85 Chapter 85 Flames in the Sky

The stairs led her up to a great hall, that she didn't think had been properly cleaned in ages. Spiderwebs filled the highest nooks and crannies, and dust covered the floor, showing a thin trail where the mage seemed to concentrate on walking.

Curiosity escaped her as she focused on following the trail up another flight of stairs to a large wooden door. Glowing runes covered the trim along the edges of the door, and Gia wondered if it were some magical spell to attack her if she opened the door. A gap at the bottom of the door was large enough for her to peek through, so she lay on the floor to see what was in the room.

Vonn's shoes were the first thing she noticed. He appeared to be tied to some contraption and leaned against the floor. From the way he was sagging, he was either unconscious or dead. Muffling her moan of horror, Gia could only pray it was the first, and scrambled to her feet when she didn't see any other pairs of boots.

Hesitating for only a moment, she finally reached out for the handle of the door, expecting a bolt of lightning, or a hidden dart to come flying out at her, but the knob clicked softly and swung open. Bookshelves covered the walls, haphazardly filled with books, papers, and scrolls. A large table took up the center of the room, with a large book open upon it. Large yellow candles flickered in her passing as she ignored everything else in the room and darted for Vonn's still form.

"Vonn!" she hissed, glancing around wildly for some key to unlock his chains.

He was still breathing, but it was shallow and she feared he was under some kind of magical spell. With sobs threatening to break out of her, Gia rushed over to the table to see if there were a key hidden under the book. Finally spying one, laid beside one of the candle sconces, Gia snatched it up.

Her hand brushed against the sconce, knocking the candle over. Her eyes widened in horror as she watched the hot candle wax spill across the book, quickly followed by the flames from the wick. The book almost seemed to catch faster than it should, and before she could back up a single step, the entire table was aflame with a fire that burned with black flames.

Clutching the key to her chest in terror, Gia dashed back over to Vonn's slumped form.

"Vonn! Vonn, please!" she whimpered, shoving the key into the locks and freeing him from the chains.

The fire had spread to the bookshelves. If she wasn't quick, they would be trapped in this inferno. Breathing hard, Gia grabbed his arms and dragged him inch by inch towards the door. A loud pop startled a scream out of her, and she fell, covering her face in fear. She wasn't strong enough to drag Vonn out of the room, and now they were going to burn to death!

"What is this!" raged a voice from the other side of the room.

Glancing up, Gia expected to see the mage appearing, but it was a large blue figure, looking around in confusion and anger. She went to respond, but the fumes and smoke were causing her throat to close up. She slumped over Vonn's body, coughing and fighting to get a breath.

"Are you the one who started this fire?" asked the blue figure, floating over to her and shoving its face into hers. The fire didn't seem to discomfort it at all.

"Acc…" she tried to explain to the figure, but she didn't have enough breath left to form the word. Her eyes were starting to flutter and everything was going dark.

"Well, it's about time someone got the better of that mage. I'll finish where you left off, but the two of you probably shouldn't be here. These magical flames won't do you two much good."

Gia's eyes closed as everything that she had been through seemed to catch up to her all at once.

"Gia? Giavanna!" came a voice. It was a precious voice to her. "Gia! Wake up!"

"Vonn?" she whispered, trying to open her eyes. Had it all been a dream? Was she back home in her bed? It had been such a long dream!

"Gia!" cried Vonn, shaking her shoulders as her eyes finally fluttered open.

The blue sky behind him was fading to dark, so it was late in the evening. She didn't recognize the trees though. Had she gone with him to cut wood and fallen asleep?

"Gia, I can't believe you came for me!" exclaimed Vonn, pulling her into a tight hug.

That's when everything came rushing back to her. Gia's eyes widened as she glanced around in panic, clinging to his clothing.

"The mage!" she whispered in horror. He would come for them!

"The mage is dead!" laughed Vonn. "He burned up inside his keep! I could hear his screams when I first woke up, and nothing I did could tear my eyes away from his burning keep until just now. You managed to free me!"

"Oh! Vonn! I was so scared!" she cried, burying her face into his chest and wrapping her arms as tightly around him as she could.

"How did you know that fire was the only way to kill the mage?" asked Vonn.

"It was?" asked Gia, finally pulling away from him enough to glance over at the smoldering ruins. Was the mimic dead? What about that ladder monster? And the slime? She shuddered to think that any of them might have survived.

"Oh you!" he laughed, pulling her to her feet so they could see the ruins better. "My father had been an apprentice of the mage, but managed to escape and fled to the city where he met my mother and I was born. Afraid the mage might come after me, he tried to leave, but my mother refused to be parted from him. I always thought they had abandoned me and died, but I found out that the mage had killed them both. He told me of the horrible things he had done to them before they died, and of the things he planned to do to me, but you saved me!"

"You didn't know your father was an apprentice of the mage?" asked Gia, suddenly worried he had withheld more information from her.

"No, I never knew. In fact, I wouldn't have believed the mage if he hadn't shown me my parent's bodies. He had them preserved in some kind of spell. It was horrible, Gia. He was trying to find a way to prolong life, but all of his experiments kept failing. The few ones that survived, were changed into horrible creatures."

"I saw some of them," whispered Gia.

"Oh, I am so sorry! I can't believe you came all this way for me! Where is everyone? Are they alright?" he asked, looking around to verify they weren't there somewhere, then studied her carefully. "Are you alright?"

"I think so," she nodded, placing her hand over her belly and then looking up at him with a small smile. "Are you still up to building that house you promised?"

Laughing, Vonn picked her up and twirled her around. Gia couldn't hold back her laughter any longer, and finally felt relief. This nightmare was over and everything could go back to being right again.

As they started to make their way down the mountain, Gia heard a yip and glanced over to see the tail of a fox disappearing into the bushes. Clutching Vonn's arm tighter, she turned back to watch her step. She was ready to get back to the village and her family. They would pick out a good location for their house and Vonn and Mikey could get to work cutting trees. Her dad could carve little designs into the wood and her mother would help her prepare for the coming baby. Everything was finally falling into place.

As the deep dark descended on the mountain, Vonn started looking for a good place to set up camp.

"Let's keep going," suggested Gia. She wasn't that tired, having slept most of the day away, and the urge to get back to the town was overwhelming.

"The mage is dead, we don't have to push ourselves," said Vonn with a grin.

"I know, but he wasn't the only dangerous thing on this mountain. If we keep going, we can reach the town and safety faster. I'm not that tired, if you're not?"

Vonn seemed to think about her words then nodded. "You're right. There are a lot of griffons on this mountain. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to keep going."

Gia gave him a quick hug in thanks and they continued down the mountain. The only thing that bothered her, was that he had lost his amulet. The mage probably took it from him so it wouldn't get in the way of any of his spells, but she still worried about it. What could the mage have done with it?