Chapter 68

                                    

                                          
Rowan takes another step towards the corner. She looks down at the runestone still in her hand and summons the light rune. The light it creates is just enough to see by, the glow washing over all corners of the room but not outside it. Andrian is curled up in the corner, his arms and legs pulled up to his chest. His face is pale, ashen even. Something is wrong. Rowan darts toward him, placing her hands on his shoulders. She shakes him gently.
                          
"Andrian? Andrian, can you open your eyes?"
                          
He shudders but does as she asks. His gaze doesn't focus on her completely and his eyes are bloodshot. There is definitely something wrong here. When he finally manages to focus on her, his eyes widen.
                          
"Rowan? You're here? You're real?"
                          
"Yes, I'm real. Can you stand?"
                          
"Why are you here?"
                          
Rowan pulls back, surprised. "What do you mean I'm here to rescue you."
                          
Andrian starts shaking his head. "No, you can't be here. It's a trap!"
                          
Rowan's grip on Andrian's shoulders tighten. "An, relax. It's alright. I'm going to get you out of here. Can you stand?" 
                          
Andrian shake his head and lifts one of his arms into the air. There is a cuff at the end of it, made of the same material as the spikes that were locking him in. Rowan pulls his arm toward her and pulls her runepen out of her pocket. There are two possible ways she could get this open. She could use the destroy rune, which could hurt him and she doesn't want that. 
                          
The other option is to use a combination of the reverse rune and the bind rune and that might unlock the cuff, but it also might not work. She shakes her head. It's worth a shot, even if it doesn't work. Rowan wraps her hand around the cuff and gasps. She doesn't really feel the iron in it, it has to be worse for Andrian, but whatever is coating the metal is making her feel sick. Dizzy, weak. 
                          
That must be why Andrian is like this, because of prolonged exposure to the substance. She shakes her head again, trying to shake off the fog that is trying to slip into her mind. She glares down at the cuff and draws the runes on its surface. They glow white-hot, making the metal beneath warm and redden. Andrian winces slightly. The cuff snaps open and slithers down towards the floor. Andrian reaches out for it, trying to grab the cuff. His hands glance off of it.
                          
"Ro! Grab it!"
                          
She doesn't understand why he wants her to, but she tries anyway. Her fingers do make contact with the metal, but she touches it where the runes were. They burn her skin and she pulls her hand back, hissing. The cuff falls down to the ground and disappears into a previously invisible hole in the stone. There is a click and Rowan's face pales. Andrian had said this was a trap, but what kind? 
                          
She was assuming the Seelie Lord would have been waiting for her and using Andrian as bait, but what if she's wrong? Rowan heaves Andrian up to his feet and half-carries him over to the doorway, his feet stumbling over the stone. But they're too late. The spikes shoot out to block their path and Rowan curses. She lowers Andrian to the floor and darts for the spikes, trying to reach through them for the ledge. 
                          
The openings between them are too narrow for her hand to fit through farther than her wrist. And even if she could, the angle to reach the button on the ledge is impossible. She pulls her hand back and scowls. Her runepen is still clutched in one hand and she frowns at it. Could she use the reverse rune on the spikes? She holds the runepen up to one spike and etches the rune on it, quick and sharp. 
                          
The spike doesn't move. Could the destroy rune work? Rowan steps over to Andrian and etches a protection rune or two at his feet and steps back over to the spikes. Besides the protection rune hanging around her neck, Rowan draws one at her feet, centred between them. Then she reaches out and carves the destroy rune onto it. The rune is jagged, sharp. The spikes shudder and disappear, falling into dust. 
                          
Rowan's breath sweeps out of her in a whoosh. She was afraid that the spikes would explode, that's what she drew the protection runes for. Rowan steps back over to Andrian and helps him up. They stumble through the cloud of dust from the spikes and Rowan starts coughing, the air in her lungs burning her. The spikes may have become dust but now the substance on them is coating that dust, floating in the air. 
                          
They are breathing it in. Rowan claps a hand over Andrian's mouth and pushes him through the cloud to safety. He stumbles out the other side, his legs crumpling beneath him to carry him to the ground. Rowan pulls her shirt up to cover her mouth and half runs, half stumbles through the dust cloud, her legs shaking beneath her weight. Whatever is in the dust is sapping her energy, let alone the fact that it seems to be doing its best to make her sick. 
                          
Rowan pulls Andrian back up to his feet and they make their way down the long hallway of those tiny rooms. She holds her breath when they get close to where the gate was the first time through. What if it closed when the spikes did? Mercifully, it remains open. Despite her exhaustion, her speed picks up once they pass the gate. They're almost to Camden and then they can get Andrian out of here.
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What's wrong with Andrian? Will he get better? What do you think the substance is? What do you think of the trap? What's going to happen when they reach Camden? Tell me your thoughts!
                          
Sorry this is late, my internet connection isn't very good today. 
                          
Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!
                          
~Goddess of Fate, signing out.