Daydreams And Nightshade (DaN #1)

Chapter 62: Embracing nature

Shyen carefully stood from the ground as he let go of Noah. While the embrace seemed to have helped he didn't want to impose on his personal space for too long, and he waited for someone else to speak. He was still ashamed of what he'd said earlier and would prefer to stay quiet for a while.

"Noah?" Livia asked. "Are you... All righter?"

"... Righter." Noah's voice was weak, but Shyen still loved the sound of it.

"Right, so if you just—Okay, grab my hand. Yeah, here," Livia's voice said through the darkness, and Shyen concluded she was helping Noah up. "Ah, right... Your leg. Well... Let's, uh... Let's get out of here first, shall we? Somehow."

"Well it's supposedly a room," Shyen said, feeling awfully dumb as he said it. Of course it was. There were proper walls and floors. "So there must be at least one way out."

"Here," Livia said, and Shyen was smacked in the face. "Oh, sorry. You're shorter than I think you are. I was going for your shoulder." She proceeded to follow his arm down to his hand and grab it. "Now we're at least all here, so let's try to move in this direction."

She tugged Shyen's arm towards the area behind him, and he obediently followed. From what the light of the purple fire had suggested it seemed as though it was the only option where there would be a door of sorts.

"Noah? Shyen? Can either of you feel a wall?"

Shyen reached out his free hand, pulling the other two a little to finally feel a wall.

"I can feel it."

"I can't," Noah replied, voice still fragile. "But... But let's follow your wall and see."

It didn't take long before Shyen bumped into something, but it wasn't a door. It was some form of cupboard or similar, and he moved past it without trying to think about what could be inside it. He wouldn't risk it.

Finally, he bumped into a wall, and he found a corner of the room.

"Nothing on this wall it seems," he alerted the other two, but Livia had better luck.

"Here," she said as Shyen felt a slight pull in her direction. "I feel a step of sorts. Maybe it's a way up."

Squinting, Shyen was certain he could discern a light ahead and he nodded, still aware no one could see it, and followed as Livia pulled them along.

"It's a cellar door," Livia's voice confirmed and Shyen heard a knock against wood. "It's got to lead us outside."

Shyen reached out a hand to help her look for a handle, and in a matter of moments his eyes were blinded by light as the door flung open. He blinked, trying to get adjusted to the scenery. It wasn't the brightest of weathers, but any scenery was bound to be less dark than an unlit basement.

"It's... The maze," he then said as his eyes had adjusted, unable to hide the disappointment in his voice. Great. A narrow maze in a nightmare infested house.

"All right, well... Let's not get too moody, shall we?" Livia tried and walked forward.

Shyen looked over in Noah's direction and grimaced. His clothes had been torn to pieces by the transformation. Fortunately not too much of his breeches, but what was left of his shirt might as well fall off at any moment.

Then he noticed the scars.

He'd known they were there. He'd been there just an hour or so after the words had been carved into his back, but he hadn't actually seen them at the time.

His attention shifted to Noah's arms, and Shyen's stomach sank further. He was pretty sure those countless, thin scars had not been there back then, and he let his gaze fall to the ground.