Sixteen
Adelasia
Frantically, I run out of Kaius’ room, passing servants and vampires alike as I rush through the maze of hallways until I reach the tunnels that connect the palace to the dungeon.
I reach Saddiq’s cell and begin tugging on the iron bars with all of my strength. I use all the magic at my disposal trying to break through whatever barrier keeps him inside.
Saddiq notices the tears and how frightened I am, and reaches through the bars. He takes my face in his bony hands. His deep tan skin is so warm compared to the lifelessness of the walls around him, in both tone and temperature.
I continue to tug at the bars and grow increasingly more frustrated when I can’t get him out. I need to leave this palace, now, and I won’t leave Saddiq behind.
“We…we…we…we have to get you…out,”
I hiccup through my sentence, my mind rushing through a million thoughts at once.
“Adelasia, my kind savior, breathe,”
he tells me, and I mindlessly continue to pull on the bars until my strength fails me and I crumble to the ground in a fit of tears.
“We have to get out,”
I whine, pressing my cheek and forehead into the bars. “I don’t want to die here.”
A chill falls over the dungeon, and I find myself shivering as Saddiq tries to calm me down. He doesn’t care to escape. His concern is for me, and I’ve never been more grateful for a friend in my life.
I curl into a ball as close as I can manage to Saddiq, and he sings a soft tune from his homeland that echoes off the walls of his cell.
“Adelasia,”
he says after he finishes his song, “You must make your escape now, before the night becomes too deep.”
“I won’t leave you,”
I protest.
“Listen. When you exit the valley, head to the East. Stay as close as you can to the edge of the Blackwood until morning. Only move deeper into the forest when the sun is out. At dusk, take shelter. Make no fires, and cover your waste so you do not attract the werebeasts.”
I shake my head. “I won’t leave you,” I repeat.
Saddiq opens his mouth to say something, but we both go still and quiet when we hear the unnerving sound of chittering bouncing off the walls.
“What is it?”
I ask. Saddiq quickly covers my mouth with his hand. The chittering grows louder—closer. I can’t tell where it’s coming from.
I want to run, to hide, but I can’t leave Saddiq. The air around us grows colder and from the corner of my eye, I see that Saddiq and I are not alone.
But it’s not a vampire that’s come for me.