked.

The Baron was still in shock by what had happened. As he tried to regain his composure, he said in a shaky voice, "An unknown enemy has escaped. Search the dungeons, she should be headed there."

He collapsed to the ground, cold sweat coating his entire body as he could hear his heart palpitating in his ears.

Vy had leapt out of the window and transformed into her Raven form before flying down towards the dungeon. Using her enhanced senses, she found the quickest route and took it. By the time she was in the dungeons, the guards had not caught up to her yet.

Vy took her human form and held her dagger in her right hand. With caution, she walked down the dimly lit walkway. There were jail cells lining both sides of the wall, with flame torches that lit the way in front of her. Most of the cells were empty, with only one or two occupied.

There were only two guards that were patrolling the dungeons and Vy knocked both of them out cold. She placed their bodies in a cell and continued down the walkway. As she was nearing the end of it, she could hear the sound of shackles, heavy metal chains, being dragged against the ground.

Vy ran forward and looked into the darkened cell. She thought that she had found Lycster but the smile on her face soon faded.

The creature in the cell was no human.

Vy could barely see it in the cover of darkness. She could smell something putrid, it nearly made her gag.

Dotty, who was circling around Vy peered into the cell too and flew forward for a closer look.

Combined with the dim glow of the flame torches and the glow Dotty emitted, Vy could see the face of a lion. The creature was a little smaller than Vy's large wolf form, but it was not just a single animal. It was a creature made up of different parts of various animals.

"What have they done to Lycster! The poor thing!" Dotty exclaimed.