“Yes,” Elden breathed as the claws grew closer.
Dread traveled down my back in a terrible lurch as the numb, warm feeling of Jel’s potion slowly trickled from the top of my head and tips of my fingers, down to my toes.
“Jel’s potion—” I squealed. “It’s wearing off!”
With a lurch of my stomach, I realized we were no longer invisible to the beast.
“The gemstone! Now!”
I grabbed the gemstone from where I’d hidden it in my bodice and placed it in Elden’s hand. The yellow light burned my eyes and I blinked at the vivid brilliance even as a massive pair of black eyes blinked out from just beyond where we stood. My mouth popped open in horror as the light revealed the shade monster in the shape of a hulking man. Its arms were the size of tree trunks that swung low to the ground. It was covered in hair wreathed in shadow. Its gorilla-like teeth were the size of black daggers.
Like the Yeti of legend.
Cold fear struck me as Elden threw the gemlight in the opposite direction of the pillar of light. “Run, Noelle!”
I didn’t hesitate. Heart in my throat, I took off toward the spindle of light in the distance, my only beacon in the utterblackness. The shadow beast erupted, knuckles digging into the floors, then sprinted toward the gemstone, cracking the stone beneath its feet into gravel. Stone flew out from the beast as it chased the gemstone like a great bumbling lion trying to catch a mouse.
The distraction didn’t last long. A moment later, my heart almost stopped as a loud guttural growl bellowed throughout the throne room, sending pillars crumbling to the ground all around me.
“Run, Noelle!” Elden cried from behind.
I didn’t stop, even as great stone pillars toppled all around me, shattering to the ground. The column of light grew as I ran, my only goal. My heart pumped, my breaths coming in heaving gasps as I rounded another pillar. Then the great black beast stood before me, fuming hot breaths into the air.
The hairs on my arms stood at attention as chills spiraled wildly down my back. Never in my wildest nightmares could I imagine such a large and terrible beast. It was only a few breaths from me. Its black eyes watching. I lifted my frying pan and swung out with it as the Yeti roared toward me. The iron pan connected with its jaw and it reared back in pain, and perhaps, surprise.
It blinked at me then, its eyes softening, or perhaps it had just been my imagination. It was hard to see in the ancient throne room of shadow and gemlight. But I could have sworn I saw, for a moment, a touch of the ancient king’s golden eyes reemerging from the blackness.
The monster pulled back from me just as a flash of white lightning lit up the throne room and Elden’s white-haired twin beast emerged from beside the yeti. Elden’s winter white beast clamped down on the yeti’s neck with a mighty roar.
“Run!”He seemed to say.
I jumped over the shade monster’s prone form and made for the flickering light ahead. The two beasts met in a fury of claws and razor-sharp teeth with the sword forgotten at their feet. The shadow beast raked a claw down Elden’s golden white back as Elden roared, then lunged for the shade monster’s neck.
They grappled in the gemlight, then in the shadows as I took off in a burst of speed. They crashed into pillars, cracking off great chunks of stone as they fought and bellowed.
I ran in a dead sprint, as that shaft of light grew closer and closer still.
Elden and the beast were evenly matched as they clawed and scratched, bellowed and bit.
I ran past several ethereal statues of elves, then past a large throne carved from white moonstone. It shone differently than the various pillars and statues, as if letting off a faint glow of its own. Light filtered down straight ahead, and I made for the column of light, not knowing what I would find.
Large curved ceilings and archways led the way to a giant chamber carved into the side of the mountain where a column of fire billowed in the midst of a great hall, emitting an almost blinding light.
Had this magic fire continued to blaze for centuries?
I fell back onto a giant red sofa, hand over my heart as my breaths came in sporadic gasps. I took in the warm chamber as I focused on getting my heart and breaths under control. Beautiful curving murals covered the walls of the circular room that seemed to be carved straight out of the heart of the mountain. In the center of the mural stood a giant green tree, covered in various candles and baubles. Presents sat beneath the tree and a group of both human and elf gathered below in various attitudes of celebrating…Christmas?
Holly berries and green wreaths decorated the edges of the large masterpiece in intricate detail. The king and queen sat upon their thrones drinking a hot brown beverage in mugs.
Coffee? Tea? Hot apple cider? It was almost black.
Above the mural, almost too high to see, were the words, “Peace, Hope, and Love”.
Peace, Hope, and Love. All three feelings I felt at Christmastime.
But nothing that I felt right now as I heard the bellowing and biting of the two beasts.
What was I looking for? Large couches and high-backed chairs littered the space, perfect, beautiful and untouched for centuries, as if awaiting their king and queen to claim their places on the deep red couch. But off to the side of the room, tall bookshelves were cracked and scratched beyond repair. Papers, scrolls, and books littered the floor, strewn with cracked glass bottles and long-dried liquids.
