Chapter 29 Other Side Of The Door

Lowenna looked at the large imposing door.  It was the first one she had seen since entering the labyrinth.  She didn't want to go back, not through the room with all those dead bodies.
She tried the latch, it moved, and with a strong push the door creaked open.  
Lowenna froze.  There was a dead body in the corner, not a skeleton, but an actual body.  She released the door as she looked at it in horror, and the door closed behind her.  She had seen this before, in her first vision.  She had bumped into Mr. Vallery, but in the real world, it had just been a drunk in the corner.  Here, now, she knew this man, it was Brother Solomon.  The one member of the church who had been kind to Lowenna.
He was naked, doubled over in the corner, covered in blood.  His throat had been torn out.  It was a horrific sight, but Lowenna couldn't run.  Was this to be the fate of all the people who Lowenna liked?  Was death always going to follow her?
Suddenly she realised she wasn't alone, she turned slowly, hoping what was in the room with her was not the creature from her dreams.
It was a large chamber.  A stone altar was near the middle, and the roof seemed to be supported by a single pillar.  Glowing rocks were the source of light, and there were old shields and weapons sticking out of the walls.
Between her and the table was a tall grey figure.  Lowenna knew what it was.  It wore a ripped blood stained shirt and was holding the remains of Brother Solomon's robe.  
The creature turned to look at her.  It's black eyes looking completely devoid of life.  Lowenna had no weapon and little magic, how was she going to escape.
Suddenly, it had her wrists.  It was strong and too fast.  She hadn’t seen it move until it was too late.  It was lifting her up pulling her arms.  It was going to rip them off.  It opened its mouth.  Lowenna saw its long sharp fangs.  She couldn't move, couldn't get away.  It was going to rip her throat out with its teeth.  
Lowenna moved her head as far away as possible, and as the creature went to bite, swung her head as hard as she could into its open mouth.  She felt her blood running down her face, from where the creature’s teeth had cut open her forehead, but it didn’t stop her head butting the creature again.  The creature was surprised.  Lowenna had hurt it, and it had loosened its grip.  Lowenna pulled her arm free, but this time, instead of trying to hit the creature, she grabbed her grey dying crystal and thrust her other hand open wide.
There was a blinding flash, and the creature screeched in pain dropping Lowenna, who slipped behind the altar, trying to stay calm.  Lowenna grabbed a rusty old dagger which was lying on the floor.  It was still sharp.  
Now she had a weapon.  The creature made a wild swing taking a chunk out of the pillar, which held the ceiling up.  Lowenna looked up if the roof fell she would be buried.  
She took a quick peek at the creature.  It was still thrashing around, blinded by the flash.  
There was a way out, an archway, which led back into the maze.  She was closer than the creature.  
She took one step, but suddenly the creature froze. Looking in her direction, it sniffed the air, and it charged.  Lowenna just managed to duck under a wild swing.  It still couldn't see, but it could smell and hear her.  Lowenna was down on all fours keeping very still not making a sound.  
The creature sniffed again and turned to face her once more.  It was too close.  She knew she wouldn’t get lucky a second time.  
Lowenna quietly picked up a stone and threw it over the grey monster.  The rock hit a shield on the wall, and the creature turned, to face the noise.  Lowenna only had a moment to act.  She jumped up and slammed the rusty dagger into the creature’s neck.  Her free hand raked the creature's face as she pulled the blade out before stabbing it in the neck over and over again.  "See.  How.  You.  Like.  Being.  Stabbed.  In.  The.  Neck!"  She shouted, in a fury, thrusting the dagger in time with each word.  The creature's blood was shooting out of the wound, covering Lowenna and itself.  It tried desperately to grab the young woman on his back, but Lowenna avoided its claws, stabbing it again and again, pulling at its face.  
The creature fell to one knee.  It had stopped fighting.  Lowenna moved her arm under its chin, and with a long quick cut, she severed the creature's head from its body.
The grey-skinned monster fell forward onto its stomach, leaving Lowenna, standing, breathing heavily, covered in blood.  The creature’s head, still in her hand.
Lowenna was in shock.  She couldn’t believe what she had just done.  How far had she come, from waking on a beach with no memories?  She placed her head in her free hand.  She had been so scared back then, running for her life, not knowing what she was capable of.  Hell, she still didn't know, but now she knew she was capable of killing a monster and beheading it.  
She wanted to believe that the Lowenna side of her was the killer but the lines between that side of her and the innocent side had blurred.  Herath had proved that Wenna could kill without the conference and strength.  He had given her that push, and now she didn’t know if she would ever get it back.  
"I had to kill it, it would have killed me," she said out loud, but part of her had enjoyed the thrill of the kill.  Some part of her wanted to kill again.  That was the part she needed to stop Darcariel.
Lowenna dropped the head.  She couldn't believe she was still holding it.  She looked to the exit knowing she had to move. 
"You will be mine soon," a voice echoed in her head as Darcariel came into focus again.
"Get out of my head!" Lowenna shouted and shook her head, but the image didn’t fade this time.
"Poor Lowenna losing herself.  You can't fight me forever."
Lowenna hit the side of her head with her hand, and the image faded a little.  She looked at her crystal.  It was now grey and almost devoid of magic.  Darcariel was right she didn't have long left.
Lowenna kept the dagger drawn and took a step towards the exit but then heard a familiar voice.  "Wenna!" It shouted.
Lowenna smiled and ran to the doorway.  "I’m here Grilk!  I need help!" she called out, and almost cried with joy as he came into her view.
Grilk didn’t look happy.  He had an axe in one hand and a sword in the other.  "Wenna!" He shouted.  "Me sorry friend Wenna."
Lowenna didn't understand, He was walking towards her, and all she wanted to do was hug the old orc, even if he wouldn't like it.  "What is wrong Grilk?" Lowenna asked.
"By orders of my Queen, you must die!" Grilk replied as he started to charge towards Lowenna.
The smile faded to a look of anguish and despair, "Not you Grilk, Please," she begged, tears started rolling down her face, as she dived back into the room avoiding the axe.
"My Queen told me to kill you.  Me obey, and me sorry."  Grilk said as he swung his axe again.
Lowenna dodged again.  She didn't know what to do.  She looked at her dagger breathily.  She couldn't kill Grilk!  He was her friend.  He had come all this way to try and save her.  It wasn't his fault!  "Please, Grilk stop!"  Lowenna shouted tears now freely flowing.
Grilk roared, as he swung the axe again.  Lowenna sidestepped, then had to jump backward to avoid the sword in Grilk’s other hand.  
She vaulted back on the stone alter before she dove off it as Grilk’s axe split it in two.
Lowenna ran to the centre of the room.  She had stopped crying.  Grilk was trying to kill her.  She had no choice.  She turned to face the old warrior orc, resolve and hate for Darcarial etched on her face.  
Grilk roared again, as he launched himself towards his friend.  Lowenna dove past him as his axe hit the support pillar.  Grilk tried to go after her, but his axe was stuck.  He pulled it hard, but it wasn’t moving.
Lowenna stopped at the exit to the room, her hand on her grey crystal. "Sorry," she whispered before she pushed her hand at the pillar.  
The grey fire struck the stone, and it cracked.  Grilk gave a mighty tug, and his axe came out.  He looked up just in time to see the roof caving in.  Lowenna turned and ran, as the stones fell, burying Grilk, leaving nothing to see except a pile of rocks and a cloud of dust.
Lowenna looked back at the doorway.  She fell to her knees and screamed out loud in anger and frustration.  By the amount of rubble, there was little chance Grilk would have survived.  She had just killed her friend.
"You killed my new toy," a voice came from behind.  Lowenna turned, readying her dagger and instantly regretted it, as Darcariel and Jibranz were at the end of the corridor.
A searing pain flowed through Lowenna's head.  She couldn't look away.
She was suddenly in the dark chamber.  The woman who was holding Darcariel and Herathh back looked grey, old and frail.  She screamed and shattered into shards of light that faded to nothingness.  
Darcariel walked into the centre of the room, how beautiful she looked to Lowenna.  But the Herath's minion was also now free.  It burst into flames charging at Darcariel, its sword above its head.  "She is mine, witch," Herath's voice echoed around the room.  Darcariel didn’t take her eyes of Lowenna.  She flicked her hand towards the flaming skeleton, as it too shattered, leaving a small pile of dust and a dying scream echoed through the chamber.
"You are mine now!" Darcariel said in the dark room which vanished revealing Darcariel and Jibranz at the end of a long corridor, Lowenna staring at her with a smile on her face, all else forgotten.
"Yes, my queen," Lowenna replied.