The Royal Revenge
Chapter 57: Another Death In Her Arms

Chapter 57: Another Death In Her Arms

The room which she had expected wasn’t the one that welcomed the princess. The four corners of the space she had entered didn’t even resemble any room a rundown inn had.

Most importantly, there was no sign of the prince.

Wide and dark, the vast space she had entered looked like it was a portion of the abyss crammed in a box. The walls shifted from time to time, and there were no windows that permeated light whatsoever.

She wondered why she didn’t hear anyone chase her. The vampires after her and the boy were pretty close when she busted Aleksander’s doorknob and forced her entry.

Elys turned around, and just as she had suspected, the door had magically vanished without a trace. Not a single clue where it went, the only thing that was left was darkness.

The princess’ pulse quickened, her mouth hung open in disbelief, "Where am I?"

HICK... HICK... HICK...

Elys looked down on the boy in her arms.

"Shh... don’t cry," she caressed the boy’s head, patting him like a baby, "It’s alright, little one. We can get out of here," she hoped.

The child didn’t stop crying, and with it, a drumming sound invaded Elys’ ear. The intense beatings echoed, making the princess’ heart jump wildly without restraint.

Just as quickly as the drumming started, the moment the child stopped crying, so did it stop. The boy just stopped, not even a single sound rose from him.

"Hey, are you alright?" Elys asked him.

She had tried to walk around the dark room, feeling the walls and exploring to see if there was an exit back to the inn. Concerned that the boy was not responding, Elys put him down and shook him gently.

"Kid, what is wrong? Tell me?" she asked, a bit frantic that the boy wasn’t making a single sound, nor lifted a muscle.

The child’s head lolled like an old play-doll whose stuffing had lost its form. He was limp all over, and Elys couldn’t help but feel panic rise up inside her.

The possibility of death in her arms – yet again – overwhelmed her.

"No, no, no," she begged silently. "You aren’t supposed to be dead. You were safe with me. They didn’t reach you nor pick a single hair out of you!"

She put a finger below the boy’s nose, and heaved a sigh of relief. He wasn’t moving, but thankfully he was breathing fine.

So then, why did he suddenly go limp? Was it because he was scared of the dark? It looked like he just passed out of too much crying.

Elys was half worried, half angered by the turn of events. She was lost for words, and was quite literally lost herself too. She didn’t know what to do, and didn’t know where she was.

Why had she been trapped into this dark world?

It was obviously a place only magic could create, but aside from the dark and off-putting feeling, Elys couldn’t say it was that bad too. There was no malice inside this tiny square of nothingness.

But what of the boy?

The princess tried to call for help, "Hello?! Can anybody hear me? Help us, we are trapped!"

Her voice only bounced back, to which she had to cover her eardrums from bursting with the volume of the echo.

It seemed like shouting wasn’t an option for her then. The princess’ mind race with what options she had as of the moment.

What else could she do right now?

There were no enemies to run away from nor fight off, but she was also trapped. She needed no weapon to protect herself, but being unable to escape the void, she thought it would have been better to have one.

She could try to cut down the walls with a sword if she had one, but maybe it wouldn’t be enough. A big spiked mace would have been a better choice.

SCREECH!!!

Elys stiffened and became alert.

Out of the blue, the princess could hear wings flutter like a gigantic bird was coming for them. Her hair weirdly caught wind, the red locks of her head swirling in the air.

Had a monster suddenly appeared?

The princess embraced the child, but he had suddenly turned ice cold to the touch.

"Sister..." the child called out to Elys.

The princess looked down on the boy, and she suddenly felt bile rise up her throat. The child had reduced to bone and skin in her arms, curling like a fetus and trying to reach his tiny hand towards her cheek.

Every second that ticked by, the sound of one bird turned to a cacophony of a flock. They seemed to be getting closer and louder, their wings fluttering all around and causing small whirlwinds around Elys and the child.

The boy’s skin started to deteriorate, patches of flesh rotting and falling apart with every tiny movement he made. He continued to reach for Elys’ cheeks, and the princess moved not an inch, petrified with what was happening to him.

She was too shocked to even lift a finger.

She wanted to scream, but her voice couldn’t seem to find its way out of her open mouth. Her eyes were practically glued to the child dying for no apparent reason in her arms.

"What is the meaning of this?" she asked no one in particular.

She scoured the child for any sign of injury – bites, scratches, bruises, or cuts. She looked at his arms, legs, and found no evidence he was injured. Elys suddenly felt useless.

"I have looked everywhere, but there is just nothing I could see wrong!" she complained.

And then, the princess remembered she had actually forgot to check one spot, thinking it was not a place where any vampire bite would be.

She quickly pulled down the boy’s shorts, and right at the middle of his thigh, the princess saw holes that were beginning to turn a throbbing purplish hue. Pus was slowly being secreted, the surrounding tissues rotting slowly.

Elys could hear the boy gasp for air.

Things obviously weren’t going great for the princess.