Darkness and Hellfire

Chapter 30 What In Lua’s Name

“You! You are the one who cast a spell on my boy!” The woman yelled while pointing accusingly at Lenna. The smith, Isaac, and Lenna all tuned and stared at the room’s newest inhabitants.

“Oh come on.” Isaac said out loud and not at all in his head like he thought he did. Lenna turned and locked eyes with Isaac. He nodded and held up a finger in gesture to wait. He took a step towards the woman. “Miss, I have a question for you.”

“And what do YOU want?!” She exclaimed whirling on him.

“What magic do you think was used on the boy?” Isaac inquired. The smith was now completely derailed and his attention was now drawn into this newer altercation. The boy was hiding behind his mother from Lenna and Lenna was trying her hardest to blend into the weapon rack.

“Fear magic obviously!” The mother yelled. Utterly affronted at being made to even voice it.

“Alright, let me ask another question. Would you say that Dragon Fear is just some spell? Or, hear me out, would you say that Dragon’s Fear is just a part of it?” Isaac countered. His argument didn’t need to make sense, it just had to get everyone back to talking with their inside voices so the guard didn’t come running down the street and box them inside the smithy with no way out.

“Well… Um… A dragon is a magical creature so its fear is just a spell it doesn’t need to speak…” The woman was now starting to get roped into Isaac’s made up argument enough that she was no longer yelling. “But that’s besides the point. She!” She pointed back at Lenna furiously. “Used magic on MY boy!” She pointed back at herself and then at her son as if no one in the room could understand what she was saying.

“Well miss, if your boy hadn’t been trying to peep on my companion she wouldn’t have needed to use her aura to make him fear her.” Isaac countered, now acting even more affronted than the woman. “Maybe YOU should have taught your son better.” He declared the last part while pointing his own finger at her.

“How DARE you?!” The woman exclaimed and took a large step towards Isaac. Isaac subtly gestured, with his hand that was still at his side, towards the door and Lenna started moving to sneak out before attention was back on her.

“How DARE I? How dare YOU?” Isaac countered. He mentally prayed that the smith wouldn’t notice Lenna’s attempted exit.

The woman huffed and took another step towards Isaac. She was now only a few feet away. “Ay! You! Ya can’t leave! I’m callin’ tha guard!” The smithy cried, calling attention back to Lenna.

“Fuck it.” Isaac said to himself. “Lenna! Fear and run. We are leaving.” Isaac commanded and then promptly vanished.

“Yes my Lord.” Lenna responded and then slammed the full weight of her aura down on the smith and the boy’s mother. The smith scrunched his nose but then looked only angrier while the woman collapsed onto the floor with a smell of ammonia.

Lenna didn’t wait to see either of their reactions and just bolted towards the exit they needed to take to get to Safeharbor. She tore down the street, rounded a corner then raced down the next one. A guard saw her but it took him a moment to respond. Lenna used that moment to bolt past him and reach the gate where another guard was standing.

The gate guard stood up from his stool and grabbed his spear. He leveled the spear at Lenna and braced. She drew her sword and caught the spear right behind the spearhead and pushed it to the side parrying it. She slammed into him with her shoulder at full speed and he impacted the wall three feet behind him with enough force to knock the air from his lungs.

Lenna threw the gate open and waited. She turned around. The guard started to recover. The other guard that she had passed earlier was getting close. She couldn’t see Isaac and her eyes were desperately darting around looking for him.

“What are you waiting for? Let’s go!” A familiar voice yelled from behind her.

Lenna looked over her shoulder to see Isaac with his hands on his knees huffing and puffing. He still hadn’t completely recovered. She slammed the gate in the guard’s face and stowed her sword. Isaac nodded at her and then started to jog down the tunnel. Lenna hurried after him.

A moment later the gate reopened and the guards emerged. They did not pursue but instead threw their spears at Lenna and Isaac. One of them shot right past Isaac’s head and he let out a very manly squeak but kept running. The other impacted Lenna’s pauldron and was promptly deflected into the wall.

Isaac and Lenna could hear them cursing as they pushed deeper into the Innerworld. Well in this case deeper was subjective because they were technically getting closer to the surface but at present were getting farther from any form of civilization.

Isaac had to stop after about another two minutes of running. He was getting lightheaded again. He sat down against the wall of the tunnel they were in and started laughing in between deep breaths. “That… was… actually… kinda fun.” He eventually got out.

Lenna sat down next to him and took off her helmet so she could breathe easier. “That was fun for you?” She asked him.

“Yeah… definitely.” He responded with a roguish grin.

Lenna just shook her head. “You really are a strange man.” She said after a moment of silence.

“I may be many things Lady V’Nova but normal is not one of them.” Isaac pridefully retorted. She handed him a water skin to shut him up and leaned back against the wall.

At that moment the only thing going through her head was a question: ‘What in Lua’s name did I get myself into?’