God Rising: Battle of Atela 54 Part III

"You're finally out" Artemis crossed her arms as she eyed Darren who hosted a third party behind him. Lunar arranged for a carriage for the two of them, but not Artemis. Darren discussed the book he sought while having breakfast with his unwanted fiancee and she volunteered to assist him to the run-down manor of the family that ruled before hers. 

Lunar shut the doors of the carriage before Artemis could get it. Darren convinced the fox to command the coachman to drive the carriage at a pace his slave could keep up with. But the wish had to come at a cost. Throughout their short outing, Lunar made out with the prince privately until they got to their destination.

She got down with him, and Artemis joined them a few minutes later. 

"Not what I was expecting" They stood in front of a decrepit Manor that looked like it was falling apart. 

Dark, wilted vines clung to the brick in desperation, and the windows surrendered to the winds long before their arrival. The lawn overrun with weeds was damp from the early morning fog and every time they took a step the mud squelched.

Darren turned to Lunar "You can go home my love. Thank you so much for your help" He kissed her forehead and her face lit with heat "Be careful all right" She placed a kiss on his lips before heading for her carriage. She didn't plan to go into the house that was rumoured to be haunted, anyway.

Darren waited for her to leave before he spat and wiped his lips with his sleeves "I just have to endure this charade a little longer."

Artemis pushed open the filthy door and went in. The musty smell of a house that had been long abandoned filled her nose. It was gloomy and uninviting. The furniture dusty and old, looked as if it would crumble to dust if she touched it. 

She continued to explore the inside. She found a matchstick and a candle, so she made her way deeper into the building with her little source of light. The rooms, the corridors, and the kitchen laid home to critters and the ceiling hung limp in the stagnant air.

The oak floors she walked lay strewn with leaves and debris. Some upper landing connected to the flight of stairs had fallen away, and Artemis had to jump the distance, almost falling. 

She pulled her weight up with her elbows at first before swinging her legs one after the other. Her candle couldn't make it to the other side and she bid it farewell.

Artemis's hands met with the old walls that moulds ate, and her eyes settled on some portraits of foxes who once lived in the manor. She wondered how long the manor had been deserted and why?

Her eyes widened, and she pressed her lips into a thin line as if she was stifling a sudden outburst of laughter.

"Orion?" The little boy looked so much like the fox who sacrificed himself for his few friends and family. There were so many paintings of him growing up but at the end of the hall, the rest faded and some were clawed. 

"I'll come back some day for the paintings." She decided to give Anna the paintings of Orion and her in-laws whenever she had the chance to go to earth again.

"Arm!!!" Darren called desperately as he looked about the bleak hall for the slave. His heart raced as he moved from room to room, squirming each time he saw bugs and some dead rodents. He met with a door slightly of coloured from the weary walls and it loomed over him like a giant as he reached for the handle. The room it led to was sparse. Only dimly lit candles and trunks of old, moth-eaten clothes were present at a corner encrusted with spiderwebs.

A sigh of relief escaped his lips. He thought he'd see corpses or feel the presence of ghosts, but everything seemed to be free of the paranormal.

Suddenly, the floor caved in and he fell down into the darkness of the basement. A shiver rushed down his spine as his eyes surveyed the area. 

"Arm!!! I think I've found the place!" Cobwebs brushed his face as he went deeper into the old library. Dirt, glass, books, and torn papers littered the ground. Dust floated lazily in the air causing a difficult time breathing, and every step put more of it into the air.

All that was heard were the faint chirps of birds outside and the scurrying feet of invisible rodents.

"Hey!" 

Darren jumped, then turned back to see who touched him, that's if it wasn't a ghost "How dare you scare me like that!" 

"You were already scared! Besides, you called me!" She rolled her eyes before pushing him aside. "This place must be really old. Maybe it's just been neglected for years... I don't know what other excuse to give for it." 

A clean freak like Orion couldn't live in a manor like that. She was certain.

"So how will we know the book we're looking for?" 

Artemis shrugged "When I came to Sol, my parchment and bags were taken from me and I witnessed the guards burn it. So, we are both stranded in this world of unknown books." 

Artemis proceeded to the stacks of books covering every inch of the shabby, old shelves. She had 'Remes book' in mind as she ran her fingers on the leather spines of each book lined up perfectly, but dusty and covered in cobwebs with no owners.

Rowan wanted to do the same, but he was more worried about getting bugs on himself. He ran somewhere Artemis wouldn't find him, so he can just stare and yell at the Remes book to show itself. 

"You better search for the book!" Artemis commanded. He envisioned the faux boy punching his pretty face again, and he didn't want that. He read the names of the books he randomly pulled out, and it was all by the same author, Christopher Remes.

Hours had passed, and they still hadn't found that book amidst thousands of others. Artemis was close to giving up when an idea came to her mind. She moved around in search of a table or books that weren't on the shelves.

She stumbled across a few, but they weren't the Remes book. She didn't know the actual title, but from what Orion wrote in the parchment, the ones she found nothing to do with what they needed.

She sighed the moment she reached the end of the library, and there were more stacks of books on the floor.

"Arm!!!" 

"Yes?" 

"I've found it!" 

She marched to his side, following the direction of his voice, and cracking her knuckles in case he was lying. 

She gasped "How did you...?" 

Feeling a little confident, he carried a proud grin on his face, "There was a lever and only intelligent people like myself could see it." 

She ignored him as her hands wiped the remains of the dust "This is beautiful." She appreciated the Soft green cover with writings she couldn't decode. Small stones were placed in a pattern, and for some reason, she couldn't open the book. 

"From one issue to another, I couldn't open it myself, but I think this corpse has something to do with it…" He made way and she saw the dressed skeleton in between two cabinets.

Artemis raised a brow, there was no way he took the book from the boney hands of the skeleton. Maybe the lever made it drop it because Derren...she looked back to see the shivering male. Derren wasn't bold enough to take it from the skeleton.

"What now?" 

"I'm also new to this!" She shouted, "But I can see two thumb marks, I think that's how to open it." 

Darren nodded, "Oh well you do it. It could be a trap." 

He stepped back, and Artemis scowled. She placed the book on an old table and was about to press her thumb into it when it broke. She groaned before placing in on Darren's hands "Hold it!" He didn't have time to dissent before she drove her thumbs into the holes created for it.

They thought nothing happened until a blinding bright light emitted from it. 

"Did you hear that?" Darren rubbed his arms. His eyes shot to every corner as he gradually stepped back. "Arm, let's get out of here." 

"Bye bye," She waved with the book in her hand "I don't need you anymore. You'll only be a burden to me so goodbye. Go spend time in Lunar's bedroom or something. Keep yourself occupied with playdates. It's what you do best." She advised as she flipped through the unfilled pages.

Her words prompted him to stay. He was scared, but he wanted to prove to her how bold he could be. He heard a voice again, and he moved closer to him "I swear, I heard Something."

"What could you have possibly heard?" 

Darren's face drained from its colours as his eyes widened. His foot moved back one after the other as he raised a feeble finger to point at the colossal structure behind Artemis. 

She hissed, but once she heard a howl, the hairs on her skin stood and she could feel her heart in her throat. Her legs wavered as she battled the need to turn. She gulped "There's something behind me isn't there?"

Chapter end