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Description
Chapter 10

It was dark by the time they reached a castle.  It was black against the dark sky and a black blob that blocked the stars from Rayman and Alaesia’s vision.  They had to stop here for the night whether it was to find Osawen or to ask for directions.  They approached the door and knocked.

They waited, but there was no answer.  Alaesia pushed on the door and it slid open.  The interior of the castle was just as dark and spooky as the outside.  Torches hung on the walls, giving light to send shadows around the furniture.

“Hello?” Alaesia called.  Her voice echoed around the room.  Still there was no answer.

They began walking through the house.  Their footsteps echoed just as clearly as Alaesia’s voice had.  They looked around in awe at the tapestries, paintings, and even gargoyles that decorated the place.  It was as beautiful as it was spooky.

As they ventured into a hallway, they knocked on the doors they came to and looked inside, but they could not find anyone.  They knew the castle couldn’t be abandoned, because the place wasn’t even dusty.  Someone had to be here.

Finally, they came to a library full of ancient tomes and scrolls.  A suit of armor stood in the corner.

“Well maybe no one’s home.” Rayman suggested.

“What I’m curious about is we looked through every room we came to and not once did we find a staircase.  This place is easily three stories high.” Alaesia said.  “And the torches are all lit.  This castle might be made up of more secret passages than easily found hallways.  It could take days for us to find anyone in here even if we could avoid getting lost.”

“Good point.” Rayman said.  He leaned up against the suit of armor to think.  The arm holding an axe fell forward, almost slicing Rayman in half and a bookshelf swung backward causing him to fall through.

“Nice one, Rayman.” Alaesia said.  “We found one of the secret passageways.  Let’s just hope to God that it leads to Osawen.”

Rayman stood up.  “Let’s hope.”

They had been going for a while and still hadn’t found another room or door.  The two guessed that this passage was probably built to confuse robbers and merely went in a circle around the castle.

“And it was built so well that we wouldn’t even be able to find the way out we entered throu—“ Rayman was suddenly cut off.

Alaesia turned around, expecting something to attack, but nothing was there.  Not even Rayman.

“Rayman!” Alaesia called.  There was no answer.  Alaesia felt the walls and the floor to see if there was another passageway to be found, but could find nothing.  Without much else to do, she continued on through the passage.

A door slid open and a growl could be heard.  Alaesia turned around again and saw a dog-like beast with three heads and fiery eyes.  It crept towards Alaesia, snarling and about to pounce.  It was a hell hound.

Alaesia would not be able to use fire magic against the hell hound, for they were immune to fire.  She dropped to the ground and created a wall of stone between her and the hell hound.  Then she turned and ran before it could break down the wall.  She didn’t know how strong hell hounds were, but she wasn’t going to find out the hard way.

There was a scraping noise and Alaesia turned her head to see the wall of stone sliding back down and the hell hound jumping over it.  It chased after her, all three heads barking.

Finally the passage way ended, but at a dead end.  There was a small room with a few book shelves, a fireplace, and a sword on display above the fire place.  Alaesia took the sword from the display and prepared to fight.  This hell hound had been created by magic without a soul so that it would be a mindless zombie.  She could not use her soul powers against it.

The hell hound pounced for Alaesia and she swung the sword at it a split second to early.  He hell hound landed on her, the middle head biting the sword and trying to pry it out of her hands while the other two went for her head.  It was a difficult battle to keep from getting her head bitten off.

In seconds, there was a whistle and the hell hound got off of Alaesia.  She stood up and saw a man in robes of green and black.  His hair was brown and hung by his shoulders.  The hell hound trotted over to him and sat by his side.

“Manners, my pet.  It is not polite to eat guests.”  The man said as he reached down to pet the hell hound.  It looked up and licked his hand, wagging its tail.

“Thanks.” Alaesia said, not certain that she should fully trust a man who controlled hell hounds, but grateful that he had saved her.

“What is your name?” the man asked.  “And the name of the one who fell through one of the other passageways?”

“Uh.  My name is D.” Alaesia said, going by her name from when she had amnesia.  “My friend is Rayman.  We need help.  We were told to find the sorcerer, Osawen.”

“I am Osawen.”

Description
Chapter 10

It was dark by the time they reached a castle.  It was black against the dark sky and a black blob that blocked the stars from Rayman and Alaesia’s vision.  They had to stop here for the night whether it was to find Osawen or to ask for directions.  They approached the door and knocked.

They waited, but there was no answer.  Alaesia pushed on the door and it slid open.  The interior of the castle was just as dark and spooky as the outside.  Torches hung on the walls, giving light to send shadows around the furniture.

“Hello?” Alaesia called.  Her voice echoed around the room.  Still there was no answer.

They began walking through the house.  Their footsteps echoed just as clearly as Alaesia’s voice had.  They looked around in awe at the tapestries, paintings, and even gargoyles that decorated the place.  It was as beautiful as it was spooky.

As they ventured into a hallway, they knocked on the doors they came to and looked inside, but they could not find anyone.  They knew the castle couldn’t be abandoned, because the place wasn’t even dusty.  Someone had to be here.

Finally, they came to a library full of ancient tomes and scrolls.  A suit of armor stood in the corner.

“Well maybe no one’s home.” Rayman suggested.

“What I’m curious about is we looked through every room we came to and not once did we find a staircase.  This place is easily three stories high.” Alaesia said.  “And the torches are all lit.  This castle might be made up of more secret passages than easily found hallways.  It could take days for us to find anyone in here even if we could avoid getting lost.”

“Good point.” Rayman said.  He leaned up against the suit of armor to think.  The arm holding an axe fell forward, almost slicing Rayman in half and a bookshelf swung backward causing him to fall through.

“Nice one, Rayman.” Alaesia said.  “We found one of the secret passageways.  Let’s just hope to God that it leads to Osawen.”

Rayman stood up.  “Let’s hope.”

They had been going for a while and still hadn’t found another room or door.  The two guessed that this passage was probably built to confuse robbers and merely went in a circle around the castle.

“And it was built so well that we wouldn’t even be able to find the way out we entered throu—“ Rayman was suddenly cut off.

Alaesia turned around, expecting something to attack, but nothing was there.  Not even Rayman.

“Rayman!” Alaesia called.  There was no answer.  Alaesia felt the walls and the floor to see if there was another passageway to be found, but could find nothing.  Without much else to do, she continued on through the passage.

A door slid open and a growl could be heard.  Alaesia turned around again and saw a dog-like beast with three heads and fiery eyes.  It crept towards Alaesia, snarling and about to pounce.  It was a hell hound.

Alaesia would not be able to use fire magic against the hell hound, for they were immune to fire.  She dropped to the ground and created a wall of stone between her and the hell hound.  Then she turned and ran before it could break down the wall.  She didn’t know how strong hell hounds were, but she wasn’t going to find out the hard way.

There was a scraping noise and Alaesia turned her head to see the wall of stone sliding back down and the hell hound jumping over it.  It chased after her, all three heads barking.

Finally the passage way ended, but at a dead end.  There was a small room with a few book shelves, a fireplace, and a sword on display above the fire place.  Alaesia took the sword from the display and prepared to fight.  This hell hound had been created by magic without a soul so that it would be a mindless zombie.  She could not use her soul powers against it.

The hell hound pounced for Alaesia and she swung the sword at it a split second to early.  He hell hound landed on her, the middle head biting the sword and trying to pry it out of her hands while the other two went for her head.  It was a difficult battle to keep from getting her head bitten off.

In seconds, there was a whistle and the hell hound got off of Alaesia.  She stood up and saw a man in robes of green and black.  His hair was brown and hung by his shoulders.  The hell hound trotted over to him and sat by his side.

“Manners, my pet.  It is not polite to eat guests.”  The man said as he reached down to pet the hell hound.  It looked up and licked his hand, wagging its tail.

“Thanks.” Alaesia said, not certain that she should fully trust a man who controlled hell hounds, but grateful that he had saved her.

“What is your name?” the man asked.  “And the name of the one who fell through one of the other passageways?”

“Uh.  My name is D.” Alaesia said, going by her name from when she had amnesia.  “My friend is Rayman.  We need help.  We were told to find the sorcerer, Osawen.”

“I am Osawen.”