Captured by the Beast [SS#2]

Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Nuri

The trek onward wasn't as bad as the first time. This time though, the snow was almost up to my calf but it had seemed to stop falling from above. We didn't let that deter us as we stayed close, walking hand in hand while talking about random things from funny stories to fond memories. We didn't let whatever this was get to us anymore because we were enjoying each other's company. The only upsetting thing that happened so far was the weird creatures from the tunnels when we got separated. Besides that, we hadn't seen anything else that spooked us along the way.

"Come here, my heart." Mizail ushered, stopping his previous story before pulling me beneath his cloak as I huddled close. "Something is following us." He explained as I held onto his arm while peeking up through his cloak to watch the expressions flash on his face. "Up ahead is a steeper stair. I'm going to fly us up there so hold on tight." He instructed as I wrapped my arms around his waist before he pulled me closer, the snow covered ground quickly disappearing beneath our feet. As the wind rushed beneath his cloak and onto my face, I glanced down at the snow only to see dozens of large dark eyes staring back at us. Once we landed, I quickly withdrew from Mizail's firm hold while looking back over the high ledge he flew us up onto before looking around frantically. Nothing but snow greeted my eyes compared to what I had seen just mere seconds ago.

"I know you're there!" I shouted as Mizail gently pulled me away from the edge as something moved within the snow. At first, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me until everything started to move before more than a dozen pairs of dark eyes stared up at us, all being held up by long yet pale human-like limbs. "Why are you following us?" I asked as those eyes focused on me before their mouths opened in sync.

"Harmless." They announced in unison as a shiver ran up my spine. "Lead the way." They added as I looked over at Mizail who pulled me close.

"You want to show us the way?" He asked the weird creatures who all nodded in unison as his brows furrowed. "How can we trust you?" He inquired as they looked at each other before something in the snow moved before I realized these creatures had long tails like snakes instead of legs. They were all simultaneously moving their tails as the snow seemed to melt down, revealing a small stone trail leading into the stone ledge we were currently standing on. They looked between us and the path before backing away as Mizail looked down at me. "Is the stone path leading to these steeper stairs or something else? Should we trust them?" He asked me as I looked between him and the creatures that had slithered back a few feet from us.

"If we do go down and something happens, will you be able to swoop us back up onto this ledge without any issues?" I asked back as he nodded without hesitation. "I think we should go down and investigate that stone path. It feels like these steep ledges leading up are maybe a distraction or something to make us think we should keep going up. We don't really know how far we are within the mountain or how high up we might be. For all we know, we could be going in the same direction and not actually moving at all." I explained as Mizail looked at me surprised.

"I never thought of that." He mumbled more to himself as I nodded. "Shall we descend, my heart?" He asked while gently squeezing my side as I wrapped my arms around his waist with a nod. We took a few cautious steps forwards before stopping at the ledge as Mizail held me a little tighter. Taking a deep breath, we stepped off the ledge as Mizail slowly lowered us back onto the ground, a few feet away from the stony path that the creatures had cleared of snow. Mizail released me from his firm grip while holding my hand as we stepped onto the path and followed it up to the ledge we were just on without taking our eyes off of the creatures behind us.

"Are we supposed to climb back up or is there something we're missing?" I asked Mizail who looked between me and the creatures with confusion clear on his face. Turning back to the wall, I stared at it for a second before a thought popped into my head as I raised our hands to the stone wall, gently spreading our fingers out across it. It took a minute before blue flames spiraled around the wall like they had at the entrance before an opening appeared, leading further into darkness as I turned back toward the weird creatures. Quickly reaching into the satchel that Mizail had wrapped around himself, I pulled out some of our food before stepping forward.