Spellbound & Hellhounds, page 15
part #1 of Coven Chronicles Series
The roaring moo of the minotaur rang through the tight space and rumbled in her ears, rattling Vanessa’s brain as she tried to focus on searching for the next tunnel. “It’s too dark,” she sputtered between heaving breaths.
“I can see just fine, follow me,” Bobo advised.
The ground rumbled beneath their thundering feet as they felt the galloping monster swiftly gaining ground on them. “Bobo!” Vanessa screamed with her eyes barred shut.
“Here! Go here!”
When Vanessa opened her eyes, Bobo was already turning to the left and dead ahead was nothing but stone wall. She screamed as she felt the pounding footwork of the minotaur close behind. She’d be a wall ornament if she didn’t think fast. Seeing a black hole in the wall, Vanessa beamed and turned abruptly to dive into the tunnel only to have her vision blur in a sea of starbursts and then be consumed by darkness.
She felt something hot and wet run down the bridge of her nose and drip from the tip of it and land on the top of her mouth. Instinctively, Vanessa licked her lips and tasted the sweet metallic perfume of blood upon her tongue. She could barely hear what was going on around her. It was like she was submerged in water. Her vision swam in and out.
“Vanessa! Vanessa!” It was Bobo’s voice. She turned and felt the dip in the wall that she had so gracefully assumed was another tunnel and had gifted her with a rather large wound from the mistake. Luckily, the dip in the wall was enough to escape near death by bullhorns.
Scraping her shoulder and back as she turned to face the direction of Bobo’s voice, she felt the world spin, and she let her hands grasp at the grooves of the wall behind her to help steady herself. The howling call of the minotaur mixed with the sounds of bits of rubble that fell to the floor. Blinking, she turned her gaze to the beast and saw it struggle with its horns stuck fast to the dead-end that she had so desperately attempted to avoid mere seconds ago. Its horns were only imbedded a few inches into the rock, but with a bit of a struggle it would be free any moment.
Her ears were ringing, and her dizzy spells were as nauseating as they were distracting. Bobo had braced himself in the tunnel’s entryway and had one hand extended out toward her. “VANESSA!”
The rubble resounded as it fell all over the floor below the feet of the minotaur as it freed its horns from their prison. Instantly, it turned and locked her in its sights before scraping the ground with a cloven hoof and making a mad start for Vanessa. She felt her heartbeat leap, and it was enough to force her to her feet. She ran the short distance between them and as she lunged at Bobo, he pulled her into his chest before rolling his back against the wall, and the monster continued to plow through the tunnel again. It didn’t turn down the passageway that Bobo and Vanessa were in, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t caused any damage as it ripped through the tunnel in a blinding rage.
Bobo roared, and the caves shook with his piercing cry. One of the horns had clipped Bobo as it barreled by the opening, and the ogre had a long gash from shoulder to elbow that was spewing blood profusely.
“Bobo. You’re hurt. I need to mend it.”
“There’s no time.”
“But, you’re hurt—”
“And so are you. But if you want the mending to matter, we need to get the hex out of here and find somewhere safe.”
She nodded. She hated that it was true. He was hurt. She was hurt. No spells could help them until they were no longer pursued by the minotaur. Just then, the beast came back and slammed into the entrance as it tried to slide and shift direction. “Pep talk over,” she announced with wide eyes.
“Yup. Time to go, my dear.”
They turned and ran just as rocks from overhead bounced off the floor around the minotaur, and its breath fogged around its angry face as it settled in on its target.
“We’ve got to figure something out. We can’t just outrun it forever.”
“I don’t know. I was rather enjoying the workout.”
“This isn’t the time to joke.”
“I don’t have any ideas, Vanessa!” Bobo snapped, and she bit her tongue.
She felt so worthless. All the years at the academy, at the Coven, training and learning. For what? So, when she was faced with hardships, real ones, in the real world, she could just see if she could outrun them? No! She was on the streets and alone, surviving by herself before the Coven. All the academy did was help her reach her dreams and broaden her magical capabilities and knowledge. She wasn’t some half-baked spellcaster.
As they ran her mind raced. The floor thundered. Their footwork pounded. And then, as she stared at pebbles vibrating from the impact on the floor, she realized something. Looking up, she saw bits of dust and rock falling from the ceiling.
That’s it!
“Bobo. I need you to yell!”
“I’m not that kind of ogre, Vanessa.”
“No.” The minotaur was gaining ground again. They saw another opening and dove into it and kept their pace. Blood was flowing over Vanessa’s face and Bobo ignored the throbbing pain in his arm as he clutched his battleax.
“I need you to cause a cave-in,” she explained.
Bobo looked over his shoulder at her and studied her expression for a moment. He seemed to ponder over the idea before nodding to himself and saying, “All right,” in a low tone. A moment passed, and nothing happened.
“Bobo!”
“What?”
“Well?”
“Well, there is a lot of pressure on me.”
The minotaur raced up faster than expected, and Vanessa swore she could feel it’s hot breath on the exposed skin of the back of her neck. She squeaked in surprise and ran a bit faster, spurred by the thought that that thing wanted her to keep it company down here … that is, if it didn’t kill her first. The bull-man roared and stomped loudly as it rushed forward and at the last second slammed into the wall near Vanessa, narrowly missing her. She screamed as she saw the beast shake it off like it was nothing and then regained lost ground to attempt to slam her into the wall again. The next slam caused the minotaur to crash onto the floor, and it scrambled on all fours before standing back up to catch up to them.
“Yeah. I have nooo idea what that’s like…”
“It’s not that easy to tap into that primal side, Vanessa.”
“Try.”
“I am.”
“Not hard enough.”
“How about you do it?”
“Oh sure. Let me turn into a fat ogre and yell like an idiot!”
Bobo stopped dead in his tracks, she slammed into his backside not expecting the sudden halt, he turned to face Vanessa, and roared so loud that her hair fluttered in the breeze of his bellowing shout.
She inhaled sharply and went stiff for a moment. “Nice one!” Vanessa said with a satisfied grin.
The minotaur was still racing toward them, and Vanessa quickly turned around and braced her staff out in front of her, holding it on each end to attempt to block the blow. She was thrown out of the way at the last second, and she watched as the flat end of Bobo’s axe blade made contact with the rushing ram of the monster. Again, Bobo roared, and the caves rumbled like a growing storm was swirling within them. Pebbles fell, and dust drifted in the air as a split in the ceiling grew.
“Time to go, Bobo!”
The ogre blinked out of his primal spell and looked around him to see the catastrophe that was sure to ensue. He kneed the creature in the chest and slammed it in the face with the flat side of the blade again, this time sending the minotaur flying into the side of the wall, and that was when the ear-shattering crack pealed overhead.
Running like his life depended on it – not like it hadn’t since the start of this whole minotaur marathon – he snagged Vanessa by the arm and dragged her to her feet as they made way for the only open tunnel. Hopefully, it too wouldn’t cave-in on top of them. Just in case, Vanessa reached up and grabbed for her amulet around her neck and peered back to the creature that was still trying to regain its lost senses from Bobo’s monumentally powerful blow.
They ran into the side shaft just as the minotaur straightened up and bellowed out an impressive rage filled scream. Right after, the tunnel caved-in with heavy boulders slamming all around in a deafening maelstrom of rocks and rubble.
Chapter 21:
Bobo’s cough was unrelenting as he and Vanessa sat in the middle of the tunnel catching their breath within the safety of her amulet’s fading barrier. The last-ditch spell for any Coven member was their amulet, and hopefully they wouldn’t need it again anytime soon. It would take almost an entire day to recharge the power for that spell again.
The entrance was sealed so tight with fallen rocks that it looked like just another dead-end, and the other side was buried in a ton of boulders and rubble as well. Nothing could have survived that. Nothing.
“And your blossoming love affair has come to an end. How tragic,” Bobo said between gasps for air.
Vanessa coughed and sucked in air sharply as she touched a few fingers to the gash on her forehead. “Yeah, well… he was abusive.”
Bobo couldn’t help but to roll his eyes and laugh to the point of another coughing fit that brought him to tears. Some painfilled ones, others joyful. “Come then, on with the healing spells.” Bobo motioned while rolling his wrist to have her hurry and mix up something to tide them over until they could get proper treatment outside of the caves. He did a doubletake then, seeing the blood caked to her skin around the wound made him sigh and walk on his knees over to her. “Confound it all, Vanessa. You really walloped yourself good there.” Bobo moved a few tangled strands of hair that were plaster to Vanessa’s forehead with drying blood and sweat. She made small sounds of pain and cringed, but once her face was free of the knotted, gory mess, Bobo withdrew a handkerchief from his breast pocket.
Vanessa looked confused at Bobo. “I thought you lost your handkerchief right before we were chased by the minotaur.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Vanessa, when will you learn? I’m a sophisticated gentleman. I ooze intellect, charm, and handkerchiefs.”
She laughed lightly to his joke as he dabbed at the wound. “Sorry for calling you fat…”
He stopped and sighed as he looked her in the eyes for a split second and then resumed cleaning the wound. “Oh, please. I’m a highly intelligent beast, Vanessa. I knew you were trying to rile me up. Even so, thank you.” He puffed out his chest. “Besides, I’m fit as a fiddle. No way that I’m fat. I’m just trying to tone up, that’s all.”
Again, she laughed. For a few moments, they tended to their injuries. Bobo’s arm took a little longer due to how deep the gash was. After that, they gathered themselves and stood facing a fork in the road that now lay before them. Just beyond the passageway that they had found solace in, the tunnels branched off into three different directions. Bobo stood inspecting each one of them as Vanessa did some spell prepping. She didn’t want to be stuck in another situation like she had been with the minotaur.
First, she prepped her staff for a light spell so they could see better. Bobo had night vision, but that didn’t help Vanessa in the slightest if they got separated again somehow. Second, she prepped a few barrier scrolls. And finally, third, she premixed a few battle spells into a couple of spare pouches and came to Bobo’s side.
“I’ve made a few spells to aid us if we have something like that come up again. I even made two barrier spells just in case we come across any hellhounds or other demons. I prepped my staff as well, so we’ll have light too.” She rubbed her arm. “I should have done this from the start…” she admitted.
Bobo patted her shoulder. “You’re a hasty creature, Vanessa. I walked in just as blind as you. So, stop blaming yourself and do what you have been. Learn from your mistakes, not live in them.”
She smiled and then motioned toward the spread of dark burrows. “Which one is it going to be?”
Bobo scratched the back of his head and sighed heavily as he looked at the choices one last time. The hand holding the battleax rose and pointed to each destination ahead of them. “Those two have strange smells and sounds coming from them. They are faint, but I can still sense them. Something is definitely there.” He then pointed to the one on the far right. “That one has air flow. I can smell the lavender too. This tunnel probably winds back to where we came in and connects with the main passageway.” The information wasn’t as comforting as she thought it would be. Something meant it wasn’t human, but at least she knew which tunnel to take if the anything started to chase after them.
“So, we search one of these and then make our way back to the surface.”
He nodded. “Staying down here with minimal supplies and poor lighting won’t give us anything but trouble. If there is something down here, we’ll find something down just one of those tunnels, that and the minotaur should be enough to spur the blue cloaks to resume the search down here with the Summoners that have been on standby.”
“Good. We have a plan and are prepared for an attack. I say we move forward so we can get the hex out of here.”
“I agree.”
She pointed to the middle tunnel. “Let’s take the middle.”
“The middle it shall be.”
The two of them started through the chosen tunnel. Lighting her staff, Vanessa once again lead the way and inspecting every crevice as they slowly went deeper into the shaft. Not wanting to be caught off guard for a second time that night, they made sure to be a little more careful than before. Each possible corner was checked, each step was quiet and well-placed, and their concentration was set dead ahead.
It didn’t take them too long to reach a point where even Vanessa could hear the sounds and smell the scents that Bobo had picked up on back at the entrance. The sounds were like moans and grunts, sniffles and hacking, like they had entered the recovery ward in Coven headquarters. Their footwork would teeter somewhere between speeding up and slowing to a crawl. Part of them wanted to see what was producing those sounds and the other part of them feared it.
They never stopped, though. They pressed on until the stench made Vanessa gag, and she paused to tie a bit of cloth around her nose and mouth to repel some of the revolting odor. But the smell wasn’t even the worst of it.
It wasn’t until the staff glowed off something other than rock and stone that Bobo and Vanessa realized what was making the sounds and why.
Rows upon rows of bars lined the stretch of tunnel. Each side providing a tiny carved out space. A cell. A prison. A private cage. And in each cage?
Bobo’s face twisted in horror.
This was monstrous! Who would do such a thing? He dropped his battleax and rushed over to one of the cages. Both his hands gripping the bars that held the captive inside and the disturbed Bobo and Vanessa out. His mouth moved in a way that told Vanessa he was holding back a series of curses, screams, rants, and possibly even tears. She couldn’t blame him.
“What … what have they done to you?” He asked one of the prisoners.
He received no reply. Just a tired expression from a worn-down ogre. Its eyes were sunken in and seemed half-starved. In some places it was charred, as if it had been burned and never properly treated. One of its fangs that jutted up from the bottom gum line was broken off and a portion of its chin missing. A bright pink scar was on the side of its head, and it seemed to be partially blind in one eye. Its neck was clamped in cold iron and a chain connected the creature from the cruel collar to the wall. It moved, and the skin of the demon would sound as if it were being burned. It would wince in pain, but not make a sound. The ogre’s hands outstretched as if to receive something from Bobo, and it opened its mouth. But no words came. Just pleading eyes and begging hands.
“This is wrong.” Bobo turned, and, to his undying horror, he saw hands sticking out from all the bars that lined the channel. All large. All like his. All burned, or stitched, or missing fingers, limbs, appendages. As he walked, almost too quickly, and turned to face each prison cell, he was greeted by a new nightmare therein. Ogres that looked like they had been tormented and then collared in iron were sitting in each one of the small barred rooms.
Vanesa took her time, even though it made her sick to her stomach, to look into each cage and inspect the prisoner. She didn’t like it. Some looked like they were dead, rotting in corners hugging themselves, and the skin looked strained as it stretched over the large creature’s bones in a way that let you see every dip in the structure and ripple of the ribcage. Others looked like they were in a daze or deep trance, their eyes glazed over with a fog of sadness, drooling while staring off into space. Some looked like they were infected, bits of their bodies missing in various spots. The more she looked, the more she was sure she was going to lose whatever contents was in her stomach.
Only a handful of the poor creatures spoke. But the hope that their voice produced was quickly stamped out by the words that they spoke. They weren’t any better than the others. Their speech was broken, mixed with equations, poems, and half-remembered spell incantations and murmured with a scratchy voice that was hardly audible. It was like … she looked at Bobo and then to the bars and the sad eyes of one of the ogres that lay beyond them.
It was like an intelligence spell had gone wrong. All of them appeared to have been summoned, blasted with an intelligence spell but … but something went wrong. Either the caster wasn’t paying attention, or the ingredients weren’t right, or they weren’t skilled enough to perform the spell. Or they had been blasted with two intelligence spells at a fast rate. No matter the case, the demon was injured and then left to rot in this place? This was what the minotaur was hiding. Failed summoned pets.
Frowning so hard she thought she’d never smile again, she touched one of the bars and stared into one of the cages again. The ogre inside stared at the ceiling unblinking. “Bobo, get your ax, we’re leaving.” She looked over to Bobo, he was on his knees and staring into a cage further ahead. “Bobo,” she called softly to him again, and he didn’t move. “Bobo!”
