he said with a frown, making me thankful that I wasn't being judged for being nervous or paranoid. Although, to be fair, I think being paranoid down in Hell was probably a regular occurrence, and one that kept you alive.
Added to these suspicions was thanks to the portal keeper as he turned the key, pulled out the handle and took a step back giving the four of us a wide berth.
“What's gaun oan here?” Trice asked just as Gryph said,
“Aye, how come dae ah feel…?” That sentence died in his throat the second the portal keeper suddenly threw his head back and let out a blood curdling scream. After that I didn't have long to question anything as his skin started to ripple as if his flesh was being cooked from beneath. I felt myself start to gag at the sight of his skin bubbling before it popped and blood burst from the opening. Trice was stood in front of me in a second, protecting me from both potential harm and the view of the portal keeper being boiled alive!
I just caught sight of him falling to his knees before his agonising cries reached a crescendo. The stench of cooked flesh was ripe and clung to the air, which meant that I had to continue to breathe through my mouth just so I wouldn't vomit. I also knew that for as long as I lived, I would never get that smell out of my head, for it was burned to the horrific memory section in my mind for all eternity.
I was just about to speak, ready to ask one of them to do something, when the sound of an arrow whistling through the air ended both his suffering and my question. I knew that Vern had been the one to put him out of his misery, and also ours by being forced to witness such horror.
“Look, see anythin' we recognise?” Vern said, and I looked around Trice’s big body to see him placing a foot on his chest as he yanked his arrow from the portal keeper’s head with a sickening sound. Then he used the same arrowhead that was all bloody to peel back the shirt and reveal the mark of a hex. It was clear then that he had obviously been coerced into fulfilling his task and now it was done, a gruesome death was his only reward. Unfortunately, as all four of us were too busy staring at the body on the floor, we hadn't noticed the cause of the hex creeping up behind us.
All four of us turned the second we heard the cackling laugh of a wolf in sheep's clothing.
“You?” I questioned the moment I saw the red skinned barmaid, quickly piecing together how lover boy had received his hex. She shrugged her shoulders and smirked before telling me,
“You have something my master wants.”
“Oh, and let me guess, you're just the chick to get it back for him?” I said with a fold of my arms, and Trice tensed next to me. This was before I felt his hand at my side as if put there by instinct.
“Oh, it isn’t just the Eye my master wants,” she replied with a cunning sneer, making Trice tense to the point that his knuckles cracked. It was in that moment that I knew something was going to happen, as I could almost taste it in the air.
“So, you’re taking over other bodies now… witch,” I sneered back at her, hissing the last word like an insult, making her lip curl in anger at the sound. At this, Trice growled and I felt his two brothers step in closer as they too waited for trouble. You could have cut through the dangerous tension with Trice’s icy blade as we all waited for what the witch was planning next.
“Whatever gets the job done, now the way I see it, you have two choices, Princess…” This time I was the one growling at what was most definitely an insult back.
“…you can either come with me and I will allow the shifters to leave and walk through the portal, one that will lead them to Lucius' castle so they may save his brother, or I will send you all into an even deeper realm for you to try and crawl out of,” she said, making me clench my fists at my side, allowing the anger to start to fuel the rage I knew was strong enough to beat her.