Blood Master

20. Alabaster

The hallways are silent, and the moonlight seeping from the windows tells me it is already night here. Apparently, all concept of time left me at the same time I left the temple. The dark uniform I am dressed in hides me somehow from the ligh, but I still hurry through the academy. I am still winded and tired from the past day's excursion, but I try to make my best effort. I refrain from running, and instead settle with walking fastly, trying to spend as less energy as possible.

I have no idea where I should go. I've here for little more than two days (the last five don't count), and the only things I've seen are clasrrooms, the gardens, Cyrus' office, and those hiden passages. I am lost. Maybe I should've thought this through before running out of that room.

"Turn left here and keep going until I tell you to stop"

I groan when I hear that voice. What was it called? A

"What do you want?"

"Relax. I'm just trying to help. Now turn left here."

I just shrug and do as he says, too tired to argue.

I keep going down that hall, and stop when it ends, leaving me with two options. Left of right.

"Well, which way do I go now?"

"I thought I told you not to stop until I said so."

"There's nothing here. This is where the hall ends. There's only left or right."

He hmms. "Search the wall, there should either be an inscription to activate a spell, or a lever to pull."

I sigh and go for it, somewhat dissapointed that there's no painting here. I search every corner, cursing at my height when I stretch and my hand seems miles away from the ceiling. I feel my way through the wall, the soft wood beneath my hand. I feel something poking out in the right corner and smile when I see, indeed, a small lever. I press on it, and I am amazed when the wall slides, not by magic, but by some mechanical system. This has to be older than I thought then.

The hall that lays behind follows the same layout as every hall in this goddamed maze. Only the wood here is older, a few areas are even rotten and home to various kinds of termites. I go forward. And forward. An forward. The hall deteriorates the more I walk, until the wood starts peeling off from the wall, and rats hide in holes every where. Suddenly I am very thankful they didn't put me here.

Thankfully, the long hall ends, as does the lightning, though. I turn left, because that's the only place to go. The rotten hall gives place to walls made of rock and stairs that go down into infinite darkness. I start going down, suddenly eager for a light, a piece of flamed wood, the ability to create fire, basically anything that'll let me see ahead of me. Lux's eyes are off the table, since I do not have much energy to begin with.

I toughen up and descend, taking care not to fall, but not wasting too much time. By the time I stop going down, the light of the hall above has mostly faded to nothing. I curse at how far down they had to put this place. How is this even practical? It is not. It is just a wretched waste of resources, that's what it is. And on top of that, it is really fucking cold.

"Imagine being here for a hundred years then." A's voice says. Although this time, I'm not so sure I can only hear it in my head.

Since the light here is close to nothing, I have to quickly scan the dark for danger, a dagger ready in my hand.

"Calm down, girl. It's just me. Your favourite intangible being."

"A? Where are you, I thought you were leading me to the dungeons!"

"I did! To mine! Aren't I the cleverest being?"

"It was Zahra I wanted to talk with. Not you, you manipulating asshole!"