Chapter 143: Like Paper On Fire

With a tremendous amount of stress and trauma over the past few days, it was nothing new that the nightmares visited her again. A wave of tremor rippled through. She shuddered and coiled inside the blanket in a fetal position. 

There was blood on the sack, which Iona was tied in. It trickled from the center to the bottom and pooled along the white marble floor in tiny drops. Her own blood was pooling on the floor striking a contrast against the whiteness. The air was thick with a foul scent—of metal. She could have wretched. Through her pain, she suddenly saw the yellow slits of his eyes. She had on multiple occasions seen Maple's yellow slits. It was common with the twins and perhaps something that they shared from their father's side. But who was their father? Her nanny had readied her for the celebrations and while she was braiding her hair, she was telling her a story of a little princess who had lost her way in the woods but was found by rabbits and dwarves who helped her and took her home. She had laughed so much. Suddenly she remembered how her father was the previous evening. Why was he so sad? What was it that made him so sad? He hadn't had his dinner but had picked up his wine and retired to the room. Her mother had followed after giving her a goodnight kiss. She had her mother giving instructions to her nanny to dress her nicely for the next day's celebrations because very special guests were coming. 

"You should be very well behaved, Ana," her mother instructed in a quiet voice. 

"Why is papa unhappy?" For the little Anastasia, her father should be happy because she would soon start her training to fly. 

Her mother shot a glance behind her and said, "Shh. He will be fine soon." Her voice sounded anxious. She pressed a kiss on her head and then walked after her father. 

Next day turned out to be dark. She could hear the ragged breaths and moans of the girl in the sack. She saw the gore, the bloodshed… they kicked her… strange men… She wanted her mom and papa, she wanted her nanny, but all she got was kicks and punches and a broken bone. 

A shrill scream pierced the room when she was lying unconscious. Someone held her hand up and pulled her over the floor, leaving a trail of blood and threw her near her bed. Maple's voice came, "Stay here bitch and stay quiet. Now no one will come to your rescue. If you make one more noise, I will slash your other wing!" 

The sack moved as a whimper emanated from it. "Save her…" Anastasia said in a feeble voice. She clamored for her. Her fingers dug in the carpet she was lying on. She wanted to move forward despite the pain but she couldn't move even an inch. A sound came. Someone picked up the sack. A candelabrum was knocked over somewhere. Explosion occurred. Glass shattered. People yelled. The door of her room shut with a loud bang. 

Anastasia woke up with a start, sweating profusely. She was alone in the darkness. Ileus wasn't there. He had left her. She hated being alone. She curled her hands around her knees and rocked. "It's just a nightmare…" she said in order to calm down. "It's nothing…" Just as she was about to go back to sleep, the same foul rotten smell came. She jerked her head towards the cave's entrance and to her dread she found about dozen red flinty eyes looking inside the cave. Had the invisibility spell broken? She bit the fist of her mouth to stifle her scream. It couldn't be. She scrambled back and pressed herself to the wall. She looked inside the cave. It was so dark and ominous, but if these creatures penetrated through the cloak, running to the back of the cave was her only option. 

"I think there is something here," said one of the demons who was in the front. 

"You have gathered us here, you lamebrain! But we don't see anything," the man behind him grunted. 

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"I saw bright light exploding from here, Hem'ran, which is unusual. I have never seen such bright light in Ivorpool before," the demon in the front insisted. 

"There are two hills on the side and we are standing in a valley!" 

"Wait!" he said. He took his dagger out and poked the air in front of him with it. The air rippled and the tip of his dagger scorched. Sparks flew out and the rest of them scurried back. "Now you see?" he said. "There is something here. We must explore." 

"How do you think we are going to enter? If the metal of your dagger has burned, it means that some very powerful magic is holding whatever there is behind it," said Hem'ran. 

"That's right. Maple had told us to come here." He took a bag out and said, "After I saw this place last night, I had gone to fetch this." He dug his hands inside the bag and took out dust from it. "All of you step back. If this thing works, then we will be able to see what is behind it." 

Anastasia gasped when she heard 'Maple'. A shiver ran down her body. If that thing worked, the magic would shatter and she would be exposed. Her head whipped to the inside of the cave. If they came inside and found that no one was there, there were chances that they would return. She sprung to her feet and then gathered all her belongings in a place. On an impulse, after picking up some roasted fish in a bag, she shoved them in a crevice so that they couldn't see them. The embers had already died. She didn't have the time to collect them and stash them in the corner. So she wore her boots, wrapped the blanket like a cloak and sprinted inside the cave. She hadn't even covered a hundred meters, when she heard explosions. It was as if many firecrackers had burst collectively. 

"The wall broke!" said one of them. 

"There is a cave!" shouted another one. 

"It means that the two bastards are hiding inside. Let's charge!" 

"Don't be foolish," said Hem'ran. "The dark wizard is not an easy person to deal with. We are just a dozen and if he were anything like his mother, then even a hundred would be less. We need more."

"Then what do we do?" 

The demon stared inside the cave as if trying to make out things inside. He sniffed the air. "Ah! There is fire inside. I can smell the smoke and food. I want all of you to go inside, but don't attack. Since I don't see anyone in the vicinity, they must be deep inside the cave. But the deeper, the better, because they won't have a chance to escape. I am going and getting more help. This is solid and I think we will get the fae bitch in our hands soon!" Hem'ran sounded excited. 

"Okay!" said the demon who had found the cave. He threw more dust towards the cave's entrance and more explosions occurred, bringing the invisibility spell down. The magic of the wall crackled and burnt like a paper on fire and they stepped inside. 

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