Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 230: The Finals

Chapter 230: The Finals

Maurice barely knew what to expect from the other end, neither did he anticipate for it– his mind swirled with all sorts of uncertainty, but after emerging on the other side, they found themselves in a dimly-lit dungeon. The human lad had pictured himself returning to GreenHollow, as he believed he still failed the event, but shockingly, that wasn’t the case as he was standing in what appeared to be a dungeon. Both sides of the dungeon were dimly-lit by burning fires on a wooden stick, and the burning torches stretched through the narrow path they had been teleported into, illuminating the environment to the extreme end.

The cold stone walls were covered in moss, and the air hung deep with a foreboding stillness, sending shivers down Maurice’s spine. He subconsciously stood behind Bryn whose vampiric eyesight surveyed the area, his gaze fixed on the long path before them. Presently, they had no gemstones to boost the powers of their blade, only the dragon scale was what they had left, and that alone meant that they had to tread with caution. No matter what they encountered, they couldn’t afford to lose it.

"What are you doing?" Bryn’s whispering voice echoed within the empty dungeon, his glaring eyes looking behind him to gaze at the human who peered in his back. Maurice simply stood straight and cleared his throat, his brown eyes shifting between Bryn and the path that lay ahead.

"We have no time for this! Come on!" Unsheathing his blade, Bryn was the first to start moving. Maurice cautiously followed behind as his gaze drifted from left, right, and then behind him, staying alert to avoid being sneaked upon by Scorpions or whatever lurks within the dungeon. He could feel his legs wobbling from time to time, a sign that he needed rest, but whenever he tried to bring up that suggestion, he realized at the last minute that he was paired with the no-nonsense Bryn. Maybe if Jack was here with them, he wouldn’t feel so hesitant to speak his mind.

But what happened to Jack? Regardless of what he may have done to them, Maurice couldn’t stop himself from worrying. If Jack wasn’t here then where did the portal teleport him to? He hoped the lad was safe wherever he may be, but right now, he had to focus as this was the final. He couldn’t believe he had succeeded in making it into the finals, at this rate, there was still a chance of winning.

Taking a turn through the labyrinth of path, Maurice gazed up to see the ceiling, and his eyebrows creased when he detected the sounds of footsteps coming from above. It made him halt in his tracks, and Bryn did the same as he had sensed the movements coming from the ceiling. He hushed Maurice who obediently kept quiet, and when he continued to listen to the footsteps, he whispered.

"The others are here."

"The opposing team?"

"Hmm." He hummed in response before retracting his gaze to the ceiling, "we need to find the stairs. I’d suggest we split but that’d be even more risky. The finals have brought everyone together, in the end, we may end up facing ourselves. Let’s go." Sheathing his sword, he continued stealthily through the path and eventually, they made it to the stairs.

Going up, Maurice and Bryn hid away when they spotted the opposing team. The three members had circled themselves, and they seemed to be having a conversation about something, and with a nod from the two, the three members dismissed themselves as they took a corner.

They waited until the opposing team were out of sight before moving ahead, taking a different route. As they ventured further, Bryn and Maurice came to a halt as they witnessed the breathtaking sight in front of them. It was a dead end, but a bridge had been made in order to get across to the other side. But there was a problem, the entire bridge was composed of unsettlingly dark glass, stretching across a seemingly endless abyss. The burning torches extended to this part of the dungeon, and the glasses, though they appeared strong enough to hold them, Maurice wasn’t willing to let himself jump into such conclusions.

"It’s just glass, right?" Inquired Maurice as he drifted a glance at Bryn. The vampire lad scrutinized the glass bridge before shaking his head slightly. Who in their right mind or senses will make a bridge using glass?? Was the maker drunk? Or did the glass appear outta nowhere??

"This doesn’t feel right." Taking a step back, Bryn’s eyes searched his surroundings for a small stone, and when he found one, he squatted close to the bridge. Eyeing the stone in his hand, he threw it across the bridge and watched as the stone ’clanked’ its way through the glass, and then it stopped on a particular square piece.

Before Bryn could make a comment, a piece of the glass, where the stone laid, suddenly broke and fell into the abyss below. The sight had jolted Maurice and Bryn into taking a safe step backwards, whilst that particular part of the glass bridge was gone.

Maurice’s heart skipped a beat as he realized the perilous nature of the bridge. He could see nothing beneath the transparent material, no support to speak of. The abyss seemed to devour any sound that passed through its depth. The mere thought of stepping on the incorrect glass panel made his stomach churn with dread.

"This... this isn’t safe, I think we should turn back." Suggested Maurice as he wasn’t ready to lose his life, most especially not like this. Being burnt to a shrimp no longer sounded bad in comparison to this.

"Wait, see." Bryn’s voice had Maurice halting in his gait, and when he turned to see what had gotten Bryn so worked up, his eyes landed on the radiant gemstone that hovered mid-air at the bridge’s end. Its glowing green hue bore an uncanny resemblance to a Jade, captivating them with an ethereal allure. Just like Bryn, the idea of changing plans had long fled from Maurice’s mind the more he gazed at the glowing artifact.

"Is that..."

"Our ticket to winning the finals, hell yeah!" A roguish grin spread across Bryn’s face, and his eyes returned to the glass panel. His suspicion was confirmed the very moment the glass broke.

"Do you understand glass? If you step on the incorrect one, you’ll fall." He explained to Maurice whose eyes snapped wide in confusion.

"What?"

"Sigh... Okay listen, there are two glass panels used to form the bridge. One of them is stronger and can hold our weight, the other... The other is a perfect example of what happened to the stone. You step on it, you fall, and die. I don’t know what happens afterward but you lose. My guess is we have to figure out which of the panels is tempered. You’re the one with the brains, you never learnt the difference between each glass panel?"

"Even if I did, I doubt my mind is at the state of cooperating with me." Maurice exhaled tiredly before massaging his strained neck. The gem was just a bridge away from his grip, if he can somehow get to it the torture will end, but he can’t reach it if he has to detect the difference between each glass panel. He felt like he had driven his head into a wall, he could hardly think, all he wanted to do at this moment was rest.

"We have to keep moving." Bryn’s voice snapped him out of his thinking, "this is the only way to get out of here so we have to keep moving. I say you start, and I’ll follow behind." He looked at Maurice who scowled visibly at his suggestion. There’s absolutely no way he’s putting his life on the line by stepping on that minefield. He knew Bryn’s ulterior motive here, and he won’t fall for it.

"I’m merely human, you’re a vampire, shouldn’t you be the one taking the lead?" He suggested it to Bryn who scoffed at the idea.

"This isn’t about our race you dummy, this is about you. You don’t really think I can discern what is the right glass panel do you? If I fall, you’re falling with me. Now get your brain working and see which glass has the correct panel! It’s either this or we can both turn back and allow the opposing team to take what we worked for to get here!"

"Isn’t that better than falling into an endless abyss?" Maurice hesitantly inquired, "I mean, I want that gemstone but I won’t walk through that deathtrap for a win that I know is very valuable. If I die my sister will kill me."

"Wait, you have a sister?" Bryn’s eyes snapped wide in surprise, "is she older or younger?"

"The fuck?! Why do you care?"

"True, I can get those details later." He shook it off, "now where were we? As I said, we no longer possess gemstones, I’m pretty sure one of them would have the energy to summon a rope but we’re gemless."

"Is that even a word?"

"Shut up! Don’t interrupt me." He eyed Maurice who quietly averted his gaze, "look, the opposing team are gonna be here any minute and there’s a chance we’re gonna have to fight them. If we can whoa–!! The hell?!" Bryn’s eyes snapped when he was suddenly tangled with a rope, and before he got a chance to react, he was instantly dragged. Maurice on the other hand, wasn’t spared as the both of them were suddenly tied up with a rope, and when the owner of those ropes came into view, the opposing team had stepped into the open space.

"Lookie here." The leader amongst them eyed the two teammates who were mystically tied up with a glowing red rope. No matter how Bryn tried to break free from the bondage he had placed in, he couldn’t cut through the ropes.

"Get us out of this thing!!" He growled at the vampire lad who smirked at his helplessness. Maurice didn’t seem to have any complaints as he was using the moment to regenerate. He had been longing to have a seat, and now these members have offered him that.

"You! Hurry and grab the stone!" He ordered one of the teammates. The lad lowered his head in a bow and quickly moved to climb the glass bridge, but before Maurice could warn them about the dangers ahead, Bryn was quick to shut him up with his palm.

"I thought the finals would be hard to cross, but this is pretty easy. We have to evacuate in less than thirty minutes. Hurry up!" Uttered the leader from the opposing team, and that drew their attention.

"Evacuate?" Inquired Bryn.

"Ahh... I forgot, you didn’t enter the final using the corresponding portal so you are not aware of this. In less than thirty minutes, this place will fall to the ground."